And it is simply not possible for me to forgive Hillary Clinton for her vote in support of the godawful war on Iraq, and its impacts on young soldiers in particular, its impacts on all soldiers subjected to 3, 4, 5+ tours of duty in that hell hole, subjected to "stop-loss" (forced return duty), and put in a position of having to kill tens of thousands of people in self-defense--mostly innocent people, or people defending themselves from invasion; the impacts on soldiers of poor equipment (lost limbs, injured brains, death) and dreadfully ill thought out plans and purposes; the impacts on members of the military with a conscience and understanding of the Geneva Conventions (such as the Jag lawyers who risked their lives and careers to oppose torturing prisoners); the impacts on those of us at home of their use of our National Guards in an unjust war that had nothing to do with our country's safety; the impacts on those of us at home so demoralized that we couldn't stop it, and having to see the bodies come home, and being forced to pay for these horrors--trillions of dollars amidst vastly corrupt use of our money (for instance, Cheney giving fat military contracts to his own company, Halliburton); the ugliness of Blackwater and other private militias getting paid fat salaries (our money!) while our soldiers got (and get) so little for their service.
And then, and THEN, these soldiers come home--if they were lucky--so many broken in so many ways, and Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and their political hacks couldn't give a crap for their welfare.
So appalling--what they did to our military! And there have been other impacts as well--such as the militarization of our police forces at home.
Bernie Sanders not only stood against these terrible things, with most of our political establishment gung-ho or bending over for it, he also saw--and stated publicly--what it would result in: the destabilization of Iraq and then of the Middle East, with a much worse situation there than ever before. And HE did not forget our veterans! He does not view them as "cannon fodder," the way Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld did, and the way that most of our Democratic leaders let them do. He fought tooth and nail for money for veterans and for VA reform.
He also has stated--and I believe him--that war MUST be a last resort, something that virtually all soldiers believe. Who wants to die for a matter that can be settled peacefully? Who wants to endure the horrors of war for oil corporation profits or private military contractor profits? War is Hell! And it should never be initiated--and we should never let it be initiated--for ill purposes and for profit.
I am SO GLAD that Bernie exists, that he did what he did, and that he is now running for president!
I was not in the military, but I have family members who were (pre-Iraq War). I am also a PATRIOT and a democrat with both a large and a small "d." I love our country. I revere its highest values and ideals. If we are going to have a military, we must be fair to all those who join the services and who risk their lives on orders from the President, and we, the people, MUST be part of war decisions--the most important part of war decisions. THAT is democracy; and if we are not democratic, WHAT are we fighting for?
We must never again let it happen that we are tricked, and lied to, and traumatized into war by an event like 9/11, or by anything else.
I felt wounded by this war myself. It was such an assault on everything I have ever held dear--an assault on honorable service of every kind, an assault on our country's morals and ethics, an assault on young peoples' minds and souls, young soldiers and others--an assault that we will not recover from in my lifetime.
Armymedic88, thank you for your service! Thank you for your thoughts! And welcome to DU!!!
Peace 
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