Rarely watching TV, I was captivated the other night when Charlie Gibson was interviewing United States President, Barack Obama, on the ABC Evening News.
The one word that really made me put things into perspective, was a word the President Obama used to describe how the decision to send US troops to Afghanistan was different from other critical US policy decisions.
Sobriety.
President Obama spoke of a certain level of sobriety that was needed on that particular decision. He said it was the one decision that was different from all the others. I paraphrase here, to illustrate the magnitude:
“Bailing out the auto industry or the financial system is one thing. But picturing Arlington Cemetery, with a mother, sitting in the rain, in front of a tombstone…..”