It isn't propaganda that the day after Congress passed a resolution to "Support Our Troops," the house of Representatives passed Bush's 2004 budget which reduced veteran's health care and benefit programs by nearly $25 billion over the next ten years.
You can read a bit about what the VA thinks about it here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0328-11.htm
There are many veterans of this war and other conflicts who do not feel the same as Justin:
http://www.vaiw.org/
Anyone who knows me, knows how I feel. I don't support this war. I don't have a yellow ribbon on my car. I don't have a flag on my porch.
But I want to say here and now that I am and will always be proud of and grateful for the effort, bravery, and devotion that Justin and his brothers and sisters in arms have. I volunteered earlier this year to help make care packages to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. I also donated a small amount of money to a program to help soldiers buy their own armor (I'm poor, so it was only $10, but I hope it helped).
There is no doubt in my mind, whatsoever, that America was lied to about our reasons for invading Iraq. There is no doubt that those who wanted to go to war in Iraq were told to wait by our allies, yet chose not to. They were told that the insurgency would grow larger the longer they stayed, and it has. They have, most certainly, abused their power.
Beyond these things, there is also the unseen things that may very well harm us in the future. The military in Iraq is made up mostly of men and women who would be first responders to domestic attacks and catastrophes. We have spent pennies to the dollar on actual security improvements domestically compared to the cost of invading a country which posed no immediate and direct threat to us. We have left ourselves exposed and vulnerable, and we have made ourselves hated by many who would wish to do us harm, and have alienated many who would help us if it came to that.
Worst of all, I believe, we've lost site of the mastermind of the group who attacked us on our own ground, and killed thousands of people in a matter of a couple hours.
I've heard that Bush truly believed (believes) the war is to make us safer. I've heard that the war was really for oil. I've heard that it is part of a grand and sweeping movement to democratize the world. I've heard that Bush wanted to go to war with Saddam Hussein because of an alleged assassination attempt on his father. I've heard a lot of reasons that we went to war, and I have not heard a good one, yet. Not when certain facts, like those I've mentioned, are presented.
There was no prudence in the initial build-up, no foresightedness in the invasion, and there is no contingency now.
It may only be my "opinion" that this war is wrong in every sense of the word, but it's not my "opinion" that makes me mourn the loss of 1,741 brave American men and women, or pity the 13,190 wounded. It's not "opinion" that makes me wonder how our involvement in this conflict can last longer than our involvement in World War II. No... it's cold hard facts. Facts that also lead me to "believe" that we have taken a very bad turn, and have let patriotism, nationalism, and fear blind us to our own sins.
The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.
