I'm having an introspective lunch hour.

This week is the fifth anniversary of the war on Iraq and with all of the resulting protests, I'm remembering my own first in opposition to the occupation. There were about ten of us, and we stood quietly outside the downtown post office in Farmington, Maine. Right near the town's one traffic light.

Never did I imagine that four years later I would join thousands to march on Washington for the very same cause.

Or that I would become close friends with a group of brave young veterans fighting for their rights, and fighting to be heard.

Or that I would be working for a newspaper that unlike a lot of other media in the country, does not shy away from these stories.

I got an email from Paul Rieckhoff today, head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, saying that in February, 2008, just 3% of news stories focused on the war. Three percent! The number is a far cry from the 15% of stories that covered the war in July, 2007.

Why the media is covering the war less the longer it goes on is incomprehensible to me. Especially with so many new stories coming out every day. Another thing for me to chew on, I guess.

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