“I Believed In What We Were Doing. Now I Just Feel Used.”

March 20, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics | Permalink

As we arrive at the 10th anniversary of the disastrous American invasion of Iraq, what I think about isn’t someone incompetent like President Bush or evil like Dick Cheney, though neither of them will ever be able to wash all that blood from their hands. What I consider most is the mania that surrounded, actually supported, that awful military operation which killed five thousand of our troops and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Politicians from both parties, respected journalists and well-known public figures threw in with the senselessness, some for personal gain and others from poor judgement, ignoring what was right in front of them. And those who spoke out against the lunacy were traitors and foolish and weak and disloyal. 

It was mania and it was amnesia. So many times, when defending this illicit war, Bush supporters made the argument that the President knew what he was doing because no terrorist attack had ever occurred on his watch, completely eliding the tragedy of 9/11, which was supposedly the rationale for the war.

I recall the heartbroken parents of some of the first soldiers killed, who grew understandably enraged when it was suggested that their government had lied to them, that their children had died for no reason. They would say that they couldn’t handle it if we brought the rest of the troops home and acknowledged the war had been needless. They couldn’t withstand the truth. So we continued the lies and more parents suffered the same loss.

And it will happen again. Maybe the Iraq War won’t happen all over again–hopefully not–but some incredibly wrongheaded decision will be made and the supposed best and brightest will encourage the foot soldiers to fall in line. Rational thought will be usurped, illogic will rule. Unless we work very hard to change, we will forget the lessons, and such things will remain cyclical, tragic and inevitable. 

One of the first Marines to enter Iraq just did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. A few exchanges follow.

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Question:

After all you know now… Has your opinion of the rights and wrongs of the situation changed? 

Answer:

Definitely. I was a kid then though. When I see pics of myself then I always think what a stupid and naive asshole I used to be. I believed in what we were doing. Now I just feel used.

Question:

Thank you for such an honest answer. 

Answer:

It’s the reality of the situation. I was young and full of bravado. Now I have a daughter and I wonder how I would feel if she was going to war in the same situation.

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Question:

And for what it’s worth from some average Joe, I’m sorry that we citizens didn’t stand up to the politicians who sent many of your fellow marines to their deaths, amid other injury (both physical and mental).

Our military personnel never fail at their job, no matter what we ask of them. But we the people failed you guys when we blindly approved a war that shouldn’t have happened. I was (for a short time) among those who believed in the Iraq war. For that, I apologized. We should’ve called our reps and Sens and the White House and told them that we didn’t want that war. And I didn’t do that.

I feel so bad because it wasn’t too much to ask, especially in comparison to what we all asked of guys like you.

Again, I’m sorry. But thank you and all of your fellow marines. 

Answer:

Man, we all got caught up in it. I feel like as Americans, this is a valuable learning lesson. We all let our emotions get us wrapped up and let Fox News and CNN dictate our rage. I was the same way. As a young 17 year old kid when the towers went down, living just 100 miles outside NYC, I was furious. I signed up and went off to war. As a 29 year old, looking back I realize that we made a very big mistake and a lot of people died because of it. Here’s the good news. You can make up for it. A lot of veterans are out there and they need help. They need people to volunteer for organizations that help veterans get homes, get jobs, and get help. You can donate to them! Or, if you are not financially capable of donations, which I understand, you can just give a veteran a hug or a warm smile and a thank you for all you have done. I’ve had some rough days but they were all made better just by someone’s understanding.

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Question:

What contact did you have with Iraqis? How do you feel about them? 

Answer:

I interacted with Iraqi’s every day of every deployment. There was always an IP (iraqi Police) training or humanitarian mission. At the time I saw them as less human than us. Like because they lived in the dirt they were more like dogs. I saw them as a dumb culture. Now I just feel bad. You are a product of your environment and I just got lucky in being born in a rich powerful country

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Question:

What about Iraqis lives that were destroyed, including myself? I’m honestly very sorry for everything that has happened to the Iraqi people. You have to understand I was not out to kill brown people or destroy a nation. I signed up for a job and did a bad thing based off bad intel.

Answer:

I’m honestly very sorry for everything that has happened to the Iraqi people. You have to understand I was not out to kill brown people or destroy a nation. I signed up for a job and did a bad thing based off bad intel.

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Question:

Why the fuck hasn’t a major network interviewed vets like you?

Answer:

Eh, I guess I’m not that interesting.