In the words of a retired Marine Officer

I have been trying for a couple of days to get my head around the idea of the United States abandoning a soldier in Sadr City, most likely to a militia group that has a fetish for power drills and the damage they do to living human flesh. The very notion that he has been abandoned by our government makes me absolutely insane with rage. My husband went into the Balkans. I clung to that sacred pact that they would go get him if anything went wrong. Period. The emotions of that time have prevented me from writing anything coherent and not completely unhinged.

Then I dropped in on the Democrats-dot-org website, where a regular on the boards is a retired Marine Officer who bootstrapped his commission. He said it perfectly:

In the real world we're missing a U.S. soldier in Sadr City, Iraq. In the real world we have a pretty damn good idea who has him. And in the real world our president can do something about it.

Mr. Bush, I know you didn't serve long as a pilot of the Texas Air National Guard and that you were never forced to develop the bonds with those men that we who serve as ground pounders do, but you must have considered what it might be like to be shot down behind enemy lines and you must have therefore considered the response you'd desire from your fellow countrymen. We don't leave our own behind Mr. Bush and we especially don't give in to the enemy's demands when he is holding one of our own. We go and get that man back Mr. Bush.

If you've got to go to Iraq yourself, Mr. Bush, to arrange for that man's release, then I suggest that you do it. These men have fought too hard for you and yours to not be supported in kind. Don't give in to militiamen and surrender the life of a dedicated soldier Mr. Bush, a man who put his life on the line under orders from you and in support of our great nation.