War is always hell. With very few exceptions, all veterans will tell you that war is a terrible business. Killing people is ordinarily considered a pathological thing to do. Well adjusted citizens will not kill anyone, for any reason, except to protect themselves or their loved ones from harm.
When our soldiers found out that Iraq was not a threat to harm America, it caused a serious problem. To kill people that were no threat is anti-social behavior. It is somewhat comforting to realize that, while they were not a threat, they are a threat now. But for many soldiers, that is not enough to atone for the guilt they feel:
“What I concluded last summer when I was waiting to transfer to NSA was that not only were our reasons for being there lies, but we just weren’t there to help the Iraqis. So in November of ’04 I told my commander I couldn’t take part in this. I would have been sent into Fallujah, and he was going to order me in to do my job. I also chose not to go back because the dropping of bombs in urban areas like Fallujah are a violation of the laws of warfare because of the near certainty of collateral damage. For me, seeing the full humanity of Iraqis made me realize I couldn’t participate in these operations.”
Tharp goes on to say that he believes there are still Vietnam vets who think that that was a necessary war and adds, “I think it’s because that keeps the demons at bay for them to believe it is justified…this is their coping mechanism. We, as Americans, have to face the total obvious truth that this was all because of a lie. We are speaking out because we have to speak out. We want to help other vets tell other vets their story…to keep people from drinking themselves to death.”
Read the whole article, here. People that volunteer to serve in our military do so trusting in the wisdom of our civilian leadership. They should never be sent to kill anyone that doesn’t threaten to harm America, or its citizens.
So very true was this statement from him. and your last paragraph is absolutely so true. I do believe that most are realizing now that there were no WMD’s and that there was other ways of taking Hussain out of power than war.
I hope that those that do have a brain to think with in the business of running this war, goes to bed at night and can not sleep for one minute for thinking of all the deaths, of not only ours but their’s and other countries who have lost ppl.
I simply can not go on but to say that ppl like bush, rummy and all the rest of the gang and the military leadership that condone this war, are murderers.
I personally want them to face a judge for their criminal activity. If any of us should do such things as they have done, we would be hung at sunset.
Look at all the families and the extended families/friends that have paid this price.
I was watching the young republicans talk on tv on c-span and matthews show the other day and they do not want to serve…why cause they say they have other things to do….Well, I am sorry so do those over across the big pond do too!!!! They should be shamed in answering the way they do on this principle and with the attitude they have.
I suppose I should not say things like this, but it angers me to now end to hear ppl say they are better than anyone else.
Thanks for posting this.
you speak of, as well as the rest of the main supporters of the Bush regime, they are incapable of feeling shame. They’re so consumed with the task of keeping their ilusions intact by fending off truth that they have no time, energy or inclination to even consider that maybe they’re not absolutely right. They perceive their own significance, their own worth, in direct relation to how fervent their support is for Bush. They need to elevate Bush to greatness in their delusional minds so that they themselves can feel great and worthy.
They are pathetic, and they are extremely dangerous, these sorts of afflicted people.
sounds like Hitler Youth to me
These young Repubs are even more disgraceful though in the sense that, as sick and misguided as the Hitler youth were, they were eager and willing to fight for those insane beliefs.
These arrogant, shameless young Republican cowards can’t even muster the courage of their own (supposed) convictions.
I think this young man just totally captured why the Swift Boaters were so virulent in their attacks on Kerry and other Vietnam veterans who protested the war. They know that if Kerry is right – they each have some ugly nightmares to face.
They should never be sent to kill anyone that doesn’t threaten to harm America, or its citizens.
It was our job to stop the war before it happened. We failed, as did most of our elected representatives, and most of the MSM. Apologies for the past, and determination looking forward, will not bring back our people, nor bring the dead back to life in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Never again? That’s what my father said to me, and I said to my sons.
character that we tend to believe what we want to believe, despite often overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Where our bodies and our minds have the capacity to go into a state of shock as a means of self-protection, as a way of being able to endure extreme conditions without just folding up and dying, we have allowed a sort of “slow-motion shock” to creep into our psyches as a way of handling other events that are less extreme, and as a way to avoid dealing with previous traumas by simply continuing to repress them.
This “slow-motion shock” is called “denial”, and it is epidemic in our world today. It’s one of the major ways, if not the major way, by which we get ourselves into trouble and bring suffering upon not only ourselves but on others as well.
I don’t hear a lot of listening on that topic–it seems to be ‘We are right because we are us’.Particularly frustrating among people who were deceived by Vietnam,and refuse to beleive that what they were told at the time,was a damm lie.
I have said for 35 years– ‘it’s not that you were a bad person,it’s that you were lied to’. Never makes a difference-cause people WANT to believe that their own supposedly democratic government– Would Not Do That.
And here we are again.
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Iran gave free passage to up to 10 of the September 11 hijackers just months before the 2001 attacks and offered to co-operate with al-Qa’eda against the US, an American report will say this week.
The all-party report by the 9/11 Commission, set up by Congress in 2002, will state that Iran, not Iraq, fostered relations with the al-Qa’eda network in the years leading up to the world’s most devastating terrorist attack.
The bipartisan commission has established that between eight and 10 of the September 11 hijackers, who had been based in Afghanistan, travelled through Iran between October 2000 and February 2001. The terrorists in question are believed to have been the “muscle” – hired to storm the aircraft cockpits and overpower crew and passengers.
Iranian officials were instructed not to harrass al-Qa’eda personnel as they crossed the border and, in some cases, not to stamp their passports.
According to testimony received by the commission – based on information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and about 100 electronic intercepts by the National Security Agency – an alliance of convenience was established between the Shia Muslim Iranian leadership and the Sunni terrorist organisation, well before September 11, 2001.
The report is expected to confirm the claim by Thomas Kean, its chairman, last month that “there were a lot more active [al-Qa’eda] contacts, frankly, with Iran and Pakistan, than there were with Iraq”. …
It was Iran’s fault, the Saudi Al-Qaeda operatives flew over Iran’s air space en route from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia where they said good-bye to family members before traveling to the US for their Jihad. Why didn’t George Bush deliver some Stinger missiles to the Iranians, so they could have shot down that passenger plane? Is the US Congress becoming apologetic in their motives – hail to King George (repeat 3x)! Unbelievable what a crap. Are they already finished with their slander on Kofi Annan and the UN, with stretched accusations in the Oil for Food Program?
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I was numbed by the comments made by the veterans who were quoted in the article, because they are virtually identical to statements that were made by Vietnam vets in Detroit and other cities – 35 years ago – and Harvey Tharp’s thoughts on why so many veterans continue to buy the “noble cause” line nails it perfectly. I have learned to be very careful in debating the war with members of this group because the moment you walk them through an analysis that penetrates their armor, you often wind up with three decades of pent-up anger and hostility coming out. The results can be devastating.
And Boo, you nailed it as well with your last paragraph: if you are ever in Peabody, Massachusetts, visit the Vietnam veterans memorial there..it bears a very simple inscription, chosen by the vets in that area:
“We Trusted”
Great article..thank you.