Reply #53: news link - 600 Military Families Say Bring Troops Home Now [View All]

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

600 Military Families Say Bring Troops Home Now

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12296827.htm

12 Aug 2003 22:00:45 GMT
US military families push to bring Iraq troops home

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Niala Boodhoo

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A group of about 600 U.S. military families, upset about the living conditions of soldiers in Iraq, are launching a campaign asking their relatives to urge members of Congress and President George W. Bush to bring the troops home.

"We're growing more and more disturbed about the conditions that are developing. Our concerns are both for our troops and the people in Iraq," said Nancy Lessin, a founder of Families Speak Out, formed last fall to oppose the war in Iraq.

Susan Schuman, whose son Justin is in the Massachusetts National Guard deployed to Samarra, Iraq, said he shares a small room in a former Iraqi police barracks with five other men. "They are rationed to 2 liters of water a day and it's 125 degrees (52 degrees C), they haven't had anything but MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)," she told Reuters, adding that uncertainty about when the troops would come home was "most disheartening."

Organizers hope to take advantage of Congress' summer recess to voice their concerns to lawmakers in their home states. "The idea is not to confront but say look, 'what is going on?'" said Dennis O'Neil, a member of Veterans for Peace, another group involved in the campaign. "This war was supposed to be quick."

more.................