When I think about this war in Iraq I usually think of it in terms of what we have done to the people there. But every now and again something happens to widen my scope. Today’s item of what’s going wrong with the war is: Our troops are starving. There was a story about our troops having to beg for food from Iraqis. One soldier said he lost about 10 pounds in his first few weeks there. Right now there are food drives going on in this country to collect food to send to our soldiers. There is one women, who works in a bank as a teller and has a son serving in Iraq, who started a food drive at her bank. It is a national moment of shame that a mother has to beg strangers to donate food to be sent to our soldiers in a war zone. All the while republicans debate making tax cuts for the rich permanent and how best to deal with the suppression of the 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. America is sometimes referred to Rome at the height of its power and arrogance, but there is one important difference. Romans took care of their army. The Roman Army was well equipped, well trained, and well paid. None of which is happening here. A roman soldier was supplied with the tools necessary for their situation and the armor to fight their battles. Some of our troops STILL DON’T HAVE BODY ARMOR, three years after mission accomplished, ARE FORCED TO DRIVE IN UNARMORED VEHICLES AND HAVE GUNS THAT MALFUNCTION IN THE SAND. Now along with the fact that the army has not supplied every soldier with the body armor needed. Some parents, if they could , went and bought or raised money to buy the armor for their children and now the army says the soldiers are not allowed to wear it if they were lucky enough to get it. That’s right people, the army doesn’t supply the armor needed and also bans the soldiers from wearing armor from home. Over 200 billion dollars for this war and basic necessities are not being met. How can that be?
If I were an Iraqi woman living in the constant fear of war, insurgents, car bombs, 2 hours of electricity a day, and searching for clean water, the site of an American soldier asking me for food might rob me of any resolve I had left. How can the Iraqi people believe we will help them if we treat our own soldiers this way? There was a story this week about a newly graduated class of Iraqis soldiers some of whom quit when they were told they wouldn’t be protecting their homes and people. They tore off their uniforms when told they would have been sent away to protect an opposing factions. Recruitment is so low here that the Army is taking applicants with questionable histories. People who have been to prison, drug addicts and gang members. There was another story in the Chicago Sun Times about how gang leaders here are sending their young chargers off to the army to get valuable military training and use it to help their operations when they come home We’re fighting them other there so we can fight them over here too I guess.
I have a simple solution. If George Bush still wants to be commander in chief and start another war he is incapable of fighting maybe he should emulate Napoleon and actually lead our troops into battle himself and maybe just maybe, our troops would be treated better.
