Merry Xmas: Letters from Servicemen in Iraq!

Lance Corporal George Batton of the United States Marine Corps, who returned from Iraq in September (after serving in MP company Alpha), writes the following:

�You'd be surprised at how many of the guys I talked to in my company and others believed that the president's scare about Saddam's WMD was a bunch of bull# and that the real motivation for this war was only about money. There was also a lot of crap that many companies, not just marine companies, had to go through with not getting enough equipment to fulfill their missions when they crossed the border. It was a miracle that our company did what it did the two months it was staying in Iraq during the war�. We were promised to go home on June 8th, and found out that it was a lie and we got stuck doing missions for an extra three months. Even some of the most radical conservatives in our company including our company gunnery sergeant got a real bad taste in their mouth about the Marine corps, and maybe even president Bush.�

Here's what Specialist Mike Prysner of the U.S. Army wrote to me:

�Dear Mike -- I�m writing this without knowing if it�ll ever get to you�I�m writing it from the trenches of a war (that�s still going on,) not knowing why I�m here or when I�m leaving. I�ve toppled statues and vandalized portraits, while wearing an American flag on my sleeve, and struggling to learn how to understand� I joined the army as soon as I was eligible � turned down a writing scholarship to a state university, eager to serve my country, ready to die for the ideals I fell in love with. Two years later I found myself moments away from a landing onto a pitch black airstrip, ready to charge into a country I didn't believe I belonged in, with your words (from the Oscars) repeating in my head. My time in Iraq has always involved finding things to convince myself that I can be proud of my actions; that I was a part of something just. But no matter what pro-war argument I came up with, I pictured my smirking commander-in-chief, thinking he was fooling a nation�"

An Army private, still in Iraq and wishing to remain anonymous, writes:

�I would like to tell you how difficult it is to serve under a man who was never elected. Because he is the president and my boss, I have to be very careful as to who and what i say about him. This also concerns me a great deal... to limit the military's voice is to limit exactly what America stands for... and the greater percentage of us feel completely underpowered. He continually sets my friends, my family, and several others in a kind of danger that frightens me beyond belief. I know several other soldiers who feel the same way and discuss the situation with me on a regular basis.�

Jerry Oliver of the U.S. Army, who has just returned from Baghdad, writes:

�I have just returned home from "Operation Iraqi Freedom". I spent 5 months in Baghdad, and a total of 3 years in the U.S. Army. I was recently discharged with Honorable valor and returned to the States only to be horrified by what I've seen my country turn into. I'm now 22 years old and have discovered America is such a complicated place to live, and moreover, Americans are almost oblivious to what's been happening to their country. America has become "1984." Homeland security is teaching us to spy on one another and forcing us to become anti-social. Americans are willingly sacrificing our freedoms in the name of security, the same Freedoms I was willing to put my life on the line for. The constitution is in jeopardy. As Gen. Tommy Franks said, (broken down of course) One more terrorist attack and the constitution will hold no meaning.�

And a Specialist in the U.S. Army wrote to me this week about the capture of Saddam Hussein:

�Wow, 130,000 troops on the ground, nearly 500 deaths and over a billion dollars a day, but they caught a guy living in a hole. Am I supposed to be dazzled?�

There are lots more of these, straight from the soldiers who have been on the front lines and have seen first hand what this war is really about.

I have also heard from their friends and relatives, and from other veterans. A mother writing on behalf of her son (whose name we have withheld) wrote:

�My son said that this is the worst it's been since the "end" of the war. He said the troops have been given new rules of engagement, and that they are to "take out" any persons who aggress on the Americans, even if it results in "collateral" damage. Unfortunately, he did have to kill someone in self defense and was told by his commanding officer �Good kill.�

"My son replied �You just don't get it, do you?�

"Here we are...Vietnam all over again.�

From a 56 year old Navy veteran, relating a conversation he had with a young man who was leaving for Iraq the next morning:

�What disturbed me most was when I asked him what weapons he carried as a truck driver. He told me the new M-16, model blah blah blah, stuff never made sense to me even when I was in. I asked him what kind of side arm they gave him and his fellow drivers. He explained, "Sir, Reservists are not issued side arms or flack vests as there was not enough money to outfit all the Reservists, only Active Personnel". I was appalled to say the least.

"Bush is a jerk agreed, but I can't believe he is this big an Asshole not providing protection and arms for our troops to fight HIS WAR!�

From a 40-year old veteran of the Marine Corps:

�Why is it that we are forever waving the flag of sovereignty, EXCEPT when it concerns our financial interests in other sovereign states? What gives us the right to tell anyone else how they should govern themselves, and live their lives? Why can't we just lead the world by example? I mean no wonder the world hates us, who do they get to see? Young assholes in uniforms with guns, and rich, old, white tourists! Christ, could we put up a worse first impression?�

(To read more from my Iraq mailbag -- and to read these above letters in full -- go to my website: www.michaelmoore.com...)

Figured you all might like this on Xmas, particularly the "supportin the troops" repugnants.:w:

[Edited on 24-12-2003 by Colonel]

I have some good friends who are still in Iraq and they tell me the same thing. That its all bull#, and they know it. Im not surprised by these lettes.

Yea but the majority of the red necks on this board don�t believe the letters are even real. But hell they believed Iraq could strike us with all kinds of nasty weapons they didn�t even have. They also believe Bush is Jesus Christ and Enron was Clintons fault. Even thou Ken Lay and Bush are good old buddies. Oh yea come to think of it he lied about that also Ken who? Lmao worse then Clinton soon he will ask what s your definition of friend when his ass is finally hauled into court. I just hope the lawyer doesn�t ask him what his definition of weapons of mass destruction is, we all know the answer PROGRAMS!!

well im a red neck and i believe that and also knwo alot of soldiers over there and yea there frustrated but not in the way those letter seem. And plus the letters of a few do not display the sentaments over the tens of thousand troops over there

Originally posted by Quicksilver
few do not display the sentaments over the tens of thousand troops over there

Your right. I know one guy who lives for combat from Somalia to Bosnia I imagine Iraq I haven�t talk to him in 2 years. But he wasn�t happy unless he was killing the enemy.

Btw. You where kidding right you don't actually believe Bush is jesus right?

[Edited on 25-12-2003 by DiRtYDeViL]