A LTTE I sent off this AM

[zbdent]

to the Akron Beacon Journal's "Voice of the People". Whaddaya think?

After reading all the letters and hearing all the excuses from people justifying the abuses of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib, I have come to understand why a number of Vietnam Veterans are angry with John Kerry.

Apparently, he was a whistleblower and was exposing to the world what some of these people thought was some "good ol' boy fun". From what he described of other people "bragging", it sounds like the same types of people who really did those acts in Vietnam have resurfaced and gone on to a better life as jail wardens in Iraq.

About Abu Ghraib, people who weren't paying too close of attention will point out "Hey, in March, those Iraqis took the bodies of some of our people (mercenaries) and hung them on a bridge and desecrated the bodies!". Well, a lot of the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners (of whom many were released, and apparently, not really enemy combatants) took place in the months leading up to the desecration of "our mercenaries". These were being INVESTIGATED in December of 2003. That means that the abuses have been going on far longer than that.

George W. Bush (who has yet to prove the French wrong) hung our troops out to dry in the hype for the Iraqi war, saying "No longer will anyone be able to hide behind 'I was just following orders.'" And now the investigations are showing that the abuse was systemic, not just a bunch of "loose cannons" out "having a little bit of harmless fun".

As is standard "rational" rebuttal, I will be labeled a "terrorist" and "working for Al Qaeda". With all the people who try to point out how wonderful things are going in Iraq, I wonder how many are choosing to vacation there this year? How many are choosing to send their children over with their blessings? As I understood it, Vietnam was not a safe place for an American anywhere in the country. So, going over there voluntarily was a lot braver than checking a box saying "I do not wish to serve outside the country." I also have to laugh at the morons who decide that it's so courageous to stand on a carrier deck thousands of miles away from danger (and yet within sight of a California port), surrounded by hundreds of people actually defending our country and dozens of Secret Service personnel, and telling the enemy "Bring It On!". Oh, and for a couple of hundred dollars, I too can be handed the controls of a fighter plane while it's in the air and safely manned by a trained pilot, just like Georgie W. Hell, for the right amount of money and the right connections, I could even get the controls to a nuclear submarine and ram a few Japanese students.