Last month when Donald Rumsfeld announced that tours of duty for some U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq would be extended, he blithely said that:
…folks are so proud of what they’re doing and so convinced what they’re doing is right that morale has been uniformly very good, and I see it even among the families…
Does he? Apparently he hasn’t visited a website created for the families of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
My husband (like others) is tired. Morale over there is shit and they are being treated like yesterdays trash on top of it all…We can’t let the media and the governement just let them suffer in a shithole over there. We can’t let them think that we are ok with this. Don’t get me wrong…I am incredibly proud of my husband and what he is doing, but I will NEVER be ok with this! NEVER!!!
Hooya!
As has been reported, the tour extensions for the 172 Stryker Brigade was a particular kick in the gut because:
The brigade was so far along in the process of flowing out of Iraq after its yearlong tour that 380 soldiers had returned home to Alaska and 300 had arrived in Kuwait en route home, the Army said.
All of the brigade’s soldiers who had reached Kuwait were sent back into Iraq, the Army said. And now, 300 of the 380 who made it to Alaska will be sent back to Iraq within the next couple of weeks.
They are being sent into Baghdad, in the administration’s latest attempt to stop the Civil War that they claim isn’t happening. The heartbreak, fear and rage that the loved ones of these unfortunate men feel is palpable in nearly every post:
My world came crashing down. I sat down and cried, I didn’t know what else to do. How was I going to keep going by myself. I had already spent a year away from my best friend, my huband and now they want to keep him longer. My family is all the way on the other side of the country. I am alone. All I have is my kids. Ohhh, how am I going to tell my kids?
President Bush said the soldiers have to stay in Iraq, but he didn’t have to feel my heart breaking. He didn’t have to look into my kids eyes and tell them that there daddy isn’t coming home. He doesn’t have to live on edge constantly and fear everytime the phone rings. He is not loosing hair, having anxiety attacks, constant diarhea, and sick to his stomach every minute of everyday. I try to act happy and “normal” for my kids sake, but its all fake. Inside I feel like I am dying. I love my husband and I am proud of the work he does. However I feel he has done his job over there and now it is time for him to come home to his family. Please, I beg for your help to get our loved ones home.
Says another:
Slowly, day after day the shock wore off and anger replaced it. That our country would do this to ITS SOLIDERS! and ITS FAMILIES! […]
Most of our soldiers would never stand up and say it mostly because it would look bad on their careers. But us as military spouses and military families can.
I support my husband 100%. He knows it. I support even some of what we’re doing over there but it’s wrong to play mind games with the people who serve this country.
And from a military wife and mother:
I am the wife of a Soldier who has served his country for 15 years, and the Mother of a son who has served two. The last year my son has served his country proudly with the 172nd SBCT. So I am very familiar with military life. […]
My husband who proudly serves also feels like this is a slap in the face to our soldiers. […]
To President Bush, Donald Rumsfield, and the Pentagon….SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!! Bring our TROOPS HOME NOW. I am proud of all the soldiers out there. Stay strong and come home to us SOON. GOD BLESS OUR SOLDIERS……….
From a wife and apparently a part of Bush’s 38% approval rating:
I have read a lot of the previous submissions and I will have to say that I agree and disagree with them. As a former member of the military I have to say that I have always been 110% behind Bush and this war and everything he stands for. This extension has made me begun to question all of that.
There is much, much more and I encourage you to read what these people have to say.
As I read the various comments, I thought of the many times we’ve wondered if the “tipping point” regarding this administration had finally been reached. If the sentiments expressed by these people are any indication, the overwhelming support from the military and their families for Bush & Company may have tipped.
The only thing that I can say that would help the US government from not doing this is the voice of all of us enraged families. We are voters. Can we not rise up and let it be known that “NO WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS HORRIBLE TREATMENT!”. You treat us and our soldiers like this? Well fine we won’t vote for you.
Hope or pray for their safe return.
