Mission Accomplished

by uselessness

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The soldiers covered their faces as ash and debris rained upon them. Coarse billows of smoke now rose from the crater where only moments ago had stood a crude desert hut.

Private Riley Oakes gasped, panting, incredulous. He spotted half a charred corpse lying facedown in the ruins. Could it be? Riley’s fingers, still clutching the grenade launcher, trembled anxiously.

In a moment the ringing of his ears gave way to rousing shouts. Mark slapped him on the back, high fives all around. Grins a mile wide. Riley lowered the weapon and, meekly, broke into a smile. From somewhere a bottle of champagne was produced and the boys toasted a job well done.

Far away, families wept tears of joy. Beaming mothers informed their children that the daddies they had never met would be home soon. The war on terror had been won, at last.

How could we know that still another terrorist remained? Did we really think we got them all? Riley Oakes knew but dared not suggest that winning, truly winning, would always be impossible.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 3.0 stars out of 5

  1. Mission Accomplished

    Saint Chuck's Buddy Icon Saint Chuck

    Posted about 1 year ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    This is great, and so very true. We can never completely win, but we can try.

  2. Mission Accomplished

    FlirtingWithaBrickWall's Buddy Icon FlirtingWithaBrickWall

    Posted about 1 year ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    this is brilliant. it gives hope, but it also throws a bit of fear into the mix. nicely done

  3. Mission Accomplished

    White Hat's Buddy Icon White Hat

    Posted 10 months ago

    3.0 out of 5 stars

    Wait… they thought that they could just kill all the terrorists in the world?

    Interesting, but that’s a little too unbelievable that anyone would think that way… or, at least, any significant and contiguous group of people.

  4. Mission Accomplished

    uselessness' Buddy Icon uselessness

    Posted 10 months ago

    That’s the whole point, of course: to point out how ridiculous it is. Believe it or not, there are people who think like that. As stupid as you and I may think such an idea is.

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