Free
us from Iraq
Andrew
Misagal
It
being Thanksgiving, I took time to think
what I was truly thankful for. The first
thing that came to mind was our men and
women in the services. While most of us
spent time with loved ones, ate a warm meal,
our soldiers have only memories of the holiday
season, unsure if their next meal is their
last. I can't imagine the amount of loneliness
our soldiers are in a war torn country,
being targets everywhere they go. So when
I heard Bush visited Baghdad, to share Thanksgiving
dinner with our troops and not his own family.
Though many of his decisions have been controversial
during the war with Iraq, his decision to
risk his own life to thank our troops speaks
for itself. But there was one thing missing
from his morale-boosting speech to the troops,
the part where he says, "It's time
to come home."
Bush must come to his senses and withdraw
the majority of our troops from Iraq. I'm
not one to criticize Bush for his valiant
efforts on taking a stand against terrorism.
Nor am I one to criticize his stance, it
is the belief that reflect our country's
underlying theme, the land of the free,
home of the brave. I'm not one to criticize
his every decision. He's only human. What
I am critical of, is that press conference
after press conference, Bush states American
soldier casualties are necessary to protect
our freedoms. But what ever happened to
the old saying "enough is enough?"
The
latest numbers speak for themselves: 104
coalition deaths in November, including
79 American troops. In terms of coalition
losses, it was the bloodiest month of war
since the war started in March. An estimated
440 U.S. soldiers have given their life
to protect our freedoms.
I'm
not much of a politician, so bash me as
you may, but I think its time we save the
pain and agony of telling hundreds of other
families that their son or daughter died
while serving their country. I understand
it is not as simple as withdrawing hundreds
of troops overnight, but with the vicious
cycle of killings, this cannot be tolerated
anymore. With an increase in coordinated
attacks on U.S. soldiers, its obvious tensions
will not cease until we release our grip
on a country with more problems than we
can handle. It is time to pass the reigns
over to the Iraqi people.
Andrew
Misagal is a public relations major at Cal
State Long Beach.
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