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A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran
To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young
I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.
I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us allthe human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.
You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americansmy fellow veteranswhose future you stole.
I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americansmy fellow veteranswhose future you stole.
Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to liberate Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called democracy in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraqs oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every levelmoral, strategic, military and economicIraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences.
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.
I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian. But isnt lying a sin? Isnt murder a sin? Arent theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.
My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.
Dig last updated on Mar. 18, 2013
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/the_last_letter_20130318/
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Aerows
(39,961 posts)But see, you have to have a heart for that letter to touch you. Bush and Cheney neither one have a heart.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)compass. Your right they may escape all of us but if there is a god that won't escape him. Come judgement day they will get their justice. They won't be able to bullshit god.
Frank Cannon
(7,570 posts)George Bush takes a swig and starts painting another puppy.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Neither asshole gives shit one about who died in their occupations of choice, their tax-drains of folly. Just another number, just a few billion here and there. In their puny minds, it was all for the "greater good". What that "greater good" was or is, I guess that's for them to know and us to find out.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)Asshole.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)tblue
(16,350 posts)That is the insult added to the injury.
SylviaD
(721 posts)...because the consequences were taken "OFF THE TABLE" by our own Democratic leaders. That's why.
Damn it!!
malaise
(269,087 posts)Rec
beac
(9,992 posts)And I wish I could rec this one time for every life those two squandered in their lust for gold.
1Greensix
(111 posts)Before you begin going after Bushit and Chicken-cheney you will have to establish that the people they associate with actually have of some kind. I certainly haven't seen one Republican in years that isn't racist, greedy, and ignorant of the Iraq War facts. MOST still think there were weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq and that Saddam was backing terrorists. Everyone else in the world knows the truth, but Republicans refuse to listen to Six Billion people who accept the truth and watch Fox for their facts. Bushit-cheney, Chicken, Rummy, Rice and Powell should All be in prison, but they're living the High Life while wounded vets and families of dead veterans will spend the remainder of their days in sorrow and pain. Cowards run away, or send someone else to do their fighting. That's Bushit and Chicken-cheney, through and through.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)but I think he's planning to leave the party.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)the Democratic Party like Charlie Crist did in Florida after a much shorter stint as an Independent.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)Good. Lincoln Chafee is a good man.
skydive forever
(445 posts)So well written.
Segami
(14,923 posts)LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)I hope wherever your soul travels, you will be surrounded by peace and love.
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)I am so sorry this has happened to you, as a direct result of these two incompetent lying assholes. Yes, as stated previously there were more people involved, and yes, they should all rot in prison for the rest of their lives. The fact is they wanted a war. There was no consideration of the human lives involved, and the fact that it was all a lie!!! The right is pro war. Cheney's companies personally profited from this. They have no consideration for human life or reprocussions, just their own personal satisfaction and profits. Their day will come, and it can't be soon enough. All WE can do, from this point forward, is to keep the right from ever becoming in a position of power in future elections.
God bless you.
Ian_rd
(2,124 posts)Even at the height of my hatred for him, I always saw him as basically a good guy who got wrapped up in his own bullshit, and effectively managed and controlled by more powerful personalities (Cheney et. al.). It wouldn't surprise me if he was troubled in his quieter moments about his role in the needless suffering and death of scores of human beings.
But Cheney? Fuck no. He would read that letter (he wouldn't) and have no reaction whatsoever. That fucker will live his entire life without a hint of responsibility or guilt.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)George Bush has no conscience. He does not feel the pain of others. He could read this letter and cheerfully go back to his cute little doggy paintings. He was used as a puppet BECAUSE he exhibited these traits of pathological narcissism (sociopathy), as does his entire family. 43 believes he did the right thing. You have to believe it to do it. He has no troubled quieter moments because he can distance himself emotionally. He has no tears but crocodile tears for himself, sensing that his legacy may be tarnished. He feels no shred of guilt. He "did what he had to do."
Cheney is clearly evil personified, clearly a sociopathic mastermind. But his puppet George was a cooperative vessel. People who are used like that build an even stronger fortress around facing the damage they have done.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)isn't what I'd call a good guy. Regardless of how anyone feels about the death penalty, in this incident, Bush revealed what a petty jerk he really is.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/08/28/46908/-Clearing-Up-the-quot-Karla-Faye-Tucker-quot-Episode
Also, the "joke" he did about looking for missing WMDs under a couch in the White House doesn't lead me to believe that deep down he felt troubled in the least about the lies he told and the carnage he unleashed.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)was when the whole charade came tumbling down. I will never forget seeing that, and going, "Wait! What is he doing? What did he just do?"
People reveal their true selves in such moments.
hibbing
(10,099 posts)Hi,
That was revolting, and don't forget how all the Washington media elites in the room laughed at it.
Peace
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)had great fun and many laughs when he inserted firecrackers into frogs and blew them to pieces. He just couldn't have done that to Gods living creatures if he had any sense of EMPATHY!
The first sign of a warped mind are children who are cruel to animals. We were warned! We should have known what we were getting!
He and Cheney and many others are pure EVIL! He doesn't deserve to live long enough to see his grandchild!
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)OMG, wtf are you on!!
tavalon
(27,985 posts)was, is and for the short time left to him, will be, developmentally and intellectually disabled. It didn't help that he continued/s to sauce it up. That brain of his is Swiss Cheese.
That's why he was chosen. He's too stupid to know he was the puppet. He was the Cheney's little Court Jester. But, that is an explanation, not an excuse.
I think they are both sociopaths, though, so empathy is an emotion quite out of their repertoires.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I am serious about that. Animal torture, laughing at a woman about to be executed, belittling others publicly, etc. etc.
Now? He's busy painting puppies and himself in the tub.
spanone
(135,851 posts)fuck bu$h and cheney
ReRe
(10,597 posts)I don't have the best of health, but I would gladly exchange places with this young man in a NY minute if it was possible. I burn a candle every night now for him. For him and all the other young men who have paid too much for the diabolical antics of the most evil Administration in the history of the USA.
Thanks, kpete, for posting his letter to the men responsible for his plight, and too soon, his demise.
chillfactor
(7,577 posts)burning a candle....bless you!
ReRe
(10,597 posts)As a veteran, as a person, as a Christian, I watched as many of friends died as well in useless wars primarily for profit for our corporations. From Viet Nam through Desert Storm. As a Christian, I will pray for you for that is all I can do for you. As a person, I honor you, as a Veteran, I like you, hope that all of PNAC followers will rot away and that they will be met by those who have died from their arrogance and greed. From my travels throughout the world, the one thing that always remain the same, the rich are arrogant asses who claim patriotism while lining their wallets and the poor are nothing more than "fodder"who carry the weight of what they have seen and what they have done for a life time. Peace Brother, and you are not alone and I will shed tears for you as I'm doing now.
democrank
(11,098 posts)and thank you for your service.
Borchkins
(724 posts)Bush and Cheney won't be touched.
B
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)is Obama.
No prosecutions will ever occur.
retired rooster
(114 posts)Amen
democrank
(11,098 posts)and thank you for your service.
My mate is a Vietnam Vet. I marched against the war and he fought in it. He`s very sick now so we`re at the VA a lot. So many Vietnam Vets there and I love every one of them.
~PEACE~
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Godspeed, Mr Young, I write this with my eyes brimming with tears.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Forget Cheney and Bush. They sold their souls long ago and are beyond redemption.
But every politician who helped them in their greedy quest and protects them from justice now needs to see this over and over and over again.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)ChazInAz
(2,571 posts)It would be truly excellent if a copy of this, suitably framed for hanging on office walls, were to appear at every seat in the Senate and House. Perhaps with a stick-it note reading: "Discuss".
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)and my Senators, Collins and King.
At the first hint of talk of an attack on Iran, and I will send more copies with a request to Pingree that she read it to the House.
democrank
(11,098 posts)for speaking the truth...and for your courage. ~PEACE~
G_j
(40,367 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)...But then again, the Chickenhawk Republican propaganda pimps long ago proved they are willing to ignore or to crap all over honorable veterans who want to speak their truth.
There is no way the Chickenhawks (R) will show proper respect to an honorable veteran. It's too painfully embarasing for them to be shamed for their lies and their evasion of civic responsibility. Yet that way only leads to Redemption.
Botany
(70,524 posts)... the past 4 or 5 years. No hope for a cure. He was around KBR "burn pits"
in Iraq and he is one of many who now have cancer as a result of being exposed
to the toxins that were being put into the air by KBR.
SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)I watched a video the other day of troops burying themselves in the sand for fun and almost had a cow. I'm sorry to hear about your friend's son and really just don't know what to say. What can we do when we feel so helpless.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Just... Fucking sucks. Damnit.
That is eloquence. It will, of course, be completely lost on it's targets and on the sycophantic supporters of its targets.
Bush had a chance to do a good thing. He could have taken down al Qaeda AND the Taliban. But he chose instead to go for the money, to destroy a nation (Iraq), to slaughter innocent citizens who had been promised "liberation", and allow a good portion of that nation's (and all humanities) history to be looted. All in the interest of the wealthy lumps of offal who profited handsomely from the Iraq debacle. Profited, incidentally, by ripping off our (yours and mine) tax dollars as well as the wealth of Iraq. His place in hell -- would that there was one! -- would be even deeper than Cheney's, I think, because he could have stopped what PNAC and the dregs of humanity represented by that awful, cold-blooded, murderous organization had determined to do. He could have told Cheney to shut up and sit down. He could have listened to the council of his own father who warned him, publicly, of the folly of an Iraq invasion. But he didn't. And now he paints puppies while good men and women die slowly from wounds suffered fighting an unnecessary and illegal war, while tens of thousands of others suffer debilitating wounds that will never heal -- and the VA, itself, suffers under debilitating budget cuts.
Johnson and McNamara stupidly, foolishly, allowed the US to be sucked into what George Ball called "the glue pot of Vietnam." Both paid dearly for their error and McNamara, at least, begged forgiveness before he died. Bush and Cheney are men (?) without conscience; they feel neither remorse nor shame for what they did. They will die despised by millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of others around the world. Would that there were a hell to receive their fetid souls.
brush
(53,794 posts)juajen
(8,515 posts)On behalf of my brother, who has been slowly dying from agent orange introduced into his lungs after three tours in vietnam, I thank you.
I am so glad that during Vietnam and Iraq I never shut up about the idiocies of both of these wars. We have so many soldiers who cannot face the realities of the reasons they were sent to these quagmires that it is heartbreaking. They cannot face that they were used by a government they respected and a country they loved. I know my brother and countless others understand how they were used. I wish for him and all other wonderful men, women and families, who were decimated by these wars, peace in their hearts. They are heroes whether acknowledged or not.
All we can do now is cherish them and remember. Never again? Hell, we said that after Vietnam! Stay strong in the belief that wiser hearts might not prevail, but prevent worse atrocities by our diligence, and perhaps a due questioning of the legitimacy of wars by our supposed leadership. We will never know how effective our protests are, but we are required by our hearts and minds to continue protesting and doing everything we can to see that we are responsible and compassionate citizens of the world.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)The government and it's ministry of propaganda, Fox News along with most every other media outlet played right along in promoting this cluster fuck of lies. They enlisted so many who slapped ribbons on their cars and trucks and made us think than being an 'embed' was the second coming of Ernie Pyle.
You went along or you were un American, unpatriotic, not supporting of the troops and 'one of them'! I gave up all my friends to this day over this. They now are complete redneck, NRA assholes on top of being racist. Iraq allowed these unspoken things to become everyday topics. The top ni***r at the time was Barbara Lee (1) for voting against the war. She was the warm up act for Obama.
I was listening to Air America. I wasn't buying the Bush/Cheney lies. Fool me once, right?
The bells really went off when all the corporate ass kissing of veterans started. Budweisers applause in the airport comes to mind. WHY?
Nothing was accomplished and applauding retention and multiple, extended tours was brushed off. After all. We Support the Troops! In hindsight, getting spit on was the better option as all the support was window dressing to distract people from the abuse we subjected our troops and the Iraqis to.
For many of us, we won't get fooled again was right!. How did we know better? Been there, done that.
Semper Fi Brother Tomas. We will continue the fight on your behalf.
USMC
1973 - 1978
I never knew until last night that Nixon scuttled a 1968 peace prospect in Nam. I felt like I was shot.
(1) Lee is notable as the only member of either house of Congress to vote against the authorization of use of force following the September 11, 2001 attacks.[1] This made her a hero among many in the anti-war movement.[2] Lee has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq and supports legislation creating a Department of Peace.
SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)I'd love to make every person who cheered on the war-mongers 10 years ago read this letter and its immense and intense truth.
I wish Tomas Young peace, he deserves so much more.
mountain grammy
(26,630 posts)and all those fun weapons of mass destruction? We could allow sales to civilians, that'll help a little, but nothing makes these guys rich like a good old fashioned ground war.
Every American should be required to read this letter!
sarchasm
(1,012 posts)The only glimmer of hope in this is a hope that some are finally waking up. The pendulum appears to be have momentum in the opposite direction. We, as a nation, have much to atone for, and those with a voice should never be silent again. My hope is that the accursed, through his contemplative artistic endeavor realizes what his anger has wrought, and that mine won't consume me.
joanbarnes
(1,722 posts)And may this brave soul find his peace and rest in eternal peace. Thank you My Brother!
Duval
(4,280 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Amazing letter.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... but also those, that to this day, have done NOTHING to bring these evil War Criminals to justice. NOTHING.
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)It is also terribly sad that he still believes that the killing and destruction in Afghanistan war has anything to do with or is in any way protecting our "National Security." Or is any more legitimate than the killing and destruction we inflicted on Iraq.
brush
(53,794 posts)Last edited Tue Mar 19, 2013, 12:49 PM - Edit history (1)
I favored going after Bin Laden. He was in Afghanistan. We certainly had to respond to 9/11, no way that you don't. What is you idea of what we should have done after 9/11? I marched in New York and down in DC against the Bush/Cheney bait and switch to also invade Iraq, by the way. I also believe we should gotten in and out of Afghanistan. Being still there now is almost unfathomable.
Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)They do not care about us, the 1% just have no empathy nor honor!
valerief
(53,235 posts)the mercenaries will. These assholes will always exist, like death and taxes.
Dpm12
(512 posts)midnight
(26,624 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,995 posts)I recently sat next to a young man who had been injured n the war, he was missing a eye and had had some kind of head wound. He wasn't quite 'right' he was very clear that he despised the Bush & Co. Administration, in his rambling way. He was quite a talker, it as clear he couldn't get words out in time to correspond with the pain and anger he had inside, combined with personal experience.
In particular, he seem to dislike Rumsfield, but he whole administration was the target of his ire.
I don't think he'll ever be 'right' I don't know all his complications, past or future that ruined this clearly intelligent young man. I do know this letter expresses what he wasn't quite able to say.
May this veteran get his wish, may these people be brought up for criminal charges, tried and convicted.
The letter expresses my wishes as well. I'm the mother of two veterans of that war, my daughter, Afghanistan, my son Iraq.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)applied to Bush or Cheney. Never have been. Never will be.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)moondust
(19,993 posts)Those being long ago exchanged for a few pieces of gold and a fleeting wisp of glory.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Should be published worldwide and delivered to the door of every b*sh supporting idiot in the country.
riverbendviewgal
(4,253 posts)To all vfw, American legions , all members of congress then and now, bush and Cheney and the bush cabinet, all media, and local papers. Who has the guts to respnd to WHY did the Iraq war go forward after the in sanctioned inspections.
colorado_ufo
(5,737 posts)but to your service to the thousands on whose behalf you wrote your exceedingly eloquent, moving letter. Peace and blessings upon you. I hope for a miracle for you, and that health and more time will be granted to you. But if that is not possible, then let me assure you that you will not be forgotten.
John2
(2,730 posts)who served in the U.S. military myself for a number of years. I also have family members that served before me and numerous friends. I remember the stories they back home from World War II, North Korea and Vietnam. I served in South Korea near the DMZ and in Germany during the Cold War. I was also in the military during the first Gulf War. I've served a number of specialties during my tour including in hospitals and on the front line in the field. I got to see a lot of things in the World during my time in service. The only reason my service ended was because of a disability. I had come up through the enlisted ranks.
When I first read this, the first thought came to my mind was this guy really authentic because he really sounded like it. It is the way I feel about War. The only reasons I see committing American lives to War is to defend this country. I was against George Bush from the very beginning when he talked about nation building. This country owes people who commit their lives to defend this country. When men like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Dick Cheney and Cruz now talk about commitment and country, they know nothing about it. Romney advocated sending others and their kids to Vietnam, but he would never commit himself or his kids to the same sacrifice. They have no business talking about who are moochers and takers.
Rider3
(919 posts)I wish Bush/Cheney will read this letter, but I'm betting they'll ignore it, like they have alreadt done to our veterans. Peace in your final days, sir, and thank you for your service.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)for the rest of their lives.
lpbk2713
(42,761 posts)If Bush & Cheney were the only ones to ever see it the letter would have no impact at all.
It would not bother them because they have no conscience.
The cycle continues, Wars always start off as the protection of the nations only to later realize it was all lies, see gulf of tonkin the rich always send the poor people to fight their battles nothing has changed. Im sure neither of these clowns will or have lost any sleep over the blood on their hands, evil will not concede power without bloodshed.
mamayo
(25 posts)judesedit
(4,440 posts)You will be whole again. God will judge Bush and Cheney and they will judge themselves for eternity. It won't be pretty. They say we will have to feel the pain of all those we've hurt. That will be a lot of pain for each of them and will last a long, long time if that's any comfort. Jesus said to forgive. If we don't it will eat us alive. Let go and let God. Hope to meet you one day on the flip side as my brother calls it.
judesedit
(4,440 posts)honorable thing.
polynomial
(750 posts)Hear ye, Hear ye, in this Court of the Free Peoples of these United States open and in public the medium called the Internet hereby address these truths in this letter by Mr. Tomas Young do here by establish and enforce this message to be carried out in infamy. Copy it, save it, print it, and never, never forget Mr. Thomas Young for his service and courage to be forthcoming to witness the war crimes and war profiteering by Bush and Cheney.
Every time Jeb Bush appears at a political ralley and says stop blaming my brother about the economy sends chills through me. The war profiteering that happened is a crime, the people displaced and murdered is a crime, the total action was intended and structured from the moment Bush appointed the new Supreme Court members, Alito, and Roberts. They are key players in this mess. Of course, so little is ever said about Jeb Bush who with the help, by voter fraud, and with the help of the Supreme Court Members establishes his brother George Bush as president in the first election, 2000. The second election also was a fraud, only five people voted for Bush in the second election. That is the Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas, Roberts, Scalia, and OConner, actually gave Bush his second term in office
.
The justice that needs to be done is simple and ordinary. Freeze all Bush Cheney assets to be distributed to veterans. Second banish the whole administration from being a citizen forevermore to never again they and their family member be part of or return to America soil or participate in civil citizenship or politics, or economic participation directly or indirectly forever more. Any and all money transactions made by these members to be taxed seventy times seven for any purchases from America. So it is written, so let it be done this time forward.
God Bless you Mr. Thomas, and may God give you a position at his right hand to resolve the injustice you endured as with other veterans and ordinary citizens of the world and of these United States.
Yours truly,
A Vietnam Veteran
vlyons
(10,252 posts)and choked up with tears. Thank-you for telling the truth. I think Bush knows what he did. Cheney -- not so much. Bush knows that he got suckered and manipulated by Cheney. Whether Bush has swept it all under the rug and pretends to himself that he's a good guy, or has deep deep regrets and embarrassment about what he did; we'll probably never know. But -- and this is important -- the rest of us know, and generations beyond us will know too. GW Bush's name in history will be reviled; it will be mud.
Thank for your service and sacrifice. You go out as a hero and truth-to-power teller in my book.
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)"Body of War" is a documentary about Tomas Young by Phil Donahue and Ellen
Spiro with music by Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. You can watch on Netflix - I'd suggest having a box of tissues.
I'm so sorry to hear this sad news.
http://www.bodyofwar.com/
Jessy169
(602 posts)Dick Cheney is in his dark basement, chuckling and eating popcorn while he watches videos of Iraqis being tortured, his safe packed full of loot and investment certificates that he "earned" from all the war and death he instigated. The villians are all still out there, living the high life, safe, well-compensated by the oil companies and other ruthless entities that profited hugely from the still on-going war. They have no soul, no conscience, no heart. They are evil to the core.
Rex
(65,616 posts)pay enough money to enough people around the world to change the facts. The FACT is, the BFEE will be remembered as a bloodthirsty cabal that almost destroyed the world financial system as well as Americas infrastructure. Not to mention the COUNTLESS lives lost in Iraq based on lies to Congress and the U.N. from the Executive branch.
BANK ON IT.
Uncle Joe
(58,372 posts)Thanks for the thread, kpete.
I don't have the words...
pacalo
(24,721 posts)progressoid
(49,992 posts)LoisB
(7,212 posts)LeftCoastLarry
(1 post)So?
Maraya1969
(22,486 posts)I am sobbing.
Nothing else to say.
Darly314
(23 posts)Baby Bush got to PLAY soldier, endear himself to King Abdullah by giving bin Laden a pass; Cheney pocketed three million. Americans got death and debt; wars take a hundred years to pay for-see the Bush boy LAUGH, joking about the WMDs. May he pay for eternity, with his boss Cheney.
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)lbrtbell
(2,389 posts)It brought me to tears.
Response to kpete (Original post)
Ibtl Message auto-removed
glinda
(14,807 posts)Martin Eden
(12,872 posts)But that is much too kind
Because if you could perform that feat
Youd take pleasure in your behind
Id like to say eat shit and die
But you deserve much more
You should suffer all the grief and pain
Of your misbegotten war
Though I can never make you feel
Or think, or understand
Ill take solace when you hear your name
Cursed throughout the land
From inside a lonely prison cell
Dark and bare and cold
Where every day you pay for your crimes
Till youre sick, heartbroken, and old
And when you finally leave the earth
You fucked over oh so well
If there is a God and afterlife
Youre going straight to hell.
nightscanner59
(802 posts)Who all state they long for the days of GWB. Give me an emesis basin.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)They are above the law.
That's PROVEN.
Adenoid_Hynkel
(14,093 posts)I posted clip of it in the video section last night before I saw this piece:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017106663
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)kpete, I've been reading your comments for some time.
I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.
We (the majority) reject war, mourn victims, and vow to reverse this tide.
PS: I never expected to live the experience of senior moments. You are so very young.
Genghis_Sean
(39 posts)I think this letter should be on a sidebar in our high school American history textbooks.
UTUSN
(70,715 posts)*************QUOTE*************
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/tomas-young-letter-iraq_n_2908335.html
[font size=5]A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran
To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young[/font]
I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.
I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq[/FONT] have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us allthe [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]human detritus your war has left behind[/FONT], those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.
I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power[/FONT]. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder[/FONT], including the murder of thousands of young Americansmy fellow veteranswhose future you stole.
Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL[/FONT] from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]I did not join the Army to liberate Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction[/FONT] facilities or to implant what you cynically called democracy in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraqs oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war[/FONT]. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every levelmoral, strategic, military and economicIraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire[/FONT].
I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian[/FONT]. But isnt lying a sin? Isnt murder a sin? Arent theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul[/FONT].
My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness[/FONT].
*************UNQUOTE*************