The USA is coming up to the 7th anniversary of the Iraq Invasion. The quick victory over Saddam’s Republican Guards concealed the possibility of a civil war between the three major groups; Sunni, Shiites, and Kurds. The entire sad story is detailed in the movie starring Matt Damon THE GREEN ZONE. The Bush administration with the help of Tony Blair misled the world about the dangers of WMD. There were none. The head of the occupation Paul Bremer failed to foist exiled Iraqis on the tribal leaders and compounded this error by disbanding the Army. Torture, murder, corruption, insurgency. All of it denied by GW Bush, Dick Cheney, Congress, and the American people. No one sacrificed nothing. fat people didn’t sacrifice potato chips. The rich got richer. The middle class was happy with the inflated value on their houses. The poor were unheard, because they were fighting the war. Few people know anything about the war. DANCING WITH THE STARS is more important to the masses. The two wars only effect soldiers, families, contractors, and the citizens of the many countries where the Pentagon is still fighting the last administration’s wars.
This week a young lady from Alabama walked into the diamond exchange. She wanted to sell two diamond rings. One was hers. The other belonged to her boyfriend. The 27 year-old was a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Reserve. Her beau was a sergeant in the Army. He was deploying to Afghanistan next month. Erin was heading out in the autumn.
“Good weather for it.” I had been in the high Asian plains. Hot dry and high. Breathing is a task. Thirst a constant companion.
“Were you in the military?” Erin seemed a little slow for a soldier. Her skin was clear. She should have been a mother.
“No, I’m anti-war. Protested this war, but not enough.” 9/11 had America in a fighting mood.
“I’m not too happy about going either.”
“At least you’ll be with your boyfriend.” Men and women in the military were coupling same as any group of people. “I thought it was against the military code for officers to fraternize with enlisted soldiers.”
“I’m Reserve. That doesn’t apply to me.”
“What about that colonel in Afghanistan who wanted to courtmartial pregnant soldiers for desertion?” The military had big problems with women being sexually abused by their comrades. It really didn’t make the news.
“There’s a lot of idiots in the officer corps.”
“In Iowa I met guardsmen deploying for the 4th time. Their CO wants another service ribbon.”
“I’m hoping for Obama to end it before I have to go. But I’m in logistics. So it won’t be so bad.”
“It’s never bad until it’s really bad. The British invaded with 15,000 troops to install a puppet government. The political officers decided to stiff the tribute to the tribes along the Khyber Pass. The uprising took them by surprises. Only one soldier escaped the debacle. If you have to get out of there, head north. And bring as much MREs as you can.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
We bought the rings. Erin was happy with the price. I wished her good-luck. She smiled with a salute. Two minutes later no one remembered her name. Those soldier ‘over there’ are invisible here. GREEN ZONE might not be the best movie in the world, but it brings the war home.
Troop levels are less than 100,000.
Zero would be better.
Now bring the troops home, Obama, before it’s too late.