Support the Troops!!! (post 66)

This is a difficult post to write. My posts now go directly to my facebook page where I have over 200 'cyber' friends, some of them whom I know have family or friends stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan. I myself am a Marine Corps veteran, being lucky enough not to be involved in any combat during my four years of service. (Bush Sr. invaded Panama but that mostly involved the U.S. Army)
Almost 8 years ago the U.S. was attacked by a small terrorist group composed mostly of Saudi Arabians. The leader of that group had a small camp in the desert of Afghanistan. There were no Iraq or Afghan people who had attacked the U.S. but the neo-conservative US Republican President decided to invade, drop bombs/destroy, and occupy both countries. Over seven & five years later we still have tens of thousands of troops in both countries. Tens of thousands of civilians have killed by the "bad"("terrorists") and "good"(US forces)bullets & bombs. In Iraq alone over 2 million(out of 23) citizens have fled their country from the chaos the U.S invasion caused.
One of my friends on facebook has a son being sent to Afghanistan & I noticed a comment on a picture by one of his Marine buddies saying, "fire off a few rounds for me!" I also have a cousin who joined the Georgia National Guard after 9-11 so he could be sent to Iraq. Now, he will be going to Afghanistan. He believes that we need to "kill the bad guys over there so they won't kill us over here." (that was his reasoning 2 yrs ago when we last got together)

Imagine this. Imagine the the 50 United States were individual countries instead. Let's imagine that wealthy New York(US) was attacked by religious fanatics from wealthy, oil rich Texas. (but the leaders of Texas(Saudi Arabia) give oil to New York) The leader of that small group who attacked NYC had a small camp in the poor country of Alabama(Afghanistan), ruled by a different group of religious fanatics. The neo-conservative leader of New York decides to invade Alabama to capture the terrorist leader but he escapes.
Two years later the leader of New York decides to "take out" the leader of Georgia(Iraq) who had NOTHING to do with the attacks on New York. New York's powerful military destroys the country(bombing power & water purification plants)& disbands Georgia's army & the neo-conservative leaders are surprised it's troops are not greeted as hero's.
Seven & Five years later New York's troops are still in OCCUPATION of these 'foreign' lands. Over 75% of the citizens of both Alabama and Georgia want the 'foreign'(New York) troops out of their land & believe the violence will decrease dramatically when they do.

I have written previously about US militarism(post 56) quoting Martin Luther King Jr, giving figures on the insane military spending, & reviewing how much death & destruction was caused by US bombs, bullets, and chemicals in that small country. The political leaders lied to the American people then too, saying how much "we" (the US military forces) needed to be there to stop the spread of ________(fill in the blank..communism, terrorism)

Our new President got many progressive citizens votes by telling folks how intelligent he was to speak out against the invasion of Iraq in 2003 when he was a state senator in Illinois. Although over 22 Democrat Senators & 100 Democrat US Congressmen were intelligent enough to vote against the Iraq invasion he did not pick any of those to be in his Cabinet. (He even kept Bush Jr's Sec. of Defense) He is intelligent enough to know we need to withdraw from Iraq (but states we might keep up to 30,000 troops left 2 years from now!)
In Afghanistan, he wants to increase our troops by 21,000 (so far) Perhaps our new President needs to read his history books to think the US Occupation will work any better than the 500,000 troops the British Empire used or the more recent Russian Occupation that failed.

One of the stated reasons Bin Laden attacked the US was because we had over 15,000 US military forces stationed in his 'holy land' of Saudia Arabia. HOW ARE US TROOPS STATIONED IN THE MIDDLE EAST MAKING US CITIZENS ANY SAFER WHEN THE MAJORITY OF CITIZENS IN THAT COUNTRY DO NOT WANT US THERE??. Even if we "fire off a few rounds" and "kill the bad guys" those "bad guys" have friends and brothers who now become our enemies. Not only that, but our "collateral damage" has killed thousands of innocent civilians in both countries. More enemies created & lives destroyed by bombs & bullets.

"If we leave the countries will fall apart." Maybe. So what? Iraq & Afghanistan are fictions on a map drawn by colonial powers almost 100 years ago. Iraq has 3 distinct regions & Afghanistan has mountain regions that want nothing to do with the central government(led by a former oil executive Bush Jr. installed) The political talking heads & generals said the same thing about Vietnam. Democracy cannot be forced by the gun. Let the people of Iraq & Afghanistan decide their own fate.

Thousands of US troops have already died & over 30,000 physically maimed for life in our invasion and current 5 & 7 year Occupation of two middle east countries(we are in an OCCUPATION, not a War!) Some estimate over 300,000 troops(or more?) have been damaged psychologically by their time spent in Iraq or Afghanistan. Just today, news came that a US soldier killed 5 other US soldiers at a mental health clinic in Baghdad. The Generals & political talking heads will say "we need more troops" but the truth is we need we NEED TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!!! By all means, support loved ones serving in the military with letters & such but the best way you can support the overworked US military is by demanding from our political leaders that they cease USING our troops as occupying military forces in foreign lands.

MAY ALL OUR LOVED ONES COME HOME FROM OVERSEAS SAFELY.
MAY OUR POLITICAL LEADERS HAVE THE WISDOM & COURAGE TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME.
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY, PEACEFUL, AND FREE FROM SUFFERING.