I can recommend another soldiers account worth reading. "Chasing Ghosts" by Paul Rieckhoff. Good look at a volunteer from NY who volunteered to serve in Iraq and was attached as an officer to a Florida NG unit and took part in the initial invasion. Later founded a website for vets: www.iava.org

My friend, who was in the Guard when this war began, was among the first to step foot into Iraq. He was there for about 13 months.

I remember the night he came over to tell us he was being sent to Iraq. That day he had gotten the usual military hair cut. It was dark when he knocked on the door. I turned on the outside lights and opened the door. I knew as soon as I saw his haircut what he was about to say. He didn't have to say anything at all because the look on his face reinforced the appearance of the haircut. I just said, "Oh no." And he nodded his head. What followed that was a lot of hugging and me crying. As he walked slowly down the walkway toward his home, he turned around and said, "You know this whole thing is bullshit, don't you?" I said, yes I sure do. He turned fifty years old while he was in Iraq.

He didn't get injured in Iraq. He came home fine. Last year I got a call telling me he had died of a tumor.

The lack of solid proof is why I never believed anything this admin ever said. And in retrospect it was all BS. I hear all the time about some terrorist warning & the country going to red alert over nothing. The intel always turns out to be BS. They'd be better off just posting all their "intel" on a website and letting us debunk it for them.

pissed off patricia @ 3:

My friend, who was in the Guard when this war began, was among the first to step foot into Iraq. He was there for about 13 months.

I remember the night he came over to tell us he was being sent to Iraq. That day he had gotten the usual military hair cut. It was dark when he knocked on the door. I turned on the outside lights and opened the door. I knew as soon as I saw his haircut what he was about to say. He didn't have to say anything at all because the look on his face reinforced the appearance of the haircut. I just said, "Oh no." And he nodded his head. What followed that was a lot of hugging and me crying. As he walked slowly down the walkway toward his home, he turned around and said, "You know this whole thing is bullshit, don't you?" I said, yes I sure do. He turned fifty years old while he was in Iraq.

He didn't get injured in Iraq. He came home fine. Last year I got a call telling me he had died of a tumor.

That is horrible. Saying I'm sorry would do nothing, I know. Truly, truly sad.

We pushed into Baghdad facing heavy resistance from the primarily Shiite populated cities in southern Iraq. It was strange being that the Shiites were Saddam's enemies who he had oppressed for decades. To me it was clear that they hated us more than Saddam because we were invaders from the west. Saddam might have been a horrible man, but we were worse in their eyes. It was frightening to realize that the people who Saddam murdered by the thousands actually preferred him to us.

Here's the point that we keep missing be it Iraq or Iran, people just don't like their having their country invaded. They'll fight back even if they hate their own government.

The links are now fixed. I used the link for the main page instead of linking directly to the story. Sorry for the problem.

Ooops, just scroll down. Sorry Logan. I'll get the hang of this computer stuff eventually.

I scrolled down and found it.

Good, its fixed.

One comment he made was -

"There was a mixed sentiment among the troops I had served with at the time. For some troops Bush's word was enough for them to go to Iraq to fight and die for what they believed was necessary for our country. There were some who didn't pay attention to the politics. They felt that they were soldiers who had no other option but to go to war and take their chances. In a sense, that is what good soldiers do."

In a democracy, good citizen-soldiers don't do that. Following a leader's order just because he is the leader is not healthy.They are shirking their duty as responsible citizens. I thought the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal made that pretty clear.

Now both links are going straight to the post instead of just Americablog's homepage. It's a long post but definitely worth reading the rest. The intro posted here hardly does it justice.

I will fight for an end to this war with my last breath. We all must.

John Bruhns
Iraq Veteran

bravo!

Damn phony soldier!

"I guess if you repeat the same lies over and over again they begin to sound true."

Quite correct. Research has shown that to be true:

The experiments also highlight the difference between asking people whether they still believe a falsehood immediately after giving them the correct information, and asking them a few days later. Long-term memories matter most in public health campaigns or political ones, and they are the most susceptible to the bias of thinking that well-recalled false information is true.

The experiments do not show that denials are completely useless; if that were true, everyone would believe the myths. But the mind's bias does affect many people, especially those who want to believe the myth for their own reasons, or those who are only peripherally interested and are less likely to invest the time and effort needed to firmly grasp the facts.

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The research also highlights the disturbing reality that once an idea has been implanted in people's minds, it can be difficult to dislodge. Denials inherently require repeating the bad information, which may be one reason they can paradoxically reinforce it.

Indeed, repetition seems to be a key culprit. Things that are repeated often become more accessible in memory, and one of the brain's subconscious rules of thumb is that easily recalled things are true.

Many easily remembered things, in fact, such as one's birthday or a pet's name, are indeed true. But someone trying to manipulate public opinion can take advantage of this aspect of brain functioning. In politics and elsewhere, this means that whoever makes the first assertion about something has a large advantage over everyone who denies it later.
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Furthermore, a new experiment by Kimberlee Weaver at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and others shows that hearing the same thing over and over again from one source can have the same effect as hearing that thing from many different people -- the brain gets tricked into thinking it has heard a piece of information from multiple, independent sources, even when it has not. Weaver's study was published this year in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR200709...

Chris @ 17:

Good, its fixed.

One comment he made was -

"There was a mixed sentiment among the troops I had served with at the time. For some troops Bush's word was enough for them to go to Iraq to fight and die for what they believed was necessary for our country. There were some who didn't pay attention to the politics. They felt that they were soldiers who had no other option but to go to war and take their chances. In a sense, that is what good soldiers do."

In a democracy, good citizen-soldiers don't do that. Following a leader's order just because he is the leader is not healthy.They are shirking their duty as responsible citizens. I thought the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal made that pretty clear.

Sorry, but an active duty soldier is very limited in what s/he can say or do to speak out. Just ask Lt. Watada. For those with families depending on them, destroying their military career is not really an option, nor the moral thing to do as long as they are not ordered to actually do something unlawful, but just being ordered to serve in a war zone, even a war based on lies, doesn't warrant leaving your spouse and kids to fend for themselves while your ass sits in Leavenworth. Soldiers must depend on civilians- mostly their political leaders and retirees, to be their voices.

When are 'We The People' going to stand up for OUR Country and quit letting these people in power continue to do criminal governing? How many lies, lives, and loss of our freedoms will we stand? What the British did in the 1700s was a drop in the bucket to what this regime is doing to our people. What would Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy...etc do in this day? Revolution, I believe. Are we going to have a trademark after our country's name soon....United States of America Inccorporated. This government in power now is JUST PLAIN EVIL!

Impeach Chimp/Cheney and send them to The Hague to answer for their war crimes and crimes against humanity.

When I went through Army Basic at Ft. McClellan in 1982, we had a half-day's lecture on the laws of war...and what was an unlawful order as opposed to a lawful one. (Hint: Abu Ghraib was as effin' unlawful as it gets.) Pure Nuremberg stuff. We even had to sign a paper saying that we understood what we were taught...which went into our 201 files, 'just in case'. You can imagine why.

I put my ball on the roulette wheel (war with the Russkies or no war; place yer bets, folks, place yer bets!) and gave it a spin, proudly did my time, got a few commendations, and got out. Good thing, too, for with my MOS (54E30, Chemical Defense) I would have been in Desert Storm for sure. I haven't set foot on an Army base in almost 20 years, so I have no idea what these kids are being taught - officially and unofficially - nowadays, but some things like the Geneva Convention are meant to be inviolable.

But, historically, that usually only works in stand-up fights, not insurgencies. Which the brass had to have known...and disregarded for political reasons. And now those kids are paying the price. Damn Bush and his crew to the lowest ring of Dante's hell...

There is only one way that we are going to get out of Iraq within the next 5 years.

Kucinich 08

Kucinich never voted to give Bush the authority to enter the Iraq war.
Kucinich never voted in favor of torture, warrantless spying on Americans or suspension of Habeas Corpus.
Kucinich promises immediate withdraw from Iraq.

Plus Kucinich wants to get Insurance companies out of the health care business with single payer nationalized health care.

Hillary and Obama admitted that they would still be in Iraq by the time their 1st term is completed in 2013! John Edwards was for a little faster time table.

Kucinich campaigned to get us out of Iraq in his 2004 presidential run, and he still is.

Hillary and Obama answer to our health care problems is to use your tax money to subsidize insurance companies, who eat up 30 percent of health care costs and still refuse treatments.

Help save America - Learn about Dennis Kucinich and spread the word at every opportunity.

The big business run media will be doing everything in their power to make sure Kucinich does not get his message out, or to predict there is no way he can win. Our only hope is a grass roots movement. And it has to be in the Democratic primaries.

Support the true candidate of the people - Kucinich 08

John Bruhns speaks from his heart and soul, but I quibble over one of his statements:

It was a rough ride to Baghdad. Right from the start 150,000 troops were cluttered and stacked upon each other with our vehicles breaking down due to the harsh terrain of the southern Iraqi desert. We were in the middle of nowhere and out in the open. If there were ever a time for Saddam to use his weapons of mass destruction it would have been the perfect opportunity for him. We were in the perfect location for him to attack us -- out in the open desert with no other population. He could have launched the alleged stockpile of WMD directly upon the US military and killed no one but our troops. If bush really was convinced that Saddam had such a massive WMD arsenal why would he place us in the most vulnerable position for him to use them on us? Probably because bush knew they did not exist otherwise he never would have allowed such a stupid battle plan to take place.

Wrong. Whether bush believed they did exist or did not exist, is inconsequential to bush's thought processes. Saddam unleashing WMD on our troops, like cattle penned in a corral, would give bush the perfect excuse to drop a nuke on Iraq. No one at this point can truly kid themselves that bush wouldn't be willing to take that chance with the lives of our troops, because he knows at that point Americans would be so outraged that they would be screaming to turn Iraq into a glass parking lot. For someone like bush, who loves death and destruction (as evidenced by his life history), it would be his "crowning glory." If Saddam had WMD, bush wins. And even though it's been proven that Saddam didn't, bush still thinks he's winning.

If we are going to end this war/occupation, it looks to me that we are going to have to evict every Republican and every DINO/Corporatist "Democrat" as their seats come open. It would also be a huge mistake to elect as president anybody who will not end this atrocity unconditionally upon taking the oath of office. These alleged top 3 candidates are a gigantic disappointment to me. I will not vote for any ticket that contains their names.

I consider Bush and crew to be war criminals. I am prepared to hold the same sentiments about any Democrat who refuses to aggressively act to end this nightmare.

God Bless you young man for your unswerving patriotism in discharging your duty as an American Serviceman and reporting to us at home the need to end this madness Especially scary was the part of being stranded and at the mercy of the WMDs which thank God for your sake and 150,000 other young men and women turned out to be bullshit or camel shit which ever

Yes this is one of the best detailed accounts of this war over the last 5 years I have ever read.

You know down deep that this man has seen the truth and it is setting him free...

pissed off patricia @ 3:

My friend, who was in the Guard when this war began, was among the first to step foot into Iraq. He was there for about 13 months.

I remember the night he came over to tell us he was being sent to Iraq. That day he had gotten the usual military hair cut. It was dark when he knocked on the door. I turned on the outside lights and opened the door. I knew as soon as I saw his haircut what he was about to say. He didn't have to say anything at all because the look on his face reinforced the appearance of the haircut. I just said, "Oh no." And he nodded his head. What followed that was a lot of hugging and me crying. As he walked slowly down the walkway toward his home, he turned around and said, "You know this whole thing is bullshit, don't you?" I said, yes I sure do. He turned fifty years old while he was in Iraq.

He didn't get injured in Iraq. He came home fine. Last year I got a call telling me he had died of a tumor.

my deepest and sincerest condolences. I'll remember your friend in my prayers.

If you pray, please remember my two cousins, one on his fourth tour of Iraq, the other on his first tour (part of the SURGE) after three in Afghanistan.

volum @ 40:

I have a hard time listening to soldiers.

Our military hasn't been used for anything positive in my lifetime, and for any enlistee to think differently doesn't show much foresight or understanding of history. Maybe more people need to understand the history of our country before they want to sign up to die for it.

This is pure Nuremburg stuff. This was an illegal invasion, and anyone who knew it, yet still went over there to kill, has no legitimacy in my eyes.

Unfortunately, they get them young. 17 or 18 right out of the worst highschools in America. And then they are brainwashed in bootcamp and thereon. They go from parental brainwashing straight to military brainwashing. And, it is no secret that our schools do not teach history. And I am pretty sure that the military doesn't talk about Nuremberg anymore. These kids have never had to think for themselves. And then they become adults that have never had to think for themselves.

If we are going to end this war/occupation, it looks to me that we are going to have to evict every Republican and every DINO/Corporatist “Democrat” as their seats come open.

I don't think this is do-able by votes alone. America is not awake enough yet; opposition candidates can't compete with the millions incumbents raise (and even if they were successful, I'd fear for them every time they flew); and the voting machines are too easily rigged. Someday it may come down to 10 or 20 million of us - civilian and military alike -descending on Washington, DC and non-violently escorting these officials from their offices. The system is now so rigged against the little guy, that I don't see any other way out.

anon @ 36:

War is an act of national survival. war (small w) is not. This is not a War.

The second World War was an act of national survival subsequent to a provocation against the Japanese. Since WWII, the military has been used repeatedly as a tool of national policy NOT national defense. Today, the situation has deteriorated to the point that the military is being used to satisfy a personal whim by a roque president.

The US owned the pacific in the 1800's. Many people dont realize that. The rise of japan industrial power and military in the early 20th century prompted the US to block Japan from its needed source of energy - oil - needed to drive its growing industrial base. The result - War.

What Bush is doing now, has the potential of depriving China from a needed source of energy - oil - needed to fuel its growing industrial base. The result could and likely would be War.

See a pattern here? I do.

I dont think this is War ... I think it is the act of a madman which will lead to War.

Get ready for what is coming .... a struggle for national survival .... if Bush's madness goes wrong and triggers a response.

Talk about putting two and two together! Thank you. What better way to stay top-dog, than to eliminate the competition. That is what this is all about. Keeping AmeriKa the top-dog. Why not go for global domination since they are going to to all the trouble.

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