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COLUMBUS, OHIO—Over a year ago, in March 2006, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes published the results of a Zogby poll of troops serving in Iraq. Seventy-two percent said U.S. forces should withdraw within a year. Twenty-five percent thought we should pull out right away. But 85 percent said a major reason they were there was "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the September 11 attacks." These people are confused, to say the least.
Even more confusing is the persistent flow of complaints by Iraq War veterans that Americans on the home front are partying like it's 2009 while their comrades back in Vichy Mesopotamia are getting blown up. Army infantry officer Will Bardenwerper gave voice to this oft-stated sentiment in an October 20 New York Times op/ed. "As I began my 13-month deployment (in Tal Afar, Iraq)," wrote a dispirited Bardenwerper, "I imagined an American public following our progress with the same concern as my family and friends. But since returning home, I have seen that America has changed the channel." He was struck by "the disparity between the lives of the few who are fighting and being killed, and the many who have been asked for nothing more than to continue shopping."
Typical suggestions for fairer distribution of sacrifice and a military draft—the latter to obtain additional manpower and inspire antiwar marchers to fill the streets like they did during Vietnam—follow. At least he left out the usual calls for victory gardens and gas rationing.
The war sucks. On that point, the millions of Americans who were against it from the start (and the many millions more who've come around to agreeing with us) agree with the soldiers serving in it. Forced re-enlistment through the "stop-loss" loophole is placing thousands of lives in suspended animation, destroying marriages and small businesses. Troops aren't getting enough protective gear.
It's also true that Americans have stopped paying attention. I'm a news junkie. And even I flip the page past the same old "2 Dead, 7 Wounded in IED Blast" headline.
But hey, soldier, you volunteered. If not for you, there wouldn't be a war in the first place.
"Supporting the troops means supporting their mission." That's been the mantra of the pro-war right. It's been hard for those of us who oppose the war to argue with them because so many of the troops have repeatedly allowed themselves to be used as propaganda shills for Bush administration officials and the Republican Party in general.
It's bad enough that a majority of soldiers voted for Bush in 2004. Over and over since the war began, American troops have been seen on television applauding Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice and others whose cynical recklessness has sent their buddies to their graves. Sailors cheered wildly when Bush staged his notorious "Mission Accomplished" photo-op on an aircraft carrier. They swooned when he joined them for Thanksgiving dinner in Baghdad.
"The shocked and elated soldiers jumped to their feet, pumped their fists in the air, roared with delight and grabbed their cameras to snap photographs," reported CNN about Bush's visit. A "standing ovation" followed. "It gave us a little extra oomph," said a member of the 1st Armored Division. "It really boosted my morale," said another.
No one heckled or booed the imposter president. No one threw tomatoes. No one told him where he could stick his plastic turkey.
Even after soldiers get killed, their parents promote the war so their dead kids won't be lonely in heaven. At Fort Benning, Ga., Bush met Deb Tainsh, whose son was killed by a roadside bomb near the Baghdad Airport. She presented Bush with more than 100 e-mails from parents of soldiers who have died or are presently serving in Iraq. "Every one of these letters says, 'Mr. President, we support you,'" she said. "The consensus is that they ... want him to do everything he can to win this war and that our prayers are with him."
"Bush, 61, has so far met with more than 1,500 relatives of the 4,255 American troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan," the Bloomberg News wire service reported last week. "In most of the meetings, [Bush's] aides say, he hears support for his policies, hardening his resolve to stay the course in Afghanistan and Iraq." Few Gold Star mothers tell him off. Those who do are polite to the man who murdered their children as surely and as viciously as if he'd shot them himself. Why don't they spit at him?
Four years after the WMDs and liberation flora failed to turn up, people still enlist. After soldiers die, their parents insist that theirs was a noble sacrifice. Tell me again: Why should I care about the war? Why shouldn't I go shopping?
Soldiers who want antiwar Americans to march to demand that they be brought home should take a cue from Vietnam veterans. They marched with peace protesters and threw their medals at the Capitol. Soldiers serving on the front refused orders. Some fragged their officers. Vietnam Veterans Against the War claimed more than 50,000 members by 1971. That year saw numerous dramatic acts of dissent by U.S. troops, including 50 veterans who marched to the Pentagon and demanded that they be arrested as war criminals. Fifteen vets took over and barricaded the Statue of Liberty for two days. These acts swayed opinions and helped convince lawmakers it was time to withdraw.
Some soldiers in Iraq have offered resistance. After being denied conscientious objector status, Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes went AWOL in 2004. He was sentenced to two months in the brig and three months hard labor. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada refused to be sent to Iraq in 2006, telling the media that the war's illegality would make him a party to war crimes. Army Specialist Darrell Anderson, faced with a second tour of duty after being wounded by a roadside bomb, deserted and fled to Canada. "I went to Iraq willingly," said Anderson.
"I wanted to die for my country. I thought I was going to go there and protect my family back home. All I was doing was killing other families there." The Army decided not to prosecute him. Several other deserters have applied for political asylum in Canada, but they're only a fraction of the thousands who went there during the 1960s and 1970s.
When Bill Clinton was president, Republicans said he should be afraid to speak at military bases. That should go double for Bush. The next he shows up to use you as a TV prop, soldiers and fellow Americans, boo the crap out of him. What's the worst he can do? Kill you?
Ted Rall is the author of the new book Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?, an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.
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Thank you Ted for writing this column. I plan to buy your book. Another matter I wish you would address, if you have not already, is the statement "the soldiers are defending our freedoms." No one should have to dig to figure out the fallacy of this statement. It should leap right out at them. The soldiers, if they defend anything, defend the government while the government works steadily to diminish our freedoms. The soldiers also inflict the US's foreign policy on the rest of globe. Active & retired military personnel contributed about $35,000 to Ron Paul's campaign last quarter, well ahead of McCain's second place $22,000. But, this was an average of $500 per contribution, which is only 70 contributors. If the number of contributors were 7000 at $5 each, that would be a statement.
More Death! More Debt! The Consequences of An Attack on Iran! Oil Prices 200-300 Dollars Per Barrel/Gasoline $6-10 Per Gallon Oil producing facilities around the Persian Gulf are vulnerable to an attack by Iranian forces and a blockade of the Straits of Hormuz and the mining of the waters around the Persian Gulf! The Tripling of Energy Prices Leading To The Destruction of The US Economy, the US Stock Market and US Jobs Including The Destruction of The Worlds Economy! US Ships in The Persian Gulf & US Troops in Bagdad are Sitting Ducks! Iran has the powerful Sunburn Anti-ship missiles that according to the US Navy cannot be stopped once it is launched. US Naval Forces located just 50 miles south of the Iranian Shoreline are well within the range of these powerful missiles! The Cascade of Uncontrollable Events & Worldwide Nuclear War! In the movie the Day After, a worldwide nuclear war is set off after a nuclear weapon is airburst over advancing soviet troops! US forces in the middle east are gravely at risk from Iran's 2 million strong nearby standing army and its powerful and unstoppable Russian made sunburn cruise missiles capable of sinking the US fleet (which for all intents and purposes is trapped in the waters of the Persian Gulf). The use of nuclear weapons against Iran has not been taken off the table by the bush administration because it is this threat this administration "HOPES” will keep Iran from overrunning the US military forces in Iraq and in the middle east. Therefore a probable US response to an advancing Iranian Army force of 700,000 troops into Iraq would be a nuclear weapon , airburst over advancing Iranian troops. SOUND FAMILIAR? In the chaos Israel, Pakistan, India, Russia, China and the US would be under tremendous pressure to use their nuclear weapons or lose their nuclear weapons. Even a limited nuclear exchange would destroy the ENTIRE OIL PRODUCING resources and reserves in the Middle East for decades. Oil would rise to 300 to 500 dollars a barrel and gas would be priced at $20 to $30 dollars a gallon! The economic health of our planet would collapse! This Administration Does Not Seem Concerned With The Consequences of It’s Actions On The Health & Wealth of the American People! Congress Must Stop This President From Taking This Nation Further Into The Path of More Death & More Debt! Negotiate Using A Stick AND Carrot Approach to Ending The Nuclear Weapons Threat From All Countries Including Iran & Israel!
The troops serving in Iraq should be under no illusion about their Commander-In-Chief. He ducked out of Viet Nam just like his co-conspirator VP Cheney who "had better things to do" ...better things to do than serve his country in war. Both of these men have proven to be "lying yellow belly cowards" and that is the way they should always be addressed. Bush flew into Iraq in the dark of night and served a rubber turkey to the troops....what would one expect of a lying yellow belly coward. Also the troops should know the war is about OIL OIL OIL OIL...and more OIL. And it's about making Bush's and Cheney's rich friends richer. Their rich friends, the most unneeding people in America, got a big tax break just as the troops were going into Iraq without adequate armor.
Ted you wrote a good article but it was very incomplete. You addressed the platitudes that survivors and family members showered on the dumb commander-in-chief, but you forgot to tell the public of their financial reward. All of the deaths in Kosova, Afghaninstan, Iraq and the Mid East et al reap a huge financial bonanza if a member dies on duty today. Instantly $100,000.00 to the beneficiary. Look at the eligible beneficiaries and you may have a payment due you. This is State and Federal tax free. Additionally, they collect up to $450,000.00 from the VA as insurance on which you and I pay the premimum as they serve in the Mid East, Kosova and Afghanistan. This is paid out over a time by the VA and, also, is State and Federal tax free. A widow/widower, of as little as one day, collects; as of this year $1,095.00 per month, until age 52 if not remarried. After that date they can remarry and continue the payment which is on a yuearly COLA increase. Oh yes! They currently draw $259.00 a month for each child until age 21 plus health care. What a bonanza. Open http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay and especially open the Death Gratuity link for the payment of $100,000.00. Bet you and the public didn't know this. Will you provide the survivor's a handkerchief? wdgray@shawneelink.net
The author of this article must have been one of the ones out front of the protest marches and Like Shehan wants to relive the sixties. Come to my area of Oklahoma and spout your liberal s--t and we'll teach you what our troups are fighting for and why we support them. You might find out a little more about our Southron views and ways. I bet you are going to vote for Billary too.
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