Public Commentary
Support troops by calling for an end to the war in Iraq

Dear Editor:

Could seventh grader Holly Genova explain exactly what "people's rights" she thinks Marine Bryan Young and his American comrades are "defending" in that bloody Iraqi Quagmire (Babylon students collect snacks for troops in Iraq, June 14 Beacon)?

It's really a wonder that Holly, her Babylon Junior High School classmates, and millions of other Americans are showing their love for all those unfortunate soldiers stuck there. But let's not be so starry-eyed as to think that President Bush's misbegotten Iraq War has anything to do with "defending people's rights" either in Iraq or here at home.

It's pretty apparent that most Iraqis don't think the U.S. invasion and occupation of their oil-rich country was about defending their rights. Poll after poll of Iraqis show that clear majorities not only want U.S. troops to leave but also believe Iraqis have a right to attack and kill American soldiers to force them out of their country.

It's easy to understand why they feel that way when one looks at the actual results of Bush's war. Since the start of the American invasion and occupation in March 2003, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the ongoing violence. There are now some two million Iraqi refugees living in camps in Jordan, Syria and other Middle East countries, and as many as 3,000 a day continue to flee the Iraqi inferno, according to the United Nations and Refugees International president Ken Bacon, who calls the Iraqi Exodus "the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world."

Only a few months ago, the U.S.-based international women's rights group, MADRE, released a horrifying report on how the Islamic fundamentalists now ruling Iraq are replacing Saddam's secular dictatorship with a theocratic one, in which, among other outrages, mullah-organized mobs single out "uppity" women (professionals, university students, rebellious teenagers, etc.) for punishments like, stonings, rapes and beatings.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. itself, Marine SPC Young commander-in-chief Bush has used the cover of Iraq and the rest of his so-called war on terror to go on a veritable rampage against people's rights.

So, while it's great that Holly and so many others are trying to keep our troops' spirits up with gifts, letters, etc., if they truly wish the soldiers "a safe return home," they should join the efforts to bring an immediate end to Bush's catastrophic war.

Kevin O'Neill, West Babylon

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
Editorial	1
West Babylon Alumni Foundation installs new officers	1
Heard It On The Grapevine	1