Veterans oppose war in Iraq as deceitful
BY R.A. DYER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
kansascity.com
AUSTIN, Texas - (KRT) - The U.S. government has deceitfully committed the country to an unjust and costly war in Iraq, returning soldiers from Iraq alleged Wednesday.
Gathered with a handful of peace activists outside the Texas Capitol, two Iraqi war veterans and a former military chaplain in Vietnam called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Capt. David Harris, a resident of Arlington, Texas, who recently returned from a 14-month tour in Iraq, said he began to oppose the war after it became apparent that Iraq possessed no stores of biological or chemical weapons.
"There was a belief amongst the troops that we were going there to take down Saddam Hussein because he had weapons of mass destruction," said Harris, 33. "We're 16 months after the invasion, and still not a one has been found. That would put some skepticism in anybody."
The active-duty U.S. Army reservist, who served as a logistics officer in Iraq, said poor planning, training and resource allocation constantly jeopardized his unit. The 12-year armed forces veteran said he plans to submit his resignation to avoid a second call-up to Iraq.
"I was informed last Wednesday that I might be on the list...and put into a unit that's going to be deployed," Harris said. "My resignation is already typed up. After 12 years, it's hard to walk away from it. But I can't see doing another year in Iraq."
Harris teaches ROTC at the University of Texas at Arlington. According to information provided by the Veterans for Peace organization, his decorations include the Bronze Star and the Global War on Terror medal.
But Harris said: "I just don't agree that we should have this endless war on terror with no end. I don't think we can change the landscape or the people in Iraq in one year, five years or 10 years."
Another Iraqi war veteran, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michael Hoffman, said, "The war has been based on lies from the start: there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
Hoffman was among the first batch of Marines to cross into Iraq during the March 2003 invasion. With the recent handover of national sovereignty, U.S. forces now must fight behind ill-equipped and often untrained Iraqi security forces, Hoffman said.
"It seems that the handover is a sham as well," said Hoffman, 24, a resident of Morrisville, Pa., who drew applause from a handful of peace activists during the noon gathering.
Hoffman, who joined the Marines in February 1999, was deployed to Kuwait and traveled as far north in Iraq as Tikrit before returning to the United States on May 10, 2003.
Hoffman said he remains on inactive reserve.
San Antonio resident James C. Berbiglia, a retired military chaplain who served in Vietnam, said that with the creation of new U.S. military bases in Iraq, it appears that the United States plans to stay for a long time.
"Even if the mission is accomplished, we are still losing people," Berbiglia said. "If we do what our present administration says, we'll have 2,500 dead Americans over there in two years. ... We're for peace. We're for getting them (U.S. soldiers) home."
So far, more than 800 service members have been killed in Iraq - including more than 60 from Texas. More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers have been wounded. |
