-------- Original Message --------
Subject: I was there
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:32:08 -0700
From: John Bruhns, Iraq Veteran, MoveOn.org Political Action
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Noah Garrett Wallach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
John Bruhns
Dear MoveOn member,
I'm John Bruhns and I served in Baghdad as an army sergeant for the first
year of the war. Within my first days there, I realized that so much of
what I had been told--about weapons of mass destruction, connections to
9/11--was just White House spin to sell the war.
I'm seeing the same thing all over again now. Even with this being the
bloodiest summer for US troops in Iraq, even with Iraqi casualties running
at twice the pace of last year, and even with 15 of 18 of President Bush's
own benchmarks unmet, the White House is at it again. They're telling us
that black is white, up is down, and things in Iraq are going just great
thanks to the troop "surge."
This month Congress is going to vote on war policy for the next year--and
Bush is hoping all this "progress" talk will scare Congress away from
voting for withdrawal. We can't let that happen. Almost 4,000 US troops
have died. We've spent half a trillion dollars in Iraq. Every day you turn
on the news and more people are killed. We need Congress to stand up and
fight to bring our troops home this fall.
I need your help to make sure that happens. Can you sign this petition
demanding that Congress begin a fully funded redeployment and start
bringing our troops home from Iraq immediately? I'll deliver your comments
to Congress myself next week. Clicking below will add your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/troopshome/o.pl?id=11180-3131654-jaBW4s&t=4
I left Iraq on February 27, 2004 and from what I hear from my friends who
are still there--many on their third or fourth deployments--it's worse now
than ever before. The "surge" was a failure and it's time to draw down our
troops.
This president can't be trusted, his policy is reckless and it's more and
more dangerous every day.
Here's what's happened in Iraq since the escalation went into effect.
* Violence has gone up in Iraq. This summer is on track to be one of the
bloodiest summers for Iraqis and U.S. troops, with nearly twice as
many U.S. troops killed this July than the previous July. 1
* The surge has not created political stability. The central premise of
the surge was that it would increase political stability. Two years
after Sunnis were brought into the political transition, a Sunni bloc
withdrew from the government. 2 This week's original Government
Accountability Office report showed that 15 out of 18 of Bush's own
political benchmarks remain unmet. 3
* We've poured weapons into Iraq's civil war. Another Government
Accountability Office report earlier this summer showed that the
Pentagon lost track of nearly 200,000 weapons given to Iraqis. We
distribute weapons and then they disappear and we don't know what
happens to them. What we do know is that violence increases--both
among Iraqi sectarian groups and against American troops. 4
* Ethnic cleansing is happening in Baghdad. The once Sunni dominated
city is now dominated by Shiites. Here is a quote from the most recent
Newsweek: "When Gen. David Petraeus goes before Congress next week to
report on the progress of the surge, he may cite a decline in
insurgent attacks in Baghdad as one marker of success. In fact, part
of the reason behind the decline is how far the Shiite militias'
cleansing of Baghdad has progressed: they've essentially won." 5
As an Iraq war veteran I felt so much relief after the November of 2006
election--I felt like we would finally end this mess and start bringing
our troops home from Iraq. I've been let down a lot over this last year
and I want to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Congress has the power to force redeployment and they have to use that
power this fall. Nothing is more important to me than making sure we start
bringing all our troops home--and I need your help to make sure that's
what happens.
Please sign the petition today.
http://pol.moveon.org/troopshome/o.pl?id=11180-3131654-jaBW4s&t=5
Thanks for all you do.
--John Bruhns, former US Army Infantry Sergeant.
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
Sources:
1. "Diplomatic Surge for Iraq, But New Steps Require Credible Redeployment
Plan for U.S. Forces," Center for American Progress, August 9, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2929&id=11180-3131654-jaBW4s&t=6
2. Ibid
3. "Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals," Washington Post, August
30, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2930&id=11180-3131654-jaBW4s&t=7
4. "Stabilizing Iraq," United States Goverment Accountability Office, July
2007
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07711.pdf
5. "Baghdad's New Owners," Newsweek, September 10, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20546328/site/newsweek
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