For the last year and a half, the pain in my gut screamed at my head write about this war, speak out against the war! But my aching heart said, "You can't undermine your son's confidence in what he is doing." Memories of people scorning and smearing Vietnam vets ran rampant through my mind. You see, my son, 1st Lt. Neil Anthony Santoriello Jr., was living his dream. He had fulfilled his dream of becoming a military officer. I thought he was fulfilling his destiny of being a man of purpose, compassion and justice working to make the world a better place.
-He was
Now my son is dead. How did he die? According to the Army, he was killed on Aug. 13 in western Iraq when an IED -- an "improvised explosive device" -- detonated near his vehicle. According to me, he was killed by the arrogance and ineptitude of George W. Bush aided by Vice President ****** Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
-And I suppose the arrogance of Saddam Hussein and those who dealt with him for the past 12 years (rendering the UN sanctions useless) had nothing to do with it?
I hear people talk about how well-bred John Kerry and Bush were. What constitutes good breeding? What constitutes good character? My father taught me that when you make a mistake the first thing you do is own up to it and the second thing you do is fix it. Bush made mistakes. Did he own up to them right away? No, he waited until recently and admitted to miscalculations.
-miscalculations based upon erroneous intel, Overseen by WHOM???? I haven't heard Kerry admit to being derilict in his responsibilities at ALL yet!
What Bush needed to do a year or more ago was to go to the United Nations with his hat in his hand and say, "We made a mistake. We thought we were doing the right thing, but now we have a mess that we can't handle. But now we are mired in a country that must be made stable; we don't have the right kind of troops on the ground to do the job right. You folks have the people and the Iraqi people will trust you. Will you help us fix this mistake?"
-The UN isn't ABOUT to bail us out! The UNICEF program was distributing books for African children to learn how to read (in the 80's), and the books were field maintenace manuals for AK-47's. The UN pulled out of the Sinai in '68, and left Israel to be destroyed. (Israel had other ideas) The UN was playing a game with the "Food for Oil" Program that was no doubt lining Kofi Annans pockets! Why SHOULD he help us after we derailed his gravy train?
My son compulsively planned everything. For every Boy Scout outing, every ski trip, he was prepared for any eventuality.
This presidential administration ignored experts who told them that they could win the war, but winning the peace presented the challenge. Did they prepare for that? Of course not -- they were too arrogant to change their direction even as the insurgency increased.
We could have given Saddam another 12 years? Who KNOWS what he might've come up with.
Did our men and women in harm's way have what they needed? No.
-WHO voted against body armor for the troops?
Did we have enough tanks on the ground? No.
-WHO voted against every major defense appropriation in the past twenty years?
Could we supply parts as they were needed? No.
-See above
This Bush team could be on a poster for the old axiom: People don't plan to fail -- they fail to plan.
-We were planning on the original fight taking longer than it did! Who would've thought the Iraqis would have folded so quickly?
Their actions tarnished the reputation and honor of the United States. We are supposed to be better than other countries because we believe in individual rights.
-And we still do
The Abu Ghraib scandal not only tarnished our reputation, but has put all of servicepeople in jeopardy for decades to come. If we could abuse prisoners, what country will honor the Geneva Conventions when it comes to U.S. troops? The January 2002 memo by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales about the treatment of prisoners scares me. He wrote that because "the war against terrorism is a new kind of war," it "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." In my mind, this memo is Bush's Watergate. I do not understand how people who claim they believe in the ideals of our Founding Fathers can ignore this.
-Abu Ghraib only tarnished the reputations of those involved, except to people who paint all servicemembers with a wide brush, and I have no respect for that type anyway. If you are capable of judging the entire military by the actions of a dozen or fewer people, you are capable of doing the same for thge actions of a few Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, ect.
My son voted for Bush. If he were alive, would he be voting for him again? I am not sure. His wife and I avoided political discussions with him before and during his deployment. He would have never talked badly about the president, because you do not criticize your commander in chief.
-Considering who's running against him, he'd probably vote for Bush again!
But I sensed frustration in his letters. When he came home, I would have talked to him about it. I can't ask him now. Now I speak for him.
-I seriously doubt that!
He worried about his men, his stateside friends set to deploy next month. I did not speak out against the war earlier and for this I am angry with myself. My son, a man of incredible honor, died from the actions of dishonorable men. I cannot bring him back. But I speak out now to protect the people still serving, to try to restore honor to our country.
-We've BEEN working at doing just that! Our enemies have lost all fear that the US has the guts to see out a protracted conflict, and if they attack us, and survive the first 12 months, we'll implode.
John Kerry was not my first choice for president, but I believe he has demonstrated a willingness to be open-minded. He knows that changing your position is not a character flaw, but a character plus. I believe he is the only person capable of getting the rest of the world to help us clean up the mess created by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the administration's other Iraq hawks.
-He will bring the plans of our enemies to fruition, Convincing them they were right, that we do NOT have the stomach for our own self defense.
