Parents of Fallen Marine Make Plea to Bush: 'Fight This War Right or Get

[steve2470]

Out (end of headline)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQ5FGPGCE.html

CLEVELAND (AP) - The day after burying their son, parents of a fallen Marine urged President Bush to either send more reinforcements to Iraq or withdraw U.S. troops altogether.

"We feel you either have to fight this war right or get out," Rosemary Palmer, mother of Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder II, said Tuesday.

Schroeder, 23, died two weeks ago in a roadside explosion, one of 16 Ohio-based Marines killed recently in Iraq.

The soldier's father said his son and other Marines were being misused as a stabilizing force in Iraq.

<snip>

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Thanks for posting this

[steve2470]

2. my pleasure nt

[enough]

3. Strong statement.

snip>

"Our comments are not just those of grieving parents," Paul Schroeder said in front of the couple's home. "They are based on anger, Mr. President, not grief. Anger is an honest emotion when someone's family has been violated."

snip>

"We want to point out that 30 people have died since our son. Are people listening?" Palmer asked.

snip>

The couple applauded Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier who has camped out in protest near Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, for bringing the war to the public's attention.

"We consider her the Rosa Parks of the new movement opposing the Iraq war," Palmer said.

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[Al-CIAda]

8. Good snips. nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Thank you!

This is very important news, because these parents have really underlined why the Iraq war is a mess. I think we should, when talking to others, use the term that the troops are being misused.

[wtmusic]

5. No right way to fight it

and never was. Let's get that straight right now.

[tnlefty]

21. That was my first thought, also.

How do you fight the war right when it's based on lies and B**sh** to begin with?

[FreedomAngel82]

23. Exactly

I'm glad people are waking up quicker then the Vietnam war though. It seems as though everything is going faster.

[Independent_Liberal]

6. Good.

I was wondering when someone would tell this to Bush.

[steve2470]

7. I really think after Cindy and these kind of statements, that Bush= TOAST

He may never resign or be impeached, but his power and credibility will be zero. We Dems., if we're smart, will continue to take the moral high ground, get the troops out immediately, relentlessly expose the Neocon/Bushcon corruption and then win in '06 and '08.

[NebraskaDem]

9. What does he mean...

by fight the war right? Is he an advocate of sending more troops into Iraq to escalate the violence?

[judy]

11. Or maybe he is advocating...

that the Smirk himself go and fight???

[HawkerHurricane]

14. He means follow the Powell Doctrine...

Go in large, listen to the experts, use overwhelming force...
Or don't go at all.
Remember, the experts said that it would take 300,000 to 500,000 troops to secure Iraq... and the BushCo clowns sent 150,000...
Not enough to do the job, too many to get clear. The same sort of half measures that made Vietnam a quagmire.
(This is not argueing the morality or nescessity of Iraq or Vietnam... I am merely pointing out how it should have been done militarily. We had more troops during Desert Storm... and we didn't try to conquer Iraq then.)

[NebraskaDem]

22. I thought it was Tommy Franks

that made the initial call to go in "fast and light" (at least according to his book).

[HawkerHurricane]

25. I don't know who made the call...

but it was a mistake.
Rumsfeld claimed credit for it.
'Fast and Light'... yes, we defeated the Iraqi Army... but we didn't have enough men to secure the country, or the weapons, or maintain order...

[NebraskaDem]

26. I agree with that

While I think the invasion itself was orchestrated well from a military standpoint, the stabilzation and reconstruction were so poorly handled that we found oursleves back into armed conflict when there should have been little. Had we had enough troops on the ground immediately after Baghdad fell (enough to stop the looting and rampant crime) we might have had a chance at a less bloody more stable Iraq.

[HawkerHurricane]

27. Yas.

Oh, and I forgot the parts about make sure the home front understands what you are doing and approves, because in the long term you need thier support. So, it would be...

1. Make the home front understand why and get thier approval.

2. Go in big, overwhelm the enemy.

3. Plan for both success and failure.

4. Plan the circumstances where you leave.

BushCo failed in all 4. The home front never understood. (It didn't help that they lied).
They tried to go in cheap in manpower.
They didn't plan for failure.
They have no plan to leave.

[teryang]

10. Patriotic myth captured

The patriotic imagery of a mother and her dead warrior son transcends time and nations. This mythical image is one deeply and unconciously ingrained in the minds of citizens.

Cindy has presented herself as the symbol of the archetypal myth at Crawford. The war mongers have established a pattern of ignoring the sacrifices of our mother's sons in Iraq by a deliberate policy of censorship. Cindy, as the mythical icon personified, has brillantly outmaneuvered the image peddlers and beaten them at their own game.

[Al-CIAda]

19. Good analysis, imo. nt

[girl gone mad]

12. Recommended.

And why on earth would they trust the administration to fight it right now?

I think that by this point they've proved themselves totally incapable of making competent decisions. Time to bring the troops home.

[tsuki]

17. Especially since they have been busy purging the General Officers.

[Sparkly]

13. Another kick and nom. nt

[jbnow]

15. I remember the face of Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder II

Leftchick posted their pictures and his sparkling eyes and slight grin stayed with me. Looks like he is about to tease his sister. The face just stuck in my mind. He should still be sparkling (and maybe he is but not here)
Here is the link to leftchick's picture thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4255524

[Renew Deal]

16. I agree with that.

This half assed policy is getting people killed. Either do it seriously or get the fuck out.

[Iris]

18. Moses on a pony!

Cindy may have started a revolution!

[Sapphire Blue]

20. Would that we had a president who could hear a parent's plea... *sigh*

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. That's right send more of them, more targets

Honestly, these people are blind.