Dear "Just Don't Let It Be In Vain"

[Stephanie]

I'm sorry that George Bush LIED to you. I'm sorry you believed him. I'm sorry George Bush, and Dick Cheney, and Condi Rice and Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld, and all of their irresponsible enablers in the media, LIED to you. I'm sorry your son or daughter, your husband or father or mother or wife, believed them. I'm sorry they went off to defend America in a fictional war based on LIES.

But here is the TRUTH. Prolonging this "war" will not change aything.

Their lives were not in vain! Their lives were not in vain!

They fought bravely, they died heroicly. Nothing can change that. And prolonging this "war" will not change that. And holding out until we "win" will not change that. Your heroes don't need a "win" in Iraq to justify their sacrifice. They served with honor, with the best intentions.

What they deserve now at long last is the TRUTH. The truth from our leaders, the truth from our media. And waht we owe them is our America back the way they believed it to be, good and just and honest and right.

That's what your loved ones deserve. Not a false, patronizing "win" to justify their sacrifice. They know why they fought. So do you. Don't let anyone take advantage of that.

~S

[zabet]

1. We deserve the truth. We can handle it. Try us.

What the proponents of the Iraq War do not realize (or care about, perhaps) is that peace and justice are inextricably linked. While terrorist acts are evil and their perpetrators deserve severe consequences, they are ultimately desperate acts of revenge against the imperialism, hubris, avarice, abuse, and murder perpetrated by the US government for many years. I strongly believe the United States has the right to pursue its attackers to the ends of the Earth to render justice and to defend its people, but that is not what the Bush administration is doing. The Neocons simply have simply used terrorist attacks as a rationale to unleash the Bush Doctrine. By invading and occupying a sovereign nation, America's leaders have wasted many lives and vast resources, while fueling antipathy toward the US and creating new terrorists. If the Neocons truly had noble intentions, they would be employing far fewer American military forces in a much more efficient way by hunting down and rooting out the true perpetrators of terrorism, and they would be revising US foreign policy to root out imperialism, economic aggression, and flagrant disregard for international law. Instead, the Neocons chose to brutalize a nation and thumb their collective noses at the world.

[Snarkoleptic]

2. Maybe if I invest more money in Enron, we can turn it around and feel better....

[Stephanie]

3. Ummm...

It's a little too late for that.

[cynatnite]

4. Well said and very moving, Stephanie...

K&R!

[LSK]

5. well, I sort of disagree

I think they did die in vain. They died in vain when Bush invaded Iraq on false pretenses. The war was COMPLETELY unneccessary. None of the reasons given to justify it turned out true. Not a single one. No benefit to anyone came about from this war except to a few select war profiteers and the oil companies.

Its sad to say and maybe a little cruel to hear that your son or daughter died in vain. However that is what happened.