I joined the Marine Corps before September 11th because I desperately wanted to serve my country. I volunteered for the Infantry because I felt that an American could serve in no capacity more honorable than that of an infantryman. We are the first to fight, the first to die, and those who bear the majority of the burden in combat. I served in Iraq as part of the 1st Marine Division a unit with the sad and glorious distinction of some the largest combat casualties of the invasion as a result of the dangerous mission given to it.

I have seen farenheit 9-11 and I deeply resent the false portrayal of the war in Iraq by Michael Moore. Furthermore, I am disgusted at his two faced attempt to both be on the side of us soldiers while simultaneously making us look like uneducated monsters only looking for the thrill of killing innocent people.

I have a bit of a message for Michael Moore:

Mr. Moore, I don’t think you could ever understand the deep pain and frustration your film has caused me and many other veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In two hours of filmmaking you succeeded in making the sacrifice that we made in Iraq look like a misguided mistake while making us look like barbarians. Mr. Moore you have never been to Iraq. You didn’t see the constant expressions of gratitude shown by the Iraqi people who understood they were being liberated. Nor did you see the disgusting disregard the enemy had for innocent life. It was common practice for Fedayeen and the foreign fighters who opposed us to use children and men and women as human shields. I myself witnessed fighters hijack civilian cars packed with entire families and use them as battering rams against American positions. These acts are representative of an entire regime based upon brutality and cruelty a regime that no longer exists because young people like myself answered the call to destroy them.

You claim to be anti-war Mr. Moore well I can assure you that no one is more anti-war than people like me. I have seen war in all its brutality in all its hellacious reality and I despise war. The things I have witnessed; the cruelty of our enemies and the pain of those it effected will be seared into my memory for the rest of my life. Yet, I can honestly say that I know without a doubt that the freedom of the Iraqi people and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power was a noble cause well worth the price. Sir, I bear that price you do not. I returned home from the war unacknowledged and spun back into normal life. You have made millions of your film yet in the end I am the one who is more rewarded because I carry in my heart the tremendous pride of knowing that I was willing to sacrifice my life in service of people I had never met or seen. I would have gladly laid down my life for those people in Iraq. I would like to share a brief story with you.

After a tremendous firefight in downtown Baghdad on April 8th 2003 my company took cover in several civilian homes in order to treat our casualities as well as those of civilians who had been intentionally placed in the cross fire by enemy forces. My squad spent the evening with a warm Iraqi family. The grandfather’s name was Nehjib he was western trained dentist and spoke perfect English. During the fighting, one of Nehjib’s relatives was wounded in both arms and had lost a lot of blood. Her condition was deteriorating and we were making every attempt to evacuate here but do to sporadic firing from enemy forces outside the neighborhood we feared our vehicles, even though they would be bearing wounded civilians would be fired upon. We eventually managed to commandeer a civilian vehicle and a local man offered to drive them to the nearest hospital. Despite that I feared that she would not make it through the night. Despite this tragedy her grandfather Nehjib and his family treated us with tremendous hospitality. The following morning Nehjib asked us if we were really here to remove Saddam. One of my fellow Marines informed him that we were there to free his people and give them back their country. Nehjib broke down into tears and began kissing all of us on the cheeks thanking us.

Mr. Moore this was a scene often repeated in many an Iraqi neighborhood. But consider this. Nehjib endured during that battle the loss of friends and potentially his daughter his neighborhood had been destroyed by enemy RPG fire and despite all that he was GRATEFUL!!! Grateful that we were there to free them from Saddam.

How could you possible claim to tell the story of the Iraq war without ever including such stories as these. The only possible conclusion is that you developed an opinion before having any grasp on actual facts.

I realize you believe you are exposing truth Mr. Moore and despite your incredulous bias I honestly don’t believe you intentionally lie, but I beg you to pause and seriously examine what it is you are doing. Your film and frequent attacks against our presence in Iraq only damages our efforts their while fueling the fire of our enemies. Whether or not we should have gone into Iraq we are there and we must succeed and deliver those people the promise of freedom. Help us Mr. Moore accomplish that task. Divert your energy and talent away from attacking the past and towards building the future. Take the profit from your film and help the children in Iraq have a future like many soldiers have using their own money.

I am inarticulate and unable to express all my feelings simply because this issue raises so many emotions in me. I wish you could feel the tremendous pain your opinions have caused me and those like me. You are not on my side, rather you are attacking something which I was willing to sacrifice my life for. However, I would like to share a quote from a letter I wrote in Iraq.

“some say I am making a sacrifice; but, how many people must stand idly by why evil rampages the world, while humanity is defiled, women raped, and children killed. I had that opportunity to fight for those who could not fight for themselves to stand up look evil square in the face and destroy it. This was no sacrifice but an honor and a priviledge and I thank God I could be here.”

SrA Bush considers himself an ally to his namesake…

I know by the sound of my name it appears I’m related to the President, but
I’m not.  I am, however, a staunch ally of his.  Regardless of what the
media would have people believe, the world is safer because of what
President Bush has done in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 

I’m stationed in Germany at Ramstein Air Base, and we see the wounded come
to our area all the time.  These guys died for the same cause that their
grandfathers did in this very country:  to protect those they loved and to
give the rest of the world the gift of freedom that the United States
already has.  I support not only all of my fellow airmen, soldiers, sailors
and Marines fighting the war on terror, but also the man who is leading this
fight to rid the world of men who want to kill Americans, George W. Bush.

SrA Todd W. Bush
Network Defense
USAFE NOSC

Hello, I am 17 years old; I took my oath and signed my contract into Active Duty Army. I ship to basic on June 29th, 2005.

Even though I am only in Delayed Entry, I have formed my own opinion on Moore, Bush, and the conflict in Iraq, et al. I’d just like to say that when you take your oath, it’s probably one of the most scary moments of your life because you know that you’re bound by obligation from that point on to (or when you ship to basic, at least) that you must perform your duties along with others at the best of your ability until your contract has expired. At least that’s what it was for me.

The thing is, when I singed those papers and took that oath, I didn’t have someone’s politics in my head. I just felt it was something that I had to do. Some people say I’m Bush’s pawn, fighting Bush’s war—well, I’m not; not in my mind. I don’t see it as an onus to be doing my part along with the best our country has to offer.

As far as Michael Moore and his tirades are concerned, I have to say that I respect him for using our constitution as it should be—and I say that loosely. I don’t appreciate his slander or hypocrisy, but this is what the soldiers, that he desecrates, fought for: the freedom to speak out about your disagreement of what your government is doing. It’s his opinion, albeit I think he does somewhat exploit the first amendment.

As for Bush—I’d have to say I’m pretty passive. Even though I’m enlisted, I’m still my own self, and I do have my own opinions. I think there’s room for improvement on his part, but I don’t feel that he’s driven our service members to their deaths.

I feel our place in Iraq is a bit stressed. I just wish that it would move along a bit smoother (reconstruction, etc), it just seems like it’s being dragged along with no real end in sight. I’m not scared to be shipped to Iraq—well, I don’t think scared is the word. I do have a fear of being put in the position of tactical assignment in a war zone, but it’s not like my CO’s are sending me out in the middle of the field as cannon fodder. I think it’s awfully pessimistic for people to say that no good whatsoever will arise from the Iraq war. As long as the people there that are fighting the battle, taking the bullets, and sleeping in the dirt agree with what they’re doing—trying to make a difference—I think that’s what matters most.

As far as politics in general within the United States… I tend to stay away from it. I like to debate, but when it’s something as heated as politics in this day and age, nothing positive comes from it. All it ends up as is brawl of words, someone calling you uninformed because you disagree with them.

And that’s that—thanks for reading what I have to say.

Regards,
Jason Theis