- President Bush's war in Iraq faces growing opposition
from those who are on the front lines: soldiers, their families and veterans,
including high-ranking officers.
-
- A bipartisan poll published by Business Week in December
showed approval for the president at a mere 36 percent among soldiers,
their families and veterans.
-
- "I think the American people were conned into this
[war]," said retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, a Bush supporter
in 2000. Zinni, who was chief of U.S. operations in the Middle East until
three years ago, also charged the administration with failing to plan an
occupation that would rebuild Iraq, provide internal stability and advance
democracy.
-
- Despite the capture of Saddam Hussein, there has been
no let-up in U.S. casualties. As of mid-January, 500 U.S. soldiers have
been killed--more than died in the first three years of the Vietnam War.
Up to 22,000 more have been evacuated from Iraq for medical reasons. Twenty-one
have committed suicide.
-
- LOW TROOP MORALE
-
- The high casualty rate may help explain the low troop
morale reported in October by Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper.
Nearly one in three of the 2,000 military personnel it surveyed reported
that they believed the war had "no value" or "little or
no value" at all.
-
- Nearly 50 percent of National Guard personnel and reservists
reported low morale. "Reserve members can't possibly keep this pace
up," warned Master Sgt. C.J. Nouse, who has spent just four months
with his family since Sept. 11, 2001. "With deployments to Bosnia
and for homeland defense, our families are continuing to suffer. Does anyone
care? This is totally unacceptable. Bring us home or suffer mass exits
soon."
-
- It is this concern that led the Pentagon to announce
"stop loss" measures prohibiting troops returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan from leaving the service for up to 90 days after arriving at
their home bases. The military can then decide to keep them in service
indefinitely "if needed."
-
- The opposition from those in the military is amplified
by the voices of military family members and veterans who oppose the war.
-
- MILITARY FAMILIES ORGANIZE
-
- Larry Syverson, the father of two sons still fighting
in Iraq, recently completed his 100th antiwar protest in front of the federal
courthouse in Richmond, Va.
-
- Anabel Valencia of Tucson had not seen her soldier-daughter
in three years, so in December she decided to visit her in Tikrit, Iraq.
The U.S. military denied her entrance to the base, but she won sympathy
from Iraqi police Capt. Hussein, who was assigned to stand guard over her.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Capt. Hussein said:
-
- "I think it's terrible that the Americans will not
let you in to see your beloved daughter.... This is the way they treat
their own people! Imagine how they treat us.... We were better off before
[the U.S. entered]."
-
- But resistance can come at a cost to GIs and their families.
-
- After Jari Sheese of Indianapolis participated in several
peace demonstrations and a Paris television program, her antiwar activities
were noted in a general's report. Then her soldier-husband in Iraq was
transferred on two hours' notice to a remote base with restricted access
to the Internet and telephone. Yet he supports Sheese's continued vocal
opposition to the occupation as the only way to end the war and bring him
home.
-
- Military family organizations and veterans groups have
banded together to launch the Bring Them Home Now campaign, led by Military
Families Speak Out (MFSO) and Veterans for Peace. Founded in November 2002,
MFSO provides a forum for GI families to express their opposition to the
war through press conferences, demonstrations at military bases and peace
delegations to Iraq.
-
- The organization also sued the administration for taking
the country to war without a congressional declaration. (See www.mfso.org.)
-
- Co-founder Nancy Lessin says more than 1,000 families
have joined MFSO. There are also several unofficial military unit websites
advocating peace and the return of the troops. (See www.bringhomethe142.org
and www.129supportingoursoldiers.com.)
-
- MFSO member Jessica Salamon of Cleveland, whose husband
was recently deployed to Iraq, defended her protest work as "the best
way that I can think of to show that I do support the troops; I support
each and every one of them coming home now. I can't just sit back and make
care packages."
-
- - Kerry Taylor is a graduate student at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of United Electrical Workers
Local 150A.
-
- © Copyright 2002
-
- http://www.war-times.org/issues/15art1.html
|