Stars and Stripes: Vets, soldier families rip Bush on Iraq

'Bring Them Home Now' speakers rip U.S. policy on Iraq

By Patrick J. Dickson, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Thursday, August 14, 2003


WASHINGTON — They wanted their message to be clear: It’s possible to support the troops and not support the war they’re fighting.

Several family members of U.S. troops in Iraq spoke out Wednesday against what they see as shortsighted policy on the part of the Bush administration.

They said that the Bush camp lied about the reasons for going to war, has misled the media about what’s happening on the ground and has kept troops in the dark about their mission and how long they’ll be there.

“Last month President Bush said , ‘Bring ‘em on,’” said Nancy Lessin, a co-founder of Military Families Speak Out and one of the event’s organizers. “ spoke from a secure location, surrounded by armed guards.

“There is no one who supports our troops more than the families and veterans here today. Today we say ‘Bring them home.’” Read remainder ...

...and waved proudly by those who truly support democracy and the rights of the average citizen.

The junta in the White House and Pentagon are desecrating the American ideals they profess to advance.

“Bush and Rumsfeld care for soldiers like Tyson Foods cares for chickens.”

If Tyson Foods kept live chickens in 125° conditions and limited their drinking water, PETA would be all over them.

I like the chicken comment.

The most horrible part about all of this is that so many soldiers are dying from completely preventable things. They would have been better off if we had given them region-specific childhood inoculations rather than the small pox vaccine. A lack of water for some divisions is causing dehydration and organ failure. And how many stations have you heard report on what has been happening to soldiers because they’ve been showering in s**t; water-ways from which water is piped directly into military showers are teaming with parasites Americans have never been exposed to. The planning and logistics are so bad I can honestly say that a group of 12 year olds could have done better.

I saw most of the press conference last night on c-span. It was really heart-wrenching. The Latino whose son was the first killed had an interpreter, and he was in such anguish. It broke my heart. His wife was there and she was inconsolable.
Has this been reported on anything besides c-span? Maybe that is why the lights are out in NYC, another Bush distraction.

My power just came on about an hour ago. The thought that this power outage is a planned distraction did flit through my overheated head.

However, it's probably just incompetence.