Anti-war parents of American soldiers brave hostility at home to see

[Tinoire]

Anti-war parents of American soldiers brave hostility at home to see the real story in Iraq

By Phil Reeves in Baghdad
08 December 2003


It must be strange to be Anthony Lopercio of the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

The 23-year-old private has been dispatched to Fallujah to stand in the front line on what is, for any American, one of the most hostile places in the world. Yet, as he gazes across the dreary Iraqi landscape, feeling the sullen resentment of its population towards foreign occupation, he will not only be wondering about the guerrillas out there. He will also be watching for the portly frame of his father.

Not long ago, Michael Lopercio, a 51-year-old restaurateur from Tempe, Arizona, decided that he was not happy with the quality of the news he was receiving about the war into which his son had been drawn. He also realised that if the conflict dragged on, so would the amount of time that his boy would have to remain in Iraq, where hundreds of young Americans have already died. So he packed his bags and set off to Baghdad to find out for himself what was happening, and to see if there was anything he could do about it.

<snip>

"It took five minutes to convince him I wasn't playing a practical joke. But he was pretty excited for me. I thought he might be disapproving, but he said he thought it would be an incredible experience for me." His son was right. Mr Lopercio has found it incredible. Incredible that, eight months after the invasion and occupation began, children are still dying in Iraqi hospitals through a lack of antibiotics. Incredible that schools have no lights, no heating, no books.

And incredible that, while he has been in Iraq this week, the occupation authorities have staged an expensive public relations stunt by removing the monolithic stone busts of Saddam Hussein that stood on the top of the palace in which Paul Bremer, the chief US administrator, has his headquarters.

"Why the hell are they wasting money taking down those heads of Saddam from the coalition authority's palace when they could be spending it on something more meaningful, like bringing heat and light and medicine to Iraqi hospitals?" asks Mr Lopercio. His mission required courage, not only because of the dangers of being an American in Iraq: his willingness to challenge his country's reasons for going to war, and its disastrous handling of the aftermath of the invasion, has not gone down particularly well in Arizona.

<snip>

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=471137

[Melodybe]

1. Why aren't articles like this in our mainstream media?!

I printed out the article for my father in law to read. He is a repub but says that he will vote for Dean when he gets the nom.

[nolabels]

6. They are planing for a UNINFORMED populus for * 's reinstalation

It looks like even David Corn is changing his tune a little

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/02/news-corn.php

Is the President a Pathological Liar?
Bush’s unhealthy relationship with reality
by David Corn

It was a set-up question. Conservative radio talk-show host Michael Medved was trying to bait me, to push me into saying something so out of whack about the commander in chief that I would destroy my own credibility before the audience of his nationally syndicated show. It was a ruse I’ve become quite familiar with in recent weeks, since I published a book demurely titled The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception. In scores of media interviews, right-wing hosts have pressed me to pronounce Bush the all-time biggest SOB-of-a-liar in the White House and essentially accuse him of being a psycho. I have resisted the invitations, choosing to stick to my just-the-facts case that Bush has misled the public on a host of issues — the war in Iraq, his tax cuts, global warming, Social Security, his own past and more. The goal of these interlocutors is to dismiss any harsh critique of Bush as nothing more than angry-left name-calling. I obviously believe Bush has lied often and consistently about grave matters, but I have shied away from labeling Bush “pathological” and the like.

Now I wonder about that.

What forced this reconsideration was a speech Bush delivered in late November to several thousand troops at Butts Army Air Field in Fort Carson, Colorado. On this occasion, Bush served up the usual rah-rah about the war on terrorism. But as he was hailing the U.S. military, he remarked, “Working with a fine coalition, our military went to Afghanistan, destroyed the training camps of al Qaeda and put the Taliban out of business forever.”

Out of business forever?

That was a false statement. Days before Bush’s speech, a U.S. helicopter crashed near Kabul, and five American soldiers were killed. These troops were hunting Taliban remnants. Two days before the speech, a rocket was fired at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul; Taliban insurgents were the prime suspects. On November 16, a U.N. aid worker was assassinated, apparently by the Taliban. In Kandahar, the Taliban was threatening to harm Afghans who participated in local elections
(snip)

[shanti]

2. omg

i hope mr. lopercio watches his back. the roaches hate having the light shined upon them.

[Lorien]

3. Interesting

someone posted an article from an Arizona paper about Lopercio's journey. Though it touched upon a few of the same things, the spin was quite different. They quoted him as saying "I don't want to look like some kind of anti-war activist" and "the Iraqi people are really grateful to us for getting rid of Saddam, but they are frustrated with our progress, too." (paraphrasing) the fact that he was seeing hospitals without medicine or lights seemed a bit glossed over, and the frivolous statue removal (so typically * administration; worry about symbolism while letting the country go to hell. Wouldn't know a policy if it bit them in the ass!) was ignored completely.

[Tinoire]

4. Now that is interesting!

I wondered why I was reading this in a British paper and not in an American one. Now I am happy to have missed our spun version! Wow.

[Zomby Woof]

5. I am sure the wingnuts in PHX

... are frothing. Good. Took a lot of guts for that man to find out for himself what is going on, since our "free press" obviously can't.

[Solidarity]

7. Support The Troops .... Bring Them Home Now!

A growing number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are speaking out and demanding to be sent back home.

Support Our Troops. Bring em Home Now!

[newyawker99]

8. Hi Solidarity!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: