With Bush getting ready to veto the Iraq funding bill and Cheney talking trash about democrats being defeatist, I decided to see what the Veterans had to say about this mess. These blogs are from Veterans, active military and their families. So I have provided some quotes from Veteran blog posts with the links for you to read what they have to say. It shouldn’t surprise any of us that they aren’t fond of the Bush administration or the war. Below is just a glimpse of what’s out there.
Voice of a Veteran: (I’m not sure if this is one or more soldiers on this blog)
“If You Don’t Support the War, You Play Into the Hands of the Enemy, and you Help Destroy the Morale of the Troops…”
OK, regarding the ’morale of the troops’, let’s put the B.S. above to rest:
First, virtually no member of the administration or in Congress who makes this kind of statement ever served in the Armed Forces, therefore they don’t understand troop morale or anything about its dynamics.
Second, how many senior military officers in the news have made this kind of statement? Not very many – if any.
So, the administration and its remaining backers in Congress are using the troops and their ‘morale’ as pawns in making you feel guilty about your increasing opposition to the war in Iraq – 2/3rds of you in this country.
It’s a shameless tactic, it’s disgusting, it’s despicable – and most of all, it’s wrong.”
Veterans Against the War:
My Turn: By Sgt. Kevin Benderman; Benderman Defense, April 13, 2007
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Benjamin Franklin
Isn’t that exactly what is happening in Iraq and the war of choice? We now hear from many who say the troop surge is working but they present no facts to back their claim. On the other hand there are many facts being presented everyday to show that the level of violence is not going down in Iraq.
I also hear a lot of talk about the congress trying to micro-manage the war with the deadlines they have included in the funding bill recently passed in the house and the senate. It is being said so as not to bind the generals’ hands on the ground we should not be setting a deadline to bring them home. But if we go back to the beginning of the war when General Shinseki said that we needed at least 350,000 service members to do this effectively, he was retired (fired) by this administration for saying so.
American service members are dying by the thousands and tens of thousands more are being wounded in this war of choice started by an out of control administration intent only on fulfilling their own agenda.
Military Families Speak Out:
A soldier’s wife speaks out: by Wendy Chambers, Loudoun Times-Mirror April 17th, 2007
“Slowly, the American Public has awakened to the travesty of the Iraq War, from its false pretenses of WMDs to its seemingly endless ravaging of Americans and Iraqis alike.”
I know – my husband was deployed to Iraq twice. And my friends know – many of their loved ones have been to Iraq multiple times. Too many have died there.”
“the Bush administration that has not supported our troops. They were sent off to fight a war based on lies without proper armor, equipment and supplies. It is the Bush administration that has not allocated sufficient monies to provide the medical and psychological support for our troops when they return home or help them transition back to civilian life.”
Support Our Troops: De-Fund the War:
Military Families Speak Out is calling on Congress to end funding for the war in Iraq, save what is needed to bring our troops home quickly and safely, and to fully fund care for our troops when they return. Over 3,000 US troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, women and men have already died as a result of this war. Funding the war is not supporting our troops. The way to support our troops is to bring them home now and take care of them when they get here.
Bring Them Home Now:
Open Letter to Congress: If You Fund This War, It’s Yours; March 1, 2007
“Many of you have said, “We can’t de-fund the troops,” and “We can’t abandon the troops.” As military and Gold Star families and as Veterans of the Iraq and other wars, we understand the difference between “de-funding the war” and “de-funding the troops”. In fact, voting more funds for this war would be abandoning our troops. It would leave them with the possibility of joining the over 3,160 who have died as a result of a war that should never have started, or the tens of thousands who have been wounded physically, psychologically, or both.”
Sincerely,
Kelly Dougherty, Co-founder and Executive Director, Iraq Veterans Against the War; US Army National Guard, 1996-2004; Veteran, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, Co-founders, Military Families Speak Out; parents of a Marine who served in Iraq in spring, 2003
Michael McPhearson, Executive Director, Veterans For Peace; Gulf War Veteran, US Army Captain 1981-1992; member of Military Families Speak Out
Elliot DS Adams, President, Veterans For Peace; Vietnam Veteran, Spec-4, Army, infantry, paratrooper, 1966-69
