How Many More Will Sign on To Come Home From Iraq? Are They Unpatriotic?

Question

For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq & bring American soldiers home.
A few days ago it started with 65 troops. Today it has increased to over 200 troops. It looks as though there will be many more in days to come. They want to know why they are there? They want Congress to listen to them. They are dying, and they don't understand why.
Neither do millions of others. Does this make them unpatriotic? Or is this a legitimate concern, before they die. .
Under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act (DOD directive 7050.6), active-duty military, National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without reprisal.

And before you answer, I just want to say that because wars always were does not mean they should always be.

No angry answers please! remain calm....

U.S. troops on active duty call for Iraq withdrawal Wed Oct 25, 1:50 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 200 active duty U.S. armed service members, fed up with the war in Iraq, have joined an unusual protest calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, organizers said on Wednesday.The campaign, called the Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq, is the first of its kind in the Iraq war and takes advantage of Defense Department rules allowing active duty troops to express personal opinions to members of Congress without fear of retaliation, organizers said.
"As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq," states the appeal posted on the campaign's Web site at www.appealforredress.org.

"Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home," it adds.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061025/ts_nm/iraq_usa_campaign_dc

In a conference call with reporters, a sailor, a Marine and a soldier who had served in the Iraq operation said American troops there have increasingly had difficulty seeing the purpose of lengthy and repeated tours of duty since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Their misgivings have intensified this year as the country has edged toward civil war, they said.

"The real grievances are: Why are we in Iraq if the weapons of mass destruction are not found, if the links to al Qaeda are not substantiated," said Marine Sgt. Liam Madden of Rockingham, Vermont, who was in Iraq from September 2004 to February 2005 and is based at Quantico, Virginia.

"The occupation is perpetuating more violence," he said. "It's costing way too many Iraqi civilian and American service member lives while it brings us no benefit."

The campaign's sponsoring committee includes the activist groups Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out.
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Answer 1

Im glad our troops are standing up and asking WHY? They have done enough, long enough. So many have laid their lives down already or come home to live their lives crippled or brain damaged. They should not be their fighting for a people who dont apprieciate what Our troops are trying to give them. I encourage our men and women to use the rights of this country to seek their answers and the protection THEY deserve and are fighting to give others. I love you all ,, My Marines,Sailors,Soliders and Airmen. Thank You for my freedoms that you defend everyday in shithole countries that dont deserve a drop of your sweat, blood or tears. Make your stand. I and many other Americans are home and abroad wanting to stand with you and bring you home. And finally, No it is NOT UNPATRIOTIC for sevice members to want to end ths war. They and their brothers and sisters have given enough now there. They should be home protecting THEIR COUNTRY. Living THEIR American dreams..
God Bless you all and God Speed Home.. We miss You

Answer 2

My boyfriend is a Marine. Hes currently back in the US but I know he will be deployed again. I don't really want him or anyone elses loved ones to be in harm's way but with that being said I know that most servicemen joined the military to defend us here at home. I think that what these active duty members of the military are doing is wrong and disrespectful to everyone deployed to Iraq.

Answer 3

Need to understand that many of these solders were in the military before Iraq began, and might have made different career choices if they had known. With the draft in the Vietnam years at least a guy did his year and then he was done unless he chose otherwise. These guys in Iraq are there serving their third tours, and that is just to much time living on the edge. Stop and think about it, some of these guys have now been at it for longer than GIs served from D day to the fall of Berlin.

Answer 4

Those personnel should be prosecuted under the UCMJ for mutiny. It is not the service memebers right to pick and choose when he will follow orders. It is not in his prerogative to send letters to congress asking that they be pulled out of Iraq. They have one avenue for voicing their opinion and that is to vote on election day. Other than that, they follow orders and shut the hell up. All service members took an oath when they entered service and part of that oath is to obey all orders from the President and all orders from Officers appointed over them. They forfeited their option to register a complaint at that point.

Answer 5

Well since it's their life that is on the line here who are we to question them. I don't see this as unpatriotic at all. How can you fight for something you don't believe in or been given a legit reason to fight. Most of the troops are so young and are probably scared they don't have a death wish like the people there. I am also assuming the morale is low after being there for so long and being away from your family can be very hard. Unless I've been in their shoes I can not question the way they feel. As much as everyone wants to respect them for being there we should respect the way they are feeling.

Answer 6

When soldiers start deciding which wars to fight , it's all over for the US of A. My son chose to serve and knew that would mean wherever and whenever he was sent. My husband went to the Gulf,left three small children stateside. He knew as did I, once he took the oath his choices were over.

Answer 7

No, I don't believe that they're unpatriotic. With the way we've been inundated with bad news and propaganda regarding the war in Iraq, this was a long time coming.
However, while I don't doubt that a large percentage of our military has reservations about the war, I know there are are many who DON'T protest it, and who DO believe that we're doing right. I've spoken to many of them. I know.
They have a right to their opinion. I support that.

Answer 8

I say let them come home. There are 1000 to 1 that think they are doing good .And want to stay. There are more than 200 who have been injured and returned to duty volintarily. I would be embarrassed to bring up 200 Liberals in the military.

Answer 9

that is type of humorous the way you plug in "Michelle hates us of a", "complains about the warfare", "undermines the troops" in that first fact. obviously that "i appreciate us of a" quite is an oppurtunistic quote on her behalf, making it an undemanding objective on Michelle's behalf (even although the present First woman Laura Bush suggested she misspoke). And Cindy McCain does have a sordid heritage herself. She did sleep with a married guy (McCain divorced his spouse and married Cindy in 1980, they began their relationship in 1979). Cindy also became a rodeo queen, a cheerleader at USC, and had inherited a fortune. She has spent quite a lot all of her existence rolling in money, very reminiscent of Paris Hilton or George W. Bush. To me, Cindy is attempting so puzzling to be like the prototypical 50's housewife, like Donna Reed, yet arising short (as evidenced by technique of her robbery of prescription pills and repeated tries to pass off recipes from the nutrients community as her relations's "tradtional recipes", and by technique of what John McCain says "plastering makeup on like a trollop", he which is called her a c*nt). So how does that confirm into elitism? So are you able to call her an adulterer, a thief, an elitist? To me, Cindy McCain is type of a grown woman who must be a Barbie doll or Donna Reed. type of the option of Michelle who's more suitable, somewhat more effective of a fighter, than her counterpart.

Answer 10

My god, you people disgust me, I agree completly with the Marine officer, SOLDIERS DONT DECIDE WHERE TO FIGHT, those decisions are made by the politicians, good or bad, in the army you have to have order, you must realize what your in for when you join up, its that ******* simple, and by the way wars will always be your idealism will not stop that, it only takes one person to start a war.