Iraq mission "stupid"

[librarycard]

I apologize for a letter in "breaking news," but it's written by a "grunt" in Iraq, today's Stars and Stripes. To me, that's "breaking news." At least it's a break from mainstream propaganda.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=28400

Iraq mission ‘stupid’

In response to “‘Because we gave our word’” (letter, April 6), about people who are dodging military service and refuse to serve overseas: Yes, I did give the oath, I did swear to uphold the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies. I swore to preserve freedom, but what they left out was to preserve freedom of other countries. Iraq had nothing to do with Sept. 11. I understand fighting for freedom when it’s necessary, and Afghanistan was necessary, but not Iraq.

How many troops are left in the United States? If there were an attack on U.S. soil right now, God forbid, they’d get all the way to Iowa before we could attempt to stop them. By the time we could get all our troops back home, the entire country would be lost.

The letter writer said people are refusing to fight. That’s easy to say from Arifjan, Kuwait. Come to Iraq for a year. In fact, come here for two years. This is my second tour here.

I also made a promise to my country, and I stand by that promise. Don’t bash others because they think this mission is complete crap, because it is. It’s stupid and we’re risking other soldiers’ lives. For what? Iraqi liberation? Weapons of mass destruction? Neither one of those has been even close to being found.

Bring soldiers home to protect what we’ve come to love so dearly — the United States, to protect those freedoms we take for granted, to protect our people, our children, wives, sons, daughters and husbands.

Pfc. Bradley Robb
Camp Striker, Iraq

[leftofcool]

1. I'm with you Pfc Robb....eom

[derby378]

2. Well said

I wonder if one of the reasons * keeps all of our troops in Iraq is because he's afraid that if they come home, they'll frog-march him out of the White House in handcuffs.

[sellitman]

3. One vote for greatest page

Kick! :kick:

[Judi Lynn]

5. Oh, YEAH! Isn't it great? Thanks, librarycard. Kick!

[acmavm]

6. I vote with you. And this guy's in a perfect position to know what he's

talking about. He's been there TWICE.

He is a patriot, he has done his duty, and he's putting it mildly when he uses the word 'stupid'.

Greatest page material for sure.

[meganmonkey]

4. Right on, soldier!

He is right on the mark.

Even here at DU I see people typing things like "Well, they signed up - they knew what they were in for..." in relation to soldiers trying to get out. We need to ENCOURAGE these folks as much we can! Not only do they recognize that this war is NOT about defending America, they are willing to SPEAK OUT about it and in some cases risk going to jail (or the death penalty, god forbid) if they refuse to fight.

Soldiers who speak out, and those who try to leave the military are HEROES, IMHO, and we should treat them as such.

:toast:

[MADem]

10. There's another theme that I see that bothers me

It's the "all military are bad" theme. Babykillers, evil, so on and so forth.

Patriotism never USED to be a dirty word, and we sure as hell would want our Armed Forces to be well equipped and ready if the Chinese invaded, were marching through our streets, stationing tanks at intersections, and appropriating our homes and businesses for their purposes.

This kid wanted to defend his country, he still does. He just has had it being used as a tool for nefarious political and economic purposes that bear no relation to the founders' definition of 'national defense.'

This PFC calls it as he sees it. And you know he isn't a lone voice. I can picture the others in similar circumstances, reading the letter, smiling, because he is saying what they themselves think.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. G*d Bless You, Soldier Robb!

:kick:

[kliljedahl]

8. I thought the one on the same page entitled:

"Courts complicate custody" was pretty telling too.





http://www.kliljedahl.net

[understandinglife]

9. 2 May 2005: A day to reflect on all that must be done to stop the horrid,

....illegal, immoral actions in Iraq, and elsewhere, being perpetrated in the name of "America" by the criminal theocratic neoconsters.

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Turn CO Blue]

11. Pfc. Bradley Robb - I SALUTE YOU!!! nt

[stevedeshazer]

12. After reading this letter, I'm as proud an American as ever

This renews my hope that we will one day find our way out of this mess.

[malmapus]

13. huah PFC Robb

Way to go soldier for speaking it like it is from the grunts point of view. Giving this a vote and kick for him.

[PittLib]

14. I found out (from a fellow DUer) that ...

a soldier from my hometown lost his eye and hearing (not to mention half his face) in Iraq. Two days later, I'm sitting with a young man from a wedding party, who is off to boot camp the very next day. I had to bite my tongue hard and fight tears as I kept superimposing the scars of one man on the sweet face of this kid. Thank you Mr. Robb for your courage.

[Tesla]

15. Someone with credentials has to speak up!!

The soilders are the only ones that can see whats going on over there.

God Bless this soilder, I hope he dosen't experience "friendly fire" for this.

[MADem]

17. The 'fire' he will experience

...will come from the top down. Administrative, punitive, 'corrective.' I get the sense that many of his buds in uniform are with him on their opinion of this little fiasco, and the numbers will increase as the temperature over there does.

Baghdad--anywhere in Iraq, damn near--in the summer is no pic-a-nic, even if peace were really at hand and you didn't have to worry about being blown up or shot at.

[Virginian]

16. Stay safe, Pfc Robb!

Come home with all the parts you had when you left here.

Bless you and thank you.

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. Some friendly country should offer haven/immunity to US soldiers

If the US soldiers, tired of honorably following dishonorable orders, had a safe place to AWOL to, how many would go?

Some friendly country should offer a safe haven to our troops, where they would be taken care of until such a time as they would not be penalized.

We need safety valves to alleviate the pressure building towards Iran...