THOUGHTS ON IRAQ FROM AN ULTRA-DOVE

I am not a fan of this war. Came out against it well before we sent you in. I thought Karl Blix and the U.N. inspections were going fine. Hadn't found anything. And Hussein seemed to be (finally) cooperating. No connection to 911, no connections to Bin Laden. In fact, Iraq had less connections to the Bin Laden family than our own President. Why put our troops at risk?

Well, Cheney and his stuffed shirt (King George II) insisted and I hoped for the best. And the projections were we would cut through this hapless country like a hot knife through butter. And it seemed we did. You made it through to Fallujah very quickly, and with little resistance or fanfare. I knew when Cheney said you would be welcomed as liberators, conjuring up visions of France at the end of WWII, well, I knew that was political bullshit. I knew. You were in for a long hard battle.

Yet you went in, and took care of business. The massive arsenal of bombs softened them up but good. Then the country started filling up with radical religious fighters, and they fought back. The kind of Vietnamese ground war we simply do not excel in. On their turf. On their terms. With not much of a plan. Clearly, this wasn't a war at all. The so called "War on Terror" was another p.r. scam. This wasn't one army against us, it was small pacts of resistance fighters / terrorists making small deadly stands and scurrying away.

You found, tried and executed Saddam Hussein, but it made no difference at all. He was as powerless as the statue of him you pulled down to the ground amid the cheering masses of Iraqi's. He was as powerless as the U.N. inspectors said he was. For a moment there, we thought you were making headway.

And you risked your lives for a country in civil war, a region that grew to hate us more and more, and for your home country that didn't appreciate the war, didn't understand why we (you) were there, and did not want you there at all. Your country looked at the increasing death tolls and wanted to end this madness.

And why not? The good, peaceloving Iraqi's got the hell out of there if and when they could. Those were the people you were fighting for, scared chickens running out of town hoping you would restore order so they could come back. And after all, was there ever going to be peace in the Middle East? Not for centuries has there been peacein the region. What idiot would possible think we could bring democracy to them and peace would ensue?

Unfortunately from the very start we didn't have the kind of weapons, or even adequate type of vehicles for you, and I am sorry about that. Armored trucks without armor. Troops comprised of rookies, troops comprised of weekend warriors, but you looked out for them. Couldn't even get much of a force from other countries. See, they hated our leader. Refused to help, so there you were, holding the bag. Going it alone.

Trouble was, you didn't know the friends from the foes. Just like Vietnam. Only, we couldn't go in and kill everything that moved in Vietnam. Had to be more selective. Had to send you door to door looking for terrorists, and terrorists don't wear name badges.

We put you into hell, and when it was your time to come back, we told you to stay. And stay. And stay a little longer. Reservists without a fucking clue, scared to fucking death playing a

kill or be killed game they had no experience in.

We didn't give you much of a break, did we? Then the terrorists started playing dirty. Suicide bombers, we called them. Crazy mother fuckers who strapped bombs to themselves, or in their vehicles and detonated them next to you, killing our people, your comrades. Stupid bastards who actually thought they were killing for their god. They would be rewarded for it in heaven. And it worked. They killed a whole lot of your troops. Hard to fight a war against people who will go to that extreme, isn't it?

Now, the majority of this country is against the war. Not against you, we love you. No, we hate the administration, hate the war and we want you back home out of harms way. And as soon as possible. So we played the only cards we had in our hand. Threaten to withhold the cash. We weren't really going to do it, but it was the only way we could try and force a date for you to come home. A Don Quitote-ish gesture to vent our anger and frustration, knowing full well we don't have enough votes to override a veto.

But let me tell you, we are sorry. We are sorry, we think you are heroes, and we can't wait to welcome you home as soon as possible. And as safely as possible. So, thanks from the biggest liberal you will ever know. Thanks for your tireless efforts, for your bravery, and for risking it all for your country.

God bless. I hope you see you all home very, very soon.

So, on this Memorial Day, may it be a day, yet another day,

you are able to stay out of harms way.

It may seem we are against you, but rest assured, we are for you.

And for your ability to reunite with your loved ones very soon.

And in one piece.