'Bring us home': GIs flood US with war-weary emails

[Khephra]

'Bring us home': GIs flood US with war-weary emails

An unprecedented internet campaign waged on the frontline and in the US is exposing the real risks for troops in Iraq. Paul Harris and Jonathan Franklin report on rising fears that the conflict is now a desert Vietnam

Sunday August 10, 2003
The Observer

snip...............

Breaking the traditional silence of military families during time of war, Schuman knows what she wants - and who she blames for the danger to her son, Justin. 'I want them to bring our troops home. I am appalled at Bush's policies. He has got us into a terrible mess,' she said.

Schuman may just be the tip of an iceberg. She lives in Shelburne Falls, a small town in Massachusetts, and says all her neighbours support her view. 'I don't know anyone around here who disagrees with me,' she said.

Schuman's views are part of a growing unease back home at the rising casualty rate in Iraq, a concern coupled with deep anger at President George W. Bush's plans to cut army benefits for many soldiers. Criticism is also coming directly from soldiers risking their lives under the guns of Saddam Hussein's fighters, and they are using a weapon not available to troops in previous wars: the internet.

Through emails and chatrooms a picture is emerging of day-to-day gripes, coupled with ferocious criticism of the way the war has been handled. They paint a vivid picture of US army life that is a world away from the sanitised official version.

more......................

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1015711,00.html

[sujan]

1. about time

Bring them home for the security of both sides.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

25. bring them home now

[Cha]

2. Once again the Guardian come through.

How long before the laggards in the mainstream American press catch up?

[sujan]

4. they wont catch up

To continue the occupation, it's in the best interest of the machine to continue to supress the information.

[T_i_B]

28. I don't think there is a country on the Planet

that wants anyone to know that morale is poor amongst the Armed forces. Here are some of the complaints. All very worrying if you ask me.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1015685,00.html

[sujan]

37. thanks for the link

[Frances]

5. Agree

I can't wait till the Guardian publishes here. The Washington Post is pressed on the right by the Washington Times. It needs pressure from the left-center.

[JoFerret]

29. You can already

buy the Guardian Weekly. Nice mix of news, opinion, etc from the Guardian plus some Washinton Post and Le Monde. buy at newstands 9ask them to order or get it by mail. Info on their website about US delivery.

[fishnfla]

6. WHY IN THE HELL does it take an overseas source?

to quote the ARMY TIMES? I'm sorry but this is beyond the pale. A tax payer funded newpaper is questioning the CIC, AND WE HAVE TO HEAR IT FROM OVERSEAS? We are all failing.

[DemoTex]

3. These soldiers have learned in weeks what took years in the 'Nam.

This whole bag is unraveling so fast that it is mind boggling. Thank goodness for the internet.

North Korea, anyone?

[Khephra]

8. So much of this is speeded up

When the soldiers finally come back, the USA is in for a major shock. Bush is on his way to turning an entire generation of veterans into anti-war activists...maybe not all of them will wake up, but enough of them will.

[freeforall]

11. I sometimes wonder if...

that's why * keeps the soldiers over there. If they all come home and say what has really been going on, he will be f**ked. The American public who support * may change their collective minds if they hear the bad news straight from the soldiers.

[NNN0LHI]

15. No, I don't think so

Quite a few troops have been rotated back home for R&R and there has not been a peep out of them that I know of. I think these guys just want someone to replace them? They don't care who that someone is. And when they get home they will be ready for the parades and some more flag waving. That is my take on it anyway.

Don

[Ouabache]

42. My report from a soldier on 15 day R&R/ not a lot

I am like 3-4 degrees away from this guy. He could have had 30 days but took only 15 because he 'thinks' he can save them to speed up his discharge at the end of his 4 years. He is still a year or two away from his 4 yr deadline. So, it seems this is one soldier who is not re-enlisting and wants out ASAP. Is he a little naive to think he is not going to get caught up in a stop-loss? I don't know.

No word on what he is 'reporting' as to what he has actually seen and been through. With his belief that he can save 15 days now to discharge earlier in a year, I am guessing he has bought any 'mum is the word' directions before his r&r.

[Judi Lynn]

7. We've seen they have been threatened with punishment

after they spoke openly to CBS about their state of being in Iraq. They were ridiculed, scorned by the administration and Pentagon officials.

What do you want to bet that they will getting access to the internet withdrawn, followed by a blatantly bogus explanation.

I'm betting they are knocked off the internet, and we won't be hearing from them.

The poster who said they are learning in leaps and bounds what took so long in Viet Nam is probably right. I can foresee an attempt to move them back into greater helplessness and alienation by the White House, to shut them up, and to keep them unaware of what people here are thinking: using an explanation like "removing dangerous distractions" or something.

[Robin Hood]

9. Let's wager on how long before they cut off email to the troops.

I give it 2 months. If not the emails will at least be censored for family consumption.

[Mari333]

10. The US News blackout again.

[fishnfla]

12. I'm sorry but BULLSHIT, the ARMY TIMES is quoted

what blackout? Dont get any more US than that bro.

[Mari333]

43. Army Times is not mainstream media

Its not CNN, MSNBC, or ABC, CBS, ...when I see those letters published and read on mainstream US media, and Democrats screaming about the Quagmire and soldier's plight, then Ill believe there isnt a blackout. Right now its Kobe Bryant all day, or California Circus Politics...Sis.

[Wonder]

13. I can not get through this article it has brought on a bout of weeping

and I do not know not one boy over there... THIS HAS GOT TO STOP... we have to get THESE BOYS HOME... FIRE UP THAT ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT WITH THAT SLOGAN

BRING OUR BOYS HOME!

I will have to come back to the article once I have a good cry... I don't fight it anymore when a good cry comes on... well so be it...

BRING OUR BOYS HOME! GET THOSE ANTI-WAR RALLIES BACK ON THE STREET...

THIS HAS GOT TO END.

[starroute]

14. Who is Richard Stoll?

My eye was caught by the quote at the end:

Political scientists, however, think the war will have to get much worse before anything similar happens over Iraq. 'To put it crudely, I think the country can accept this current level of casualties,' said Professor Richard Stoll, of Rice University in Houston, Texas.

I wondered what sort of person could make such a boneheaded remark -- and the fact that he's a professor at Rice University, which is so heavy in Bush connections, made me suspicious. So I Googled his name and found his Rice University faculty listing:

Associate Director for the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy

Scholarly Areas: International relations, international conflict, U.S. national security policy, computer simulation

Plus a list of a whole lot of presentations with titles like "Terrorism and Chemical Weapons," "North Korea: Axis of Evil?," "Homeland defense: how well are we doing?," and "Iraq and Nuclear Weapons."

As far as I can tell, he's not exactly a hawk -- more just an academic defense policy analyst. But his name does keeps turning up over and over in newspaper stories as the expert suggesting that anti-war protests are going to lose steam, Americans are going to accept the ongoing level of military activity, etc. To that extent, he seems to serve as the mouthpiece for administration views.

I've also been noticing that the James A. Baker III Institute seems to keep popping up when I Google for one thing or another. For example, a few months ago I ran across a story from 1995 saying, "Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will receive the first Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service next week during the inaugural annual conference of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University." Probably it's time to check that out a little more closely as well.

[indictrichardperle]

16. LOL, so a James Baker Institute shill

spins the quagmire as 'oh, a soldier or two a day is no biggie, folks back home wont mind", and we are supposed to take his "opinion" seriously ? :eyes:

[DemBones DemBones]

41. So, if you were Colin Powell, would you have that Enron Prize

(from the James Baker Institute) out on the mantel now or hidden in the closet since the fall of Enron? Would you still list it on your resume?

[dArKeR]

17. Do we march to D.C. or Iraq to bring out children home? I'm ready!

I've got goose bumps just reading, 'Bring us home': GIs flood US with war-weary emails'

And I'm sucking tired of hearing 'Peace Protesters' we're 'Truth Protesters'.

If Soros wants to help he'd give the best law firm we can find the money to sue and RICO the media. The media are 'Accessories to Murder' to Bush/GOP Leadership in this case!

http://www.geocities.com/darkerxdarker/index.html

[Wonder]

18. Damn right the media has become an enemy of the people

of the USofA

[Rhiannon12866]

50. Will Pitt alluded to this in his talk tonight before Veterans For Peace

Someone asked how to get the truth out, and Will responded that they needed to fix the American media. It has truly become impossible to learn the truth in this country. I subscribe to the foreign press and come to DU.:-)

[TacticalPeek]

21. There it is..."sue and RICO the media"...absolutely!

There was a thread a few days ago about an incipient progressive lawyers group.

Get it on and get on it. Discovery, etc. There's a extra-obnoxious stench to US media coverage that is hard to write off to the usual suspects of competition, profit-seeking, etc.

[NNN0LHI]

19. Not one mention in this article about the true victims of this mess

The Iraqi people did not sign up for any of this.

Don

[Wonder]

31. and this hasn't gone over

my head either the iraq civilian death tolls far surpass US and UK troop loses and casualty numbers. You are familiar with the Iraqi body count? It is an open wound of american ignorance and apathy and a US admin run seriously amok.

[Rhiannon12866]

49. They don't care

Innocent citizens are expendable.;(

[Robin Hood]

20. 'To put it crudely

'To put it crudely, I think the country can accept this current level of casualties,' said Professor Richard Stoll, of Rice University in Houston, Texas.

We have to wait until we kill three million of their people, or 55, ooo of ours die. That's quite a threshold.

[dArKeR]

22. Websites referenced in story

David H. Hackworth
http://www.hackworth.com/

Veterans for Common Sense
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/

National Gulf War Resource Center
http://www.ngwrc.org/

[wellst0nev0ter]

23. Letters To Stars And Stripes (Jesus)

http://estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=16878

Notice how the letters complaining about those who criticize the Eye-Rack campaign come from either Germany and Japan, and those that are critical of the Eye-Rack campaign actually came from Iraq?

[symbolman]

24. Come see my flash animation

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/onearmy.html ARMY OF ONE

we are taking donations to get this on TV (one minute format - as a series)

I feel really strongly about this bs and we're going to get the word out.. it WILL air

[Rhiannon12866]

26. Thank you

I have seen this before and told you that I thought it is excellent. This was a very appropriate place to post it, again, for those who may not have seen it.

I was going to post this article if no one else had. Instead, I got to view your affecting flash another time. It is so well done.:-(

[Wonder]

30. this issue really tears me up

I don't even understand why it upsets me so much... I guess I see these guys as innocent (regardless of the indocrination of military families or basic training). from the outside looking in and knowing how the DOD could care less about the vets... and all that goes into my frame of reference to say that... this is very sad to me...

BRING EM HOME! BRING THE BOYS HOME. Thanks for your contribution.

[Rhiannon12866]

39. And me, as well

They do not belong there and should not be suffering and dying. That's the bottom line with me. Yes, they signed up. But they trusted their government not to wage such an illegal and bloody war. Most of the American people believed that our government had learned the lessons of Vietnam.:shrug:

[Wonder]

40. for the most part

they are what is called grunts most probably out of basic training gungho patriotic to fight for democracy , most on a need to know... won't be till they are more seasoned and have moved up in the ranks, those that do, that they will be able to look critically at the strategies involved here or lack thereof...

I placed this article here I think , but it sums up what I am saying... the bullshit here is as pervasive as it was before vietnam was even classifed as a police action. Jim McNamara was misadvising the president I believe it was first kennedy then Johnson... implying that they were winning when they were losing...

anyway here is the article

snip

In 1970, when I arrived at my unit, Company A, 4th Battalion/503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, in what was then the Republic of Vietnam, I was charged up for a fight. I believed that if we didn't stop the communists in Vietnam, we'd eventually be fighting this global conspiracy in the streets of Hot Springs, Arkansas. I'd been toughened by Basic Training, Infantry Training and Parachute Training, taught how to use my weapons and equipment, and I was confident in my ability to vanquish the skinny unter-menschen. So I was dismayed when one of my new colleagues--a veteran who'd been there ten months--told me, "We are losing this war."

Not only that, he said, if I wanted to survive for my one year there, I had to understand one very basic thing. All Vietnamese were the enemy, and for us, the grunts on the ground, this was a race war. Within one month, it was apparent that everything he told me was true, and that every reason that was being given to the American public for the war was not true.

more...
http://www.counterpunch.org/goff07032003.html

[Rhiannon12866]

46. Wow! Thanks! That was very powerful

I have someone who I may send this to. I have a friend who is a graduate of West Point and career army. I know that I have posted this before. In the days leading up to the war, I had sent him a few things to read and he said he was coming around to my point of view. I felt that the case against war, including the national sentiments, was unassailable. However, once the fighting started, his training kicked in and opinion changed. He said as long as we were there, we had to ``win'' this. He picks apart most articles I send him as ``slanted'' or written by ``armchair soldiers.'' Let's see how he reacts to this one.:-)

[0007]

27. .....and what do we hear here at home from the top brass

"Moral is high, our troops know that we have job to do, and no matter how long it will take our soldiers know its the good fight for freedom"

[PaDUer]

32. All they want to do is

keep them there so they can die for their BS..and now they're going to start a draft so they can kill more!! Remember the numbers of people protesting against this war--did they care? NO...They're doing whatever they want..It's time to bring these thugs to TRIAL and jail! I bet there's not one of their children, those honchos in office in DC, over there!!

[Wonder]

33. it seems to me the anti-war movement was subdued

so as not to disrespect the soldier... we need to get it back on the streets... with a change in slogan... BRING THE BOYS HOME... then the movement will not be accused of disrespecting the boys and will not risk a replay of the sixties fiasco... it seems to me that is one of the reasons the anti-war movement took a back seat...in respect of the boys... the message just needs to be tweaked... GET BACK OUT ON THE STREETS AND BRING THE BOYS HOME. Why are we being so polite? Any thoughts?

[Rhiannon12866]

44. That sounds like an excellent idea to me

The people who say they support the war to support the troops make no sense at all. This does not make them any safer. Americans are still dying in a place that they do not belong. Millions took to the streets in protest before Bush* launched his unprovoked attack, and then the voices became largely silent, for the reasons that you describe. We need to speak up again and keep speaking up until someone listens. You are right, people have been too polite when this is a world tragedy.

On last night's Democratic forum in Philadelphia, most of the candidates spoke out, very clearly, against the war and the audience responded enthusiastically. This was a great thing to hear. Many of the things they said are said everyday on DU. It was a relief to me to hear these sentiments finally expressed in a national forum.

[Wonder]

45. BRING THE BOYS HOME

I agree would be a good shift in anti-war slogan. and if caught wind of by the boys on the frontline would not be insulting to them as I probably there are a percent that WANT TO COME HOME.

[bluedem]

34. "Old Shoe". Anyone remember Wag the Dog? I rented it last night.

Only in this case, this Schuman is real. But both the real and fictional Schumans were used for political purposes.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

35. poor bastards...bush*s IRAQNAM

[dansolo]

36. What about the guy who was "accidentally shot"

by a celebrating Iraqi shooting into the air? Turns out he was a week away from going home. My gut is screaming that he may have been grumbling, and was going to tell about what was going on in Iraq. I feel like he got shot to shut him up and to keep the other soldiers quiet. The whole story just doesn't pass the smell test.

[SyracuseDemocrat]

38. Bring them home immediately

Let an international coalition step in.

[Q]

47. Problem: there is no international coalition...

- The Bushies and the Brits went in on their own...against the will of most of the world. That's why no 'coalition' will be showing up any time soon. Bush* left our troops hanging in limbo...while he goes on vacation and to fund-raisers.

[9215]

48. I'll wait until the

next election before being sympathetic. If Homo Americanus does not get off of its pathologically apathetic ass and take action then tough shit!

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men-Plato