A Letter From a Soldier to America: The Politicians are the Cause of War!

I was an American fighting man. I was born just like the rest of us but then I was trained to be and learned what it meant and became a Soldier. For all of you that do not understand that is not a Marine. A Marine is a fighting person who belongs to the Department of the Navy. A Soldier is a fighting person who belongs to The United States Army. There are no Soldiers who are US Marines and there are no US Marines who are Soldiers. Stop mixing that up. It makes you look and sound stupid. Then there are Airmen and Sailors without whom we would all be suffering much more loss and bloodshed than we do. They are the work horses and the backbone of the supply chain and ordnance delivery, but they are not Soldiers or Marines either.

They are US Air Force Airmen and US Navy Sailors. Together and cumulatively we are all Troops. We can appreciate that, but the Soldier/Marine mix-up and erasure of definition by the media has to stop. It really does make you appear stupid to those of us who understand. I have, over the years been subject to those who don't understand and we've had to endure many distressing realities about the public impressions about what we do. We don't like torture, for example. And the truth about the killing thing is this. We don't really want to do it. But, we are going to be able to and willing to if that is what is required so that you can be an American and from what I have seen and learned-Someone on our side damn well better be willing to because they on the other side are damn well willing to do it. And, different from me, they do appear to want to.

They even want to die themselves. That is to me a poor use of manpower. A soldier that wants to die is a threat to me, his unit and America. In every conflict that the United States has been in since the one with England in which a very firm message was sent to the king of England about wanting freedom from his tyrannical ass we have been there, me, or one of my dearly beloved brethren. In each of those conflicts we have had to listen to the "public support" issues of the conflicts in which we were put. That is the point of this letter to you, America. When the politicians fail it is me/us who is drawn upon to handle the hell that the political ineptitude has created. When the politics get squirrelly politicians always try passive ambivalence, then, they try assertive nonsense that really translates to "I don't know what to do next so let's see if I can pull the right bunny from the hat".

Then they try things like begging and then appeasement-(who the hell thought of that one??)- then we have to listen to them talk tuff or wait for a politician that actually can and does not worry about whether or not you think he/she is "nice", or "sexy", or "elect-able". The truth is, most of them were, are, and continue to be poll-chasing poop-tarts that can't really drive a thought of their own past the fear that someone somewhere may not agree. Fortunately, our sitting President is not actually one of you. There seem to be a lot of them now that talked tuff first about Saddam and now are backing up from the mission, that they sent us on, and are trying to make a political twist out of what is being done by us in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is a very poor way to use Troops. America should never stand down while a political agenda is being built on the backs of Troops in the field.

Here is what I have to say to you. Please, Politician, get your assinine self up and your shoes out of the golden blood of my good Brothers In Arms and get back up there at that silly looking podium of yours and start telling the massively mis-lead people of this country what you-yes, "you"-did wrong that caused this conflict in which we were called to in the first place. Yes-every one of you is at fault with your partisan republican/democrat bickering and breeding ground of disunity! You breed separatism and then upon the blood and lives of Troops you bicker in front of the public! Do you do that at home in front of the kids with your spouses? I, the American Soldier am tired of you. You make me want to puke. I bet you even say things that make you feel superior to me and allow you to feel as though you are somehow my "leader". Politician, you are NOT my leader. I am directly beneath the Commander And Chief. That is the President-who needs your Support!! Without that, you are helping the Al-Qaida, and the Muslim Terrorist bad guy network to kill me and my Brothers-in-Arms.

That's right, You are to blame for my death and blood shed! We died and bled in the rice patties of Vietnam because you and your bickering and partisan bi-polar politics caused us to second guess our reasons. Actually, they were good ones. The Government of South Vietnam wanted us there to help them fight off the North Vietnamese and the communist influence that was invading their good country. Many want to say there was something good about our leaving Southeast Asia. I contest that. There are about 6 million Cambodians that would say it was not so good. The Cambodian Khmer Rouge and Pol-Pot murdered "MILLIONS" of people the very minute my fanny hit the seat in the transport plane. None of you ever said nary a word about that though, did you!? In fact you tied my hands in the field and would not let me fight the enemy the way that I could have and the way that would have worked and then pulled us out after you let the enemy use us for targets.

How about strolling up there to that silly podium, all you "anti-war" activists and tell me that something favorable came out of the early departure from Vietnam. I think those millions of Cambodians and all their descendents who never got here may have a word or two for you. And, they are not the only ones. Hell, my own town is FULL, literally FULL of Vietnamese refugees that escaped after North Vietnam took over. And even now the growth of free trade is taking root there. The South Vietnamese people desperately wanted then and still pursue freedom. Now there is a growing impetus of similar fear in the United States regarding Iraq. If we want to avoid "another Vietnam" it is my suggestion that we stay until that job is done this time. I can only say that I have no intelligible recognizable way to follow the "logic" if, in fact, there is any for pulling from iraq before the job is complete. The people of Iraq would be massacred in a blood bath and there would be an orgy-like killing frenzy unprecedented on the Earth if we left there now. The murderous muslim madmen would literally feed on blood-lust! What are you thinking, you silly, stupid idiotic politician? And why is this kind of thinking breeding? And why are you shoving that fallacy in the name of "intellectual thinking"? How can you fail to do your jobs, then send us in then whine and belly-ache about us when the reality of what we do sets in on you? You truly do need to snuggle up next to the fire and leave us to do this job. The truth is, you failed at yours.

That is why I am here. If you are feeling a little guilty and perhaps incompetent over that reality then maybe you should think about coming over here to this place that is birthing freedom and teach what seems to be your budding understanding about peace to these people that we are trying to hunt and neutralize. God knows that I do not need to learn what peace is. My father earned it for me in the sands of Anzio in WWII. I pray for it everyday-but, certainly not at the expense of the completion of this sacred mission that we are on. You need to re-adjust and re-posture yourself, Politician. The truth is, you truly do not always know what is best and in fact, it has been my experience that many of you do not know much of anything beyond how to get elected. Get your shit together. Your actions determine how well I can live. And for the public with regard to this I have to ask that you cease to look to those divisive politicians for your guidance. Once me and my comrades are in the field it is US who need you.

You are how and why we do this and your support directly influences how many of us come home. The next thing I need to say is that the American public must get a handle on the truth. It is not always what the news guy or gal says it is. They are like peddlers. They can't sell their goods unless people want to buy them. It's a free society thing. They can't hold a gun to your head and make you buy what they are selling (thank a Veteran for that). So, they do the next best thing, they appeal to you with whatever-the key there is "whatever"- they can to get your attention and scam your dollars from your very pockets. It is an art-form and highly prized in a free market society. They want your money. They don't give one good Gerdamn whether or not you hear the truth. Hell, they don't even know what it is and clearly they don't care because they have not even asked me, and I know they know I know what that is. Don't be so gullible, America. The press does not like you, they do not respect you and they do not care about you. They JUST WANT YOUR MONEY!!! The truth is, while death and dying in war is horrible-no doubt, I didn't even burn a calorie to figure that out- it is still better to die fighting these muslim madmen than standing around with our fingers tucked up our asses while they randomly kill for the sake of killing whomever they gerdamn well choose.

And they would be too. They have been doing it for as long as I can remember, and more. When I was a kid we wore t-shirts regarding those lunatics that said, "KILL THEM ALL AND LET GOD SORT'EM OUT". And we did that because of the killing frenzy they are lost in yet today! We have always known this would have to happen. The other thing I have to say to the public is that it disturbs me beyond measure whenever one of those scab-picking, own-armpit sniffing, Jelly-Roll eating fatguys starts yapping that stupid nonsense that we are dying for nothing.

We are NOT in this for "Nothing". Just stop saying that. There is no dumber thing that can come from your mouth. It is also cruel. That is crap. I have seen it, I have done it and fighting can and does solve some problems. What the public is not understanding is that there is more than one kind of fighting and not all fights can happen with the pen. Sad, but true. I have seen Iraqi women vote. Go ahead, let me hear one American woman tell me that is worth nothing. It got us Clinton, remember? That was the one who did not inhale and did not have sex with that woman. Saddam Hussein is standing trial in Iraq and being tried by Iraqis. That is absolutely great!! It was done by American Troops!! No, none of us died in vain.

None of us! There is one thing I have to revisit and get cleared up, America. "Soldiers" are not Marines. "Marines" are not Soldiers. It does not matter if you do not understand. You don't need to. It is an Army/Marine thing. Stop calling us the names of our sacred brethren. Call us what we are, dammit. That goes for the press too. They are always calling Marines Soldiers and vice versa. I told you the press doesn't know a damn thing about anything. That is proof. Would they mistake Mr T for Arnold Schwarzenegger? I think not, but then, those are fictional people and we can't expect the press to do better on reality than on fiction now, …can we?

Truly Yours,

-A Very Windy American Soldier