MER - Why the U.S. Must Get Out of Iraq, Pronto

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Maj. General Harry Upman (retired) <br> <br>Why the U.S. Must Get Out of Iraq, Pronto <br> <br>Let me say in no uncertain terms, we must get out of Iraq. <br> <br>There is nothing to gain and everything to lose in Iraq. We have <br>lost over four thousand of our military, those who were killed in <br>Iraq and those who died in intransit from Iraq to our hospitals in <br>Germany and in Europe. We have had over 10,000 of our troops <br>wounded. According to a report I heard last night on Frontline on <br>PBS, 1 in 6 of our people coming home from Iraq need mental help. <br> <br>What have we gained in Iraq? Absolutely nothing. <br>What have we lost? Our leadership in the world militarily, morally <br>and financially. <br> <br>Frankly, Generals Franks and Abizaid have failed. Donald Rumsfeld <br>has failed, as have his top aides. As a former military leader, I am <br>appalled at the Pentagon leadership and the leadership in our <br>military. These men should be drummed out of the military with their <br>heads in shame for the needless loss of the lives of our young men <br>and women. <br> <br>But that's not the worst of it. What business did they have calling <br>up our Reserves and National Guard to attack another country. These <br>troops are for emergencies and to protect our nation. I know the <br>law, that these troops can be called up. <br>On the other hand, they are to be used for short periods of time, <br>not for long periods of time as they have been abused in Iraq. I <br>note that the recruiters are having a hard time in the Reserves and <br>the National Guard. I can't blame the people for walking away. I <br>would if I'd been lied to this much. <br> <br>As a man of three wars, from Korea to Viet Nam to Gulf War I, I am <br>embarrassed by such men as General Mattis. If he was under my <br>command, I'd have him disciplined for ignorance and leading his men <br>astray. No, it is not "fun" to kill people. <br>Killing is a serious business, not something you brag about to <br>businessmen or to the media about. We never told our men to kill for <br>the fun of it. You killed to save yourself and to achieve an <br>objective, never for the "fun of it." <br> <br>I fear that we have hit the bottom in our military men and women. <br>Lower level officers are now afraid to report atrocities for fear <br>that they will lose their rank, men are afraid to admit they are <br>shot, women are afraid to report rape, when they report rape they <br>are told it was their fault! <br>What has this man's army come to? Have we totally lost our honor? To <br>be a military man in this army means to be immoral, a liar, to <br>accuse the innocent and to not grieve for killing women and children. <br> <br>This is not the military or the country I served. The men running <br>our government at this time are either mad or totally immoral and <br>have not place in this world as leaders. That is why they must turn <br>out such people as Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, Mattis and Abizaid and <br>bring in some new leadership who better represents what we are as a <br>nation. <br> <br>In the process, they may as well take such fools as Bill O'Reilly <br>and let him put his body where his mouth is in terms of Iraq. Let <br>him go to Iraq and see how it feels, let him smell death and let him <br>dodge bullets the way our troops do in Iraq. I'd like to see how <br>much of a smart-ass he would be then. The same is true of that <br>falsely serious Richard Perle; I'd have him take his fat behind out <br>in the boot camp and work him until he learned to sweat. I'd do the <br>same with Paul Wolfowitz. Paul has never had the respect of <br>intelligent men, only men who thought Paul was intelligent. How they <br>were deceived. I've known Paul since he was a bootlicker in his <br>youth in Washington, DC. <br> <br>Until we regain our moral stature and moral bearings, we shall <br>continue to be hated in this world for good reason. We no longer <br>defend freedom and liberty, we are the new British colonialists, we <br>are the new plunderers, we are the new imperialists. This makes me <br>ashamed of our country. <br> <br>What do I hope for? I hope some of our military men, men of honor, <br>will stand up and call these immoral and ignorant men what they are. <br>If our military is to defend its honor, it must stand up now. If <br>not, then our military men are part of the problem, not part of the <br>solution. I am not advocating revolution, but I am advocating the <br>right to resist immoral duty and men who think that "killing is <br>fun," and men who think that bombing a city into the earth, as was <br>done in Fallougha, will make us more friends and fewer enemies. <br> <br>We must get out of Iraq, pronto, before we lose more troops, make <br>more enemies and show our military vulnerability to the watching <br>world. We are not the formidable force the world thought we were, <br>our troops are exhausted and yet have not won a victory, and our <br>will to victory is fast disappearing. We should get out before we <br>needlessly kill more Iraqis as well. Killing over a hundred <br>thousand, 100,000, according to the Lancet in England is enough to <br>make me more ashamed than when we learned of Mi Lai in Viet Nam. We <br>killed more in Fallougha than in Mi Lai, and yet no one has <br>apologized to the dead or the men and women who survived the <br>devastation, the Dresden like bombing of Fallougha. Where has our <br>moral leadership that we taught at West Point gone to? What are they <br>doing in OCS these days? I dread finding out if the officers I've <br>seen in Iraq are a fair sample. <br> <br>How low we have sunk. <br> <br>------------------------------------------------------ <br>General Upman is a pseudonym for a retired general who would rather <br>not reveal his name because of his former leadership positions in <br>the U.S. Staff Leadership and because he does not want to argue with <br>old friends at the officers clubs when he visits <br> <br>March 2, 2005 <br> <b on></b> </body>