Gayle in MD
09-06-2007, 01:11 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-cornell-du-houx/the-lives-that-begin-and-_b_63285.html
Alex Cornell du Houx
The Lives That Begin and End at Age 21
Posted September 6, 2007 | 10:10 AM (EST)
This week, there are two compelling reasons for me to write this post.
As an Iraq War veteran, watching Charles Ferguson's documentary, No End in Sight, left me frustrated at those such as Donald Rumsfeld whose arrogance cost American and Iraqi lives. As an officer in the College Democrats of America, the GAO's report stating that Iraq has hardly made any political progress left me again questioning a flawed and failing policy.
When I joined the Marine Reserves in 2002, I did not expect to be deployed to a war I disagree with; but it was my duty and honor to serve alongside my fellow Marines in Iraq last year. From my experiences in the Marines and the College Democrats, I must say that the past two years have given me a whirlwind of an education. It is and will always be my duty to serve at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief, despite my personal opinion. But it is also my duty as an American to learn how our policies reflect on the ground, and whether we are making headway. After spending a deployment patrolling the streets of Fallujah, I learned a great deal. I learned a great deal every time I watched a Humvee get blown up by an IED. I learned a great deal every time I saw Iraqis identify themselves as Sunnis and Shi'ites, not Iraqis. I learned a great deal every time children raised their hands and asked for water, not candy.
It was those experiences that guided me to where I stand on the war today. When I was on post with many of the Iraqi Army soldiers, I noticed they had propaganda on the inner linings of their uniforms promoting Moqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army. One of the men we worked with asked me why the Marines were hunting al-Sadr and was trying to explain why al-Sadr was such a great person. I also spent a good deal of time with the Iraqi police and had to guard their police station from attacks since they would not show up for work when they felt danger. However, what's more disturbing is that the Iraqi army is mostly Shi'ite, while the police are mostly Sunni. As a result, we had to prevent and break up fights between the army and police at jointly run checkpoints.
It takes moments like these for any soldier serving in a dangerous, hostile foreign land to ask themselves the true purpose of the mission. Iraq's sectarian divides are so thoroughly ingrained that even those who fight in the name of Iraq do not claim allegiance to a central government, but to local religious leaders. When the incompetence and disorganization of al-Maliki's government is so obvious after over four years, it is easy to see why so many are turning to local radical leaders for protection, revenge and basic needs.
Amid the chaos, the sectarian divisions, the lack in basic necessities and hostility towards American forces, I wondered why our nation's finest youth are being sent to fight this war. The young people I've met serving our country are of the highest honor. With the average casualty age in Iraq at 21, the price they pay for this war so stubbornly mismanaged can only be described as tragic.
As I return to Bowdoin College to finish my senior year, I look at the faces of the young people who at age 21 are picking their majors in college -- deciding how they want to begin their adult lives and make a difference in the world. I look at their excitement and their love towards life, and I think about the ones, at the same age, whose lives are ending in a foreign land thousands of miles away.
I don't think I can ever put to words the toll of that tragic contrast. But it's time we honor those who passed by bringing those still there home.
<font color="red">We see already the handwriting on the wall. No General will be sent to Iraq by George Bush, unless he agrees to continue to allow our youth to be slaughtered in Iraq for as long as the DECIDER insists. To continue the slaughter, provides us no security from terrorist attacks here, and serves only to continue to destroy our armed services and reserves, putting our own homeland at great risk, as has been stated by many national Security Experts, and retired and active military Generals.
The GAO's report, the only completely independent report our government offers us, is clear, that the only strategy Bush has ever had, lies and deceit, is still the modus operendi on Iraq, and that the failed "Surge" for which Bush insisted extending our troops, without proper equipment, rest or training, to die and be mained, although it has clearly failed miserably to succeed, will be justified by more of the same Republican Spin which got us into this immoral, illegal war.
There has been no political reconciliation, supposedly the reason for the surge, to provide "Breathing Space" for the Iraqi Parliament, which promptly mostly were vacationing since the onset of the surge began. The Iraqi Police Force is corrupted beyond repair, and the Iraqi Army is still years away from independence. al qaeda is growing, our ports and borders, are still open, and the infrastructure in this our country, is crumbling, as horrendous debt threatens our country.
In the midst of the political efforts of George Bush to skew the truth about the circumstances in Iraq, and the failure of the "Surge", Republicans, as they have done all along, are spinning the cherry picked information to try to create a political advantage, and mask their on-going deceit on behalf of George Bush, and Bush's (un-necessary)war, in preparation for the coming election.
As evidenced by John McCain, and the other Republican contenders, in last night's debate, save the one honest among them, Ron Paul, McCain insisted vehemently, that the surge is working. Surely, he knows that the GAO report, as well as the statements of some of our senior military, in Iraq, are at odds with his, Petraeaus' and Bush's, descriptions of the situation on the ground.
I urge you to read the GAO report for yourself, at www.GAO.gov (http://www.GAO.gov) and contact your representatives to insist that our people no longer die in service to a President who has used and deceived them for his own private agenda.
It is far past time to end this forced Republican slaughter of American Troops, and bring them home. They completed their mission, in April of 2003, and should not have to die for the benefit of American Oil cronies of George Bush, and Dick Cheney. Iraq, can handle it's own problems, and will handle its own problems, when we do as the majority of Iraqis and Americans wish, and get out of their Iraq. We are not yet a dictatorship, in sp[ite of George Bush, who brags about the fact that our opinions do not enter his rhelm, nor the opinions of the majority of Iraqis, but he must be stopped. He has hurt our country, and our soldiers for long enough. We must end the Neocon agenda, replete with false expectations, inaccurate predictions, and ulterior motives, before they launch their hidden plan for war with Iran, and Syria. We cannot afford to allow a man who is removed from reality, nor his supporters, equally removed, to continue to destroy our country.</font color>
Alex Cornell du Houx
The Lives That Begin and End at Age 21
Posted September 6, 2007 | 10:10 AM (EST)
This week, there are two compelling reasons for me to write this post.
As an Iraq War veteran, watching Charles Ferguson's documentary, No End in Sight, left me frustrated at those such as Donald Rumsfeld whose arrogance cost American and Iraqi lives. As an officer in the College Democrats of America, the GAO's report stating that Iraq has hardly made any political progress left me again questioning a flawed and failing policy.
When I joined the Marine Reserves in 2002, I did not expect to be deployed to a war I disagree with; but it was my duty and honor to serve alongside my fellow Marines in Iraq last year. From my experiences in the Marines and the College Democrats, I must say that the past two years have given me a whirlwind of an education. It is and will always be my duty to serve at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief, despite my personal opinion. But it is also my duty as an American to learn how our policies reflect on the ground, and whether we are making headway. After spending a deployment patrolling the streets of Fallujah, I learned a great deal. I learned a great deal every time I watched a Humvee get blown up by an IED. I learned a great deal every time I saw Iraqis identify themselves as Sunnis and Shi'ites, not Iraqis. I learned a great deal every time children raised their hands and asked for water, not candy.
It was those experiences that guided me to where I stand on the war today. When I was on post with many of the Iraqi Army soldiers, I noticed they had propaganda on the inner linings of their uniforms promoting Moqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army. One of the men we worked with asked me why the Marines were hunting al-Sadr and was trying to explain why al-Sadr was such a great person. I also spent a good deal of time with the Iraqi police and had to guard their police station from attacks since they would not show up for work when they felt danger. However, what's more disturbing is that the Iraqi army is mostly Shi'ite, while the police are mostly Sunni. As a result, we had to prevent and break up fights between the army and police at jointly run checkpoints.
It takes moments like these for any soldier serving in a dangerous, hostile foreign land to ask themselves the true purpose of the mission. Iraq's sectarian divides are so thoroughly ingrained that even those who fight in the name of Iraq do not claim allegiance to a central government, but to local religious leaders. When the incompetence and disorganization of al-Maliki's government is so obvious after over four years, it is easy to see why so many are turning to local radical leaders for protection, revenge and basic needs.
Amid the chaos, the sectarian divisions, the lack in basic necessities and hostility towards American forces, I wondered why our nation's finest youth are being sent to fight this war. The young people I've met serving our country are of the highest honor. With the average casualty age in Iraq at 21, the price they pay for this war so stubbornly mismanaged can only be described as tragic.
As I return to Bowdoin College to finish my senior year, I look at the faces of the young people who at age 21 are picking their majors in college -- deciding how they want to begin their adult lives and make a difference in the world. I look at their excitement and their love towards life, and I think about the ones, at the same age, whose lives are ending in a foreign land thousands of miles away.
I don't think I can ever put to words the toll of that tragic contrast. But it's time we honor those who passed by bringing those still there home.
<font color="red">We see already the handwriting on the wall. No General will be sent to Iraq by George Bush, unless he agrees to continue to allow our youth to be slaughtered in Iraq for as long as the DECIDER insists. To continue the slaughter, provides us no security from terrorist attacks here, and serves only to continue to destroy our armed services and reserves, putting our own homeland at great risk, as has been stated by many national Security Experts, and retired and active military Generals.
The GAO's report, the only completely independent report our government offers us, is clear, that the only strategy Bush has ever had, lies and deceit, is still the modus operendi on Iraq, and that the failed "Surge" for which Bush insisted extending our troops, without proper equipment, rest or training, to die and be mained, although it has clearly failed miserably to succeed, will be justified by more of the same Republican Spin which got us into this immoral, illegal war.
There has been no political reconciliation, supposedly the reason for the surge, to provide "Breathing Space" for the Iraqi Parliament, which promptly mostly were vacationing since the onset of the surge began. The Iraqi Police Force is corrupted beyond repair, and the Iraqi Army is still years away from independence. al qaeda is growing, our ports and borders, are still open, and the infrastructure in this our country, is crumbling, as horrendous debt threatens our country.
In the midst of the political efforts of George Bush to skew the truth about the circumstances in Iraq, and the failure of the "Surge", Republicans, as they have done all along, are spinning the cherry picked information to try to create a political advantage, and mask their on-going deceit on behalf of George Bush, and Bush's (un-necessary)war, in preparation for the coming election.
As evidenced by John McCain, and the other Republican contenders, in last night's debate, save the one honest among them, Ron Paul, McCain insisted vehemently, that the surge is working. Surely, he knows that the GAO report, as well as the statements of some of our senior military, in Iraq, are at odds with his, Petraeaus' and Bush's, descriptions of the situation on the ground.
I urge you to read the GAO report for yourself, at www.GAO.gov (http://www.GAO.gov) and contact your representatives to insist that our people no longer die in service to a President who has used and deceived them for his own private agenda.
It is far past time to end this forced Republican slaughter of American Troops, and bring them home. They completed their mission, in April of 2003, and should not have to die for the benefit of American Oil cronies of George Bush, and Dick Cheney. Iraq, can handle it's own problems, and will handle its own problems, when we do as the majority of Iraqis and Americans wish, and get out of their Iraq. We are not yet a dictatorship, in sp[ite of George Bush, who brags about the fact that our opinions do not enter his rhelm, nor the opinions of the majority of Iraqis, but he must be stopped. He has hurt our country, and our soldiers for long enough. We must end the Neocon agenda, replete with false expectations, inaccurate predictions, and ulterior motives, before they launch their hidden plan for war with Iran, and Syria. We cannot afford to allow a man who is removed from reality, nor his supporters, equally removed, to continue to destroy our country.</font color>