A Powerful, Overlooked Question

After reading the news coverage and commentary about Monday's YouTube-CNN debate, I'm surprised that there has been little discussion of question 17 (clip 18) from Gary Berry. I've paraphrased it as follows:

The three folded flags behind me covered the coffins of my grandfather, my father, and my oldest son. Someday, mine will join them. I do not want my youngest sons to join them. By what date after Jan. 31, 2009 will all US troops be out of Iraq, and how many family members do you have serving in uniform?

Berry is not just another concerned parent. And he's not just another concerned vet.

Berry is Department Chair for National Security, Intelligence and Space at the American Military University. He is a former Deputy Chair at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (part of the National Defense University, one of two war colleges under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff).

He finished Officer Candidate School in 1976 and spent 26 years in the Army. He was an Adjutant of DELTA Force and a Protocol Officer for the Chief of Staff, Army in the Pentagon. His last six years were spent working with the Defense Information Systems Agency. The link to his bio is on his YouTube page.

Part one of his question is a hypothetical (ie, hard to answer), but part two -- how many family members do you have serving in uniform -- is very straightforward.

Several candidates -- Dodd, Richardson, Biden, Clinton, Kucinich -- jumped at part one with standard talking points. Dodd recited family members who had served in the past; Clinton shared condolences with Berry over the loss of his son; Biden used the son's death as a way to slam Dodd; Richardson lamented the lost of National Guard troops; Kucinich blasted everyone on stage. Watch the answers.

If the moderator isn't going to pointedly note that a candidate has dodged a question, then we continue with "TV 'debate' as usual."

Berry is certainly not the highest profile former military insider to indirectly* criticize the war, but he was the only one on Monday. And yet the mainstream media ignored both his credentials and how the candidates danced around part of his question. Why?

Question: do you have family members in uniform? I do: young, male cousins. And one of my best friends has a daughter who recently graduated from Annapolis.

^{* Post-publish edit. The Administration claims discussion of a withdrawal timeline aid the enemy and are in line with their "with us or against us" line of thinking.}