I am a cavalry scout in the United States Army...

[marksimons]

well I'm not, but this man is...

I am a cavalry scout in the United States Army. I am stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas.

We returned home Tuesday and I would like to comment on this war from a specialized soldier’s eyes.

I honestly think the president lied to all of us. After seeing first hand what was in most parts of Iraq, my whole company could not fathom a threat of any means. I love America, and will defend her when called upon, but in this case there was not a real threat.

By the way, the Thanksgiving photo-op at the airport was only open to pro-Bush soldiers. We were screened unknowingly about four days before he showed up in secret. We didn’t know he was coming, but looking back, all the questions we were asked were designed to weed out the antiwar soldiers..

They had a tough time finding the right ones. As a matter of fact, my company and some Marines who talked loudly about Bush were sent to Tikrit the day before Thanksgiving for “security detail.†There are a lot of married men who are committing adultery in every new town they are moved to. Not all soldiers are doing this, but the numbers are staggering. I am not married, and yes I had sex—consensual sex. There is no money source in Iraq right now to speak of, and prostitution is rampant.

Most soldiers carry protection because it is flown in at stock time. Do not think that I am against soldiers who support Bush, but some soldiers in Baghdad have never fired their weapons, and are living it up—sex, alcohol, pot...

To close, I think in my own opinion that we invaded a country that was super-poor and might not have even had a decent slingshot. This in my opinion was a political war, and I am glad to be back in Texas. I have a feeling Bush will be back soon also.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/feb2004/sold-f10.shtml

[cintron]

Let's just say that i can't wait for that idiot shithead to get out of office.

There should be a prerequisite to being a President, and it should be that the president is required to be a GOOD PUBLIC SPEAKER.

Everytime Bush opens his mouth on TV, I am so embarrased and I want to gag. Even with a teleprompter, he still makes it look as if he's fumbling through his job like he's fumbling through his speeches.

[mr mahs]

Nonsense

[ghhhhhost]

im glad at least u came to ur senses...

i agree with this marine..ill support the US troops..i feel sympathy for them and i know theyre going in there because they have a job to do...but in no way will i support invasion of a people who did nothing wrong

[igloo]

Akila al-Hasemi, the Iraqi Governing Council member

"Don't think the Iraqis will ever forget what the Americans did in liberating them. We will not allow the Americans to fail."

Fri Feb 6,11:12 AM ET

By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer

TIKRIT, Iraq - For Staff Sgt. Isaac Day and many other American soldiers serving here, ridding Iraq (news - web sites) of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) made the war worthwhile — regardless of whether anyone ever finds weapons of mass destruction.

"I'm glad we got Saddam," said Day, of Tarpon Springs, Fla. "When I grow old I can tell my grandchildren that we liberated this country."

That was a sentiment expressed in dozens of interviews with U.S. soldiers stationed near Tikrit, Saddam's hometown and a center of resistance to the U.S. occupation.

"Saddam lived in splendor while the rest of his people had to fend for themselves," Maj. Paul Lehto of Kingston, Mass., said over lunch here.

Despite widespread resistance from some of America's oldest and closest allies, President Bush (news - web sites) launched the war last March because Iraq allegedly possessed stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. Senior administration officials also said Saddam wanted to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program which was cut short by the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).

However, no such weapons have been found. David Kay, who led the weapons search after the end of active combat, has said he doubted that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction in recent years.

"My satisfaction came when we were riding through from Kuwait and all these children were shouting 'America is number one'," said Staff Sgt. Temu Gibson from Schenectady, N.Y.

Most of the 130,000 American troops stationed in Iraq have access to the Internet and other media and are aware of the growing political storm over the failure to find any weapons.

A number of them say Saddam's brutality to his own people justified the war.

"I have a shoebox full of pictures of people who have gone missing over the last 30 years," said one soldier who asked to be identified as Mac. "And people are getting all tied up over the WMD issue. Coming here was the right thing to do."

Still, the ongoing attacks by insurgents and the continuing loss of American lives underscore the political problems facing the Bush administration over the absence of any weapons of mass destruction.

Lt. Jerry England said it appeared that Bush had "played on the fear" of weapons of mass destruction in arguing the case for war. "It was a harder case to sell without them," said England, from Overland Park, Kan.

[ghhhhhost]

dont post thank-you's from govt officials in Iraq. theyre happy to have a job now and its easier for them to smuggle drugs out of the country...posting crap like that just makes the "liberation" of iraqi people seem more and more like bullshit