I Had to Tell the Truth About Iraq--Even Though it Cost Me My Career

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/story/154911/i_had_to_tell_the_truth_about_iraq--even_though_it_cost_me_my_career/

People ask the question in various ways, sometimes hesitantly, often via a long digression, but my answer is always the same: no regrets.

In some 24 years of government service, I experienced my share of dissonance when it came to what was said in public and what the government did behind the public’s back. In most cases, the gap was filled with scared little men and women, and what was left unsaid just hid the mistakes and flaws of those anonymous functionaries.

What I saw while serving the State Department at a forward operating base in Iraq was, however, different. There, the space between what we were doing (the eye-watering waste and mismanagement), and what we were saying (the endless claims of success and progress), was filled with numb soldiers and devastated Iraqis, not scaredy-cat bureaucrats.

That was too much for even a well-seasoned cubicle warrior like me to ignore and so I wrote a book about it, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the War for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People. I was on the spot to see it all happen, leading two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in rural Iraq while taking part up close and personal in what the U.S. government was doing to, not for, Iraqis. Originally, I imagined that my book’s subtitle would be “Lessons for Afghanistan,” since I was hoping the same mistakes would not be endlessly repeated there. Sometimes being right doesn’t solve a damn thing.

[marmar]

1. k/r

[BlueJazz]

2. It takes a brave person to fight so many Monsters. My thanks and admiration is unlimited.

[dotymed]

3. I am not a person prone to saying "Thank you for your service, to defend our country."

I am the son of a life-long military man, who after retirement, became an angry progressive. I understand that most military actions from the U.S. are not in defense of our country.
Thank You for Your service to defend our country, Honestly.
It is a sad fact that America has become a Fascist regime, run by and for the wealthy. The treatment of "whistle blowers," should be heroic and full of appreciation for helping to preserve what was once, "The American Way." We have steadily digressed, since the corrupt reign of Reagan's corporate puppet regime, into undeniable Fascism. Since THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE was revoked by Reagan, we are left with a propagandized populace, too ignorant to form a majority of reasoned citizens. I believe OWS is one of our last chances to clean house and give the government to the people.
Out of curiosity, from one American patriot to another; do you think that there is any hope that voting will/can make a difference. Do you believe that any current Presidential candidate is interested in "fixing" America? I don't.
I have many questions but a cardiologist appointment is calling. I look forward to reading your book and I will support your efforts any way I can.

[snappyturtle]

6. +1000 !

[KG]

4. 'We Meant Well' - no, we didn't, ever.

[pasto76]

5. Integrity is a bitch isnt it.

people in power get all bent out of shape, and you likely lose your career. bullshit., you should get an award.

anyone with a brain standing in Iraq more than a week could see all the shenanigans

[marshall gaines]

7. material

got plenty testicular material!!! my type of patriot.

[bahrbearian]

8. The Last paragraph

With its aggressive and sadly careless use of the draconian Espionage Act to imprison whistleblowers, the Obama administration has, in many cases, moved beyond harassment and intimidation into actually wielding the beautiful tools of justice in a perverse way to silence dissent. More benign in practice, in theory this is little different than the Soviets executing dissidents as spies after show trials or the Chinese using their courts to legally confine thinkers they disapprove of in mental institutions. They are all just following regulations. Turn the volume up from six to ten and you’ve jumped from vengeance to totalitarianism. We’re becoming East Germany.

[truedelphi]

9. And like communist nations in SOutheast Asia as well.

Trying to get gasoline over the weekend, both huge gas stations I was at had these TV screens attached to the gas pump. The machines blared out commercials and news clippings, at ear-shattering volumes.

Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, people complain about the government broadcasting its exhortations through loud speakers 24/7.

The entire world seems to be lost between increasing totalitarianism from all sides - with our people being told that we live in a free society because we get to vote.

I'd just like someone to vote for - who wasn't part of the overall Totalitarian Establishment the moment after they were elected.

[yurbud]

10. This is how the world ends for the corporatocracy: one whistleblower...

one monkeywrench, one protest, until those without a conscience who do keep the system going because they think they are siding with history's winners suddenly see that the wind might be shifting and they abandon ship so quickly those in the executive offices don't realize there's no one left to pull the trigger on their orders.