More US troops questioning Iraq duty

[cal04]

As the tally of American casualties in Iraq continues to rise, so does the number of soldiers uneasy about serving in the two-year-old war. US army figures indicate that since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, about 5500 military personnel have absconded. In 2003 an independent advisory service for US military personnel, the GI Rights Hotline, received 32,000 calls, twice as many as in 2001, from soldiers wanting to leave the military.

Some refuse to serve for political reasons, others are just unwilling to go to a country where 1500 US soldiers have been killed and more than 11,000 wounded.
Many soldiers who object have already spent time in Iraq and become disillusioned by their experiences. Camilo Mejia is one of them. He spent six months in a combat unit in Iraq after the invasion, and upon returning to the US for a vacation decided he would not return for moral reasons. He subsequently served a one year prison sentence for deserting.

Hard to justify
Mejia says his experiences in Iraq shocked him.
Some say the promised benefits of joining the army are illusory "The commanders wanted us to get into firefights because they wanted to put that on their resume to make them look better," Mejia told Aljazeera.net. "Thirty people were killed by my unit. About three of those people had weapons." "Once you come home it's really hard not to think about it. You start going back to those moments and it's really hard to justify that," he said.

As some soldiers begin their second or even third tour of Iraq, Mejia says many are asking why are they still in the country two years after invasion and after handing over power and overseeing elections. "'What the hell else are we there for?' Soldiers ask themselves this question. It's like there is no ending," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3FB0FF8D-3F6F-490F-A25E-CE6BE0FC0E26.htm

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5748

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. "'What the hell else are we there for?'

Control of oil, protection of Israel and the US will never leave.

[shance]

2. For the Carlyle group and Dick Cheney's profit.

n/t

[Coastie for Truth]

11. We are there solely, totally, only for OIL. Period

Anything other excuse or ersatz justification is to protect Bush's Big Oil Buddies.

We have hit "Peak Oil." And because of Bush's joined at the hip relationship to the House of Saud and to Big Oil -- the Neocon/PNAC mentality has only one narrow minded solution --- and it ain't solar or wind or conservation or biomass. It's RESOURCE WAR I

Check out the "Peak Oil" forum at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=266,

Read
1. Deffeyes, "Beyond Oil : The View from Hubbert's Peak"
2. Deffeyes, "Hubbert's Peak : The Impending World Oil Shortage"
3. Goodstein, "Out of Gas: The End of the Age Of Oil"
4. Yergin, "Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power>'

Google
1. "Peak Oil"
2. "M. King Hubbert"

Also, try Evans, "An Introduction to Economic Geology and Its Environmental Impact" - a good, readable intro to economics and natural resource geology.

It's here. It's happening. And we Americans are fat, dumb, happy, and unprepared.

You may want to check out the politics of oil--
1. Unger, "House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties"
2. Ehrenfeld, "Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed--and How to Stop It"
3. Engdahl, "A Century Of War : Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order"

PS - I am a PhD chemical engineer - I do not now, nor have I ever worked in the mainstream oil industry. Try photovoltaics, high energy batteries, fuel cells, electric vehicle systems, hybrid electric vehicle systems.

[VegasWolf]

3. Rummy's stupid statement about no exit strategy will hardly

help reassure them. Cannon fodder for generations to come. No
thanks! Always count on Rummy to put foot in mouth.

[shanti]

4. just wait until they try a draft

they ain't seen nothing yet!

[jimshoes]

5. Unwilling and angry

draftees and automatic rifles and grenades are a precarious mixture. Surely bushco knows this. At least rummy should. I believe this has to figure into their avoidance to draft.

[HockeyMom]

6. No Opt Out

Daughter has a friend who is on leave from Iraq. He finished his duty but because of No Opt Out will have to go back. He told her, "They can put me in jail for the rest of my life before I will go back to that Hell Hole." You won't here those quotes in any of our media.

[0007]

10. Bravo!

[drduffy]

7. And when

it might no longer be Iraq it will be some other place bushy attempts to dominate and control.'Rule the world' is their shibboleth. Oh Sheep, sheep, sheep when will thee awaken?

[dbackjon]

8. And how many of them

Voted for Shrub??

Reap what you sow....

[hadrons]

9. a lot of them didn't vote for Dumbya ....

[Voltaire99]

12. Support our refuseniks!

No one should be forced into participating in this illegal occupation.