A Centurion's E-mails

This link is an interesting read. It was written by a soldier who wanted more than anything else to serve his country. He was a born soldier and staunch Republican. All I can say is if the man who wrote the following excerpts considered himself a Republican and basked in his chosen field as soldier, can write/feel/verify the following, then we as US citizens are being sold a bill of goods, and passively accepting the lies coming out of the white house as truth is a mark against us collectively. This is posted in memory of Robert Secher, a dedicated Centurion, may he rest in peace with the knowledge he contributed his best and made the ultimate sacrifice. He is but one of our best and brightest sent to slaughter, by leaders with absolutely no military experience, and who openly deride those who have that experience. Had he lived, he would have been an asset to our country. What follows are excerpts from the link posted above.

…in e-mails and letters home, [Robert] expressed doubt that the Iraqi military would ever be ready for a handover, and criticized the way the Bush administration had directed the war. "Without the U.S., this army will fail and get eaten alive by the insurgents,"

My 3 month informed opinion (based entirely on what I see in the Hit region) is that this war is futile. Even the Iraqi soldiers tell us that when America leaves, they'll quit. They trust us because they know Americans can take care of them, but they don't trust their government, or the Ministry of Defense, and they especially don't trust their officers
Of course you've heard about two different sets of Marines being charged with murder. [...] I feel bad for those guys. Bush should be ashamed of the predicament that this nation has been put in. This is what war does to normal young men. This is the whole tragedy of war. People are so quick to only criticize the Marines and to demonize these young men. I pity them. Their lives are ruined, ruined by their actions which are judged by men who have never been in those situations.
The biggest lesson I have learned over 6 months here is that the Iraqi culture is incapable of maintaining a western style military.

Many of our [Iraqi] soldiers went AWOL; new food supplies came in yesterday from Ramadi but were grossly insufficient; new soldiers arrived but their initial military training is substandard and you can tell they are really just here for a paycheck [...]

The war in Iraq itself, yeah, it was the right thing to do, but the way it was carried out, man, Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney have nothing to be proud of.

Captain Secher died two days later, shot by a sniper while on patrol

It’s me MarinJohn again…Captain Secher and many of his comrades deserve our undying gratitude for their service to their country. It affects me deeply that in my opinion they are just pawns in a political game, dispensable to their superiors who MUST be brought to justice for wantonly wasting young lives.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Oct 31 2006, 02:31 PM) [snapback]341317[/snapback]</div>

Dude, it's a felony to threaten the President....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Oct 31 2006, 01:34 PM) [snapback]341320[/snapback]</div>

Saying someone should be brought to justice isn't a threat - otherwise everyone who supported the impeachment of Clinton should be going to jail...

Saying that you will be the instrument of that justice, OTOH, is what i believe you're getting at.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Oct 31 2006, 02:37 PM) [snapback]341325[/snapback]</div>

marin-jon-mouth is a foaming at the mouth radical anti-Bush leftist capable of anything.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Oct 31 2006, 02:45 PM) [snapback]341332[/snapback]</div>

crazy people can't differentiate the two....