I am tilting at windmills and I need your help!

[JSK]

Nobody here knows me, but I have been a DU’er since 2001. I check in many times a day to get my DU fix; I don’t think I could survive without it.

I need your help! I have stirred up a firestorm in the local little freebie throwaway rag here in Simi Valley, CA. (yes, the home of the Ronnie Ray-gun shrine) I am so tempted to just give up and let the righties have the last word. Should I? I am old, tired and depressed. Here’s the story:

Someone in Simi sent a letter in to “The Acorn” a few weeks ago from a soldier-friend in Afghanistan.
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2008/0125/Letters/ I hope it’s ok for me to post the whole thing.
See if you can find the part that made me blow my stack:

<<In October of 2007 my daughter, a 12th-grader at Simi Valley High, came home from school very upset because of comments made by
students in her government class during a discussion regarding the war we are currently fighting.

Word got to a close family friend currently serving his third tour in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne; he also attended SVHS and graduated in 2000. The following letter was sent home in response:

"Hey, Tiffany, my Mom told me you were having some issues with some people in your government class, and some of them were talking about what they think goes on over here. I'll try to keep this short and to the point because I could go on for hours.

"Supposedly someone was talking about soldiers committing suicide. It has happened, but it's rare. We are half the world away from friends and family. People try to kill us, the weather/climate is horrible, we can't go to a bar or ballgame, etc., etc. Some people's spouses or girlfriends cheat on them and/or leave them.

"Even with all those factors, which are only a few, more people will off themselves in sunny Simi Valley this year than over here. I don't know that for a fact, but I would put money on it.

"As far as how soldiers feel about being over here, I haven't met anyone who has a problem with being in Afghanistan. I would say Iraq has a 60 percent to 70 percent approval rating among those of us who have been there.

"The deal with Iraq isn't why we went in, but some wonder why we are still there. Sadaam was a psycho who killed as he pleased for pleasure and personal gain. I've seen one of his torture chambers, which can only be described as elaborate.

"I've heard stories from Iraqi people about his sons pulling up to college campuses, picking some women, forcing them in their vehicles, then raping, torturing and/ or killing them.

"As far as WMDs go, he had the capability to acquire nuclear weapons, and we found chemical and biological weapons, which we know he used on the Kurds in the North. Well he's gone and so are his weapons, so why are we still there?

"People who say 'oil' are ignorant because, although Iraq does produce some oil, they primarily get it from other countries and refine it there. We can't just go in and take someone's oil for ourselves anyway. There is an organization called O.P.E.C. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) that regulates the number of barrels of crude oil that a country can produce. So tell your peers to do a little research before they go to a protest holding a 'No More Blood For Oil' sign.

"We are still there because if we leave before Iraq can truly govern itself, it will likely go back to being a hotbed for anti-western teachings, a staging area to plan and prep for terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S., and economically dormant when it has the potential to play a substantial role in the world economy.

"Some people say 'Who cares?' Others don't want to see that happen because we'll just have to go back in 10 or 20 years. And there lies the debate; like I said earlier, most of us soldiers would like to finish now rather than our kids finish it.

"And finally I'll say this: People, especially the media, need to realize that we are at war. Most of the military is made up of people 18 to 24 years old, the majority of which joined after Sept. 11, 2001, so they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into.

"If someone can't support this effort completely they need to shut their mouths. Americans aren't the only people with satellite televisions, and when these people see the protests and all the negative reactions and statements made by our public (because the media will never show anything positive about what we're doing) it boosts the morale of the enemy and helps with their recruiting effort while having the opposite effect on our own military.

"That's all I've got for now. If you or your friends have any specific questions feel free to write and I'll do my best to answer them and get back to you. I hope this gives you some 'ammo' for your next debate. But remember, you can't fix stupid. Tell the family I said hello and send my love . . .

"Sincerely, Jeremiah, Sergeant, 82nd Airborne-Recon."

Jeremiah Waggoner graduated in 2000 from Simi Valley High School. He enlisted in the Army six months after graduation, served his country, was released and then reinlisted less than a year later and went back to serve with the 82nd Airborne again.
At this time he is scheduled to be sent to Ranger training in Spring 2008 after this tour in Afghanistan.
Jeremiah has ambitions of going into politics sometime in the future; Tiffany has promised to work on his campaign. Heather C Simi Valley >>


My response:
<<Sgt. Jeremiah Waggoner, Simi soldier proudly serving in Afghanistan, wants me to "shut my mouth." With all due respect, sir, I cannot.
I am an American, too. I pay taxes. While the First Amendment is still somewhat intact, I will not sit silently while $500,000 a minute is flushed into the cesspool of, not a war, but an illegal occupation.
Almost 4,000 brave Americans are dead; millions of Iraqis have been killed or forced to flee from a decimated homeland; international terrorist attacks have increased; our national security has been compromised, and our economic structure is ready to implode.
How long will we continue to feed the grotesque appetites of the multinational corporate war-profiteers while our democracy crumbles?
According to the American Friends Service Committee website, www.afsc.org, we can pay for one day in Iraq or:
-84 new elementary schools
-12,478 elementary school teachers
-34,904 four-year scholarships for university students
-1,153,846 children with free school lunches
-423,529 children with healthcare
-95,364 Head Start places for children
-6,482 families with homes
Quoting Dante, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal . . .”
No, Sgt. Waggoner, I will not shut my mouth. Jody K, Simi Valley >>


Well, needless to say, the proverbial shit hit the fan. The letters in response to mine were a testament to the power of Fox News and Karl Rove. OMG, every talking point you can imagine. This little snippet was the piece de resistance, from the mom of a Marine:

<<A stable Iraq means a more stable Middle East. According to Ms. K, because of us, millions of Iraqis have been killed or forced to leave Iraq. Where are you getting your facts?
I do believe that thousands of Kurds and countless other Iraqis were tortured and/or killed under Saddam Hussein, not by us. And I'm sorry, but I don't believe that we have been attacked since 9/11, so I beg to differ that our national security has been compromised.>>
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2008/0208/Letters/007.html

Where am I getting my facts?????? I know where she’s getting hers – Fixed NOISE!! Well, I spent hours writing a great response about the Iraq refugee crisis, with a link to refugeesinternational.com. (I even threw in a tidbit about Angelina on CNN last week) I also cited Iraq Veterans against the War, ivaw.org, for my stats about casualties. It was an f-ing work of art. Well, surprise, surprise, they didn’t publish it. They chose instead to give us the response from the soldier in Afghanistan, which I admit is only fair. His first letter did appear before mine. But check it out. My head is spinning:

<<I was told that the letter I wrote to a family friend as well as a rebuttal of sorts was printed in the Acorn. We all know politics is always a fiery topic, and I hadn't intended on all of this getting blown up with my name being used amongst people I do not know.
I do however feel compelled to respond to the Jody K’s and Mark L’s out there.

First let me respond to Ms. K by apologizing for the cost of this war. Unfortunately, aircraft, bullets and body armor are not cheap but are required to win a war. You can put dollars and cents on it all day, and say that your tax money is being wasted, but that's just a poor excuse.

When was the last time you really needed a cop or a fireman? Their salaries are more than double mine. I pay taxes, too, and I haven't required the assistance of any public service in quite some time.
Imagine all the free schooling that could be provided if we stopped paying police officers and firefighters. You might not, but personally I think they're worth the money. The ultimate price is, of course, human life.

And I have had to put body bags with dead American soldiers on MEDEVAC helicopters. I am well aware of the cost of this war, and make no mistake about it, Mr. L, I have not forgot why I fight.

What are you doing to make sure your kids will always have a place to play ball? Like it or not, this enemy is real and poses a very real threat.

Without a doubt, it was our reaction as a country after Sept. 11 that has made nations like North Korea think twice before acting on impulse. It is now known the world over that the United States will not tolerate being threatened or attacked and the consequences for such actions are immense.

Check your facts about millions killed and who is doing the killing. The insurgents in Iraq are killing thousands of innocent people every year. Meanwhile, I am told to not fire unless fired upon.

I would like to rephrase my "shut your mouth" comment, to "please watch what you say." I wasn't joking about the enemy getting motivated and U.S. troops getting demoralized by all the negative press from back home.
So please do us a favor and protest from your comfortable living rooms, or on the phone to friends and family- not on the evening news.

Finally, I want to thank people like Chris S and Kathy M(and her son in the Marines) for their support. It's people like you who make us proud to do what we do. Sgt. Jeremiah Waggoner U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne Afghanistan >>
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2008/0215/Letters/012.html

So, "my friends", what do you think? Should I respond again? Try to make it known that I am not making stuff up? The Editor actually weighed in on this issue today as well and his comments got me even more riled up:

<<So whether you agree with Waggoner's feelings on the war or you don't, the most important thing is that his opinion, and all your opinions, counts. And they can be expressed without fear of retribution.>>
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2008/0215/Editorials/010.html

Say, whaaaaaaaat? Are we both on the same planet? I am thinking about just letting it go, but after that remark,it would be very difficult. What do you think? Can you help me with some additional info? I just don’t have hours (and frankly, the strength) to spend on research. I would like to give some examples of the retribution some of us loony lefties have experienced. Oh wait, that doesn't happen, right?

Thank you, all, for helping me stay sane. (and keeping my response to the paper under 400 words!)

jsk

[villager]

1. I'm just over the hill from Simi...

I don't envy you that windmill-tilting!

[KitSileya]

2. I can't tell you what to do, but I can point out one glaring lie in her letter

The mom of the marine is wrong in one thing. She says "And I'm sorry, but I don't believe that we have been attacked since 9/11, so I beg to differ that our national security has been compromised."

Does no one remember the anthrax attacks? Homegrown terrorism designed to get people to "shut their mouths".

I know that you probably feel like you're all alone, but remember, if you don't write the rebuttals, no one will, and Faux Noise goes unchallenged. Even if they don't change their minds if you write more letters, at least you will have your hands clean. You tried.

Thank you for what you have done.

[JHB]

9. We weren't attacked for 8 years (1993-2001) under Clinton, either...

Domestically (and successfully), that is. There were attacks overseas, and thwarted ones here.

But if you count attacks overseas, we're attacked almost every day now.

[NMDemDist2]

3. sorry it's been a shitstorm but that's what happens in Red little towns, here's the paragraph

that leaped out at me...

"People who say 'oil' are ignorant because, although Iraq does produce some oil, they primarily get it from other countries and refine it there. We can't just go in and take someone's oil for ourselves anyway. There is an organization called O.P.E.C. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) that regulates the number of barrels of crude oil that a country can produce. So tell your peers to do a little research before they go to a protest holding a 'No More Blood For Oil' sign.

While it's true Iraq doesn't produce much oil now, it's because their infrastructure is all but gone thanks to the war and the lack of international development due to the sanctions after Gulf War I.

Iraq in 4th in the world in proven Oil Reserves (what's still in the ground) and we are allied with two of the other three and saber rattling at the other. Anyone who thinks we're not in Iraq to insure our continued supplies of oil is either woefully uninformed or living in lala land.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872964.html

Greatest Oil Reserves by Country, 2006
Rank Country Proved reserves
(billion barrels)
1. Saudi Arabia 264.3
2. Canada 178.8
3. Iran 132.5
4. Iraq 115.0

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. I find it interesting how people justify the argument that it wasn't about oil.

1) About oil? Have you seen the price of gas?
2) About oil? Iraq produces very little oil.
3) About oil? It's not ours, we can't just take it.

All of those arguments assume not only that this war was about oil, but about oil and its benefit the citizens of the US.

If you make the paradigm shift that this was not about the benefit we'd derive from Iraqi oil, but the benefit that Bush/Cheney benefactors derive from it, the world makes more sense.

[gratuitous]

4. You're not tilting at a windmill

You're yelling at a brick wall, only twice as thick and not nearly so useful.

The misdirections, the half-truths, the out-and-out lies are just too thick to rebut unless you own the printing press, and it's probably clear to you by now that the editor of the fishwrap is more enamored of jock-sniffing than he is of the truth. "Without fear or favor" doesn't enter into his journalistic lexicon. Only you know how much you can stand, but I know that for me it wouldn't be worth it. You had your say, you said it well, and the bricks came tumbling. Those who will not see are blinder than those who can not see.

[madokie]

7. Yes its the ones who will not see that worries me the most

I can look past someone who is too fuching dumb to see or the ones who aren't paying attention so therefore can not see but I have a problem with those who will not see, indicating to me that it is intentional. Oh, and you said it well yourself

[Buzz Clik]

5. My suggestion is to let it go.

You made a great point in your letter. It was to the point and clear. The responses have been ridiculous, and you could fill every spare minute of your days and nights responding to the hysteria.

Keep in mind that the rightwing letter-writing campaign is well organized with dozens of websites filled with "ready to print" cut-and-paste talking points. They will wear you out if you attempt to debunk every lie or hyperbole.

Congrats on your letter. You won.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. When I write lte's on this topic, I try my best to separate the issues...

The soldier in Iraq has no more (or less) responsibility for this war than any voter.

The role in which soldiers have chosen to serve is a vitally important one to a free state, but the voters (you and I) have screwed the pooch. We voters listened to someone who was clearly and obviously lying to us. The downing street memos clearly show this, Bush gave us the bums rush because he knew that all of his excuses for getting us into this mess were a sham. The only WMD we've "found" in Iraq was the stuff that the UN weapons inspectors had under lock and key. Sadly, after the invasion, with no one available to watch those secured weapons sites, looters made away with it.

Our soldiers are being blown up with the ordinance that was stolen because Bush (not Saddam) ordered UN weapons inspectors out.

And our administration does not have the moral authority to justify a war in which more than 100,000 Iraqis have died on the basis that Saddam was a murderer and torturer. Our administration has confessed to torturing people - a war crime. Why he's not being impeached by the people of the greatest country on earth profoundly baffles me.

We did the wrong thing because it required less due diligence than doing the right thing. We citizens are now paying the price for that. It's not too late to redeem ourselves, but first we need to turn off Fox News.

[JSK]

8. Thank you all

for your thoughtful responses. DU is still the best.

[Subdivisions]

10. You will never change those nuts' minds. I think it might be

fun for all of us to send our own LTTEs to that little red rag - barrage them even, with the truth.

Shall I go first?

[JSK]

13. Oooooooooooooooooh, Tex!

I have goosebumps!!!

The address is [e-mail]

[Mz Pip]

12. A coupleof points

<<Imagine all the free schooling that could be provided if we stopped paying police officers and firefighters. You might not, but personally I think they're worth the money. The ultimate price is, of course, human life. When was the last time you really needed a cop or a fireman? Their salaries are more than double mine. I pay taxes, too, and I haven't required the assistance of any public service in quite some time. >>

I don't think anyone is arguing that we do not need policemen or firemen or that they do no provide a valuable service to our communities. Equating them to the 4 billion a month going down that black hole of Iraq is bogus.

I suppose what I find most offensive with the "shut your mouth' crowd is that they have continually used the war for policical gain. We have been told each election cycle that if we elect the Democrats we will be sending a message of surrender to our enemies. That the patriotic thing to do is continue to stand behind the failed policies that continue to suck up our resources.

A true patriot does not polarize a nation with inflammatory rhetoric. A true patriot would shout loud and clear to the world that regardless of who wins elections, this country is united in its commitment to defend its citizens. A true patriot would not send a message to those who want to do us harm that one party is weaker in that commitment.

I've heard these accusations for 6 years, the implication being that to disagree or suggest another solution is somehow surrendering. It's bullshit.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[LSK]

14. FACTS

Leftover shells found in the sand from a 20 year old war do not mean Saddam was rebuilding his WMD arsenol.

The UN Inspection team dismantled Saddams WMD program AFTER the Gulf War and the UN Inspection team under Hans Blix found NO WMD when they were left in Iraq in late 2002. David Kay launched a thorough search of WMD after the 2003 and found no WMD. So that is 3 credible sources proving that Saddam had NO WMD and was NO THREAT TO AMERICA. In addition, logic shows that IF there were any WMD to be found, the Bush administration and the media would be all over such a find to prove that Bush was right. However this never happened. Simple google search terms such as "Scott Ritter, UNSCOM, David Kay, Hans Blix" would prove any of these claims to be accurate.

There was NO EVIDENCE that Saddam was working with Al Queda and there is plenty of evidence that Saddam and Bin Laden were RIVALS who did not trust each other.

If you do not believe that Iraqis have died, you have to believe that either Shock and Awe did not really happen, the battle of Falludjah did not happen or that Iraqi's have magical skin that prevents death.

INTERNATIONAL, I REPEAT, INTERNATIONAL terrorism has occurred since 9/11 and since our invasion of Iraq. I repeat INTERNATIONAL. One of the responders seems to be confused about this so lets be clear: INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM has occurred, i.e. the Madrid train station bombings and the London bombings.

Iraq would no longer be beholden to OPEC after our invasion because any treaties under the Saddam regime would have been invalidated after his regime fell. In addition, Iraq's oil capacity is well documented. Any google search of "Iraq oil reserves" could prove that yes, there is plenty of oil in Iraq.

As far as our protests on TV motivating the SAUDI PAKISTANI terrorists (most of the 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, NONE OF THEM FROM IRAQ), well they did not need such motivation to do 9/11 did they?