On good news/bad news and being bulletproof.

I think there are some people who head over to Iraq and consider themselves bulletproof. Peace activists, for one thing. They think that if they speak Arabic and do good for the Iraqi people and speak out publicly against the war, that they will get a pass from harm.

They don't seem to quite understand that this is a war. Violence is done to people in a war; it is indiscriminate. It doesn't care if you are a good person or a bad person. Enemies who would harm anyone they consider not-one-of-them do not distinguish between innocent and evil, good and bad, child and adult, religious cleric and emergency worker, American and Iraqi.

Bad guys or sweet little American girls foolishly trying to help them.

They kill. That is what they do. That is their business. That is their mission. They kill.

I think there are some people who head over to Iraq and consider themselves bulletproof. Journalists, for another. Especially handsome news anchors and their intrepid cameramen. They say they understand the danger. They wear flak jackets and helmets and make sat phone calls home to their anxious families, but they don't seem to understand that this is a war.

Here at home, there is much complaining on conservative blogs and patriotic internet messages posted on military and family message boards that say things like, There's so much good that's being done in Iraq that the media doesn't report! Schools are being built and people are shopping in the marketplaces, and Marines are passing out candy to children! Why doesn't the media report this stuff? All they do is report the bomb blasts. That makes good video so that's what they cover. But there is so much more good being done over there than people realize.

People resent that all this good news is somehow being suppressed by a violence-happy media who only want to report bad news.

Brand-new ABC anchor Bob Woodruff heard those complaints, and he decided to do something about it. He decided to make a "good news" trip to Iraq, show all the progress that has been made over there, show that ABC news wasn't just about reporting bomb blasts. According to a piece in the Washington Post, Woodruff started out by eating an ice cream cone in a marketplace. He sat around laughing and joking with friendly local people. After some good B-roll of those happy events, he decided to go out with Iraqi Army troops, to show how well-trained they are and how ready they are to take over for the Americans so our boys and girls can come home.

He had been riding with the Army's 4th Armored Division in heavily-fortified Humvees, but this time he climbed up and stood in an open hatch at the front of a convoy of Iraqi Army vehicles, his trusty cameraman at his side, and off they went on their big adventure reporting good news back home.

And the killers blew them up.

Although the flood of media attention makes absoluely no mention whatsoever of whether any IRAQI soldiers were killed or injured in the IED bomb blast followed by small-arms fire that attacked the convoy--apparently the two Americans were riding in some sort of bubble where absolutely no one else got hurt--still, Woodruff's neck, back, and head were imbedded with shrapnel, several ribs were broken, a shoulder crushed, and his head cracked open. They've already had to remove part of his handsome skull to make room for the swelling in his brain. They don't know when--or if--he will ever be able to report news again, good or bad.

They flew him home on a C-17 medical evacuation flight with THIRTY more wounded Americans--AN AVERAGE DAY, according to the doctors on board the flight.

Some people seem to forget that this is a war. It's a war, where other people you don't know and never will are going to try to kill you. It's what they do. They kill.

If you want to know why Representative John Murtha seemed to lose his mind and suddenly beg for all the troops to be brought home, you should do what he has done EVERY SINGLE WEEK since this bloody war began--visit the seriously wounded troops at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, where the handsome news anchor and his cameraman were taken along with thirty American troops.

For two and one-half years. Every week. He visits them every single week. He sees them blind and maimed and brain-damaged and missing limbs. And he's sick right down to his soul.

Some people seem to realize that this is a war.

Last year, when my son was fighting in Fallujah with the Marines and Army troops, our esteemed secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, made a remark that Iraq was no worse than some American cities. About a week after that remark, he decided to visit Baghdad.

The helicopter pilot who was ferrying his valuable cargo was forced to fly fast and low, skimming the tops of buildings, weaving in and out, up and down, racing the nauseated and white-knuckled passenger to his destination before they could get their asses blown off.

I think there are some people who head over to Iraq who seem to think they are bulletproof. They don't seem to realize that this is a war.

But the guys fighting it? They know only too well.