Maybe they use the word to take off the edge. "Troops" -- like tools or guns or Hummers or tanks.

The fact is President Bush's Iraqi plan, televised across the nation Wednesday evening, is to send 20,000 more American men and women to Iraq, place them in harms way, and try to make up for the mistakes he admits are his own.

It's unacceptable.

It's unacceptable to many of the new leaders in Washington who were elected in November with the hopes of the American people hinging on bringing our American soldiers home.

It is unacceptable to this country's top generals, who have garnered extensive knowledge about war through their many years of experience both on and off the battlefield.

It is unacceptable to a majority of the Democratic leaders now in charge of both the House and Senate. It is even unacceptable to some of his own Republican party members.

And still he fails to listen.

The war in Iraq began thousands of years ago. It didn't start on September 11, 2001, when terrorists brought America to her knees with their cowardice.

It didn't start on Oct. 11, 2002, when Bush used his presidential authority to declare war on Iraq.

It didn't start on March 20, 2002, when Operation Iraqi Freedom began. It didn't start with the capture of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13, 2003 or his death less than a month ago.

It has been an ongoing battle between the Sunni and Shia Muslims long before the United States came into existence and will continue for years to come.

These are a people raised in a culture unfamiliar -- incomprehensible, to those of us fortunate enough to live in the United States, a country founded on religious freedom. War is a way of life for them. Battling for their religious beliefs has been ingrained in many of them from the time they were children.

We can not change millenniums of hate that has been a part of their lives.

Whether we send 20,000 more troops or 2 million more troops, we can not change the culture that existed before anyone even knew the America's existed.

And before you question my loyalty to the "troops" now serving in Iraq -- and the more than 20,000 that will be called up -- just keep in mind that my son may very well be one of them.

Yes, you can support the thousands of men and women following the orders of their "Commander-in-Chief" (and I use the term loosely) without supporting the war in Iraq.

I just hope that this action is remembered as the 2008 election approaches and pol-iticians are already announcing their bid for the presidency.

We need to find a leader who can clean up the mistakes made by the current administration, since he can't seem to clean them up on his own.