Why we should stay in Iraq, by USMC Cpl. Snody

[BREMPRO]

I found this in an online posting and wanted to share a perspective with DU'er on the point of view of a soldier.. How the administration's rhetoric is digested and transformed by a soldier into a story of personal honor and sacrifice for others, brotherhood, and struggle for "freedom" and security of America...

Understandable, misguided and scary...


"Here is something that I had replied to someone with when they asked me why don't we pull out of Iraq. Now I mention America through out it, but it actually applies to the world in general. I replied with the following:

Well, if we were to pull out right now, the terrorists would bring the fight to our streets, and I'm not talkin little stuff. They want to make 9-11 look like childs play. All they care about is destroyin America and Americans. We fight over there and give our lives so they don't com eover here and take millions more. And I know what you mean, I have friends that have injuries they will have for the rest of their lives and I lost a comrade out there. He was a Master Sergeant. He took care of me while I was out there. I traveled alot with him around Iraq. Then a month before we were about to leave. His vehicle got hit. He got burned alive. Was shipped out of the country and back to the states.In Texas at the burn center he died 2 months later. Sercumming (sic) to the injuries. He had 3rd degree burns on 60% of his body. He was a good man, was all about his Marines and training them. And the worst part was, he was going to retire 2 months after we were coming home. He wanted to do one last deployment with his Marines before getting out of The Marine Corps.
The American public don't really understand it. But we do. We know what it takes and the sacrifices that comes with it. While out there you wake up in the morning and deal with the fact that it could be your last morning. But in all and all. It is worth it. On my fore arm I have a tattoo that says, "My Life For Freedom". And it means just that. If my death helps a few thousands Americans, or even a few hundred, or even just a few. Then it was worth it. But if we pull out of Iraq, and they come over here and start killing thousands of Americans. Then every Soldier, Marine, Airman and Sailor that have died in this war so far, would of died in vain. And hopefully America will realize this. Cause I would hate to be the one that would have to tell all those families that had love ones die in the war, that they died for no apparent reason... "

-Cpl Snody, USMC


He looks real to me: http://www.myspace.com/drunkinmanmonkey

[maveric]

1. Cpl Snody = Rummy

Another fake!

[JohnyCanuck]

or Cpl K. Rove n/t

[acmavm]

2. Uh huh. First I want to see corporal dumbshit up front and personal to

make damn sure he's not some scramble-brained freak from the website that shalt not be mentioned. And then, IF he's for real I recommend some serious counseling for this hero complex the little corporal has. He thinks he can patrol and protect the world. He's nuts.

[babylonsister]

3. Well this former Marine captain begs to differ:

Perhaps you can post his point of view wherever you found Snody's letter.

Published on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 by the Seattle Times
Coming Home - Disillusioned
by Christopher H. Sheppard

Three years ago, I was a Marine Corps captain on the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border, participating in the invasion of Iraq. Awestruck, I heard our howitzers thunder and watched artillery rockets rise into the night sky and streak toward Iraq — their light bathing the desert moonscape like giant arc welders.

As I watched the Iraq war begin, I completely trusted the Bush administration. I thought we were going to prove all of the left-wing antiwar protesters and dissenters wrong. I thought we were going to make America safer. Regrettably, I acknowledge that it was I who was wrong.

I believed the Bush administration when it said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. I believed its assertion that Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Africa and refine it into weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb. I believed its claim Iraq had vast quantities of biological and chemical agents. After years of thorough inspections, all of these claims have been disproved.

I believed the administration when it claimed there was overwhelming evidence Iraq was in cahoots with al-Qaida. In January 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted that there was no concrete evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.

I believed the administration when it grandly proclaimed we were going to bring a stable, Western-style liberal democracy to Iraq, complete with religious tolerance and the rule of law. We never had enough troops in Iraq to restore civil order and the rule of law. The Iraqi elections have produced a ruling majority of Shiite fundamentalists and marginalized the seething Sunni minority. Iraq dangerously teeters on the brink of civil war. We have emboldened Iran and destabilized the entire Middle East.

I believed the administration when it claimed the war could be done quickly and cheaply. It said the war would cost only between $50 billion and $60 billion. It said that Iraqi oil revenue would fund the country's reconstruction. I believed President Bush when he landed on the USS Lincoln and said "major combat operations have ended."

The war has cost the American taxpayers $250 billion and counting. The vast majority — 94 percent — of the more than 2,300 United States service members killed in Iraq have occurred since Bush's "Top Gun" proclamation. The cost in men and materiel has been far beyond what we were led to believe.

I volunteered to go back to Iraq for the fall and winter of 2004-2005. I went back out of frustration and guilt; frustration from watching Iraq unravel on the news and guilt that I wasn't there trying to stop it. Many fine Marines from my reserve battalion felt the same and volunteered to go back. I buried my mounting suspicions and mustered enough trust and faith in my civilian leadership to go back.

I returned disillusioned by what I saw. I participated in the second battle of Fallujah in November 2004. We crushed the insurgents in the city, but we only ended up scattering them throughout the province. The dumb ones stayed and died. The smart ones left town before the battle, to garner more recruits and fight another day. We were simply the little Dutch boy with our finger in the dike. In retrospect, we never had enough troops to firmly control the region; we had just enough to maintain a tenuous equilibrium.

I now know I wrongfully placed my faith and trust in a presidential administration hopelessly mired in incompetence, hubris and a lack of accountability. It planned a war based on false intelligence and unrealistic assumptions. It has strategically surrendered the condition of victory in Iraq to people who do not share our vision, values or interests. The Bush administration has proven successful at only one thing in Iraq — painting us into a corner with no feasible exit.

I will never trust any of them again.

Christopher H. Sheppard is a former Marine captain who served two tours of duty in Iraq
as a combat engineer. He currently is finishing his master's degree in mass communication
and lives in Marysville.


http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0412-24.htm

[patrice]

4. We need them Here for Homeland Security. The Ports and all of

that.

We should have Public Works projects that the Civil Engineers and Gaurd and Reserve do in their own communities to Implement Homeland Security.

If the Soldiers place National Security as their primary commitment, our Security needs are at Home, active contributing to Homeland Security solutions.

[CarinKaryn]

5. Sounds like it was written by some PR flack

"My Life For Freedom" - bet its tatooed in Red, White and Blue.

[leftchick]

6. Cpl. Dipshit needs to read a book or two

start with a couple here: 'A people's history of the US' then 'War is a racket'. What a pathetic pawn

[xchrom]

7. if it's real then he doesn't know what he's talking about --

other wise -- it's a fake.

[BayouBengal07]

8. Riiiiight...

"But if we pull out of Iraq, and they come over here and start killing thousands of Americans. Then every Soldier, Marine, Airman and Sailor that have died in this war so far, would of died in vain."

Funny- "They" wouldn't have come over here if we hadn't gone over there first.

And who are "they" and how will they get over here anyway? Is there some kind of terrorist busing service from Iraq? En masse?

[Ksec]

9. or " Why we cant admit we screwed everything up"

another day, another bush monkey dancing.

[JetCityLiberal]

10. A different perspective from another Marine

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002925025_snomarine12.html

Coming home---disillusioned

snip...
"I returned disillusioned by what I saw. I participated in the second battle of Fallujah in November 2004. We crushed the insurgents in the city, but we only ended up scattering them throughout the province. The dumb ones stayed and died. The smart ones left town before the battle, to garner more recruits and fight another day. We were simply the little Dutch boy with our finger in the dike. In retrospect, we never had enough troops to firmly control the region; we had just enough to maintain a tenuous equilibrium."

snip...
"I now know I wrongfully placed my faith and trust in a presidential administration hopelessly mired in incompetence, hubris and a lack of accountability. It planned a war based on false intelligence and unrealistic assumptions. It has strategically surrendered the condition of victory in Iraq to people who do not share our vision, values or interests. The Bush administration has proven successful at only one thing in Iraq — painting us into a corner with no feasible exit.

I will never trust any of them again."




This all makes me sad and so sick, this is such an effing horror. I despise b*sh and his scum, and it grows exponentially everyday.

[xray s]

11. His myspace address is 'drunkinmanmonkey'

Now that should tip you off to the mindset of that Marine.

Hoorah.

[baby_mouse]

12. zzzzz... nt