Medical unit in Iraq: "Our soldiers can't protect us anymore...."

[Th1onein]

My niece (yes, I had both a niece AND a nephew in Iraq), who is in an Army unit stationed in Iraq, talked to her dad (my brother) yesterday on the phone. She was sobbing. She's very frightened. She is with a hospital unit there and she says that it is so bad there now that the soldiers can't protect them anymore.

We need to bring our children home. Please, let's impeach this son of a bitch and get our kids out of there.

[babylonsister]

1. That is so scary for everyone over there. Thanks for sharing,

Th1onein. I imagine your brother and family are worried sick.

I hope someone from the medical corps brings this to the attention of someone who can do
something about it. if only to put the hospital units out of harm's way.

[madokie]

2. I'm so sorry, words fail me

theres millions of us out here who want that very thing, to bring our children home

[demnan]

3. I agree

And let's get out in the street and start marching. We can't wait for our elected officials to do it. This is like 1967, we have to start forcing the government to get out of Iraq. We have to stand up and protest!

From:

http://www.internationalanswer.org/

March on the Pentagon
Saturday, March 17, 2007

~ 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 march on the Pentagon ~
~ 4th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war ~


Download the flyer

On March 17, 2007, the 4th anniversary of the start of the criminal invasion of Iraq, tens of thousands of people from around the country will descend on the Pentagon in a mass demonstration to demand: U.S. Out of Iraq Now! 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 anti-war march to the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. The message of the 1967 march was "From Protest to Resistance," and marked a turning point in the development of a countrywide mass movement.

In the coming days and weeks, thousands of organizations and individuals will begin mobilizing for the upcoming March on the Pentagon. Organizing committees and transportation centers are being established to bring people to the March on the Pentagon.

The March 17 demonstration will assemble at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Constitution Gardens) at 12 noon in Washington, D.C.and march to the Pentagon.

Endorse the March on the Pentagon.
Organize transportation
Donate to help make the March on the Pentagon a powerful success.
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[iconoclastic cat]

4. I think anything short of a general strike/boycott will be fruitless. nt

[Th1onein]

6. I'm an employer. I'll do it.

I'll have every one of my people marching in the streets on the appointed day. Just say the word. I'll pay them for it, too.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. How is it that the Army can't protect the hospital unit?

Are they out in the middle of nowhere, or in a city? How could that happen? That just sounds incredible to me.

[Th1onein]

7. I don't know. I'm not familiar with this type of thing.

She was at Abu Graib, but apparently she's not there anymore. I don't know how they protect them when they're in the field, but I guess she knows, and they're not able to do it anymore.

[truedelphi]

9. I am hearing the mention, even in MSM media,

that the mid-october attack on the MAIN ammo dump in Baghdad (Camp Falcon)

means that there simply is not the ammunition.

I think this is somewhat backed up by the fact that the Generals are saying "Bush Get out of Iraq now"
Our top military strategists know that without the ammunition, what the hell can more troops do?

And give them another ammo dump, and that one will get blown up a week later.

Meanwhile Bush replies "Generals, Shut up!"

[fasttense]

8. Kill a man, and you are an assassin.

Kill a million men, and you are a conqueror.
Kill everyone and you are a god.
Jean Rostand 1894-1977

[tblue37]

10. My 24-yr-old nephew (father of a baby born September 21)

will return in June or July for his second tour in Iraq. He will be a medic this time. It scares the hell out of me. The fact that he is newly married and a new father just makes it seem all the worse.

[Morgana LaFey]

11. How heartbreaking. How old is she? And your nephew? When

are they likely to get to come home?

My heart -- and prayers -- go out to both, and to you and your whole family.

[liberalla]

13. Th1onein posted Dec. 27 that her nephew was killed in bush's war

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2986623&mesg_id=2986623

Heartbreaking...

edited to add her post #159 from that thread:

"His name was Nathan Given.

He was 23 years old. He was due to come home this month, but that was put off until January. His mother said that she would not celebrate Christmas until he came home. I guess, now, she never will.

I pray to all that is decent and good in this universe that Bush contracts a horrible disease that causes him to suffer horrible pain. I pray that his children and his family suffer right along with him.

There are some sins that are never forgiven."

[DemReadingDU]

12. Agreed, the kids need to come home, now

nothing is safe in Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

14. Here's a story on the 399th in Mosul

<snip>

In mid-October, during a series of attacks on US positions near the hospital, insurgents assaulted the north gate of the Mosul base. An American infantryman suffered severe wounds in the firefight. So did an insurgent. Both were rushed to the 399th.

<snip>

The tactical center also watches for insurgent activity in the vicinity of Mosul. When attacks come, sirens screech and the alert goes over the PA: "Bunkers, bunkers, bunkers! Incoming, incoming, incoming!"

A mortar shell that explodes near, but not near enough to imperil life or limb, still rattles bones and makes a terrifying blast. An incoming mortar landing near enough to kill makes a flat crack that slams the eardrums and squeezes air from the lungs. The burst seems almost to occur inside the brain. There's a gout of orange flame and hot metal slivering through the air.

With soldiers, mortal danger seems to bring out a flair for understatement.

"This isn't very nice," said First Sergeant Shirley Martino, a grandmother of five from Haverhill, after blast debris lashed the exterior of one of the bunkers -- basically just long concrete tubes with crouching space -- scattered throughout the compound.

In the same attack, one mortar round punched through the ceiling of a housing unit, smashing a bunk bed before tearing out the back of the prefab without exploding. Dud shell. The two occupants had bolted the room just moments before.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/12/31/in_iraq_its_us_versus_death?mode=PF

Yeah they can't even protect the medical units from attack. You'd think they'd be able to set up a zone safe from attack. We've f'ing lost this war and time to get the hell out!

[bobthedrummer]

15. Kick.