Families Speak

I found some articles and letters from soldier's families concerning the War on Iraq from "Military Families Speak Out" www.mfso.org

Here are some of their thoughts:

--"Joyce and Kevin Lucey are members of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families for Peace. Their son, Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, served in the Marine Reserves in Iraq in 2003. He came home neither safe nor sound. He suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and took his own life on June 22, 2004. His name is not in the Department of Defenses' roster of those who died in this war; yet Cpl. Lucey is a casualty of this war as much as any who has lost his or her life on the battlefield." This is their thoughts after watching President speak at Fort Bragg on June 28, 2005.......

-- Another Angry Mom --"I have been opposed to this war since the beginning, but as the mother of a soldier I was given no choice but to get on the roller coaster ride from HELL. As many times as I had wanted to voice my opinion, I held back because I felt I would be doing an injustice to my son and his courage, so I was torn between what was right, and the life I knew he was living. I knew that war was hell, but I never thought that hell could be made worse by the very people you are trying to protect".......

--"Yesterday afternoon I received a call from our daughter-in-law, Sarah, as I was finishing a meeting in New Hampshire. According to Sarah who had just talked to Ben, Ben and two other soldiers were manning a checkpoint, when Ben approached a white van to inspect it. Upon approaching it, a man jumped out of the van and started spraying the area with an AK-47. With bullets whining past his head, Ben had the presence of mind to grab his own revolver and shot the man. At that point, six others jumped out of the van, and a fire fight ensued. After it was over, Ben and his soldiers were OK except for helmets creased by bullets, a damaged 50mm machine gun, a burning white van, and violent shaking from the adrenaline and the stress of the fire fight. They had nearly been killed".......

---"Not long ago, $250,000 bought you a house, a car, started a college trust fund and still left you with enough for dinner at the Olive Garden. Today, $250,000 gets you a dead soldier".......

"My brother, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in action in Baghdad last month. Before he left, he took out the maximum Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance: $250,000. His wife gets that money and a folded flag. It should come with note: "Thanks for doing business with Uncle Sam. The medals are on us." What I'm left with is a dead brother, a fatherless nephew and a giant void where this giant man once stood".......

-- These are all very compelling stories, it doesn't really "hit home" to many of us because we may not have a loved one over in Iraq. Maybe these stories will actually have an effect people's thoughts of the war and acknowledge that there are people's sons, daughters, fathers, etc... serving our country.

My sympathy goes out to all who served and died over in Iraq and I support all of the troops still over there.

NEWS FLASH! Congress Fed Up!

-Congress and President Bush are at odds over the War in Iraq. Bush was pleading for patience earlier this week from Congress to give more time for his revised battle plan.

-"The new strategy will need more time to take effect" Bush stated. He also challenged Congress to send him a war funding bill "without strings and without delay."

-Nancy Pelosi replied to that by stating:

- "The American people have lost confidence in President Bush's plan for a war without end in Iraq"and "That failed approach has been rejected by the voters in our nation and it will be rejected by the Congress."

-The war has been going on for over four years and has already claimed the lives of over 3200 U.S troops, that is not including the many innocent casualties that have lost their lives in Iraq.

-In this News Flash article, Jennifer Loven stated:


-The public overwhelmingly opposes the war, and Bush's approval rating stands near his all-time low. Trying to halt spiraling sectarian bloodshed, Bush has ordered nearly 30,000 more combat and support troops to Iraq, mostly to stabilize Baghdad.

-The poll, by ABC News, USA Today, the BBC and ARD German TV, found only 18 percent of Iraqis have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops, 86 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be a victim of violence and 51 percent say violence against American forces is acceptable.

-It is a shame that 51% of Iraqis find it acceptable to commit violent acts against American forces. I am also saddened that 86% are scared for their lives and families that they might become a victim of violence.

-I can not imagine living in fear like that. There is something that should be done, aren't we are supposed to be protecting these people? Yet they are still living in fear.

Four Year Anniversary of the War in Iraq: Peaceful Protests

PROTEST

"Thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets this past weekend for the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The mostly peaceful demonstrations called for an end to funding for the Iraq War and withdrawal of troops."

Protestors marched from the National Mall to the Pentagon on March 17, 2007. The protest was organized by the Answer coalilation.

Many realize that protesting the war is one issue, but we also need to remember all of the troops who lost their lives fighting for our country.

Many veterans of previous wars were protesting and were remembering their fellow brothers who have fought and died.

"Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!" echoed the streets of San Francisco while over 3000 protestors marched on Market Street.

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the decision to go to war in Iraq but acknowledged an initial failure to send enough troops to handle the civil unrest after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

A World War II veteran, Harold Unsicker, protested in San Francisco along with 3000 other protestors on March 18 holding a sign stating: "IM 88, THE WAR IS A MISTAKE! WWII VET."

"Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!" echoed the streets on Market Street in San Francisco.

Many feel the War in Iraq is a mistake. Its a shame that many veterans that fought for our country do not support the war and President Bush. Does that suggest anything...? Don't get me wrong, our country will always support our troops, but many believe too many casualties and troops are dieing.

I would enjoy hearing comments on this topic and if anyone else protests the war.

Up-to-Date Information on Iraq

I wanted to get the president's most recent outlook on Iraq, so I went to http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/ and it entails many questions the public may have on the war and why we just can't get out of it.

President Bush Discusses Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, War on Terror at American Legion

"To succeed, Iraq's leaders also need the help of the international community. So the United States supports the Iraqi government as it pursues an international initiative to build diplomatic, economic, and security support for its young democracy. ... Diplomacy is going to play an important part of securing Iraq's future. Yet diplomacy will fail without a robust military strategy. The goal of the enemies in Iraq is power, and they're willing to kill themselves and innocent men, women, and children to achieve that goal. People like these can't be satisfied by negotiations or diplomatic concessions. Our strategy recognizes the hard truth. So we're going to continue to pursue our enemies in Iraq relentlessly, and at the same time, we'll work with moderate forces to achieve reconciliation between sectarian factions."

-- President George W. Bush

-- March 6, 2007

Why can't the U.S pull out of Iraq?

Now That The Battle For Baghdad Is Underway, Our Country Must Stand Behind Our Troops And Do Everything We Can To Aid Their Success. If American forces were to step back from Baghdad now, before it is more secure, the scale and scope of attacks would increase and intensify. Violence could spread across the entire country – and in time, the entire region. The enemy could emerge from the chaos emboldened – with new safe havens, new recruits, new resources, and an even greater determination to harm our Nation.

The New Strategy In Iraq Is Markedly Different From Previous Efforts.

Securing Baghdad is one of the top priorities and there are some tactics to this procedure.
President Bush is going to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq.

The vast majority will go to Baghdad, where they will help Iraqi forces to clear and secure neighborhoods, and partner with Iraqi Army units. With Iraqis in the lead, our forces will help secure the city by chasing down the terrorists, insurgents, and roaming death squads.

President Bush is also devising 40 "joint security stations" throughout Baghdad to have security.

In the past, our forces would help Iraqis clear out neighborhoods during the day, and then go back to their bases at night. This time, we will hold the neighborhoods we have cleared by establishing over 40 joint security stations throughout Baghdad. These will be neighborhood outposts where U.S. and Iraqi forces are jointly deployed 24 hours a day to secure the population, provide emergency aid to local communities, and gather information to root out extremist networks throughout the capital.

What do you think about some of the new found plans the president has derived?

Wondering how many civilians have died so far due to the War in Iraq?
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

A Good Conspiracy Theory...Debunked

As in many of my previous entries, there is the debate of 9/11 and if it was planned. Its a good conspiracy theory and it is very scary if ever proven true. To every argument however, there is a good counter argument. I found a website that refutes the conspiracies that I have brought upon you:

http://911review.com/pm/markup/index.html#puffs

This website debunks all the myths and questions that were raised in the "Loosechange 9/11" video.

For example:

Big Plane, Small Holes

CLAIM:

Two holes were visible in the Pentagon immediately after the attack: a 75-ft.-wide entry hole in the building's exterior wall, and a 16-ft.-wide hole in Ring C, the Pentagon's middle ring. Conspiracy theorists claim both holes are far too small to have been made by a Boeing 757. "How does a plane 125 ft. wide and 155 ft. long fit into a hole which is only 16 ft. across?" asks reopen911.org, a Web site "dedicated to discovering the bottom line truth to what really occurred on September 11, 2001."

The truth is of even less importance to French author Thierry Meyssan, whose baseless assertions are fodder for even mainstream European and Middle Eastern media. In his book The Big Lie, Meyssan concludes that the Pentagon was struck by a satellite-guided missile--part of an elaborate U.S. military coup. "This attack," he writes, "could only be committed by United States military personnel against other U.S. military personnel."

FACT:

When American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon's exterior wall, Ring E, it created a hole approximately 75 ft. wide, according to the ASCE Pentagon Building Performance Report. The exterior facade collapsed about 20 minutes after impact, but ASCE based its measurements of the original hole on the number of first-floor support columns that were destroyed or damaged. Computer simulations confirmed the findings.

Why wasn't the hole as wide as a 757's 124-ft.-10-in. wingspan? A crashing jet doesn't punch a cartoon-like outline of itself into a reinforced concrete building, says ASCE team member Mete Sozen, a professor of structural engineering at Purdue University. In this case, one wing hit the ground; the other was sheared off by the force of the impact with the Pentagon's load-bearing columns, explains Sozen, who specializes in the behavior of concrete buildings. What was left of the plane flowed into the structure in a state closer to a liquid than a solid mass. "If you expected the entire wing to cut into the building," Sozen tells PM, "it didn't happen."

The tidy hole in Ring C was 12 ft. wide--not 16 ft. ASCE concludes it was made by the jet's landing gear, not by the fuselage.

So now that these "myths" are somewhat debunked, you can be the judge. My opinion is that there are always two sides to a story and refutations to arguments. I'll be looking for a good refutation to that counter argument.