Former Bush Official: We Went Into Iraq Because 'We Were Looking For Somebody's Ass To Kick'

[Victor_c3]

68. To a degree they had a choice

I could write an essay on this, as I lived through it myself.

I joined the Army in 1997 when I was 17 and accepted an Army ROTC scholarship in 1998. As a result, I incurred a 4 year active duty service commitment to the Army from 2002-2006 when I accepted that scholarship in 1998 - a full three years before September 2001 and 5 years before the war on Iraq started.

So yes, I volunteered, but I was tricked and duped by my upbringing, my parents, and our nation. I was born in 1980 and I watched a steady stream of G.I. Joe and recall watching numerous conflicts play out on TV. I was 11 during the first gulf war and I believed (especially at the time) that our role was justified. I was 15 in 1995 when the Dayton Peace Accord was signed by Clinton and the US lead NATO forces into the Bosnia and Kosovo to stop genocide. I saw those as examples of our military being used as a "force for good". I truly believed that we learned our lessons from previous military conflicts and I believed that our military was a tool used to help people and to make the world a better (and safer) place for the less fortunate. I truly believed in the motto of the Special Forces "De oppresso libre" (or liberator of the oppressed).

In 2003 I watched events unfold which would later lead to me deploying to Iraq in Feb 2004 and I never bought the argument for war in that country. However, by that time, it was too late. I was already in the military and made my oaths. I deployed as an Infantry Platoon Leader and tried my best to treat the people of Iraq with dignity and respect. Among my peers, I would say that I was by far the kindest and gentlest of the leaders. I took the phrase "winning hearts and minds" personally.

So I suppose I could have protested, not gone to Iraq, and gone to prison but instead I followed through on my commitment to the Army and sucked it up. I did my best to make a bad situation good and I guess I'm partially to blame for what happened over there. However, I believe that the Army was just as victimized by the general American population and their lust for Arab blood after September 11th as the Iraqi people were.