Here’s a fun game: try to find either Iraq or Afghanistan in the State of the Union “word cloud” released today by the triumphant White House.


Give up? Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan made the cut in the cloud. If you get a magnifying glass, you may be lucky enough to find China and Korea.

President Bush's war of choice has cost America the lives of 4,436 servicemen/women. Six have been killed so far this year. In Afghanistan, 1,466 Americans are dead in the aftermath of 9/11. Twenty were killed last year.

President Obama barely mentioned either of those tragedies last night. This blogger understands that Obama must focus like a laser to restore economic growth to this country, but Iraq and Afghanistan deserved more attention. Both have more impact on the current state of America’s union than China and Korea.

The president did say “the Iraq war is coming to and end” and that troops will begin to come home from Afghanistan in July.

Both military wind-downs can't come soon enough.