Bush's Unwinnable War

Bring Them Home Now Obama, Quit The Politics

What's new: Eleven U.S. troops and three American law-enforcement officials were killed in two separate helicopter crashes today, inflicting one of the war’s heaviest one-day losses on U.S. forces, military officials said. (Los Angeles Times)

By Robert Weller

Please start or end by reading The Art of War: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

As a reporter I spent time with our volunteer Army as they prepared to head for Iraq.

I was terrified for them. They had no idea what they were getting into. The Bush Administration had made it seem it would be a garden party. Not Custer’s last stand

They were even told they wouldn’t fail like Vietnam soldiers, because they were stoned all the time. A senior soldier had to control himself when he heard that comment.

The media jumped on board. Apparently they had never heard of Vietnam.

Although we couldn’t watch the bodies coming home at Dover, we were pushed both by the Army and our media managers to cover services held for them. Countless calls were made to victims’ wives, children and other family.

Of course the Iraqis had been virtually disarmed. Their Air Force jets were in another country for repairs, and it wouldn’t let them come back.

WMDs were no more a guess, if not less than a lie. Much like Gen. Stanley McChrystal allowing Pat TillmanPat Tillman to get a silver star when he had died by American bullets in Afghanistan.

Bush, while ignoring the place where Osama’s operation was planned, still couldn’t send as many troops as generals wanted. It quickly became a guerrilla war.

First hundreds, then thousands came home with brain damage, PTSD or committed suicide. One of the soldiers contacted me and got me interested. Meanwhile, as a result of a long history of covering wars and other violence (including Columbine) I had developed my own case. I quickly learn how civilian organizations treat victims. Not nice.

I started doing what I can. One case I can’t forget. A young woman medic, she was hit along with others when an IED exploded. I was able to diagnose her with one question. “You feel guilty don’t you?” She said yes, because I couldn’t help my soldiers. Then she said it had it had taken one year before the Army considered whether she had PTSD. She did.

Now crazy generals, legislators and people want to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. It is none of our business. The Netherlands, Denmark, and France. Italy, Britain and Australia may pull out.

McCrystal wants to keep all his soldiers in protected villages. I have seen many guerrilla wars and the only time that strategy was used was when the defenders had been driven back to the city walls.

Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, is paying the price. They lost two more soldiers Friday. They lost eight on Oct. 5 when their outpost was overrun, their worst loss since Vietnam. Since then they lost at least 10 more.