Style Blog: Why do we care about this dog?

I can't help thinking of the phrase: I have no dog in this fight. The video of what appears to be a U.S. or allied forces military working dog in captivity--held by gun wielding men who chant "Allah gave victory to the mujahideen!"--arrives at a moment when U.S. public sentiment now considers the war in Afghanistan not worth the cost, and overwhelming majorities favor removing all or most U.S. troops from the country. We still have a dog in this fight, but we'd like to bring that dog home.