Today as I waited (one hour!) to see the doctor, I came across a powerful article in this month’s Texas Monthly entitled: Mission Impossible: Why we should end the war in Iraq-now, by William Broyles.
I had my “Barack and Michelle” pin attached to my purse, which elicited an interesting conversation with a stranger also patiently waiting.
Come to find out, she was also a Democrat, a former Hillary supporter, but still held the usual media-fed beliefs about Obama’s weaknesses. I set her straight (politely) and reminded her how we simply could not afford to elect McCain. I encouraged her to read the article (she had plenty of time) and I urge everyone here to read it in its entirety, as it is one of the best written articles I’ve come across about Iraq.
While I didn’t serve in the military, four generations of men in our family from my grandfather to my nephew have all served. My father (RIP) retired from the Air Force as a Captain, having served in both WWII and Korean War. When you are raised in a military family, it is impossible to remain apathetic about your country and war. For this reason, I was drawn into this important article.
What makes the article by William Broyles so compelling is Mr. Broyles’ life story and perspective.
My grandfather served in World War I, my father in World War II. I was a Marine in Vietnam. The longest love affair of my life is with the United States Marine Corps. I believe in its values, its commitment, its ethic of sacrifice and excellence. In a soft world of self-indulgence, there’s no fat in the Marine Corps soul.
He tells us of his own son’s (David) service and experience that has rendered him a changed man.
Shortly after 9/11, my son David, who had just graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English, enlisted with great idealism. He endured grueling training to become an Air Force pararescueman (which is like a Navy SEAL) and served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with elite Special Operations troops.
As David’s tours ended, his idealism eroded. While he was still proud of his service, he no longer believed in the mission. So after his final tour, he started a non-profit dedicated to helping the thousands of American veterans who fought in the war. David produced a film called Swim, a documentary about swimming the Strait of Gibraltar to raise funds for wounded vets.
The film features real men and women who were terribly injured and disfigured. They are among thousands of Iraq war veterans whose faces look like melted wax, who can’t see or hear or walk, whose disability benefits were delayed or denied, whose spouses lost their jobs trying to take care of them, who’ve lost their homes and been forgotten. More than a thousand a month attempt suicide. Twenty percent are affected with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, including David’s best friend.
Leaders should never send people to war unless it's for a damn good reason:
When you send men and women to war, you don’t just ask them to risk their lives. You ask them to do what every fiber of their being and every value tells them not to do: You ask them to kill. There’d better be a good reason. You’d better be willing to use overwhelming force, and you’d better have clear objectives and a sound exit strategy.
Mr. Broyles cites statistics about the corruption and missing billions of dollars. And how the prosecution of the war has been FUBAR.
What happens when a government runs a war so incompetently that former military leaders speak out against the prosecution of the war? You abuse the
“ patriotism and the sacrifice of the men and women you send to war... you create a hole in their souls—and in the soul of America.”
I believe America has a gaping hole in her soul from the corruption of Bush and Company. Mr. Broyles continues to expresses his frustration with the cheerleading and concomitant lack of support by the U.S. government:
When I see friends from the National Guard or the Reserves called up, then called up again, then called up yet again; when I see former troops who served multiple tours in the war zone pulled out of civilian life and sent back to the war; when I see talk show hosts and politicians cheerleading for a war they wouldn’t dream of serving in themselves, I take it personally. When the remains of dead young Americans are brought home in secret and some are cremated in pet cemeteries; when we’ve created nearly 5 million refugees in Iraq and taken in just 692; when we cage people without trials for years and treat them like animals; when supporters of the war oppose a new GI Bill that would give enough money for veterans like my son to go to college—when they say the men and women who served three and four war tours deserve only enough to cover a fraction of their college education, even though they gave 100 percent of their service—that’s personal too.
Like most Americans, Mr. Broyles has had enough of this war and expresses the anger, grief, and frustration so many of us here in our little blog feel:
I’ve had enough of this war. I’ve had enough of the pictures of good American families, the mom with her arms around her children and the caption saying she’d just celebrated her wedding anniversary when she was killed in Iraq. I’ve had enough of the pictures of wounded Americans trying to learn to walk or talk or eat again. I’ve had enough of the pictures they won’t let us see but which I can too vividly imagine. Of the Iraqi children dead in our bombings, their homes destroyed, their families blown away. Of the millions of Iraqi refugees without homes or jobs. Of the return of Islamic fundamentalism to Iraq in our wake, with women murdered for not being married or not wearing a head scarf.
Broyles discusses how much the war is costing in money, resources, and blood; and what we could have spent that money on instead. And how the entire reason for staying in Iraq during this bloody occupation has been wrong.
Senator Obama has spoken about how this war has essentially emboldened terrorists and ruthless dictators across the globe as a result of this tragic mistake. Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, all are much stronger today because of Bush/Cheney’s folly. Without even mentioning rendition and torture the article describes how the war has resulted in a futile, tragic outcome.
Once we’re gone, we won’t continue to fuel the hatred of the Muslim world. We won’t make more terrorists with each bomb we drop and each carful of civilians we blast apart, and we won’t alienate people around the world who used to look to us for moral leadership. The president warns that if we were to leave tomorrow, the terrorists would be emboldened, those bent on genocide would be empowered, and our prestige would plummet. But our presence has already done that. If we stay five or ten more years, the same things could happen the day we leave.
His summation:
Yes, everyone wants freedom. But they also want to be safe in their homes. They want their children to be safe in their schools. And they love their countries the same way we do. They don’t want foreigners telling them how to run their country, kicking down their doors, and dropping bombs on their villages any more than we would. Because even if we believe that we’re doing it for them, that we’re America and we’re the good guys, their children are still dead, their parents are still buried in the rubble, and they will still hate us—until the day we leave.
This is why we must keep talking to our friends, our colleagues, even strangers in the doctor’s office to get involved in this campaign. Because if we don't elect Obama, McCain has promised “more war” and is planning on staying in Iraq for many more years to come. And then what will be left of the soul of America?