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doxydad

(1,363 posts)
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 06:20 AM Jun 2014

Dying Iraq War Vet’s Final ‘F*ck You’ Letter to Bush and Cheney Should Be Read by Every American

Young has now lost the will to live and since he can’t swallow pills or hold a gun, and refuses to saddle anyone else with the task of killing him, is deciding on a date to start starving himself to death. Although his wife and mother both support him, his decision has been met with vitriol from some, like a commenter on a LA Times story who callously wrote, “Sorry if I don’t cry for this loser. ‘Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.’ – John Wayne” What a peach, huh?

Tomas Young was in the news recently after writing a scathing letter to George Bush and Dick Cheney, neither of which seem particularly bothered by the carnage and untold grief their decisions caused. From Young’s letter, published on the website Truthdig:

I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.

VIDEO:

http://aattp.org/iraq-vet-who-wrote-viral-letter-to-bushcheney-planning-suicide-after-years-of-agony-video/

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Dying Iraq War Vet’s Final ‘F*ck You’ Letter to Bush and Cheney Should Be Read by Every American (Original Post) doxydad Jun 2014 OP
Injured Veteran Who Wrote Scathing 'Last Letter' To President Bush Decides To Live On bananas Jun 2014 #1
Excellent passionate letter Laughing Mirror Jun 2014 #2
Business Insider also has amazing photos of what Iraq USED to look like mainer Jun 2014 #3
The horror Ineeda Jun 2014 #4
The Gall jaxind Jun 2014 #5
Powell's the weakest of them all, IMO. WinkyDink Jun 2014 #14
Meanwhile The "Objectors" grilled onions Jun 2014 #6
‘Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.’ – John Wayne, draft dodger nt Doremus Jun 2014 #7
Stolen futures. Is that not the truth? Baitball Blogger Jun 2014 #8
K&R. Excellent letter. Overseas Jun 2014 #9
If these sentiments should reach critical mass, just think of joyous celebrations indepat Jun 2014 #10
The Shootist Babel_17 Jun 2014 #11
Is there any doubt this brave veteran would "mount up" to say it to Cheney's face? Babel_17 Jun 2014 #12
Big-Talker Marion Morrison never saw combat, either. WinkyDink Jun 2014 #13
k&r Electric Monk Jun 2014 #15
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #16

bananas

(27,509 posts)
1. Injured Veteran Who Wrote Scathing 'Last Letter' To President Bush Decides To Live On
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 07:34 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.businessinsider.com/tomas-young-live-2013-12

Injured Veteran Who Wrote Scathing 'Last Letter' To President Bush Decides To Live On

Paul Szoldra

Dec. 28, 2013

The quadriplegic Iraq War veteran who wrote an open letter to President George W. Bush before announcing he would choose to end his life amid unbearable physical and emotional pain has changed his mind, NPR reports.

<snip>

Laughing Mirror

(4,185 posts)
2. Excellent passionate letter
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 07:50 AM
Jun 2014

that will fall on deaf ears, if it reaches them. They are not ready to face the truth.

Thanks!

Ineeda

(3,626 posts)
4. The horror
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 08:01 AM
Jun 2014

and grief and rage and shame we should all feel upon reading of this man's world, and the nightmare that touches so many others...how do we deal with it without going insane? Oh wait -- what are Kim and Kanye up to today?

jaxind

(1,074 posts)
5. The Gall
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 08:31 AM
Jun 2014

What burns me up inside more than anything is the gall that the architects of the iraq war can come on tv and try and weasel their way out of any blame. Someone needs to bring one of these bastards on tv and read this letter right to their faces! It puts my stomach in knots to see Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. out there trying to spin this. I wish someone who was an architect of the iraq war, with any kind of conscience, would come out and say "I can't take it anymore! Here's the truth of why we went into Iraq!" I wish someone like Colin Powell is just breaking down inside with so much guilt that the would just come out with it all!

grilled onions

(1,957 posts)
6. Meanwhile The "Objectors"
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 08:40 AM
Jun 2014

Leap out of bed in the morning,use the bathroom,enjoy their breakfast of bacon and eggs. They wave goodbye to their wive, kiss the baby and go off to meet the train to their job. They put in their day, meet the train for home. They see their five yr old in the yard and toss him a ball as they walk in the house. Inside they lift up the baby,give her a kiss. Grab a snack and hug their wife who entered the room. Had a conversation while sipping a beer. Yes all is right with the world...until in their flag waving eyes they see this story on their big screen tv. What? DO we have a turncoat, a traitor in our midst? Can one of our own actually say we were in a war that was a waste of human life? He is not willing to go with the flow and not willing to suffer no more? How dare he! He understands nothing but his flag waving ideals as well as idols. This soldier is no longer a hero in their eyes and with a hit on their remote they turned on sports to erase this distasteful image from their eyes--eyes that have never experienced life in uniform.

indepat

(20,899 posts)
10. If these sentiments should reach critical mass, just think of joyous celebrations
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 05:46 PM
Jun 2014

that will erupt around the world.

Babel_17

(5,400 posts)
11. The Shootist
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 08:06 PM
Jun 2014

The Shootist is a 1976 Western film directed by Don Siegel and starring John Wayne in his final film role.

Based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout[2] with a screenplay by Miles Hood Swarthout (the son of the author) and Scott Hale, the film is about a dying gunfighter who spends his last days looking for a way to die with the least pain and the most dignity.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shootist

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