As the mother of the last man to die after the Jan. 20 Karbala, Iraq, attack, I can say that having a son die in Iraq is not the kind of sacrifice that brings warmth to the heart. It does not inspire the soul. But it does capture the imagination.

I imagine the horror he went through being kidnapped, transported around Iraq for an hour and a half, then executed.

My son, Capt. Brian Freeman, was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point. He had completed his five-year obligation and was halfway through his three-year Individual Ready Reserve commitment when he received the call back to active duty.

In April of 2006 he left a wife, 2-year-old son and a 5-month-old daughter and deployed to Karbala to fight a war he believed unjust. When he left, he said that he had to try to make a difference.

His assignment was to work with the Karbala provincial government to bring full Iraqi control to the province. He was successful and his success led directly to his death.

A letter of recommendation written by the governor of Karbala Province stated that he helped security forces obtain training and armament, coordinated a warmer relationship between the provincial government and the coalition forces, obtained funding for reconstruction projects, conducted difficult negotiations after military actions and coordinated efforts for the 11-year-old son of a Karbala policeman to go to the United States for heart surgery.

This letter is important to remember, considering what was to occur in January of this year.

On Jan. 20, the government compound in the city of Karbala was attacked. The raid was well-planned. The insurgents used American vehicles, guns and uniforms to sail through checkpoints and into the compound. The local Karbala army and police knew the attack was coming and did nothing to help our soldiers.

The vendors who normally work the area did not come to work that day. The construction workers who usually work long daily hours did not come to work. During the raid the governor of Karbala Province was heard on the radio demanding that no one react to the attack without his direct order.

The head of the Karbala police would not allow American soldiers into his office during the attack, although it had one of the best views of the area. Another high-ranking Karbala police officer was heard talking and laughing on his cell phone after the attack. He was describing the attack as if he had witnessed it.

Brian and a young first lieutenant were seen by at least one Iraqi being forced from their room at gunpoint, yet nothing was done to try and save them. Brian was betrayed by the government, the people he was sent to help.

The columnist also wrote, "Those sacrifices still represent one of the very best thing about the American people, and the price we've paid throughout the generations on battlefields near and far."

Death on the battlefields of Iraq does not compare to World War II. The sacrifices being made by American families are not in the proud tradition of generations fighting for their country.

Only when all Americans realize the horror of Iraq, realize that the situation is not going to improve, and bring all combat troops home will there be peace for my family. Not until then can the American military be rebuilt to fight the true war on terror.

Stop the insanity. Stop the war. Bring our troops home to defend America.

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* KATHLEEN SNYDER lives in Mendon, Cache County.