WHAT HAVE WE BECOME ?

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Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:48:40 -0700 (PDT)

WHAT HAVE WE BECOME ?

 

 

 

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_allen_l__050807_what_have_we_become_.htm

 

WHAT HAVE WE BECOME ?

 

Bush has morphed wickedness into righteousness

 

by Allen L Roland, Ph.D

 

 

 

http://www.opednews.com

 

" How many does it take to metamorphose wickedness into righteousness?

One man must not kill. If he does, it is murder.... But a state or

nation may kill as many as they please, and it is not murder. It is

just, necessary, commendable, and right: " Adin Ballou, The

Non-Resistant, 5 February 1845

 

When I hear George Bush say ( yesterday in Crawford, Texas ) " We will

stay on the offensive against these people. They're terrorists and

they're killers and they will kill innocent people .. so they can

impose their dark vision on the world " ~ I realize it is the ultimate

projection of our own wickedness which has been morphed, by this

deceitful administration, into righteousness.

 

Let's get something straight, George ~ We have become world outlaws,

we have become globally hated, we have become the illegal occupiers

and killers of innocent people ( over 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed

and wounded ) and it is our imposed dark neocon empire building vision

that they are rebelling against.

 

But don't just take my word on this ~ Dahl Jamail interviews a roomful

of veterans from the current Iraq quagmire at the Veterans for Peace

National Convention in Dallas this week and they speak their minds

with an obvious sense of betrayal, disgust and mistrust ~ in regards

to George W Bush.

 

Excerpt: " When I went back to Iraq in October of 2003, the Pentagon

said there were 22 AWOL's. Five months later it was 500, and when I

got out of jail that number was 5,000. These are the Pentagons'

numbers for the military. Two things are significant here-the number

went from 500-5,000 in 11 months, and these are the numbers from the

Pentagon....You need to resign,George Bush ~ take the billions of

dollars you've made off the blood and sweat of US service members….all

the suffering you've caused us, and put those billions of dollars into

the VA to take care of the men and women you sent to be slaughtered.

Yet all those billions aren't enough to even try to compensate all the

people who have been affected by this. "

 

Allen L Roland

 

 

What Have We Done?

Dahr Jamail

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000271.php

 

As the blood of US soldiers continues to drain into the hot sands of

Iraq over the last several days with at least 27 US soldiers killed

and the approval rating for his handling of the debacle in Iraq

dropping to an all-time low of 38%, Mr. Bush commented from the

comforts of his ranch in Crawford, Texas today, " We will stay the

course, we will complete the job in Iraq. "

 

Just a two hour drive away in Dallas, at the Veterans for Peace

National Convention in Dallas, I'm sitting with a roomful of veterans

from the current quagmire.

 

When asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had the chance to speak

to him, Abdul Henderson, a corporal in the Marines who served in Iraq

from March until May, 2003, took a deep breath and said, " It would be

two hits-me hitting him and him hitting the floor. I see this guy in

the most prestigious office in the world, and this guy says `bring it

on.' A guy who ain't never been shot at, never seen anyone suffering,

saying `bring it on?' He gets to act like a cowboy in a western

movie…it's sickening to me. "

 

The other vets with him nod in agreement as he speaks somberly…his

anger seething.

 

One of them, Alex Ryabov, a corporal in an artillery unit which was in

Iraq the first three months of the invasion, asked for some time to

formulate his response to the same question.

 

" I don't think Bush will ever realize how many millions of lives he

and his lackeys have ruined on their quest for money, greed and

power, " he says, " To take the patriotism of the American people for

granted…the fact that people (his administration) are willing to lie

and make excuses for you while you continue to kill and maim the youth

of America and ruin countless families…and still manage to do so with

a smile on your face. "

 

Taking a deep breath to steady himself he continues as if addressing

Bush first-hand; " You needs to resign, take the billions of dollars

you've made off the blood and sweat of US service members….all the

suffering you've caused us, and put those billions of dollars into the

VA to take care of the men and women you sent to be slaughtered. Yet

all those billions aren't enough to even try to compensate all the

people who have been affected by this. "

 

These new additions to Veterans for Peace are actively living the

statement of purpose of the organization, having pledged to work with

others towards increasing public awareness of the costs of war, to

work to restrain their government from intervening, overtly and

covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations and to see justice

for veterans and victims of war, among other goals.

 

I type furiously for three hours, trying to keep up with the stories

each of the men shared….about the atrocities of what they saw, and

committed, while in Iraq.

 

Camilo Mejia, an army staff sergeant who was sentenced to a year in

military prison in May, 2004 for refusing to return to Iraq after

being home on leave, talks openly about what he did there:

 

" What it all comes down to is redemption for what was done there. I

was turning ambulances away from going to hospitals, I killed

civilians, I tortured guys…and I'm ashamed of that. Once you are

there, it has nothing to do with politics…it has to do with you as an

individual being there and killing people for no reason. There is no

purpose, and now I'm sick at myself for doing these things. I kept

telling myself I was there for my buddies. It was a weak

reasoning…because I still shut my mouth and did my job. "

 

Mejia then spoke candidly about why he refused to return:

 

" It wasn't until I came home that I felt it-how wrong it all was and

that I was a coward for pushing my principles aside. I'm trying to buy

my way back into heaven…and it's not so much what I did, but what I

didn't do to stop it when I was there. So now it's a way of trying to

undo the evil that we did over there. This is why I'm speaking out,

and not going back. This is a painful process and we're going through it. "

 

Camilo Mejia was then quick to point towards the success of his

organization and his colleagues. " When I went back to Iraq in October

of 2003, the Pentagon said there were 22 AWOL's. Five months later it

was 500, and when I got out of jail that number was 5,000. These are

the Pentagons' numbers for the military. Two things are significant

here-the number went from 500-5,000 in 11 months, and these are the

numbers from the Pentagon. "

 

While the military is falling short of its recruitment goals across

the board and the disaster in Iraq spiraling deeper into chaos with

each passing day, these are little consolation for these men who have

paid the price they've had to pay to be at this convention. They

continue to pay, but at the same time stand firm in their resolve to

bring an end to the occupation of Iraq and to help their fellow soldiers.

 

Ryabov then begins to tell of his unit firing the wrong artillery

rounds which hit 5-10 km from their intended target.

 

" We have no idea where those rounds fell, or what they hit, " he says

quietly while two of the men hold their heads in their hands, " Now

we've come to these realizations and we're trying to educate people to

save them from going through the same thing. "

 

After talking of the use of uranium munitions, of which Ryabov stated

300 tons of which were used in the '91 Gulf War, and 2,200 tons and

counting having been used thus far in the current war, he adds, " We

were put in a foreign country and fire artillery and kill people…and

it shouldn't have even happened in the first place. It's hard to put

into words the full tragedy of it-the death and suffering on both

sides. I feel a grave injustice has been done and I'm trying to

correct it. You do all these things and come back and think, `what

have we done?' We just rolled right by an Iraqi man with a gunshot in

his thigh and two guys near him waving white flags….he probably bled

to death. "

 

Harvey Tharp sitting with us served in Kirkuk. His position of being

in charge of some reconstruction projects in northern Iraq allowed him

to form many close friendships with Iraqis…something that prompts him

to ask me to tell more people of the generous culture of the Iraqi

people. His friendships apparently brought the war much closer to home

for him.

 

" What I concluded last summer when I was waiting to transfer to NSA

was that not only were our reasons for being there lies, but we just

weren't there to help the Iraqis. So in November of `04 I told my

commander I couldn't take part in this. I would have been sent into

Fallujah, and he was going to order me in to do my job. I also chose

not to go back because the dropping of bombs in urban areas like

Fallujah are a violation of the laws of warfare because of the near

certainty of collateral damage. For me, seeing the full humanity of

Iraqis made me realize I couldn't participate in these operations. "

 

Tharp goes on to say that he believes there are still Vietnam vets who

think that that was a necessary war and adds, " I think it's because

that keeps the demons at bay for them to believe it is justified…this

is their coping mechanism. We, as Americans, have to face the total

obvious truth that this was all because of a lie. We are speaking out

because we have to speak out. We want to help other vets tell other

vets their story…to keep people from drinking themselves to death. "

 

When he is asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had a few moments

with him, he too took some time to think about it, then says, " It is

obvious that middle America is starting to turn against this war and

to turn against you…for good reason. The only thing I could see that

would arrest this inevitable fall that you deserve, is another 9/11 or

another war with say, Iran. There are some very credible indications

in the media that we are already in pre-war with Iran. What I'm trying

to do is find a stand Americans can take against you, but I think

people are willing to say `don't you dare do this to us again.' My

message to the American people is this-do you want to go another round

with these people? If not-now is the time to say so. "

 

The men are using this time to tell more of why they are resisting the

illegal occupation, and it's difficult to ask new questions as they

are adding to what one another share.

 

" I didn't want to kill another soul for no reason. That's it, " adds

Henderson, " We were firing into small towns….you see people just

running, cars going, guys falling off bikes…it was just sad. You just

sit there and look through your binos and see things blowing up, and

you think, man they have no water, living in the third world, and

we're just bombing them to hell. Blowing up buildings, shrapnel

tearing people to shreds. "

 

Tharp jumps in and adds, " Most of what we're talking about is war

crimes…war crimes because they are directed by our government for

power projection. My easy answer for not going is PTSD…but the deeper

moral reason is that I didn't want to be involved in a crime against

humanity. "

 

Ryabov then adds, " We were put in a foreign country to fire artillery

and kill people…and it shouldn't have even happened in the first

place. It's hard to put into words the full tragedy of it-the death

and suffering on both sides. I feel a grave injustice has been done

and I'm trying to correct it. You do all these things and come back

and think, what have we done? "

 

Michael Hoffman served as a Marine Corps corporal who fought in Tikrit

and Baghdad, and has since become a co-founder of Iraq Veterans

Against the War.

 

" Nobody wants to kill another person and think it was because of a

lie. Nobody wants to think their service was in vain, " says Hoffman.

 

His response to what he would say to Mr. Bush is simple, " I would look

him straight in the eye and ask him `why?' And I would hold him there

and make him answer me. He never has to deal with us one on one. I

dare him to talk to any of us like that, one on one, and give us an

answer. "

 

Hoffman then adds, " What about the 3 year old Iraqi girl who is now an

orphan with diseases and nightmares for the rest of her life for what

we did? And the people who orchestrated this don't have to pay

anything. How many times are my children going to have to go through

this? Our only choice is to fight this to try to stop it from

happening again. "

 

Earlier this same day Mr. Bush said, " We cannot leave this task half

finished, we must take it all the way to the end. "

 

However, Charlie Anderson, another Iraq veteran, had strong words for

Bush. After discussing how the background radiation in Baghdad is now

five times the normal rate-the equivalent of having 3 chest x-rays an

hour, he said, " These are not accidents-the DU [Depleted

Uraniaum]-it's important for people to understand this-the use of DU

and its effects are by design. These are very carefully engineered and

orchestrated incidents. "

 

While the entire group nods in agreement and two other soldiers stand

up to shake his hand, Anderson says firmly, " You subverted us, you

destroyed our lives, you owe us. I want your resignation in my hand in

the next five minutes. Get packin' Georgie. "

 

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer

who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog

http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/ and website www.allenroland.com He

also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious

talk radio www.conscioustalk.net