This book should be required reading for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and all the rest of the architects of this war. Problem is, it probably wouldn’t phase them.

From the Sacremento Bee, an excerpt from Elliott Michael Gold’s book, A Mother’s Tears, Mothers Remember Their Sons Lost in Iraq:

It begins with the nine months of waiting, the screams of labor, the breathing, the Lamaze. But nothing is as long as the pause, waiting to finally hear a new baby crying … and to hear the doctor say, “It’s a baby boy.”

Fathers soon find that he’s not a father’s son, but a mama’s boy, a bond that is unbroken as mother and son navigate their way around dirty laundry left everywhere, often covering half-eaten hamburgers with a sports magazine nearby or the greasy videogame controller. Boys are soft and warm, and quickly agree to hugs, but become “men” too soon, get uncomfortable at the thought that their mothers want to hug them in public.

Too many of these young men are destined to go to battle and too many never to return. When the phone call or the chaplain’s visit comes, all that flows are the memories, and a mother’s tears.
We document this bond between mothers and their sons who have been lost in combat. Some are rightfully angry about the war: “I hate President Bush … he lied to us, and I want these boys home now.” Some accept the war: “My son wanted to go to make the world free … but in hindsight….”

Why do I focus on males under age 25? Because the men dying in this war in Iraq are boys. One-third are 18 to 22 years old; half are under 25.

Karen, one boy’s mother, sent me photographs of her son, Zach, who lived only 20 years, seven months and five days. With the photographs, she included this note:

“I realize I have sent you more pictures than you requested. I just wanted you to really know my son. Don’t just look at the pictures, but see my son, feel my son and his wonderful presence. There are no words to describe how much I love him. He was my life. Every decision I made in life was made on how it would affect Zachariah. I now welcome my own death so we may be reunited.”