This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Paralyzed Iraq War Veteran's Writes Last Words To Bush & Cheney
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Last March, I came across a letter written to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from a paralyzed and dying Iraq war vet named Tomas Young. It touched me to such an extent, that I highlighted it on Liberty Blitzkrieg at the time. He died on Monday, the day before Veterans Day. If you really want to honor our nation’s soldiers, you should read the following and share it.
RIP Tomas Young.
Full letter below, from Counterpunch.
My Last Words to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
by TOMAS YOUNG
I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.
I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.
I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.
Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level—moral, strategic, military and economic—Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences.
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.
I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian. But isn’t lying a sin? Isn’t murder a sin? Aren’t theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.
My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.
-Tomas Young
What’s so impressive about this letter, beyond the incredible emotion and pain behind it, is the fact that Mr. Young was so prescient about so many issues. He highlighted the debacle that became the Veterans Administration scandal before it broke, and he also pointed to the dangerous power vacuum created in Baghdad before the emergence of ISIS. We lost a special soul on Monday.
Another related post I would strongly suggest reading is: “Stop Thanking Me for My Service” – Former U.S. Army Ranger Blasts American Foreign Policy and The Corporate State.
»
- 62806 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
17 if you can get mom or dad to sign off on it.
I have a co-worker who's son will be joining the Army becuase he's tired of changing oil at the local Chrysler dealership. He's so proud and encouraging him all the way.
I have always maintained that those voting for war must only be able to do so if they are going themselves or at least sending a child or grandchild to the front line.
peter pan - the sad thing is, do you think they care about child or grandchild?
my life experience is that for aggresive males, child and grandchild are 'dispoable owned assets'.
they 'had' them to provide for them in their old age. to keep the usurpers away. always has been.
always will be? thing change? humanity changed suddenly?
cheney took the heart surgery, (extensive apparently), or chose hospice?
Here's a cautionary tale to any young person that thinks that joining our armed forces is an honorable thing. It isn't. They say it is, but it isn't Refuse to join our military. Refuse a draft. Unless you are a highly paid mercenary that will also profit from these wars, there isn't one shred of honor fighting for these assholes.
I thought the letter was very moving... but maybe I don't have the wit of many of the ZH posters here who have to make sarcastic barbs and snide rants...
I WAS a little surprised that this guy didn't mention the total lie of the 911 attacks used as justification for the corporate war that killed him...
Si.
Coming Back with Wes Moore
Coming Back with Wes Moore | Home | PBS
www.pbs.org/coming-back-with-wes-moore/
Coming Back with Wes Moore, a series executive produced by best-selling author and former Army combat veteran Wes Moore, aired in three parts on ...
video.pbs.org/program/coming-back-wes-moore
Episode 1: Coming Back | Coming Back With Wes Moore | PBS
www.pbs.org/ coming-back-with-wes-moore/ episodes/ episode-1-coming-back/
With 'Coming Back With Wes Moore,' PBS tries to capture modern ...
www.washingtonpost.com/ news/ act-four/ wp/ 2014/ 05/ 13/ with-coming-back-with-wes-moore-pbs-tries-to-capture-modern-veterans- experiences/ -
This doesn't matter. It is just Financial War on Government, Small Business and large business, and against the Labor Force and Household.
Probably doesn't affect you. /S
It has always been this way. And yes, when you volunteer you go to whichever war the oligarchs select for you. The total cost for our military adventurism must include another trillion $ for vet health care for decades. We can't afford the wars or the healthcare. Fact. "Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY COUNTRY." --Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
It's too bad more people don't have these pivotal quotations memorized and available to their rational minds at once; when reading news anouncements; I know I do have them; a collection of them; and they've been very helpful.
"It has always been this way."
Perhaps, but does your (implied) conclusion necessarily follow? That it will ever be thus?
RIP T YOUNG
Too bad he couldn't hire Ted Kaczynski to deliver his final letter for him.
"Ted-X"
hahhaa
we are slaves to the system
.
but at least its American, theres worse ways to die
Who says? China has extended Americans new 10 year tourist and business visas. Did you hear? It's just a matter of a barge the size of Maryland and you have a cruise ship of factory workers in China within under one week. I believe that barge has already been assembled.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/us-wan...
Wall Street and the banksters profit immensely from wars.
I have a bad feeling the United States is headed for isolation.
Good and that isn't true as long as the citizens aren't asked to sacrifice anything. The only issue is deploying tens of thousands of active military troops in an active military conflict even though the Army/Marines brass have been itching to redeploy to Iraq to confront ISIS or wash their hands of it entirely.
If anyone thinks the US is 'headed for isolation' look at the amount of bases we have built, haven't scaled down, and the massive increaseses in new facilities including a huge new airbase in Djibouti and look at exploring military postings in Egypt. We have over 15k troops in Kuwait and a shitload of predeployed armor and air assets.
Osama was entirely right and the only thing we did after 9-11 was shift bases and assets out of Saudi Arabia to other places in the region including Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE. The only country in the Middle East we don't have a base is Iran. Every other country including even Yemen has active US military bases.
Syria?
The United states still has plenty of Bitches, and that's not likely to end soon.
my condolences to tomas' family....
a true hero who was deceived by the scumbag politicians of his era... who followed his true courage, steadfast belief in his country and HONOR that drove him to enlist at the time a REAL attack upon these shores took place...
the men in power of earlier times did the same... remember pearl harbor and who knew what and when... but those are times past.
tomas was betrayed by the set of current bastards in power who deceived an entire country who made them believe iraq was participant in the actions that resulted in the death of 3,000 american and indeed the attack on american soil... and used this as an excuse to execute deeds borne upon their own agendas... resulting not only on a FALSE reason to go to war... but worse, in the destruction of hundreds (if not thousands) of lives that to this day, the misery of this war is a reminder of the deceit used to justify the actions of those in power.
unfortunately, i do not believe tomas' request or desire that those in power would raise to face their due as men of character... unfortunately, history shows us that these bastards who are hungry power seekers rarely (if ever) face the punishment true justice would yield upon them...
so, for whatever is worth... i salute tomas as a real hero and patriot who gave his life in the defense of the country he loved.
Requiescat in pace...
as for the politicians and 'leaders' who 'guide' this country... and the populi who blindly and daftly follow and submisively comform to the criminals in current power... i cannot express enough scorn and despise such imbecility that allowed the election of the current traitor in chief as 'leader of the land of the free' who is currently promoting the continuing destruction of the former best place on earth
Wasted Human Resources.
Americans are the most Productive. We realize the waste here. You can not window dress the death of civilians and Defense workers/soldiers.
Revolution means Reforming Government. Maybe Elizabeth Warren is the only sane voice.
ZH, it is up to you to teach Elizabeth Warren.
Teach Damn it.
"tomas was betrayed by the set of current bastards in power who deceived an entire country who made them believe iraq was participant in the actions that resulted in the death of 3,000 american and indeed the attack on american soil"
Speak for yourself...I didn't believe it...
Death before dishonor.
More soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed themselves than killed in combat and non-combat combined.
More than 300,000+ soldiers have returned with traumatic brain injuries and have rates of unemployment that is 4x-6x the official rate for comparable populations; more than 650,000+ have returned with severe injuries which give them a recognized metnal or physical impairment
Despite constant claims about 'supporting the troops' there has been little headway in processing benefit and disability claims in the VA; the issue isn't the gov't incompetence as the issue there is no real increase in funding and the amount of applications have increased 3x
To booth group of politicans who wore 'yellow ribbons' and American flag pins on their suit labels, f@ck you. We are doing what we have done to every group of American servicemen who have served and that is use them up, throw them out, and forget about them. Only exception was after WW2. Otherwise we have f@cked over veterans of every major war starting with the Revolutionary War veterans.
"It's all about bucks, kid. The rest is conversation." - Gordon Gekko
There isn't going to be a 'Vietnam War' memorial or any memorial either because of the limited amount of actual soldiers killed in combat. No politician is going to authorize a memorial for the soldiers who killed themselves upon their return home or the hundreds of thousands who were left mangled and horrible versions of themselves when they came home.
Only thing we'll be left with is the huge amount of IOUs in the Dept of Treasury for the first wars ever fought with reduced federal taxes and no seperate funding raised for them.
"War is a racket!"
Seems Tomas Young learned that too late, and too hard.
An American, not a US subject.
"Save mankind, guillotine a pol, crat, func, or bankster!"
The DHS got hold of his letter, and sadly Mr. Young has now been put on the "no-fly" list, the "kill-list," and is considered a "terrorist."
Mr. Young, please turn yourself in as soon as possible.
An American, not US subject.
After reading the letter I will rest with a heavy heart tonight. I plan to print a copy of Tomas Young's letter to frame it and put on my office wall as a reminder of the pain and suffering that Bush/Cheney administration created in this world and to inspire my desire to seek justice for those who have been harmed and denied.
Obama is following Bush / Cheney. More troops to Iraq, quick!
if you find yourself in a far off land, gun in hand, be there - see the elephant. you will be given gifts (if you remain human) that others will never have..truth of evil truth of madness.. luck is what is most valued, stay lucky and most important, think before acting on orders from inferior beings. save yourself and those you can, in wars for profit and power, the illusion can be stripped away and truth remains. Thank you Gen S Butler USMC.
Never ceases to amaze me at some of the callous a-holes on here and those who just rip this guy or mock him. A hearty FU.
Agree except for the FU. I think they can't stand to look at themselves so this is what they do to deflect their own self loathing. I know because that letter shook me up and I wanted to turn away and I had to force myself to finish it and take it in.
thumbs up mate.
i get the sense that most of these a**holes are really a**holes.
A hearty FU x 2
I'm sorry but this guy misses the point. Bush and Cheney don't matter and never did when it comes to the military. Look where the U.S. is at today, not waging war in name only. If you sign up for the military you better expect you will be used and injured or killed.
Tomas Young took away their excuses, Bizzaro. All they have left is hate. And here, in the warm fuzzy halls of ZH {pirated, by the way, by MIC about a year back), they can rant on about Jews, Blacks, Saudis, or whoever else they choose to hate. The funny thing about it is, they never look in the mirror. They hate themselves, losers all. They must cling to their petty little ideologies that tell them that they alone should inherit the Earth. They are no different than the bastards they excoriate, and good men die from their ignorance every day. At the end of the day? Most will choose their hatred over enlightenment, and thereby are our children damned.
We hate ourselves since you never loved us,... we were not a small town or community... you judged us worthless and held on to power, you kept the trade secrets to yourself... even in critical government jobs.
- Secrets
- Transparency
No chance not only in Rocket science.. but in accounting & contracting.
-Knowledge is power, Gray hairs knew this, they wanted the best retirements or even business riches
Think about it, Patriarchy.
Putting oneself in harms way or sacrificing ones life for the glory bestowed by the state is easy.
Disobeying orders and risking dishonor as defined by an illegitimate government is heroic.
It requires great inner strength to stand alone and think for yourself when those around you are mind washed.
We are creatures who seek the approval of others and this can be our greatest downfall.
Perhaps, from time to time. There are also times when the hero who disobeys orders is nothing more than a traitor or a coward. There are times when the need is best met by large numbers of well-directed people. Approval-seeking is the diseased side of consensus-building, which is the keystone of democracy.
Take that inner strength and have a look in the mirror. If you can stand up to your own scrutiny, then get your ass out on the field and lead your tribe to a better life.
In cases where Fascist .gov prevails... well you missed the mark.
- Look the gray haired elders held on to power for too long.
- they failed to teach even 5% of the young people they judged as assholes... so we are done.
Thanks for playing, Patriarch.
And who keeps voting them in?
It's a known fact the millennials nailed a second term for Obama hoping for more free shit and got O-Care instead.
Known fact?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-12/24-reasons-why-millennials-are-...
I would most likely agree, depending on circumstances that someone disobeying orders as foreign troops are landing on our shores is a coward or traitor.
Attacking a country to make the rich more wealthy is an act from what I would define as an illegitimate govermnent. Others will need to decide for themselves if they agree with that definition.
As far as getting off my ass, ... I do what I can to wake up others. Not until enough people wake up will anything change. I would like to do more.
They dont care. They'll just have the machines do their dirty work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fArXhQBLDWE
Rest in Peace, Tomas Young.
Kind of weird how the invalidators of existence continue to exist. Sad story.
That is bad but this one is worse. This has been bothering me for some time now. It is from the county that I grew up in. I do not have have internet over in Wisconsin so I buy the local rag and it is good to start a fire with or clean fish on when you are done. I do not even know the family involved here it sure puts some life into perspective for you. I even spoke with the wife about why this bothers me so much and she said it is probably because we have a son of the same age.
At first, I was pissed at the father but then I realized what it is to grow up in a place like Burnett County Wisconsin. It is a very poor area and the complete opposite of Wall Street or Hollywood. My first thought was why didn't he shut off the PTO? Then again I thought about how we have to jury rig shit together to make it work and that would explain that part. He probably got some old piece of shit tractor running finally and was going to get some more work out of that machine and it's implement. That is just really how it is. That is all we really have left to work with; just a bunch of old junk that we make work.
Well, it all went very wrong. What I had to stop and think about was should the dad have been more careful? YES. No one really knows what happened but it was bad. I know what it is and our state of agriculture is in dissarray to say the least. A lot of it is held together by twine and bailing wire for the small farmers because they won't let go.
I'm am guessing that these folks don't have the money to bury the child and probably racked up some debt to do so. You decide.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_26810101/wisconsin-burnett-county...
And
http://www.swedberg-taylor.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2772314&fh_id=11132
They are not asking for anything but I know that they need help because who would not need help if that happened? Hey, that kid never even had a chance. Perhaps that is what bothers me the most.
Not to be a spoilsport, but Bush and Cheney could care less. Too bad Tomas didn't also figure out the lie of 9/11 too.
Too bad he didn't figure out everything...? He got as far as he did, and that's good enough. Some people dont even get that far.
You signed up to reap reverge for the 9/11 attack, so you only have yourself to blame.
If he didn't have a sense of humour he should never have joined up.
As tragic as this is... As I remember it there was no draft. You volunteered for that duty. And no, I'm not going to "thank you for your service". You weren't "defending my freedoms". We are all beings of free will. You chose to go and fight for a lie. While you were off fucking around, guys like me were busting our asses 50 - 60 hours a week (or more) hanging fucking drywall to pay for that farce. I know it's really convenient to blame some politician just like it's easy to blame a banker cause you took out a home loan you couldn't afford, but you were paid to do a job. That job was to fight and die in a foreign land for oligarchs. Deal with it. WTF did you expect? A fuckin ticker tape parade? You want to be a patriot? March on the capital and take back our country. That mission doesn't include free health care and pension though. While dudes like you are off on the next adventure occupying some god forsaken shithole so a bunch of billionaires can become trillionaires... Dudes like me will still be here....working (maybe, if there's any jobs left).
He should have sent it to Perle, Feith, Wolfowitz, Wurmser, Kagan, Kristol, and the rest of the cabal of Israel Firster Ziocons who deliberately lied the us into a war to benefit Ersatz Israel.
Too bad he never made that connection.
Jonathan,good to see someone hits it on the nail.
In reality this is not a letter addressed to Bush or Cheney.
IT IS MEANT FOR AMERICANS to tell them they have lost the country to people like them and it's time to take it back.
Remove the Fed (and thereby it's printing power ), Remove all those Banks behind the Fed, Ban the Democrats & Republicans as they have approved or kept quiet about the actions of these criminals.
Get an America that goes back to it's original constitution and a Government that really represents people's wish.
Repeal the 17th Amendment as well as the FED.
Entrenched politicians appointing other politicians is guaranteed eternal fascism.
Great letter but Mr Bush is not the one who was calling the shots. Let us hear what Israeli Daily Haaretz has to say about that.
"The war in Iraq was conceived by 25 neoconservative intellectuals, most of them Jewish, who are pushing President Bush to change the course of history." Haaretz april 3 2003The neocon maffia has to be identified, questioned and punished.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article178638.html
You nailed it!
America will have no soul, no morality, and no redemption until Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, and Powell are arrested, tried, and executed for treason and crimes against humanity.
Oh, and can I have a rainbow unicorn for Christmas, too?
Biggest foreign policy mistake in the history of the United States. I hope they both rot in hell...
Godspeed
It seems what we have here is a lack of morality all around, myself also a stumbler.
Our Founders gave us a "Republic, if you can keep it," as one of them said.
Of all the books I have read from our Founders, they all had one common theme: our system would work only if we kept pretty straight- and kept those who were not- in check.
Many of them were Christians, others Deists; they knew morality/common sense had to back case law. They knew there was a Prime Force which had created the world and that All Men had Natural Rights bestowed by this Higher Power.
Human Nature has not changed since Eden. We are on the same slope as the other Empires of the Past.
Can we reverse the trend? Probably not. Americans have not hurt hard enough yet.
We can, as individuals, keep our own piece of the sidewalk swept clean. After the current iteration collapses- and it could be next week or years- there will need to be a remnant who can rebuild based upon the Ideals of the Constitution, itself a product of the Enlightenment.
I do believe it was a Higher Power that put those men together in Philadelphia at the same time. As best they could, they codified the best aspirations of Free Men on paper within the context of their Time.
Steel yourselves, teach your kids and grandkids. At 60, I won't see it, but I intend to prepare my offspring to rise once again as Free Men and Women.
Carry on.
Keep Stackin!
Keep Packin!
You raise a good point. The system of checks and balances cannot work on auto-pilot, although I believe that's what most Americans believe the Founders set up. The will of the people needs to be expressed within each branch of government, and that means each individual needs to express his or her will - actively.
The founders gave us an historical gift. When it's gone, it's gone. There will be no bringing it back. The natural tendency of human organization is top down; a democratic republic is against human nature, and we're proving it right now.
Sounds good, but I'm not all too sure the People want self rule as it requires a certain amount of responsibility, discipline and, god forgive, participation. Going from the Articles to the Constitution was the first step to a tyrannical national government for a People without the aforementioned attributes. The unCivil war put a knife in the Republics heart and the responsible generations from 1890 to 1920 wrote the obituary and put the bankers back in charge.
Noway I can see to change this as much blood will need spilled while the risk of getting an even worse government may outweigh the hopes of reviving the Republic. Looking around I don't see a strong willed people capable of doing that. All I see is a debt riddened, very selfish people intent on living for now and to hell with our childrens future. Sadly this soldiers letter is a peak into that future.
you figured out what happened, in a way. all social systems depend upon the goodness of man to succeed, even criminal enterprises, where there is an obvious breech of normal ethics and morals of general society, a certain code of conduct must be followed so that behavior can be coordinated in a common goal. at any point in both these systems someone who goes against the code can take advantage fo the system. in a criminal system the code responds with a hitman. that is clear.
in a "civilized" rule of law system a justice system is featured and the hitman is codified. as we have found out, the rule of law only matters as much as the rulers want it to matter and has become a platitude after a coupla generations of abuse. what the usa has become is a criminal operation fronting as a legitimate business. the criminals are mre honest.
Endeavor to persevere..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ
Why is it that after reading his letter that the first thing that came to mind was "Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down?
He should have read the fine print when he volunteered.
Educate younger kids not to join the military. The days of fighting for "Your Country" are long gone. Now you are the expendables to fight for the banking and and corporatist pigs. They need to join a force all right, but it's not to fight for the government.
Do fight for your tribe, your kin.
Like most u.s wars, they serve the MIC and politicos.
In Vietnam over 56,000 died, we were unceremosiously run out and today Americans buy their clothes from the country. Why? To stop the spread of communism. Remember the Domino Theory?
Then the Gulf War to save the Monarchy of Kuwait who was in fact stealing from Iraq. Some 150 u.s innocent souls gone
Come Afghanistan around 1800 have died for the demolition of the WTC buildings killing Taliban whome were not involved in the supposed attack.
Then Iraq II. 3500-4000 dead and no WMD. Nuff said.
Now today the west (u.s/nato) want very badly a war with Russia. Ranging from millions of possible dead to the end of life on the planet americans keep pushing the envelope without concern.
This poor soul figured it out too late. It took his death for him to break the bounds of propaganda the lies and BS Washington spews. Most other americans, mostly those who never faced what this soldier did, have not and will not ever escape the programming.
The pain this soldier endured while in Iraq and even worse after returning is over now. If there is a heaven hopefully he will secure a place in it. Sadly many more to go and even sadder a country that seems intent on sending even more to their death or worse,,, the VA hospital.
YAWN. I think he should be alot more pissed at Obama for losing a war that was won! Along with a multitude of failures. Obama so much more dangerous than Bush ever dreamed of! Heck Yellen is more dangerous.
Downvote me as much as you want.Ayn Rand was an illuminati agent.her hero was Phillipe Rothchild.She also took government handout.
So glad I was able to talk my son out of joining. It was close, but I managed to get through to him before he enlisted.
>> "were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire."
Israel did 9-11.
Jews have been practicing Ritual Human Sacrifice of Gentiles for 1000's of years.
Even after being Israel's security guard, this soldier doesn't understand.
Mr. Young, you are entitled to your opinions. But don't presume to speak for anyone else, let alone millions of others.
For all those who served you will know what I am writing about...For those who didn't serve, continue playing Call of Duty...
When anyone takes the oath to serve in the military, you and you alone are putting your life on the line. So when you signed off on that contract to go play hero, or soldier, you knew exactly what you were getting into. I don't care if its IRAQ, Kuwait, or Afghanistan....You are now a target. We have soldiers who volunteered that are now serving in western Africa to help those countries with EBOLA...seriously? Sending fighters to help out in Africa with no medical training is quite a farce. So before you sign the contract for the armed services, just remember that you and you alone made a decision to be sent to a shit hole region to fight a shit war...or you will/can be sent to do some non MOS related duty in some arm pit country...Think before you sign up.
As my former DI said to us in PI.........USMC stands for yoU Signed (the) Motherfucking Contract...
Mr. Young was less experienced at the time, but it seems that he bought into the deal in the same manner as the politicians.
Enlightened ? I don't think so. He's finger pointing "decomissionned puppets". Those "useless wars" continue, it would be more productive to talk about that and try to stop it. "Strike back to those who killed 3000" ? Like, what, killing Afghans ? Afghans were no more guilty than Irakis. Then he says how bad is to have a pro-Iranian govt in Irak. You mean, one of the few who dares to stand against Israel, a country comitting proven war crimes on a yearly basis without facing any consequences ? Ok ok I see, the Chomsky smokescreen...
When you go to the battlefield to seek revenge, you should not complain about what happened to you, but blame yourself for having been so naive, gullible and avenging. Forgive me if I feel much more compassion for innocent civilians who were just trying to live their lives and died.
RIP Thomas, it's amazing once one becomes accepting of death, that, ironically can set you free, free of fear, and so free that truth may be told. In all it's absoluteness.
Courage to you Thomas and my thoughts are with Thomas's family ,every single vet and their families, you are all heroes in my eyes.
To the architects of war responsible for so many innocent losses of life, your day, your very special day of reckoning is coming. You can bank on it!
great words !
Why I would never join the US military...being used like a pawn by the oligarchy...
You sometimes have to wonder the sanity of those that do join.
When people much older and "educated" are still buying into this crap what makes you think a young mind would stand a chance?
On FB on Veterans Day, you see posts from people thanking the troops for their service and such but it seems to be a conditioned response or an American thing to do. I question the genuineness of it since the public support for veterans receiving medical care after the scandal seems to be non-existent...
Its the Voting People that are responsible for this... a soldier has commited his life to our cause ! We are the ones that failed him ... We failed to put in leaders that represent the people and we failed to take them out of office ...
Tomas has paid with his life... the highest cost !! You cannot blame a civil servant for the ill policy of the government.... he was just a young man that trusted us !!
Once again, we are responsible for this and it will keep happening until WE all get together and take the CANCER out of Office !
I wish that just ONCE that people would get the courage to "really" make a difference ... !!
your comment puts all responsibility on the collective and voids any need for discretion and responsibility by the individual. "a soldier has committed his life to our cause" invading other countries is not my cause, jackass.
dear Phucktard, a soldier listens to orders ..... PERIOD ! they do not decide policy... they should never decide unless you like a military state ....
BECOME a Man and be responsible for once... Everyone is passing the buck... Until we put leaders in power that represent the people, this will keep on occuring infinitely ...
or keep being a coward... at least shut your hole and spare us the drain on the universe !!!
Don't count on it. There is a special place in hell where Bush and Cheney will suffer. They worship the god of death and may think that they will be saved from Hell fire. There will never be any remorse on their part or justice in this world. All we can hope for is that they meet death soon and begin their eternal suffering.
I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.
-Tomas Young
I would have liked to ask this man a question.
Knowing what he knows now.
Would he have tried to eliminate these bastards before 2001?
They don't care.
Dull care is a sin to these people.
do your patriotic duty by talking a young man OUT OF joining the military
lots of chickenhawks on here, chenney probably a secret zh poster
It's a shame the young people today are so controlled via the public education system propaganda they teach and the A D D drugs which placate those who would probably lead. I remember protesting the Vietnam war in NYCin the 60's when I was in high school. Why are there no protests today? I don't get it.
Million person march on the White House is likely once 0 edicts the amnesty.
RIP, Mr. Young. And to any young Americans out there who might be reading this, I have only one thing to say: STOP ENLISTING.
He enlisted to go fight the primitives/ muzzles that are trying to subjugate us infidels.
Nothing wrong at all with that. That makes him a hero.
That his leaders sent him to the wrong fight is his point and it is the point.
Who says voting doesn't matter? A few hundred votes different in Florida in 2000 and this guy and hundreds of thousands of others, would probably still be alive and we'd be trillions of dollars less in the hole.
You think Gore would have been different?
Absolutely.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-09-23-gore_x.htm
I don't like Gore but he was right on this.
But how did an 18 y/o with no silver spoon in his mouth in the 1960's NOT " enlist"? All these chicken hawks GW Bush, Bill Clinton, Cheney etc etc were able to dodge the draft. having said that, no doubt many enlist because they either have no job opportunities, or they hope to get freebies from the government for getting a "government" job, until they suddenly actually get called up to active duty (combat)...and then realize this "government" job wasn't what they were anticipating.
A very troubling letter and a very troubling issue. I am afraid the only possible solution would ironically lie with a return to the draft with a no exceptions, no excuses, no special K -P duty cushy assignments rule. Politicians' , Bankers, and elites' family members would have to be placed in harm 's way with the same frequency as the rest of the population. Might make some of the elites reconsider some of these wars. Disclosure: 60 yrs old, draft number 254 in 1976 after the war was winding down, never been called up, nor did I serve, although right out of college took the Airman Qualifying exam with perfect 9 scores on all 9 sections, but eyes would not allow flight school, so I did not enlist. I still wonder if I would be alive/ healthy today had I enlisted.
The catalyst for war has not been diminished as many people have hoped it would once the world matured. National pride, political agendas, religious and ethnic hatreds are some of the biggest roadblocks to world peace. Often we seem to forget as we look back to World War II and past a dozen "lesser Conflicts" peace has been the exception rather then the rule for hundreds and thousands of years.
The true reality is that across the world few mothers want to see their children killed and most farmers want to be left along to raise their crops and earn a living. Though we live in an imperfect world mankind should not bring more misery upon himself by self inflicting injury. More on the subject of war as a solution to conflict in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/05/war-and-what-is-it-good-for.html
"I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love."... Really Tom???
Tom,
So sorry you copped out on life and didn't do the most important thing you could have done with the rest of it, by not only serving your fellow soldier coping with the same experiences and misgivings for going to war based on the lies and deceit of of your own government but also embracing and sponsoring yourself to those organizations that told us the whole truths about 9/11 and why you were so angry and misinformed when they took place?...
You only tell a very small part of the truth in your last letter like the vast majority of U.S. war vets as a way in which to insulate and isolate yourself from the reality that your government killed it's own in Manhattan and Washington D.C. to advance it's own agenda and interests for big oil and the banks in the Countries you destroyed at the end of your gun and that collectively ALL Americans have an obligation to bring those truth(s) into the light if we are ever to succeed in restoring both our military and our Constitution to what it was before the Patriot Act(s) and NDAA came into existence!
So sorry that you couldn't have followed the path of a Ron Kovic and others like him that are relentless in their pursuit of the whole truth and not just the parts that attempt to conceal the worst details and evidence of our wrong doings much like the drugs you took to salve your conscience and that ultimately aided in ending your own life!
Yes, and he went to his grave still believing that the cave-dwellers in Afghanistan brought about 9/11.
Yes, and he went to his grave still believing that the cave-dwellers in Afghanistan brought about 9/11.
I believe you forgot the /sarc tag...
If you haven't seen some of the comment(s) made by the "winter soldiers" that spoke out about what they knew or should I say heard about 9/11 being cover for something else within the first two years of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan- it's to say the least illuminating.
But why should they be any different than this "winter soldier" that's now our Secretary of State?!!!! With Mommy and Daddy's connections I'm sure he knew the truth about the Gulf of Tonkin before Ellsberg spilled his beans in 1972.
that is what happens to americans when they fight wars for the zionutz. the clear benefactor of the debacle in mesopotamia was/is israel. the entire mid east campaign only makes sense through that lens.
What’s so impressive about this letter, beyond the incredible emotion and pain behind it, is the fact that Mr. Young was so prescient about so many issues. He highlighted the debacle that became the Veterans Administration scandal before it broke, and he also pointed to the dangerous power vacuum created in Baghdad before the emergence of ISIS. We lost a special soul on Monday....
Prescient or not...
Imagine what might have happened if a few hundred Iraq war veterans decided to come clean about stuff that was going on when the first picture(s) surfaced in 2004! Along with the 2000 others we were never allowed to see?...
Wonder how things might be different today Tom if you had decided not to end your life early and stayed the course and "volunteered" to give the American people the truth about what you did when you were serving over there?...
Sure hope you weren't one of the guys in those photos!
It's difficult for some to flush a $2k a month pension down the toilet to speak truth.
Laziness trumps truth in America.
There's always a fresh crop of indoctrinated youth prepared by our education system for the next false flag event.
There's always a fresh crop of indoctrinated youth prepared by our education system for the next false flag event.
Directly to your point! And it will take a false flag of epic proportion to make something like this happen!!
God I loved it when I spotted this!!!
When I read that an American "soldier" has been wounded or killed
trying to expel the more than 60 MILLION invading latin parasites,
or trying to depose the corrupt illegitimate obola regime,
or trying to take back our Constitutional rights from the corrupt congress & courts,
or trying to undo the destructive FED,
THEN AND ONLY then will I celebrate them as heros.
"My last words to the Neocons" - there, fixed it!
Does anyone think Bush and Cheney (or Obama) had or have any control over this stuff?
You volunteered. You have no reason to write anyone about the results of your decision.
If volunteering would cease, the draft would have to be re-instated and do you know how quickly then these things would have ended, or never started??
You can not deny your being an accomplice in what your CIC's perpetrate.
Tough shit.
develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is
our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998. "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear.
We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction program." President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998. "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great
deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest
security threat we face." Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998. "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times
since 1983." Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18,
1998 "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.
Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate,
air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the
threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction
programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John
Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998. "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass
destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has
made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D,
CA), Dec. 16, 1998. "Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass
destruction and palaces for his cronies." Madeline Albright, Clinton
Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999. "There is no doubt that . Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons
programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs
continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam
continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a
licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the
United States and our allies." Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen.
Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001 "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a
threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of
the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of
delivering them." Sen. Carl Levin (d, MI), Sept. 19, 2002. "We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002. "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to
deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in
power." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002. "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seing and developing
weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002. "The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October1998. We are confident
that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons,
and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and
biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is
seeking nuclear weapons..." Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002. "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority
to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a
deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave
threat to our security." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002. "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working
aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons
within the next five years . We also should remember we have alway s
underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass
destruction." Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002, "He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years,
every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy
his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has
refused to do." Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002. "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show
that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons
stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also
given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It
is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to
increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep
trying to develop nuclear weapons." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10,
2002 "We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that
Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity
for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction. "[W]ithout
question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator,
leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat
because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he has continued
deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the
threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ... Sen. John
F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003. Saddam Hussein rolled the dice that G.W would not attack,
even though he was warned vigorously and continuously. Saddam lost and he was
taken out. President Bush did what he had to do to remove a tyrant dictator.
President Bush did it with the approval of the Congress as required by law. So far as wealth and fortunes are concerned, both Bush and Cheney would have been far richer today had they never enter public office. So that dog won't hunt either.
You say tomato, I say tahmahto
You say Democrat, I say Republican,
Tomato, tahmahto, Democrat, Republican,
Let's call the whole thing off!!
(Apologies to the Gershwins)
The only asshole is the one who just quoted all the douchbags who couldn't wait to join the zionist-NeoCon project of destablizing the Middle East and stealing their oil.
What very few seem to understand is that the people in control, the ones at the top, are psychopaths. They have no conscience. They are obsessed and driven by power and greed. They will say and do anything to get more power, and keep the power they have. Their philosophy will not let them stop until they are stopped. So if we do not stop them, they WILL destroy us. Because they just don't care. They are selfish and self-interested to the bone. Lot's of luck trying to appeal to their conscience. They have none.
Lot's of luck trying to appeal to their conscience. They have none.
True. I could just imagine Bush giggling at this letter before going back to his golf.
Anyone have the stats of how many KIA, wounded, and maimed for life under Obama's non war wars? Thousands
RIP Tomas
bush and cheny will both reincarnate as toilet bowls
I read Thomas Ricks "Fiasco", James Cockburn's "Rumsfeld", Bob Woodward's "State of denial" and am almost done "The rise of the vulcans" by James Mann. I've watched the best of the relevant documentaries on PBS Frontline. The Bush/Cheney/Rice/Rumfeld/Wolfowitz catastrophe has spread its evil and we now have something much more vexing and evil, if it can be imagined than merely vile Sadaam Hussein. Now we have IS and splintered fractured Syria at the hands of IS and the despicable Assad. The mistakes of Bush and team will resonate for many years to come. I think it obvious that the Sykes Piccot treaty aided and abetted by the Arabist, T.E. Lawrence, is coming apart. Artificial boudaries, nation states and alliances are falling apart. Bush and Cheney only helped speed up the process. What makes me sick is to recognize that the almost entirely evil Dr. Henry Kissinger's version of diplomacy and advice offered to Bush were ignored. Kissinger, by comparison was correct. Ultimately the American people have to awaken and see through the manufacturing of consent, as Chompsky would frame it (I personally loathe him but will grant him his moment). God help us as the axis of a conflict between the old Centurions of the Christian world seek to finish what was set in motion hundreds of years ago with the waves of destruction known as the Crusades. And, the Muslim world wonders if the IS maniacs might have something there with a call for a Caliphate. Never mind that the Muslim world would first have to stop slaughtering each other. A quibble that will be worked out in body counts.