The Troops Petition: Let's Finish the Job

A couple of military guys in Iraq have found a way to speak up for completing the mission there without getting into any trouble. Navy Lt. Jason Nichols and Staff Sgt. David Thul from the Minnesota Army National Guard have rolled out an Internet petition to finish the job. Nichols tells us that his colleagues "think the war is worth fighting but there wasn't a way for us to express that fact." Then they discovered that they could file a grievance with Congress, which in this case asks them to back the war. With appealforcourage.org, they've collected nearly 3,000 signatures and will deliver them to Congress this week. "I ... think we're winning the fight in Iraq on the ground," says Nichols, but frets over losing the political battle in Washington. "It's the responsibility of the military to prevent that."

With Thomas K. Grose, Silla Brush, Anna Mulrine, and Suzi Parker