Tuesday, August 19, 2003

A U.S. Soldier's Cry For Help

The Bush Cartel, the Republican party and their media pundits intended to give Americans the impression that support for the War in Iraq (and any war this chickenhawk administration sends our troops to fight) is the definition of what it means to support our troops. Problem is, the Bush administration and the Pentagon need to learn what true support of our troops really is, because they obviously don't support them very well.


Methinks, the Bush Cartel has decided to us our troops to guard Iraqi oil interests while Halliburton and other oil industry corporations that are closely tied to the administration take over, then leave our troops there for the next year to suffer and die. There is good reason why the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and similar growps along with military families have organized to fight this war. They've also been speaking out against the long stay there and harsh conditions affecting the troops, as well as, the mountain of lies the administration has been telling the American people and our military personnel over there.


It seems, no matter how the Pentagon and military officials attempt to silence our troops, some have managed to get the word out about the ugly truths that the Bush administration and Pentagon don't want the folks back home to know. What follows is a cry for help from a US soldier's email, as reported at 5PM PDT on August 14th, by Chris Legeros of KIRO television channel 7 news. Within this report is also a statement made where the soldier backs up the "war for oil" argument:


The soldier is Private 1st Class Mary Yahne of Bonney Lake. According to the report, the soldier is somewhere in Iraq hauling cargo for the Fourth Infantry Division and "struggling to stay alive." Her email messages to her family and the television station were complaints about the 120-degree heat with no air conditioning, constant danger (mined
roads and launched grenades at troops), and a shortage of decent food with a limitation of two bottles of water per day.


"They need help, they need help badly," Treva Yahne, the soldier's mother, said.


Within the message, the soldier questions the reasons why they're still there adding, "I was [for the war] at the beginning.... I support the troops, but like I said, I don't support the war, if that's what they call it."


"KIRO's reporter describes pride in a sign outside Treva Yahne's [the soldier's mother] home and patriotism reflected with flags. But the Bonney Lake mother has had a change of heart over the past few months.


The soldier told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News staff that the military expected soldiers to be happy in Iraq. She explained that she's happy to serve her country, but not when the government fails to take care of the troops. She added, "We volunteered our lives to be out here and we get treated worse that people in prison."


Treva Yahn told KIRO, "she just wishes it was all over. Like I said, they want to come home."


Private First Class Mary Yahn exclaimed, "There is no real reason for us to be out here!!!!, We're protecting the oil is all, and as far as the supposed war ending, it hasn't. Not when everyday soldiers are still getting mines placed in front of convoys. Rocket propelled grenades thrown at us."


Private Yahne has also asked for care packages that the troops aren't getting from the Pentagon and other government sources, like non-parishable foods, including snack foods to tide them over between meals, and personal hygene items, such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and deodorant.


The more that the Pentagon, the White House occupants and those scheming on behalf of the government officials do in an effort to silence our troops, the more that these high-ranking people and those in service to them prove that they DON'T support our troops. Thus, when critics of anti-war protestors, including an Admiral in Pensacola Florida, accuse us of being unpatriotic, they need to look at their hypocritical selves to see the faces of real unpatriotic Americans.


The best way to support these troops after participating in a drive to send them plenty of necessary supplies that the Bush administration and it's Pentagon arm deny them is for every American to demand that the Bush Cartel and the for-profit and control Pentagon officials bring the troops home now.


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