GI SPECIAL 4E29:

Veterans For Peace, Los Angeles Chapter, Set Up 2,758 Crosses, Stars Of David, And Crescents For Memorial Day.

Ryan Messenger, left, a US Marine scheduled for deployment in Iraq in January 2007, stops with his girlfriend Erika Tryon, from 29 Palms, Calif., to place the name of a friend that died in Iraq on a cross in a memorial honoring troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Santa Monica beach in Santa Monica, Calif., May 27, 2006. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)

“I Know Without A Doubt That God Wants Us To Be Here”

From: keith powell

To: Traveling Soldier & GI Special

Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 2:53 AM

Subject: from a soldier in Iraq

To whom it may concern,

Sometimes the key to peace in the world is not being passive. You guys all want lives to be saved, which is a good motive, but you're going about it all the wrong way.

Being a national guard soldier here in Iraq, I have had many opportunities to think about this war and what's going on.

It was very frustrating for me to leave a wife, and also to delay my studies.

It would be easy to jump on the evil Bush bandwagon, cause this definitely inconveniences me, but deep down inside I know that is wrong. If we left this country more lives would be lost, and the country would be much more violent than it is now. We do not need to stay here longer than we need to, but that day has not come yet.

When the Iraqis are ready to take over, then we can all pack our bags and go home. Your method for peace in the world will only bring more killing. It doesn't matter whether we found WMD's here, Saddam was an evil tyrant who killed tens of thousands of people.

Many of the Iraqis here are so grateful we are here. One of them commented to me, "We love Bush.... We are so grateful he allowed us to be freed from Saddam." It is a hard thing to be here and to lose American lives, but it is the right thing to do.

I know without a doubt that God wants us to be here, as Mr. Blair has mentioned. The easiest thing to do is not always the right thing to do. Well, unfortunately I don't have more time.

But I just wanted to let you know some thoughts from a soldier on the battlefront.

I understand why some soldiers don't support the war, but unfortunately I think they get led astray by the liberal media, and for radicals such as Mrs. Sheehan.

What a horrible thing she is doing.

SPC Powell

MORE:

Reply: T

Thanks for writing in. By your service you have more than earned the right to your political point of view, and to express it to anybody, any time.

There is one problem.

I assume that if someone accused you of being a brainless robot, blindly following what Bush says, you would rightly be very angry. Such a comment directed towards you, as you face death in battle, would be extremely foul, and dishonorable.

But at the end of your letter that is exactly what you say about soldiers serving in Iraq who disagree with you and oppose this war.

“I understand why some soldiers don't support the war, but unfortunately I think they get led astray by the liberal media, and for radicals such as Mrs. Sheehan.”

You’re saying that like so many stupid sheep, they have been led astray.

By their sacrifice, they have also earned respect, not insults, or the condescending assumption they are fools.

Below are three items you may wish to think over.

Come home safe.

T

#1:

72% Of U.S. Troops In Iraq Say Get Out By 12.31.06

2.28.06 Zogby.com & John Zogby, HuffingtonPost.com.

A first-ever survey of U.S. troops on the ground fighting a war overseas has revealed surprising findings, not the least of which is that an overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year.

Further, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows that more than one in four (29%) thought the U.S. should pull its troops immediately.

The Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll shows just one in five troops want to heed Bush call to stay “as long as they are needed”

#2:

Only 1% Of Iraqis Said They Trust U.S.-Led Coalition Forces For Their Personal Protection.

April 29, 2006 Bruce Wallace, Washington Post

Baghdad: A majority of Iraqis say their country is in dismal economic shape and getting worse, with 3 of 4 respondents also describing security in the country as poor, according to a new poll conducted by a conservative American think tank.

Only 1 percent said they trust U.S.-led coalition forces for their personal protection.

The results were culled from 2,804 face-to-face interviews from across the country by the International Republican Institute in Washington.

#3:

“After Spending A Year In Iraq, I Have Found That The Iraqis Are Not A Threat Or The Enemy”

“We Do Not Know What We Are Fighting For Anymore; We Do Not Know What Our Mission Is”

Army Times

April 24, 2006

Letters To The Editor

I am a soldier about to embark on my second tour in Iraq.

My first tour started in November 2003. When we arrived, Saddam Hussein was on the loose. In December, he was caught.

When I came into the military, I signed a contract that said I would defend this country against all threats, foreign and domestic.

After spending a year in Iraq, I have found that the Iraqis are not a threat or the enemy. I did find that we are the threat and the enemy to them.

They acted as we would if someone came into America and said we are going to change your ways.

I feel this war is no longer about taking out a threat. But I believe it is about securing oil commerce for the future.

Securing this country and stabilizing it would mean oil contracts and people lining their pockets with money from the oil that my friends have been wounded for and have died for.

I hear the president speak with the press and tell them things to appease them and to divert them to a different subject.

What I don’t see is the president having a conference with the soldiers who have fought on the ground in Iraq.

We do not know what we are fighting for anymore; we do not know what our mission is.

I am not alone in this thought. My boys need to know what they may possibly die for.

Is it for a few extra bucks for Halliburton subsidiary KBR?

Is it about the oil?

Is it for America?

How will this war help my family in the future?

Staff Sgt. Christopher Galka

Rainier, Wash.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Kansas Marine Killed In Anbar

05/18/2006 The Hutchinson News

LIBERAL: Lance Cpl. Jose Santos Marin Dominguez Jr., 22, died May 14, 2006, while on combat duty in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

He was born April 19, 1984, in Juarez, Mexico, the son of Jose and Oliva Dominguez Marin. He graduated from Liberal High School in 2003. A longtime resident of Liberal, he entered the U.S. Marine Corps on Oct. 27, 2003. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Survivors include: his parents, Tyrone, Okla.; a brother, Tomas Marin, Tyron, Okla.; two sisters, Araceli Marin and Sarai Marin, both of Tyrone, Okla.; grandparents, Francisco and Gabina Marin, Liberal, and Ascunion Dominguez, El Paso, Texas; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Margarita Dominguez.

Funeral will be at noon Sunday at Iglesia DeCristo Maranatha Church, Liberal, with Pastor Jorge Gutierrez presiding. Friends may call after 10 a.m. Sunday at the church. Burial will be in Restlawn Cemetery, Liberal.

In lieu of flowers and plants, memorials may be sent to the Cimarron Chapter of the American Red Cross, in care of Kitch-Brenneman Funeral Home, 1212 West 2nd, Liberal, KS 67901.

Suffern High School Remembers Fallen Marine

May 16, 2006 By SUZAN CLARKE, THE JOURNAL NEWS

SUFFERN: While Gus and Vasiliki Vahaviolos prepared to receive their son's body, friends and teachers of the young Marine who died in a tank accident in Iraq remembered him fondly yesterday.

Cpl. Steven Vahaviolos, 21, of Airmont drowned Thursday when the M1A1 battle tank in which he and three other members of his company were riding ran into a canal.

Suffern High School, from where Vahaviolos graduated in 2003, had a moment of silence before first period.

The family yesterday was awaiting the arrival of Vahaviolos' body, and planned a burial within a few days.

More than 2,400 service members have died since the start of the Iraq war, according to the Department of Defense.

Vahaviolos' death was the third casualty in Iraq of a military service member from Rockland.

Notes >From A Lost War:

“The Only Thing That I’ve Seen Get Any Better Here Is The Weapons They’re Using Against Us”

[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in.]

26 May 2006 BY TOM LASSETER, Knight Ridder Newspapers [Excerpts]

"I think there's a perception . . . sometimes that the people of Basra and the militias are separate," Brig. Gen. James Everard, who commands the British brigade in Basra] said.

"Actually, the people of Basra and the militia are the same thing."

[Lt. Col. David] Labouchere used similar logic in explaining why he didn't send troops to crack down on militia members in the town of Majar al Kabir, north of Basra, after suspected militiamen from there fired 44 mortar and rocket rounds at his base this month.

"I look at them and say, ‘Shall I go and clean it up?’ And I think I'm just going to piss them off and drive them away from democracy," Labouchere said. "Will I have done good for the people of al Majar? Probably not. I will have just radicalized them."

Two days earlier, a British patrol had driven up to a police station in southern Basra to try to persuade the police there to go on a joint patrol. The police refused.

Standing outside the station, in the heat of the day, Cpl. Patrick Owens shrugged his shoulders.

"It's hard to know who the militia is; it's hard to tell between them and the local police force," Owens said.

“The only thing that I've seen get any better here is the weapons they're using against us.”

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO COMPREHENSIBLE REASON TO BE IN THIS EXTREMELY HIGH RISK LOCATION AT THIS TIME, EXCEPT THAT A CROOKED POLITICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU THERE, SO HE WILL LOOK GOOD.

That is not a good enough reason.

U.S. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment's Kilo Company patrol in Ramadi April 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Todd Pitman)

100 Special Forces Troops Launch Daring Night Raid;

Two Donkeys Killed

28 May 2006 By Rupert Hamer, Defence Correspondent, Sunday Mirror (UK)

SAS troops blew up the wrong house, destroyed three cars and ran over two donkeys during a bungled night-time raid in Iraq.

Fifty British and US Special Forces swooped on a home, thought to be where a terror cell was hiding 20 SA16 surface-to-air missiles and an SA80 assault gun.

Acting on information from US intelligence, the SAS abseiled from a helicopter on to the roof and blew in the roof and walls.

They then arrested two Iraqi brothers, who were later found to be totally innocent.

Squaddies have dubbed the mission at Majar Al Kabir, near Basra, "A Donkey Too Far," after the failed WW2 operation made into the movie A Bridge Too Far.

A Whitehall source said: “An armoured column hit a donkey on the way in and a Challenger II crushed cars as it turned around. Then an armoured vehicle ran over another donkey.”

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Rocket Attack Hits Canadian Base

May 28, 2006 Jim Farrell, CanWest News Service; Edmonton Journal

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- As Canadian soldiers spent a fourth day sweeping through villages west of Kandahar in search of Taliban fighters, insurgents launched a rocket attack Saturday on the Canadians' home base.

No one was injured when a lone rocket hit the sprawling Kandahar Air Field coalition base at 11:03 p.m.

A loud roar echoed over the base when the rocket exploded, followed by the deafening howl from a public address that meant everyone had to go to the concrete bunkers for protection against any subsequent attacks.

Forty minutes later, with no more rockets hitting the base, the public address system sounded the all clear.

Saturday's attack marked the sixth time this year the base has been hit by rockets. To date no one has been injured although in one attack a British Harrier jet fighter was damaged and another attack hit an unoccupied welding shop which subsequently burned to the ground.

To prevent insurgents from adjusting their aim in future attacks, the military forbids the publication of any information about the location of hits.

“The Battle Will Be Lost”

May 28 by Sardar Ahmad, AFP

"Corrupted people holding on to government posts have caused the ordinary population to distance themselves from the central government," said local politician and regional expert Mohammad Akbar Khakrizwal.

"The Taliban already have control over some districts and this will reach the cities," he predicted, shaking his head sadly. "The battle will be lost."

TROOP NEWS

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

April 28, 2005 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 152

Veterans Confront “Little Dick” At L.S.U.

[Photo by Ward Reilly]

From: Ward Reilly, Veterans For Peace

To: GI Special

Sent: May 28, 2006

Subject: Little Dick Greeted Warmly at Louisiana State on Friday

Vice President (and Chief U.S. War Criminal) "Little Dick" Cheney was greeted warmly at Louisiana State University on Friday, when he showed up in his very-well armored limousine to speak to LSU graduates.

Hundreds of faculty and students refused to stand or applaud during Cheney’s speech, as he stated that "America is winning the war on terror". He also mentioned LSU's national championship in football (uhhhh Dick, that was 3 years ago)

Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, & Vietnam Veterans Against the War attended the demonstration in support of students, who thought that the university could have found a better speaker, considering the times and the AMAZINGLY GREAT JOB the administration did during hurricane Katrina.

With an 18% approval rating, we are sure it was really hard to book Little Dick as a speaker. Coincidentally, Cheney spoke in the same building that was used as the triage center after the disaster, another large bit of irony.

Some students showed up to receive their diplomas wearing hunters orange vests, and hundreds of pins saying "Jail Bush & Cheney" and "Make Levees Not War" were handed out by Ward Reilly of VFP.

CORNERED RAT

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Thanks A Lot, Asshole

“Now the Class of 2006 will leave for the battlefield.” Bush at West Point graduation 5.28.06

Slaughtering Civilians?

Of Course!

In An Imperial War Of Occupation Against A People Who Want To Be Free, That’s What You Do

[Duh]

[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in.]

May 28, 2006 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Haditha, site of a major hydroelectric dam, has long been considered a tough case. It is among a string of Euphrates Valley towns used by insurgents and foreign fighters to infiltrate from Syria to reach Baghdad and the Sunni heartland.

Many Marines have complained to journalists that they conduct repeated sweeps through villages to drive out the insurgents, who then reappear when the Americans leave. That has bred a sense of frustration among troops fighting a difficult war with no end in sight.

[No shit. Somebody ought to explain the situation: there is no hope whatever of “driving out the insurgents.” Can you imagine how stupid a British general would have sounded if he had been spewing silly bullshit in 1776 about “driving out the insurgents” from Lexington and Concord? The Iraqis are fighting for their national independence against a foreign Imperial invasion and occupation. They are as right to do so as American patriots were right to fight the British in 1776.]

An Associated Press journalist who traveled in Haditha last June with a Marine unit not involved in the November killings saw a Marine urinate on the kitchen floor of a home and on another occasion saw insults chalked in English on the gate of an Arab home. The reporter asked a Marine commander about the incident and was told it would be investigated.