Mixed emotions for Iraq vets in the White House

Mixed emotions for Iraq vets in the White House
By JULIE PACE, Associated Press – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tanya Bradsher felt a rush of relief each morning when the updates came in letting her know how many U.S. troops were left in Iraq.

Each time the number ticked closer to zero, it meant more of her fellow veterans had made their final trip out of Iraq safely. Her biggest fear was that the remaining U.S. troops would get hit on their way out. She would hold her breath and think, "today is a good day, tomorrow hopefully will be a good day."

Sunday was the day Bradsher, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, had been waiting for. The last of all U.S. troops in Iraq safely crossed the border into Kuwait, bringing the divisive war to a close.

Bradsher, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, witnessed the war's final days from a unique vantage point. The soft-spoken mother of three is one of several Iraq war veterans now working in the White House, helping President Barack Obama bring the war that defined them to a close.

In transitioning from the battlefield to the White House, they have given the war a face and voice in West Wing, serving as a constant reminder that, for a small percentage of Americans, the long, divisive conflict has also been a matter of life and death.

"It's a bit of a gut check on everything you say and do about the policy of the war and the politics of it," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication.

The end of the nearly nine-year war marked a promise fulfilled for Obama, who took office pledging to end the conflict. Mindful of the politics of war, some of the veterans who now work for Obama are careful not to draw a direct connection between the president's positions on the Iraq war and their decision to work for his administration.

Still, Steve Miska, Obama's director of Iraq policy, said he had "an overwhelming sense of relief" when the president announced that the war was coming to a close. An Army lieutenant colonel and father of two, Miska did three tours of duty in Iraq, including a 16-month stint in Baghdad that spanned the height of the sectarian violence there.
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