This is in response directly to the original intent by the Arab woman writing the letter:

I am a veteran of the war in Iraq. I served between April and October of 2003, directly after our invasion, right before the real violence we are still feeling today.

My impressions of being activated and sent to the other side of the world were that these people, stuck forever in the third world conditions they are, should have worked their ruler's problems out themselves. If we as Americans had a ruler who was doing things that we didn't approve, doing tyrannical things such as executing assassins and steering elections in their favor, we would have a responsibility to hold them to justice. These are the reasons we are taking out Saddam right now. Yet, we can't deny now our own responsibility to hold our own nation's rulers for their own actions. But I digress.

When I was over there, on the ground in civilization's cradle, I was eager to get into "the shit." Like the old Vietnam veteran's stories, rife with accounts of buddies dying, heroic tactics, and extreme gore, just like in video games and modern war movies. This, of course, was not the case. Despite being involved in numerous operations sure to cause havoc and violence, luck followed me and nary an IED or suicide bomber was spotted. Those were safe and naive days.

Upon returning to my homeland, and seeing the vision of our war through the eyes of modern media, watering down the destruction we have wrought on such a traumatized people, brutalized by our bombs and our imperialist tactics, shame began to overwhelm my spirit. Our purpose for even setting foot into an already war-torn country, and then sending it further back into the stone age, lost all worth in regard for the innocent lives we so wantonly wasted, in the name of democracy (Christianity?)

I suppose my only point is, sure, there may be quite a lot of enmity toward our troops for their actions, which I can't deny, our military is fucked up. There is a lot of bitterness for being stuck in the armpit of the world to liberate a people who only seem to want to kill each other. Yet realize, the more Americans who see the unnecessary destruction and death we've unleashed on a very undeserving country, hopefully it will push our foreign politics in an opposite direction, promoting peace and understanding between religions and countries.

It's always been my opinion, which is just as good as any other's, so long as you've been to "the suck", that Muslims have just as much right to exist in their own nation as we do. Obviously, some of them might have some issue with our policies, whether it's our undying support of Israel, or our insatiable thirst for the oil in the Middle East, or our indiscriminate evangelism of Christianity and the world-saving promises of Democracy. These factors match directly with the Arab's fundamentalist Muslim urgings.

If I was an Iraqi, from the time I was born, and America invaded me, I'd do anything and listen to anybody with an answer to rid my homeland of these pompous infidels. Granted, they seem to kill more of their own countrymen than infidels, yet it brings them one step closer to an unpopular war in international circles.

As a United States Marine, I applaud the Iraqi's efforts to rid their country of a foreign invader. When I was there, I never wanted to have to fire a shot, in anger or defense. Luckily, I never had to do either. I did, however, see enough of the destruction our presence caused, which, I believe will be perceived on the level of the Crusades in the Middle Ages.

Flame away, but remember, I earned my opinion. What have you to back up yours?

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts, SaintMark5

Posted in

• choice
• death
• humanity
• iraq
• Israel
• letters
• personal responsibility
• US foreign policy
• war

Submitted by qrswave on Sun, 2006-12-31 01:35.

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