Charles Petzold

In a courageous op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times, Focus on the Family founder and chairman Dr. James C. Dobson came out against the Iraq War.

"War affects families most of all," Dr. Dobson noted, "and it would be irresponsible for Focus on the Family and other evangelical organizations to ignore that suffering. The Iraq War has been devastating not only to American families, but to Iraqi families as well."

In several moving paragraphs, Dr. Dobson described the toll that the Iraq War has taken on the family. "Too many sons and daughters are coming back dead or maimed. Too many young children are losing mothers or fathers to this senseless carnage."

Dr. Dobson writes how he was shocked to learn that sometimes husbands and wives are deployed in Iraq simultaneously, leaving children in the care of grandparents. "Even for parents who survive the combat," Dr. Dobson notes, "the long-term effects of post-traumatic stress disorder hit the family hardest of all — with higher rates of depression, suicide, and domestic violence."

"The healing must begin," Dr. Dobson concluded. "It is time to put aside party differences and work together in bringing the troops home, closing down the prison at Guantánamo, and returning America to the sound moral principles of its heritage."