First off welcome to the board. I'm not quite sure how to reply to "to die for a cause you don't believe in." I guess that Bush's propaganda machine has made ALL Americans get Afghanistan and Iraq confused. They are totally different. Osama Bin Laden attacked us on 9/11 - NOT Saddam. You have fallen for the same lies as a majority of Americans if you think this Iraq war is justified. I don't think you need to be addressing the Democratic representatives to change your fate, you need to be talking to the Republican respresentatives even more. The Right Wing are the ones that follow this administrations every move but finally some of them are starting to wake up to the "reality" of the situation.

We made a HORRIBLE mistake invading Iraq. The intelligence agencies knew Saddam was not a threat, the administration all agreed that Saddam was "contained" so why did we invade Iraq? It's about lies. The same lies you fell for when the military "promised" you wouldn't see duty in Iraq. Yes, we mad a HORRIBLE mistake by invading Iraq BUT the situation is much worse than it has to be because of the way George W. Bush runs this country - or should I say, runs the world away from us. Bush has no plans in Iraq except to build military bases - we are allowing the insurgency in Iraq. Our soldiers stay behind the huge walls of the green zone to train Iraqi soldiers. What about going after the insurgents? No, we wait until the whole city (Fallujah) is infested with "insurgents" and then we go in and kill anything that moves - insurgents or not because the civilians obviously "helped" the terrorists. This is wrong!

Bush could correct a lot of the problems in Iraq by negotiating with other countries. He doesn't want to do that, he doesn't want to listen to anyones game plan - just his. I don't blame other countries for not "helping" us. We could get out a lot better if Bush would send more troops in to handle the security situation. If Bush put more troops on the ground to help "smoke out" in insurgents then the better the situation would be. I wonder if all those "intelligence officers" we had in Iraq are still there? They were there to find Saddam and succeeded. They were there to find Saddams WMD but couldn't because Saddam didn't have any WMD but I don't hear a thing about intelligence officers now.

The help of the UN would have been great in Iraq but Bush said he wanted to run the country HIS way - and he has run Iraq into the ground. Saddam was a "bad man" but exactly how is George W. Bush any different? Actually Bush is worse because he is allowing safe harbor in Iraq to "terrorists" at least Saddam had control of the security. Bush tells us of the "torture chambers" that Saddam set up at Abu Graib - well, we just continued Saddams tradition. The U.S. sets back and says that Saddam tortured and murdered his own people - well, we are keeping up that too. How dare we condemn Saddams UN violations, we are no different. Look at our actions, we have basically threw away the UN charter, we don't abide by the Geneva Conventions, we don't believe in the accountability of the International Criminal Courts.

I sincerely hope that you come home safely. I honestly hope that for everyone who goes to Iraq or Afghanistan. I fear so much that Iran will be invaded next - especially since Bush's approval rates are so low. I pray for all the troops that we send off to return home uninjuried. My best wishes to you.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Michael,

Welcome. Thankyou for your service. I am very sorry for your loss. We want you out of harms way NOW and each of us here are fighting to make that happen.

Jim

Michael,

It's true that millions of Americans don't believe in the rationale for this war but we believe in you, and support you. There's nothing dishonorable about serving your country, regardless of the political environment surrounding the conflict. Speaking for myself, I am truly grateful for yours and everyone else's service. I was fortunate enough to grow up during a time that never forced me to make the decision that you are being forced to now. The freedom that I enjoy today was given to me by the thousands of soldiers that died fighting for it, in wars that truly posed a threat to our country. This is a gift that I may never be able to repay. I will however do my part to make sure unnecessary wars never start in the first place, and IF they do, that our soldiers their families are taken care of during AND AFTER their service.

War is, and always has been fought for political purposes. In fact war is the result of misguided political policies and the inevitable failed diplomacy that follows. Being the ultimate "political" action, war will always be manipulated for political gain by those who initiate it. This current administration carefully measures every action it takes, no matter how small, to maximize the effect to their favor. The war in Iraq is a perfect example of this. You can see it in the way they hide the coffins of fallen soldiers, many of them your friends, from view when they return to Dover AFB. You can see it in the way they fly amputees and critically injured soldiers back home under the cover of night. You can see it in the manipulation of embedded "journalists". You can see it in the manipulation of troop casualty numbers. You can see it in their inability to release the number of civilian deaths. All of these actions have one single purpose, to sanitize the realities of this unjust war. They have created and nurtured this poisonous political climate that we live in today, and are using it to demonize those of us that want to keep our soldiers home. If the people in the US were presented the stark truths of this war, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld would be sitting in a jail cell right now.

Michael, as you are relying on us to help you, we are equally reliant on you. Please make sure to tell your story to as many people stateside as you can, especially those who believe that this war was necessary. Many have succumbed to the innuendo and lies that this war was part of the War on Terror. It is part of it now because this administration's poor planning and management has created an breeding ground and state of the art training facility for terrorists. You can reach many more people that we can. Supporters of this war will not listen to people like us here, but they will listen to your compelling story. They don't understand what is really happening because of the "selling" of the war. Tell them the truth about how it affects real people, like yourself.

God bless you and keep you safe.
John

STAN GOFF (US Army Retired) has written open letters to the troops. Some people understand the implications of war but sad to say not Geore W. Bush. These are worth reading especially anyone who may be going into Iraq!

Hold On to Your Humanity An Open Letter to GIs in Iraq: http://www.counterpunch.org/goff11142003.html

The Role Another Open Letter to the Troops in Iraq: http://counterpunch.org/goff05042004.html

An open letter to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan — on loyalty:
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/what/latest.html#goffloyalty0615

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Thank you for sharing your story.
My brother also enlisted in the Air Force back in the 60's. He was sent to Vietnam for a 16 month tour which included Da Nang, Na Trang, Pleiku and other cities. He worked as a airplane mechanic, yet as you probably know already, faced danger both on and off the air base. He too, came to the realization very quickly, that he questioned why he was there. On one hand he felt betrayed by our government that did not deploy enough troups " to get the job done". He described it as fighting with one hand tied behind his back. On the other hand he felt the frustration of fighting an enemy he could not recognize. That was the Vietnam War. My brother did come home.
I have so much respect and admiration for our serviceman and women. I wish you a safe and speedy tour of duty. I look forward to the day you will return home, safe.

God Bless you, Michael
My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Karin.

This is sort of awkward- because I read this Forum regularly and I know people are committed to their beliefs.

But I am 99% certain this guy is a fake. I am a former soldier- and this guy just doesn't ring true..

12 out of 16 friends killed?

I went on Lexis-Nexus looking for recent high school grads named Michael Herrera- on multiple derivatives-and I can't find any going into the service. Those of you who enlisted know if you enlist, the services blanket the local papers with that sort of news.

I did find a "michael herrera" that has been posting on multiple sites an amalgamation of liberal-friendly postings over a two year period. Such as:

http://www.federalobserver.com/article_comments.php?aid=4879

There are other examples and I imagine this is him- pretty staggering coincidence otherwise. Two Michael Herreras with a passion for this sort of thing? Read his post on that site and ask yourself is this sort of guy who enlists? Please. Plus he joined this site just two days ago.

This guy is playing us for fools or worse- which I hate- and impersonating a soldier- which I really hate.

I feel bad- but it strikes me as to much of a coincidence. To so easily find a "gadfly" named Michael Herreras, plus the post seems "off", well it just seems odd.

I might be wrong- but I doubt it. This whole thing requires one to believe a little too much- or at least a little too much without sourcing. Proven wrong, I'll be the FIRST to apologise profusely.