Adam Posted December 23, 2004 Posted December 23, 2004 Just one Soldier's opinion, from the Syracuse paper this morning which I pass on without comment other than that I hope it is all worth it and over sooner rather than later. To the Editor: In March 2003, I was ordered to go to Iraq to "be all I can be" and fight for my country like other soldiers in the U.S. Army. Besides being in Iraq for one year for no reason, there was another thing that annoyed my fellow soldiers and me. That was the way President Bush used the word "we" when he talked about the sacrifices that soldiers are making, extending our stay in wartime and the reason we were there. The sacrifices that soldiers are making in Iraq are being tainted every time Bush talks about it using "we." The president is not the one who is losing his wife, children and dog to some other man named "Jodie" at home. He is not the one missing the first breath of a firstborn or the last breath of a soldier, mom or dad. When I was in Iraq, I was working 16-hour shifts due to the lack of troops and the level of untrained personnel that deployed with me. About 75 percent of the soldiers had only two sets of uniforms for the first six months. Imagine trying to wash your body with three bottles of water and having to wash your uniforms day in and day out. At least it was easy to dry my uniforms in 115-degree weather. A great percentage of the soldiers did not have a bullet-proof vest. Therefore, we had to try to find pieces of metal that would fit in our vests in order to have more protection. We also had to find sand bags for our vehicles. These are some of the things that happen to soldiers in wartime, while the president is sitting at home saying "we" did this and that. Extending the stay of a soldier in wartime is one of the worst things for a soldier's morale because we are the ones sleeping in a sandbox while Bush is in Washington cruising through four more years. I was stuck in Iraq for only one year while other soldiers are there for much longer. One and a half, two years or more is what our troops are now facing. The Reservists and National Guard are getting abused out there. They are undertrained and underpaid waiting for that "one weekend a month and two weeks a year." One week before I was supposed to leave Iraq, I received orders (stop-loss policy) to stay in Iraq for three more months. That was one of the saddest days in my life. I have never felt like hurting people for no reason like I did that day. So I can understand why soldiers may start to lose it in wartime, when someone is 4,000 miles away messing with your life and you are left out there powerless. So, how can Bush talk about family and unity when soldiers are kept in war even after they have served? The president should ask himself: Why are U.S. troops in Iraq? Because we, the soldiers, are the ones living the everyday, never-ending hell. Soldiers and people dying, a great amount of oil, but still we have not found any weapons of mass destruction. When you ask a soldier who has been living in Iraq for a year why he is there in front of a camera, he might reply that it is to make Iraqi people free. But when he is out of the spotlight, his anger, pain and hate will come flying out like it does in his everyday Iraqi life. The way the president uses "we" when he talks about the soldiers' sacrifices, the separation from their families and why our troops are in Iraq really brings down our troops' morale. President Bush is not the one on guard duty thinking about his family in a distant place. Now we know that the meaning of "we" for the president is a soldier, another soldier, or other soldiers, but the term does not include him. "We" the soldiers are the ones fighting the war while Bush keeps saying "we" when he is actually sitting at home. Edwar A Uceta Espinal Liverpool 168827[/snapback] I'm pretty anti-Bush, but I don't believe he's refering to himself, but to America. I agree, though. The war was a mistake, and now we are stuck there.
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