Letters From Iraq
Okay, so these letters went to Michael Moore (after Fahrenheit 9/11 was released). But, the letters sound for real, and some of them have first and last names on them -- names of disillusioned, war-weary, and enraged American soldiers over there. Compelling stuff. Here's one of them:
From: Michael W
Sent: Tuesday July 13 2004 12.28pm
Subject: Dude, Iraq sucksMy name is Michael W and I am a 30-year-old National Guard infantryman serving in southeast Baghdad. I have been in Iraq since March of 04 and will continue to serve here until March of 05.
In the few short months my unit has been in Iraq, we have already lost one man and have had many injured (including me) in combat operations. And for what? At the very least, the government could have made sure that each of our vehicles had the proper armament to protect us soldiers.
In the early morning hours of May 10, one month to the day from my 30th birthday, I and 12 other men were attacked in a well-executed roadside ambush in south-east Baghdad. We were attacked with small-arms fire, a rocket-propelled grenade, and two well-placed roadside bombs. These roadside bombs nearly destroyed one of our Hummers and riddled my friends with shrapnel, almost killing them. They would not have had a scratch if they had the "Up Armour" kits on them. So where was W on that one?
It's just so ridiculous, which leads me to my next point. A Blackwater contractor makes $15,000 a month for doing the same job as my pals and me. I make about $4,000 a month over here. What's up with that?
Beyond that, the government is calling up more and more troops from the reserves. For what? Man, there is a huge fucking scam going on here! There are civilian contractors crawling all over this country. Blackwater, Kellogg Brown & Root, Halliburton, on and on. These contractors are doing everything you can think of from security to catering lunch!
We are spending money out the ass for this shit, and very few of the projects are going to the Iraqi people. Someone's back is getting scratched here, and it ain't the Iraqis'!
My life is left to chance at this point. I just hope I come home alive.
I have a friend who is a young marine and his father was a marine before him. He was one of the first in Iraq and one of the first wave to come home.
While he's a vociferous supporter of the war I notice that he stays out of the country doing various things, like language school in Costa Rica, so he doesn't get sent back.
Go figure.
Sheryl at October 7, 2004 6:48 PM
Once in a while I have sex with a really cute ex-soldier who lives across town. Last time I saw him, we chatted a bit afterward, as we cleaned up the mess.
I asked him what he thought about the war. He replied like a real soldier (I'm getting hard now): "Well, I know he's the president and all, and he's in charge, but it's time for those guys to come home. It if was really a 'mission accomplished,' then they should be allowed to come home."
We both fell into a pensive silence. After about 10 minutes of quietly hating Bush, we started fucking again.
Lena "Booty Camp" Cuisina at October 7, 2004 7:05 PM
Go Lena!
Sheryl at October 9, 2004 9:56 PM