Bring Our Men & Women Home!

I've had enough.  I'm tired of these wars.  We need to speak up and let our Representatives and our President know that we have had enough.  Bring our men and women home!  Bring our brave soldiers back to the United States, back to their communities, back to their families.  Ten years of fighting is enough!  Ten years of bloodshed and innocent lives maimed and destroyed is enough!

I'm a proud citizen of the United States of America.  I still think this is the best country in the World.  But I'm tired of being lied too and misled.  The U.S. attacked Iraq and Afghanistan in reaction to the 9/11 bombing of the Twin Towers in New York.  It was justified to go after the Terrorist camps in Afghanistan but there was no justification for attacking and invading Iraq.  We were told that they had weapons of mass destruction.  That turned out to be a lie.  We were told our military was going into Iraq as liberators to set the people free, that they would be dancing in the streets.  Well, we know the dancing lasted for a few hours and then the bloodshed continued.  We did not liberate them, we killed their brutal leader and bombed their countryside.  They killed our young men and women and we killed them.

I live in Southern California.  I like going to the coastal cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad.  Recently when I was in Carlsbad, I saw several young military guys walking around with prosthetic arms and legs.  I saw some with scars on their face and arms from their injuries of war.  Young men permanently maimed for their sacrifice to our country.  It made me mad.  I respect the soldiers but I hate the way our leadership has misled our country into these wars.  When is enough, enough?  What is the goal of these wars?  Is it really worth the sacrificing of our young men and women?  I know they have done many good things for the people of Iraq but was it worth the sacrifice of their lives?  Was it worth the permanent mental and physical disabilities many of them will suffer with for the rest of their lives?  We honor them for their brave service and sacrifice for our country.  Now, we should honor them by bringing them all home.

I have heard several well meaning people say "they (the soldiers) are fighting for our freedoms".  I hate that saying.  It is misguided at best and a complete lie at its worst.  They are not fighting for our freedoms---that war was fight many years ago---they are fighting for our government and at they are fighting for the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and now for Libya.  What freedoms could we possibly gain from these wars?  Lets be honest with each other, these wars are being fought for former President George W. Bush and the congress he had, and now, to my dismay, they are being fought for President Obama, the anti-war President, and the present congress.  President Obama promised to end these wars and bring our soldiers home.  He has given no indication at all that he is going to do that anytime soon.  But we are at fault as well.  In this democracy "by the people and for the people", we are supposed to speak up if we don't like something.  It is time to speak up.  It is time to get mad.  It is time to demand that they bring our men and women back home.  It is time to say 'quit wasting those billions of dollars on war and destruction and put it to use for people in this country.  Quit sending billions overseas to other countries in aide (to buy their allegiance) and spend that money on our country's people'.

Bring our men and women home!