WP: "A Life, Wasted: Let's Stop This War Before More Heroes Are Killed"

[Pirate Smile]

A WP op-ed by a Father, Paul E. Schroeder, whose son was killed in Iraq.

A Life, Wasted
Let's Stop This War Before More Heroes Are Killed



By Paul E. Schroeder

Tuesday, January 3, 2006; Page A17

Early on Aug. 3, 2005, we heard that 14 Marines had been killed in Haditha, Iraq. Our son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was stationed there. At 10:45 a.m. two Marines showed up at our door. After collecting himself for what was clearly painful duty, the lieutenant colonel said, "Your son is a true American hero."

-snip-

Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II in Iraq. (Courtesy Paul Schroeder)

I am outraged at what I see as the cause of his death. For nearly three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy that makes our troops sitting ducks. While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that our policy is to "clear, hold and build" Iraqi towns, there aren't enough troops to do that.

In our last conversation, Augie complained that the cost in lives to clear insurgents was "less and less worth it," because Marines have to keep coming back to clear the same places. Marine commanders in the field say the same thing. Without sufficient troops, they can't hold the towns. Augie was killed on his fifth mission to clear Haditha.

At Augie's grave, the lieutenant colonel knelt in front of my wife and, with tears in his eyes, handed her the folded flag. He said the only thing he could say openly: "Your son was a true American hero." Perhaps. But I felt no glory, no honor. Doing your duty when you don't know whether you will see the end of the day is certainly heroic. But even more, being a hero comes from respecting your parents and all others, from helping your neighbors and strangers, from loving your spouse, your children, your neighbors and your enemies, from honesty and integrity, from knowing when to fight and when to walk away, and from understanding and respecting the differences among the people of the world.

Two painful questions remain for all of us. Are the lives of Americans being killed in Iraq wasted? Are they dying in vain? President Bush says those who criticize staying the course are not honoring the dead. That is twisted logic: honor the fallen by killing another 2,000 troops in a broken policy?

more at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/02/AR2006010200974.html

[acmavm]

1. Ohhhhhh, there aren't words that can do justice to this poor man and

to try to offer sympathy for his loss. Nor any of the others who have lost loved ones in this war of choice. A war of choice started by cowards who have never, not ever had to do the dirty work themselves. They've always left that 'hard work' for those that they see as being of lesser worse than themselves.

Well, the who damn bunch of them aren't worth one boy like this.

[No Exit]

2. Now there's a statement that deserves a kick and recommend!!!

Let's see those paunchy, chickenshit little freeptards talk to THIS father about being a "bitch in a ditch"! Hah!

Poor, poor family of this bright young man. I'm SO GLAD his father is speaking out!!