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Sava
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GO GO GO!
Mar 2001
time: 23:31
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quote:
Published on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 by the Los Angeles Times
Paths of Glory Lead to a Soldier's Doubt
An American carrying out his duty in Iraq wonders aloud why he's there.
by Tim Predmore
For the last six months I have participated in what I believe to be the great modern lie: Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, and throughout the battle in Afghanistan, the groundwork was being laid for the invasion of Iraq. "Shock and awe" was the term used to describe the display of power the world was to view upon the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was to be a dramatic show of strength and advanced technology from within the arsenals of the American and British militaries.
But as a soldier preparing to take part in the invasion of Iraq, the words "shock and awe" rang deep within my psyche. Even as we prepared to depart, it seemed that these two great superpowers were about to break the very rules they demanded that others obey. Without the consent of the United Nations, and ignoring the pleas of their own citizens, the U.S. and Britain invaded Iraq. "Shock and awe"? Yes, the words correctly described the emotional impact I felt as we embarked on an act not of justice but of hypocrisy.
From the moment the first shot was fired in this so-called war of liberation and freedom, hypocrisy reigned. After the broadcasting of recorded images of captured and dead U.S. soldiers over Arab television, American and British leaders vowed revenge while verbally assaulting the networks for displaying such vivid images. Yet within hours of the deaths of Saddam Hussein's two sons, the U.S. released horrific photographs of the two dead brothers for the world to view. Again, a "do as we say and not as we do" scenario.
As soldiers serving in Iraq, we have been told that our purpose here is to help the people of Iraq by providing them the necessary assistance militarily as well as in humanitarian efforts. Then tell me where the humanity was in the recent Stars and Stripes account of two children taken to a U.S. military camp by their mother, in search of medical care. The children had been unknowingly playing with explosive ordnance they had found and as a result were severely burned. The account tells how they, after an hourlong wait, were denied care by two U.S. military doctors. A soldier described the incident as one of many "atrocities" he had witnessed on the part of the U.S. military.
Thankfully I have not been a personal witness to any atrocities, unless of course you consider, as I do, this war to be the ultimate atrocity.
So then, what is our purpose here?
Was this invasion because of weapons of mass destruction, as we so often have heard? If so, where are they? Did we invade to dispose of a leader and his regime because they were closely associated with Osama bin Laden? If so, where is the proof? Or is it that our incursion is a result of our own economic advantage? Iraq's oil can be refined at the lowest cost of any in the world. Coincidence?
This looks like a modern-day crusade not to free an oppressed people or to rid the world of a demonic dictator relentless in his pursuit of conquest and domination but a crusade to control another nation's natural resource. At least to me, oil seems to be the reason for our presence.
There is only one truth, and it is that Americans are dying. There are 10 to 14 attacks on our servicemen and -women daily in Iraq, and it would appear that there is no end in sight.
I once believed that I served for a cause: "to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States." Now I no longer believe that; I have lost my conviction, as well as my determination. I can no longer justify my service for what I believe to be half-truths and bold lies.
With age comes wisdom, and at 36 years old I am no longer so blindly led as to believe without question. From my arrival at Ft. Campbell, Ky., last November, talk of deployment was heard, and as that talk turned to actual preparation my heart sank and my doubts grew. My doubts have never faded; instead my resolve and commitment have.
My time is almost done, as well as that of many others with whom I serve. We have all faced death in Iraq without reason or justification. How many more must die? How many more tears must be shed before Americans awake and demand the return of the men and women whose job it is to protect them rather than their leader's interest?
Tim Predmore is on active duty with the 101st Airborne Division near Mosul, Iraq. A version of this essay appeared in the Peoria (Ill.) Star Journal.
Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times
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http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0917-13.htm
It's nice to read the accounts of a soldier in the war. Some of my own friends in the region have expressed similar opinions in letters to friends and families.
And today, after reading this piece, I read how the Pentagon Budget plans to cut $1.8 billion from veteran's benefits and to lower combat pay from $225 a month  to $150 a month. If anything is to be cut, it's the portions of the Bush tax cuts aimed at the top brackets... not the pay of the men and women who defend this nation, but are unfortunately being put into harm's way for Bush's political ends. 
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yavoon
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ignoring the pleas of their own citizens?
someone needs to chill on the editorializing.
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeH
That's definitely true in the UK at least. We had the largest demonstration of all time to protest the war. Every town had a little peace shrine manned at all times and arranged peace protests before the war.
I saw pictures/news reports of a huge anti-war demonstration in Washington before the war and several in other US cities. |
I dont remember what the polls in england were like.
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by chegitz guevara
80% of Britons were opposed to the war before it began, as were a majority of Americans if the US didn't get UN backing. |
depends on when u took the US poll. at first I think the majority of "w/ UN backing" was high. but it began to slip as we started the whole freedom fry thing. and it began to look like a power feud.
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by Sava
care to back up your assertions? false statements? I didn't realize you were in Iraq at the moment. Please enlighten us with your first-hand accounts of daily occupation duty. I don't know... no offense, but I trust Mr. Predmore's accounts over your own uninformed opinions. |
I don't see how being in iraq makes me more capable of assertaining the "pleas of the american ppl" u gigantic moron.
seek medical help
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by chegitz guevara
It wasn't until the week before the war that the Prez had a majority of support in the US. Meanwhile, the anti-war movement in the US was growing and getting better organized (not that I ever thought it had a shot in hell of stopping the war, which I always said). |
k=D
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by chegitz guevara
This is a republic, not a democracy. It doesn't matter what the people want except during presidential election years. |
representative democracy, yes yes. had ur fun nitpick?
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by Sava
well post some then... personally, I think the opinions and experiences of America's Armed Forces personel are valuable, not meaningless. |
if I was in the military what would that make my opinion to u? would it be a wash?
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yavoon
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quote:
Originally posted by Sava
it would at least give you a little credibility... |
ahhh I was hoping for a more interesting response.
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Timexwatch
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Columbia Heights, Washington D.C.
Jul 1999
time: 00:31
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Here's the article I mentioned. It's not the NYT or Washington Post, but it's another view just the same.
quote:
GW Hatchet - Opinions
Issue: 09/15/03
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From the front lines of Iraq: Media preoccupied with negative coverage
By Richard Murphy
HILLAH, Iraq The portraits are haunting, unshakable and impossible to ignore. Myriad pictures of missing men dot the urban landscape of Hillah, Iraq, a predominately Shiite Muslim city 60 miles south of Baghdad. Some of the subjects look distinctly western - a suit, tie and mustache - others have a traditional Middle Eastern appearance - a long white gown, headdress and beard. Most appear to be vigorous and prosperous men in the prime of their lives. All this appeared during the brutal reign of Saddam Hussein. Then you find their resting place on the mass graves of the outskirts of town, where more than 3,000 lives were extinguished by Saddam's security forces. Before I arrived in Hillah as a U.S Army Military Police officer, I was skeptical about American involvement in Iraq. "What are we doing here?" I wondered. "Was it the weapons of mass destruction? The supposed ties to al Qaeda? The nuclear program? Or were we here to depose a murderous dictator and try to bring democratic self-rule to a nation of 25 million in the center of the chronically corrupt Arab world?" After looking face to face with the dead, innocent victims of Saddam's apparatus of evil, I have no doubt that we are justified in being here.
Abbas, a 51-year-old elementary school security guard and father of 10, visited our compound the other day with his beautiful 11-year-old daughter, Abeer. Abbas has a long scar on his head where Saddam's security personnel beat in his skull for allegedly being disloyal during the Shiite uprising following the first Gulf War. After Abbas was sent to prison, the thugs went to his home and raped four of his teenage daughters.
Abbas celebrated when the U.S. Marines liberated Hillah. Now he counts as friends many of the soldiers of my MP Company. Abbas is back on the job. We trained him and hundreds of other security guards and police officers in Hillah, trying to instill integrity and service to the community as core values. It has been an uphill battle, but one we are winning. Corruption was a way of life in Saddam's Iraq. Bribes were commonplace. Baath party membership was often a prerequisite for social and professional advancement, opening the door to opportunity. Non-party members could not gain employment in Iraq's vast bureaucracy, become law enforcement officers or even attend college. But that is over now. Iraq is opening a new chapter in its history. This chapter is one with unprecedented opportunity for success - or failure. From what I have read in newspapers my family sends me from home and in the rare chances I get to use the Internet, the media seems to be selling the idea that American troops are dogged down in a quagmire. In my opinion, coverage of the occupation generally lacks balance in any sense of proportion. Yes, soldiers are dying a rate of one every other day. Those stories are tragic and must be told. And, certainly, rebuilding the infrastructure of a nation the size of California is no small task. But while the media focuses on negative events, ambushes, bombing and sabotage, it often misses the positive stories.
Each day I patrol the streets of Hillah I am greeted with smiles, waves and jubilant cheers. In broken English, Iraqis shout, "I love you America," "Thank you America" and "good Bush." Children mob soldiers, asking, "Is America beautiful?" and "You like Hillah?" And they beg us to take photos with them. Soldiers give children candy or sometimes something better. Our medic bought Abass' daughter Abeer - a bicycle and a new a set of clothes. The kids often give gifts, however small, to the soldiers. One young boy even let me ride his donkey.
In Hillah, crime is down as more cops hit the street. At the police station I help supervise, the Iraqi chief says most of the mischief in Hillah is caused by instigators from Baghdad, Salluga and Tikrit, the so-called "Sunni Triangle." Business is booming as sanctions have been lifted and trade is flourishing. Rows of shining new appliances, TVs and satellite dishes make traversing the sidewalks of Hillah a daunting task. And oil revenue will finally be used to address the needs of the Iraqi people, rather than to purchase guns and build palaces as in Saddam's Iraq. A poll by Iraqi Media Network, an American-run TV station under the new provisional authority, found that 87 percent of Hillah residents want American soldiers to stay, and 91 percent consider American soldiers their friends. Why isn't the American media focusing on these stories?
I am not saying that everything is perfect, or even close to it, in Iraq. Aside from rooting out Saddam's loyalists, the most pressing challenge facing the occupation authority is remedying the severe electricity and gasoline shortages. For now, the Iraqis I met are giving civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer the benefit of the doubt. These fundamental problems are crippling the livelihood of Iraqis and must be addressed. But the window of opportunity is quickly closing.
From my view on the ground, the media portrayal of events in Iraq painfully misses the point. The dramatic failures of the occupation are magnified while daily successes go unreported. I wish for one day that the media could follow my squad through the streets of Hillah. Then the world would see what I see - the smiling faces of a long-oppressed people who exalt in their newfound freedom and hope in the future - unimaginable during Saddam's reign.
Finally, I would like to relay an exchange I had with my friend Mehdi, a 61-year-old Iraqi translator who works with my company.
"You know what many of the old people think about the Americans?" Mehdi asked. "What's that, Mehdi?" I said. He replied, "They think you were sent here by God. America has a lot to live up to."
-The writer, a Specialist in the Army Reserves, is a GW law student and former Hatchet editor in chief.
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20-09-2003 23:12
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