Stars and Stripes letters, Sept. 21 - 27

[lebkuchen]

Below are just two of a litany of complaints/concerns on behalf of our military. Morale is sinking fast.

http://estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=17774

Other factors

This is in response to the recent announcement that Reserve and National Guard soldiers in Iraq will serve one-year tours. I’m a member of the Army National Guard who is affected by this order. I always hear people say, “Well, this is what you signed up for,” when our guardsmen voice their discontent with this order. But there are other factors that readers should consider.

When a National Guard unit mobilizes to deploy, we don’t go straight to the Middle East. We first go through mobilizations at stateside bases that are always far away from our home states. In our case, we spent almost three months getting ready for deployment before we even got to Iraq. Then once our one-year tour is up, we have to redeploy to the stateside base and go through demobilization procedures. We also have to use up any leave we accumulated in the 15- or 16-month period before we head back to our civilian jobs. This can mean that some of us will be gone from our jobs for almost a year and a half.

Putting our employers through such a length of time without us could seriously jeopardize the chances of other reservists and guardsmen to find work. It’s unlawful to discriminate against someone who’s in the Reserve or Guard. But how does a person know that the reason he was never called for an interview was because he wrote on his resume that he’s a guardsman or reservist?

With such a large call up for such lengthy periods of time away from work, I’m willing to bet that employers will think twice about hiring citizen soldiers in the future to avoid losing key personnel.

Reservists and guardsmen should be used to augment our active duty soldiers, not to cover up serious shortcomings in the number of active duty personnel.

Spc. Carl Jackson
Baghdad, Iraq


Bush misleading Americans

President Bush is misleading Americans about the reasons for invading Iraq. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers are dead and many more wounded. Our soldiers are fighting to defend each other, but not truly fighting to defend America, and America is what they signed up to defend. Why then are our soldiers dying, if not to protect America?

On Sept. 15, 2001, our president met with his cabinet at Camp David. Neoconservatives led by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and Vice President Dick Cheney lobbied for their special interest groups instead of the American people. They told the president that now was the time to go after Saddam Hussein. They said that American forces may get bogged down in Afghanistan just as the British and Soviets had, and America needed early successes to maintain domestic support. Iraq, they claimed, would be easy pickings. This had nothing to do with Sept. 11, 2001, weapons of mass destruction or threats to America. Bush decided that Afghanistan would be first. But Iraq would be next. Who on Sept. 15, 2001, was thinking about liberating Iraq? I think most Americans wanted to get Osama bin Laden. If that’s true, then Bush and Rumsfeld have failed us.

In the first Gulf War, Iraq had the fourth-largest army in the world. It was backed by WMDs and a strong air force. In the years since, every U.S. weapons system has been improved tenfold. Meanwhile, Iraqi’s forces had been degraded by more than 80 percent. Yet we’ve lost more soldiers in the latest Gulf War then we did in the first. Why? Leadership. Not Gen. Tommy Franks. He did his job. It’s Rumsfeld and his boss who refused to listen to the generals about the number of troops needed after taking Baghdad. Do we really want Rumsfeld transforming the Army?

Saddam and bin Laden hated each other. Saddam kept al-Qaida out of Iraq and kept the Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq under control. But Bush removed Saddam from Iraq, and now al-Qaida and other terrorists are pouring into Iraq to kill Americans. The Islamic fundamentalists are also rising up and talking about kicking the Americans out and taking over the country. All Bush could do was say, “Bring it on.” Yet he chose to fly over Baghdad in the safety of Air Force One.

Bush insulted the United Nations, and now he’s begging it to help clean up his mess. Do we really want to give these guys a second term?

James Carrethers
Heidelberg, Germany

[realFedUp]

1. good information about reservists

I had no idea there was time before and after deployment
spent in the US.

What person is going to sign up to be a reservist
if they are employed and don't want to risk losing that job?

[Karenina]

2. What will it take?

WHAT will it take for people to realize they are be USED by a *cabal that could care less if they or their familes live or die?

[realFedUp]

3. I think they now realize

unfortunately for the future administrations,
people aren't going to sign up for duty...a
draft will have to be imposed unless unemployment
stays high and military compensation is worth it.