Saving Iraqi Children...and Perhaps Our Own

Ok...I have been NOTHING but consistent in my criticism for the war in Iraq. I have a personal stake in how things work themselves out. I have a kid on the line....

I don't believe that we were justified in invading....I think that Mr. Bush, in any corporate job would have been fired long ago for gross incompetence along with his cabinet. (My apologies to those who support Mr. Bush as those are of course, my personal feelings). Mr. Rumsfeld's high handed arrogance in failing to use the combined experience of those military commanders that he caused to resign resulted in the needless loss of life - on both sides. (Again, my apologies to Rumsfeld supporters.) I don't know much about military strategy...but I do know you need to provide adequate resources to get any job done. It was not done...It is not done ...and the results are tragic.

With that said - I cannot ignore that this country's actions have resulted in a true humanitarian crisis involving innocent people. War, has a way of doing that - something not covered in the primer on the "War on Terrorism". And if my dad taught me anything, it was this: When you make a mistake, you need to work hard to correct it. And sadly, in my opinion, we made a mistake: a grave one. And I speak of we in simple terms here - we means Americans. We means all of us who live in this country. This is "our" problem no matter if you are for or against this war.

This NY Times op-ed columnist may have given the ONLY reason I can think of to stay. It has nothing to do with 9/11 or the "War on Terror" or Saddam Hussein. It has everything to do with Mr. Powell's Pottery Barn rule and fixing the mess we created: Not for national gain, not for treasure and not for oil...and certainly not for democracy: but rather for innocent human life.

Still, in all, I would need to see a huge shift in Administration policy...and some folks in place that were not the "planners" of this fiasco to fully support his ideas. A good start would perhaps be some moderate Republicans/Independents and (gasp) even a few Democrats to fill those positions now being vacated in the Bush Administration: People with the ability to tell the President not what he wants to "know" but rather what he needs to hear. In other words...they need to make him listen and do the job that 51% of the population hired him to do.

But then...one can only hope.

November 27, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST

Saving the Iraqi Children

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Iraqis are paying a horrendous price for the good intentions of well-meaning conservatives who wanted to liberate them. And now some well-meaning American liberals are seeking a troop withdrawal that would make matters even worse. Heaven protect Iraq from well-meaning Americans.

Lately, I've been quiet about the war because it's easy to rail about the administration's foolishness last year but a lot harder to offer constructive suggestions for what we should do now. President Bush's policy on Iraq has migrated from delusional - we would be welcomed with flowers, we should disband the Iraqi army, security is fine, the big problem is exaggerations by nervous Nellie correspondents - to reasonable today. These days, the biggest risk may come from the small but growing contingent on the left that wants to bring our troops home now.

Consider two recent reports.

First, The Lancet, the London-based medical journal, published a study suggesting that at least 100,000 Iraqis, and perhaps many more, had died as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Among Iraqis, the risk of death by violence was 58 times greater after the war than before, and infant mortality also nearly doubled. That's apparently because of insecurity. A doctor in Basra told me last year how physicians and patients alike had had to run for cover when bandits attacked the infectious diseases unit, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, so they could steal the air-conditioners. Given those conditions, women are now more likely to give birth at home, so babies and mothers are both more likely to die of "natural" causes.

The second troubling report, in The Washington Post, recounted that acute malnutrition among children under 5 soared to 7.7 percent this year from 4 percent before the war. Those are preliminary figures, but they suggest that 400,000 Iraqi children are badly malnourished, and suffering in some cases from irreversible physical and mental stunting. Those glimpses at the public health situation in Iraq are a reminder not only of the disastrous impact of our invasion, but also of the humanitarian impact if we pull out our troops prematurely.

If U.S. troops leave Iraq too soon, the country will simply fall apart. The Kurdish areas in the north may muddle along, unless Turkey intervenes to protect the Turkman minority or to block the emergence of a Kurdish state. The Shiite areas in the south might establish an Iranian-backed theocratic statelet that would establish order. But the middle of the country would erupt in bloody civil war and turn into something like Somalia.

What would that mean? If Iraq were to sink to Somalia-level child mortality rates, one result by my calculation would be 203,000 children dying each year. If Iraq were to have maternal mortality rates as bad as Somalia's, that would be 9,900 Iraqi women dying each year in childbirth.

Granted, my argument for staying the course is a difficult one to make to American parents whose immediate concerns are the lives of their own children. There is no getting around the fact that if we stay, more Americans will die, and this burden will fall inequitably on working-class families and members of minority groups.

I also have to concede that those calling for withdrawal may in the end be proven right: perhaps we'll stick it out in Iraq and still be forced to retreat even after squandering the lives of 1,000 more Americans. Those of us who believe in remaining in Iraq must answer the question that John Kerry asked about Vietnam: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

The best answer to that question, I think, is that our mistaken invasion has left millions of Iraqis desperately vulnerable, and it would be inhumane to abandon them now. If we stay in Iraq, there is still some hope that Iraqis will come to enjoy security and better lives, but if we pull out we will be condemning Iraqis to anarchy, terrorism and starvation, costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the next decade. Those hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, whose lives we placed at risk by invading their country, are the reasons we should remain in Iraq, until we can hand over security to a local force.

Saving hundreds of thousands of lives is a worthy cause to risk American lives for, even to die for.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Ghosts

http://ftssoldier.blogspot.com/2004/10/ghosts.html

A Word about Links and Comments

I have added a few links to my blog. The websites and blogs listed are those I find interesting and pertinent to my topic here. I don't always agree with the thoughts presented but I admire and respect those people who share a part of themselves. And I have learned much from them.

I have noticed a few readers who have made comments here. Thank you for your input. I learn from it. Positive thoughts, prayers and karma are always welcome for my soldier's well-being.

And with that said, I will remove comments that are derogatory, disparaging or vulgar. While I believe in the right of free speech, I find that even opposing opinions can be handled with civility...and respect.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Many families, mine included, will have empty places at the table this year. I, however, am more lucky than some since I can talk with my soldier by phone - even waking him up! Guess the Army doesn't require 05:30 PT on Thanksgiving! And he will be having a home cooked dinner with the family of a buddy.

It is a new and unsettling experience. I always spend time with my kids at the holidays, celebrating our family...and giving thanks.

For those families who have loved ones far from home, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. May your day be truly blessed...and a phone call home would be nice too!

A Mother's Words

The Memorial March Speech

Good Afternoon,

Today, we come together to remember and honor the lives of ordinary citizens who answered the call to defend our nation and paid the price of our freedom with their lives. These people were sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers…friends and neighbors. They were soldiers. We asked them to do this job and they answered.

Recently, a young private graduated from the Infantry Training Brigade at Ft. Benning GA. Training was tough. In this particular rotation, a young trainee died. Many trainees suffered physical injuries: heat exhaustion, bone fractures, and poisonous spider bites. Others found that they had made a mistake and left for home. The trainees inhaled really crummy food, “toed the line” at 03:45, did a couple of hours of exercises before breakfast and worked hard: 12-14 hours per day and stood fire watch at night. They blew up small buildings, stood in a tear gas filled room and repelled; face first, from a high tower. As we slept, they did night live fire exercises. They learned to march, drill, run beyond endurance, and march again until their feet blistered and then calloused. The young private I speak of is my son. Along with many others, he stood proudly on the parade field, to the strains of the song “Bad to the Bone”, in battle dress uniform, and was found “Fit to Serve the People of the United States” in an age old ceremony by the base commander. We asked them to do this job and they answered.

My son did not enter the Army to pay for college. He left college to enter the Army. He chose to train in the Infantry despite the fact that his prior education and aptitude scores could have placed him in many less dangerous jobs. He chose to enter the Infantry despite the counsel and concern of his family – including those who were veterans of previous wars in Japan, Korea and Vietnam. He answered our concerns with this rationale: friends serving wrote him about doing jobs in combat they had no training for and felt unqualified to do. He had done his research and knew that infantry training was tough…but he explained that you learned how to defend yourself and your fellow soldiers. He knew that there was a need for the infantry soldier: the highly trained professional frontline warrior whose valor and patriotism has defended our country for over 200 years. We asked him to do this job and he answered: “Follow Me”, the Infantry Motto.

He left for basic as the prison scandal broke and the Iraqi town of Falluja was brought to our attention in the headlines. We also saw the picture of soldiers caring for the coffins of their fallen comrades in Iraq – with dignity and respect. As he learned how to be a soldier we learned definitively that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and there was no direct connection between Iraq and 9/11 – something long suspected. He learned the folly of wearing his contact lenses in a battle training exercise as we learned that the turning over of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government simply increased the casualties we were suffering even as we moved from conqueror, to occupier, to guest. As he trained in “Urban Warfare”, we learned in excruciating detail, the service records of our presidential candidates from a war long over but still haunting our nation’s memory. As my son earned achievement medals in explosives and marksmanship, soldiers who had served their year in the combat areas were extended because replacements were not available. As he was awarded his crossed rifle pin, blue infantry cord and graduated, those who had served honorably and were discharged with our thanks to return to civilian lives were re-activated involuntarily, and were reporting to Ft. Benning to be trained to go to Iraq to fight. They did not volunteer. We asked them to do this job and they were compelled, again, to answer.

As I did a bit of research for this event, I came upon a discussion board which talked of ways of disrupting this demonstration acknowledging the cost of the war in Iraq and the ever growing concern about its validity, indeed its legality. They were creative to be sure. One more creative thought was to “stink” us out through the use of a decaying shrimp soup. Another was to call up the so called “Security Moms” concerned with the welfare of their children. I guess I too am a Security Mom – I am concerned with the welfare of my child. So are the parents of more than 140,000 other children who are serving in Iraq and some 18,000 serving in Afghanistan. Parenting does not stop at 18 – the concern is life-long.

My views on this war, have in some circles, earned me the label of a “cowardly, unpatriotic, bleeding heart liberal”. The bleeding heart part is correct. My heart bled as nearly 3000 fellow citizens died on 9/11. My niece was among those hurt. My heart bleeds with the news of every soldier who will not return alive and for those who loved them, now left behind. As of this morning that count was 1032. My heart bleeds for those soldiers who have lost arms, legs, eyes, and sustained other life changing injuries. They will return forever changed…forever altered. Their numbers grow daily and many are not even counted due to the political parsing of statistics.

To the part of that label that includes “cowardly and unpatriotic” I will answer this way: I am the mother of an American soldier who will defend our way of life with honor. I was his first and most important drill sergeant. I know the measure of this young man. I taught him what it was to be honorable and how important it was to stand by your word. I taught him the values of hard work, respect for life, truthfulness, and humility. I taught him the meaning of courage, going beyond fear to achieve an objective. I taught him NEVER to back down from what he believed in even if that belief was not popular and people called him names. I taught him stand up and be counted in times of adversity. I taught him to choose his battles carefully and fight them well. I taught him not to desert a friend in time of trouble. I taught him to respect the beliefs of others even when they did not agree with his. I taught him it was more honorable to serve than to be served. I taught him to love his country, not in spite of her flaws, but because of them. And I taught these values without ever firing a shot. The Army taught him Army Values for 16 weeks but with respect to his drill sergeants, I taught him values for living for 19 years. And I taught him well. We asked him to do this job and he answered.

Only 2% of the US population volunteers to serve in the military. The families of those people understand what it means to “Support the Troops”. It is a way of life, not a campaign slogan or a bumper sticker. For some, it means supporting your soldier even as you disagree with his mission defined by political ideology. It means sucking up fear, realistic and defined fear, and moving forward with life. For some, it means becoming parents to grandchildren while their child serves in combat. For military spouses, it means lonely separation from your soul mate stationed far away. It means, often, doing the job of two in rearing children, a tough job; one I did for a long time. And for far too many it means binding up the wounds of war; fighting a confusing bureaucracy to gain the assistance to heal a broken body and a wounded spirit.

We, as military families, are aware that for our family members the color code for a terrorist attack is always red. Our family members stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America – every day – 24/7. We ask them to do this job and they answer.

I believe that the lives of our soldiers are not simply material for a politician’s resume or a means to an end for corporate America. I cannot support a war that is fundamentally flawed based on “faulty intelligence” and unfounded speculation. I can and do support our citizens who answer our call and become soldiers placing their lives on the line for our security.

The purpose of our military is to defend our country, not to invade a country that had nothing to do with an attack on our homeland – a decision made by politicians. Saddam Hussein was a bad leader, a brutal leader for nearly 30 years. Our politicians knew that: For many years they supported his regime because of political expediency. And as mad dogs do, he eventually turned on those politicians and their misguided attempt at nation-building. The First Gulf War had a simple mission: expel his army from Kuwait. It was successful and we went home. That war demonstrated that Iraq presented no threat to our country. If memory serves, it took six weeks to send Hussein’s army fleeing back to Baghdad in retreat. Twelve years of sanctions afterwards further crippled the country’s military power and therefore its threat.

The premise of bring democracy and freedom to the people of Iraq, our final reason for invading Iraq, too, is fundamentally flawed. The work of freedom and of democracy must be accomplished by the people of Iraq, just as it was accomplished by the people of the United States over 200 years ago. The cost must be borne by the Iraqis and the burden is theirs. That burden is “self determination”, an underlying premise of a democratic society. They must make the choice. Anything else is a sham.

So to our pro-war friends, intent on being heard here and around the country in an attempt to minimize any recognition of the cost of war, I say this. Are you among the 2% who are working to defend our country in the military? Is your butt on the line? Is someone you love in harms way or training to go there? Or are you simply letting my son and the members of the military catch your back because you are afraid of what tomorrow may bring?
War is not pretty. It is death and tragic life altering injury both physical and psychological. Supporting the troops is not about pretty parades, bumper stickers and waving the flag. Patriotism is the love of country, not the love of war. Those who volunteer and their families know this very well. We ask them to do this job and they answer.

Let’s make sure that we ASK only when absolutely necessary – when all other means of intervention have failed. This war in Iraq was not necessary; our reasoning was based in fear prompted by faulty intelligence and incorrect assumption. It is therefore time to bring our troops home - NOW.

He took them quickly from the midst of wickedness

A Nation Rocked to Sleep

By Carly Sheehan

"Being perfected in a short time, they fulfilled long years, for their souls were pleasing to the Lord, therefore He took them quickly from the midst of wickedness" - The Wisdom of Solomon 4:14 & 15

Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?
The torrential rains of a mother's weeping will never be done
They call him a hero, you should be glad that he's one, but
Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?

Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?
He must be brave because his boy died for another man's lies
The only grief he allows himself are long, deep sighs
Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?

Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?
They say that he died so that the flag will continue to wave
But I believe he died because they had oil to save
Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?

Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?
The leaders want to keep you numb so the pain won't be so deep
But if we the people let them continue another mother will weep
Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?

Carly's brother Cory was killed in action in Iraq in April.

Veterans Day

Wiping away tears, World War II Army veteran Charles Rybnikar, 82, walks the Capitol lawn Thursday through some of the 1,054 pairs of combat boots lined up to represent U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq. The boots are part of a traveling exhibit. Rod Sanford -Lansing State Journal

Yesterday was Veterans Day. With sadness, I learned on the news that six young Marines from Illinois had died over the last few days in fighting in Falluja. Reports also say that nearly 400 of our kids have been evacuated from Iraq due to battle related injury.

The terrible tragedy here is simple. In recent history, we had two "Wars to end all Wars." The gentleman above, I am certain, fought for the same idea our kids fight for today - so their kids would not have to fight and so the legacy they would leave would be peace. Many of those who fought in the Second World War lived to see their kids fight and die in Vietnam...and now their grandchildren fight...and die in Iraq.

Sept 19 2004 - Memorial March Barrington, IL

On September 19, over a thousand Lake County Residents gathered to honor those soldiers who died in service in Iraq. Participants carried the name of a fallen soldier and a spray of lilies to honor their sacrifice. Members of the clergy offered prayer and an Iraqi Freedom Vet and families of active duty servicemen addressed the crowd.

The event ended with placing the lilies on an empty casket which had been carried to Memorial Park in Barrington on a horse drawn carriage.

First Post

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's children"
James Earl Carter, 2002

And so I begin...with the thoughts of a former president who in his post- presidential life went on to seek peace and justice in his world. In the process, he won a Nobel Peace Prize. My goals are not as lofty.

I am a wife, and mother. I am also a peace activist who happens to have a child in the military: A military now involved in a war ordered by our politicians against a country that did not attack us first. The newspapers and history books tell me this has never happened before in our history.

There will be more later...as I have much to say.