A Memorial Day Message

Originally posted 5/26/07
A Memorial Day Message

As a West Point graduate and a Vietnam Veteran, Memorial Day has always had special meaning for me. This year it is especially poignant as a classmate, Col Andrew Bachevich, US Army Retired, was notified on Mother’s Day that his son 1st Lt. Andrew Bachevich Jr. was killed in Iraq. This was especially difficult as Col Bachevich, now a professor at Boston University, has been an outspoken critic of the conflict in Iraq. He has written several books and has appeared on national television shows such as Charlie Rose. I have agreed with his position since very early in the conflict and this weekend I feel I must to take this opportunity to ask each of you to consider our country’s involvement in this unnecessary conflict.

The tragedy that was 9/11 had nothing to do with Iraq. No official report has ever claimed a link to the events of 9/11 with Sadaam/Iraq. In fact it is well known that almost every one of the perpetrators were Saudi citizens and Sunni/Wahabi Muslims. I repeat, the perpetrators were Saudi/Sunni not Shia or Kurds who make up the majority of the population of Iraq. At the time of our invasion the President did not claim a link to 9/11. His position was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and Sadaam was a tyrant who could not be trusted not to use them against us. Only after WMD’s were not found was the link to 9/11 announced as a justification. Four years after our very successful invasion conducted by the most powerful military force the world has ever known we have not found any connection to 9/11 or any WMD’s. Sadaam is gone. Why are we still there?

Today in Iraq a civil war is raging between Sunni and Shia with the Kurds trying to stay uninvolved. The Al Qaeda, who are mostly Wahabi, a Sunni sect that consider all other brands of Moslems heretics, and are primarily Saudi, is rushing in to keep the conflict going. It is important to note that almost all funding for Al Qaeda comes from Saudi Arabia, which means oil profits. The United States uses more oil than any other country so that means we are indirectly funding the efforts of Al Qaeda. On the Shia side funding is being provided by Iran, a nation presently ruled by Shia fundamentalists. Under the Shah Iran was our ally in the Middle East and in fact has the most modern philosophical and educated citizenry in the region. Unfortunately the present leadership is no friend of the United States and we have made little effort to change their attitude in the last 20 years. (One might ask if that is because of our relations with the oil rich Sunni states.) What is important to note is this is a civil war between two groups that do not like each other and do not like the US either.

Our soldiers are caught in the middle of this conflict and for what purpose? We cannot stop this religious conflict especially with the troops deployed. We can really not afford to deploy more for a variety of reasons. In this month alone we have lost 87 killed and many more wounded and spent at least $8 Billion dollars. We have only spent $1 Billion dollars on repairing Katrina by comparison. I ask again for what purpose are we paying such a high price?

I urge you to ponder these questions this weekend if for no other reason than to honor the lives of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. Please leave your political persuasions behind in your deliberations. They have no place in deciding a life or death proposition and make no mistake every day will mean the death of one or more American military man and woman. When you have done considering these issues I ask you to let your Congressman and Senators know what you think.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, my effort to honor our heroes.