Hawaii is a special place because we have a very diverse population there, who are very respectful and tolerant of those who have differing opinions and different views.

I've seen firsthand the high human cost of war.

I volunteered to deploy to Iraq. I was one of the few soldiers who were not on the mandatory deployment roster - close to 3,000 Hawaii soldiers were.

These days, it's often women in uniform - moms, wives, even grandmothers - who deploy and leave their families behind.

It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United States goes and takes action there on behalf of the Iraqi government. You've got Iran coming in and saying we're going to stand with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, so now we're aligning ourselves with Iran, and if we do air strikes, becoming de facto air force for them.

Hawaii is a special place because we have a very diverse population there, who are very respectful and tolerant of those who have differing opinions and different views.

As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.