Marine Corps Captain: "I will never trust any of them again."

[kpete]

Snohomish County opinion

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 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.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=snomarine12&date=20060412

[ms liberty]

1. K&R - nice find - we need more of these guys to speak out n/t

[alfredo]

2. Reality really sucks.

[boobooday]

3. I tip my hat to this guy

He is a bigger man than any of his civilian "superiors."

[wtmusic]

4. "Planning a war" at all should have tipped him off nt

[leftchick]

5. nice but

no mention of the hundreds of dead civilians in the destruction of Fallujah and the horrific use of white phospourus.

[ovidsen]

6. Beautiful. A keeper. kick. n/t

[Scout1071]

7. K&R

[kestrel91316]

8. I wish all of our military, from the top down, had got the lesson my

parents taught me as a small child, and which stays with me to this day.

YOU DON'T HIT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!

(once you get hit, then you get the luxury of fighting back, but you NEVER hit first)

Even the libertarian's idol, Ayn Rand, preached that no one had the right to initiate the use of force against another. Where were they? Beating the drums right along with everybody else.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Something we won't hear often enough, trust me.

I want to hear mea culpas from my relatives before I sit down and share Thanksgiving dinner with them again. If they don't acknowledged they made a mistake, they'll just become bigger blowhards.

[Roland99]

10. And if we do hear this guy in the M$M, he'll be swiftboated quickly

[Jim Warren]

11. With top brass bailing

enlisted men can't feel too good about the "civilian" know nothings in charge.

Watch out, Rummy might be gearing up for a military coup.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. He's going through the same thing guys in the military went....

...through during the Vietnam War.

I thought we had learned that terrible lesson then.

If I were one of the NeoCons, I would be afraid of these people as they begin to return to the U. S. in large numbers...angry, disillusioned, and VERY bitter about having been ordered to go to war based on a pack of lies. And worse yet, they've had to see their friends killed and maimed right in front of them.

Be afraid, NeoCons, be very afraid...you've opened Pandora's Box.

[Breeze54]

16. "Be afraid, NeoCons!"... should be the new mantra!!! n/t

[AndyTiedye]

18. So Instead, They Send Them Back To the War, Again and Again

How long before deployments are "for the duration"?

[rman]

13. "Never trust the state"

- Noam Chomsky

per Phil Donahue
on Independent World Television News
http://www.iwtnews.com/videoplayer/phil_donahue

[cassiepriam]

14. Too late we get smart............... nt

[happydreams]

15. Another great thread. K&R

When will we ever learn?

[cynatnite]

17. Tragic

The military has no faith in their civilian leadership. It's tragic because it will take years, after bush is gone, to regain their trust.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

19. damn right brother!

If you want to look into the eyes of a future anti-war democrat,
peek under a helmet... right Big John Kerry?
Kerry funds 9 Iraq war Vets in congressional bids.

[babylonsister]

20. Excellent graphic, Jeffersons Ghost!

:hi:

[jenndar]

21. That's awesome! n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. There are some Iraq vets working with Cindy Sheehan

IVAW is their group.