"It would be two hits - me hitting him and him hitting the floor."

[understandinglife]

"What Have We Done?"

by Dahr Jamail

August 5, 2005

As the blood of US soldiers continues to drain into the hot sands of Iraq over the last several days with at least 27 US soldiers killed and the approval rating for his handling of the debacle in Iraq dropping to an all-time low of 38%, Mr. Bush commented from the comforts of his ranch in Crawford, Texas today, “We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq.”

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When asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had the chance to speak to him, Abdul Henderson, a corporal in the Marines who served in Iraq from March until May, 2003, took a deep breath and said, “It would be two hits-me hitting him and him hitting the floor. I see this guy in the most prestigious office in the world, and this guy says ‘bring it on.’ A guy who ain’t never been shot at, never seen anyone suffering, saying ‘bring it on?’ He gets to act like a cowboy in a western movie … it’s sickening to me.”

The other vets with him nod in agreement as he speaks somberly … his anger seething.

One of them, Alex Ryabov, a corporal in an artillery unit which was in Iraq the first three months of the invasion, asked for some time to formulate his response to the same question. “I don’t think Bush will ever realize how many millions of lives he and his lackeys have ruined on their quest for money, greed and power,” he says, “To take the patriotism of the American people for granted … the fact that people (his administration) are willing to lie and make excuses for you while you continue to kill and maim the youth of America and ruin countless families … and still manage to do so with a smile on your face.”

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Link:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000271.php

What Dahr Jamail reports is being discussed in Dallas with Veterans and what Mr Galloway has said today are consistent with what many of us understood before Bush began his illegal war on Iraq.

"What we say is we refuse to be part of a conspiracy to deny that it has anything to do with the fact that our country is going round the world setting fire to other people's countries and killing them.

"I think there is hardly a sentient being in the land left who doesn't believe these things are connected.

"I am utterly against the punishing of innocent people for the crimes of the guilty, whether it is done on the underground in London or the streets of Fallujah by George Bush's air force."

He repeated his view that it was Mr Bush who was the world's "biggest terrorist" .....

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From Galloway says Blair and Bush 'have blood on their hands'

August 5, 2005

Link:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1543291,00.html

Let's frame those comments in the context of two more quotes from Dahr Jamal's interviews with Iraq war Veterans:

Tharp jumps in and adds, “Most of what we’re talking about is war crimes … war crimes because they are directed by our government for power projection. My easy answer for not going is PTSD … but the deeper moral reason is that I didn’t want to be involved in a crime against humanity.”

Ryabov then adds, “We were put in a foreign country to fire artillery and kill people … and it shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. It’s hard to put into words the full tragedy of it-the death and suffering on both sides. I feel a grave injustice has been done and I’m trying to correct it. You do all these things and come back and think, what have we done?”

And, the words of Iraq Veteran Charlie Anderson could not be a more fitting stance for any ethical, responsible Member of Congress, as well as truly patriotic American citizens, to take:

“You subverted us, you destroyed our lives, you owe us. I want your resignation in my hand in the next five minutes. Get packin’ Georgie.”

We must do all we can to force the complicit media to listen to these veterans and to broadcast their visit to war criminal-in-chief Bush when they attempt to speak to him at his ranch, tomorrow. Here's the relevant press release:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1203

and related DU threads:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4267464&mesg_id=4267464

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4265113

WATCH IT; SPREAD IT http://www.bushflash.com/right.html

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - How ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists their cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization and the environment in the name of "America."