Letters the Troops Have Sent Me...by Michael Moore

As we approach the holidays, I've been thinking a lot about our kids who are in the armed forces serving in Iraq. I've received hundreds of letters from our troops in Iraq -- and they are telling me something very different from what we are seeing on the evening news.

What they are saying to me, often eloquently and in heart-wrenching words, is that they were lied to -- and this war has nothing to do with the security of the United States of America.

I've written back and spoken on the phone to many of them and I've asked a few of them if it would be OK if I posted their letters on my website and they've said yes. They do so at great personal risk (as they may face disciplinary measures for exercising their right to free speech). I thank them for their bravery.

Lance Corporal George Batton of the United States Marine Corps, who returned from Iraq in September (after serving in MP company Alpha), writes the following:

“You'd be surprised at how many of the guys I talked to in my company and others believed that the president's scare about Saddam's WMD was a bunch of bullshit and that the real motivation for this war was only about money. There was also a lot of crap that many companies, not just marine companies, had to go through with not getting enough equipment to fulfill their missions when they crossed the border. It was a miracle that our company did what it did the two months it was staying in Iraq during the war…. We were promised to go home on June 8th, and found out that it was a lie and we got stuck doing missions for an extra three months. Even some of the most radical conservatives in our company including our company gunnery sergeant got a real bad taste in their mouth about the Marine corps, and maybe even president Bush.”

“Dear Mike -- I’m writing this without knowing if it’ll ever get to you…I’m writing it from the trenches of a war (that’s still going on,) not knowing why I’m here or when I’m leaving. I’ve toppled statues and vandalized portraits, while wearing an American flag on my sleeve, and struggling to learn how to understand… I joined the army as soon as I was eligible – turned down a writing scholarship to a state university, eager to serve my country, ready to die for the ideals I fell in love with. Two years later I found myself moments away from a landing onto a pitch black airstrip, ready to charge into a country I didn't believe I belonged in, with your words (from the Oscars) repeating in my head. My time in Iraq has always involved finding things to convince myself that I can be proud of my actions; that I was a part of something just. But no matter what pro-war argument I came up with, I pictured my smirking commander-in-chief, thinking he was fooling a nation…"

“I would like to tell you how difficult it is to serve under a man who was never elected. Because he is the president and my boss, I have to be very careful as to who and what i say about him. This also concerns me a great deal... to limit the military's voice is to limit exactly what America stands for... and the greater percentage of us feel completely underpowered. He continually sets my friends, my family, and several others in a kind of danger that frightens me beyond belief. I know several other soldiers who feel the same way and discuss the situation with me on a regular basis.”

“I have just returned home from "Operation Iraqi Freedom". I spent 5 months in Baghdad, and a total of 3 years in the U.S. Army. I was recently discharged with Honorable valor and returned to the States only to be horrified by what I've seen my country turn into. I'm now 22 years old and have discovered America is such a complicated place to live, and moreover, Americans are almost oblivious to what's been happening to their country. America has become "1984." Homeland security is teaching us to spy on one another and forcing us to become anti-social. Americans are willingly sacrificing our freedoms in the name of security, the same Freedoms I was willing to put my life on the line for. The constitution is in jeopardy. As Gen. Tommy Franks said, (broken down of course) One more terrorist attack and the constitution will hold no meaning.”

And a Specialist in the U.S. Army wrote to me this week about the capture of Saddam Hussein:

“Wow, 130,000 troops on the ground, nearly 500 deaths and over a billion dollars a day, but they caught a guy living in a hole. Am I supposed to be dazzled?”

There are lots more of these, straight from the soldiers who have been on the front lines and have seen first hand what this war is really about.

I have also heard from their friends and relatives, and from other veterans. A mother writing on behalf of her son (whose name we have withheld) wrote:

“My son said that this is the worst it's been since the "end" of the war. He said the troops have been given new rules of engagement, and that they are to "take out" any persons who aggress on the Americans, even if it results in "collateral" damage. Unfortunately, he did have to kill someone in self defense and was told by his commanding officer ‘Good kill.’

From a 56 year old Navy veteran, relating a conversation he had with a young man who was leaving for Iraq the next morning:

“What disturbed me most was when I asked him what weapons he carried as a truck driver. He told me the new M-16, model blah blah blah, stuff never made sense to me even when I was in. I asked him what kind of side arm they gave him and his fellow drivers. He explained, "Sir, Reservists are not issued side arms or flack vests as there was not enough money to outfit all the Reservists, only Active Personnel". I was appalled to say the least.

"Bush is a jerk agreed, but I can't believe he is this big an Asshole not providing protection and arms for our troops to fight HIS WAR!”

“Why is it that we are forever waving the flag of sovereignty, EXCEPT when it concerns our financial interests in other sovereign states? What gives us the right to tell anyone else how they should govern themselves, and live their lives? Why can't we just lead the world by example? I mean no wonder the world hates us, who do they get to see? Young assholes in uniforms with guns, and rich, old, white tourists! Christ, could we put up a worse first impression?”

(To read more from my Iraq mailbag -- and to read these above letters in full -- go to my website: http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/dudewheresmycountry/soldierletters/index.php)

Remember back in March, once the war had started, how risky it was to make any anti-war comments to people you knew at work or school or, um, at awards ceremonies? One thing was for sure -- if you said anything against the war, you had BETTER follow it up immediately with this line: "BUT I SUPPORT THE TROOPS!" Failing to do that meant that you were not only unpatriotic and un-American, your dissent meant that YOU were putting our kids in danger, that YOU might be the reason they lose their lives. Dissent was only marginally tolerated IF you pledged your "support" for our soldiers.

Of course, you needed to do no such thing. Why? Because people like you have ALWAYS supported "the troops." Who are these troops? They are our poor, our working class. Most of them enlisted because it was about the only place to get a job or receive the guarantee of a college education. You, my good friends, have ALWAYS, through your good works, your contributions, your activism, your votes, SUPPORTED these very kids who come from the other side of the tracks. You NEVER need to be defensive when it comes to your "support" for the "troops" -- you are the only ones who have ALWAYS been there for them.

It is Mr. Bush and his filthy rich cronies -- whose sons and daughters will NEVER see a day in a uniform -- they are the ones who do NOT support our troops. Our soldiers joined the military and, in doing so, offered to give THEIR LIVES for US if need be. What a tremendous gift that is -- to be willing to die so that you and I don't have to! To be willing to shed their blood so that we may be free. To serve in our place, so that WE don't have to serve. What a tremendous act of selflessness and generosity! Here they are, these 18, 19, and 20-year olds, most of whom have had to suffer under an unjust economic system that is set up NOT to benefit THEM -- these kids who have lived their first 18 years in the worst parts of town, going to the most miserable schools, living in danger and learning often to go without, watching their parents struggle to get by and then be humiliated by a system that is always looking to make life harder for them by cutting their benefits, their education, their libraries, their fire and police, their future.

And then, after this miserable treatment, these young men and women, instead of coming after US to demand a more just society, they go and join the army to DEFEND us and our way of life! It boggles the mind, doesn't it? They not only deserve our thanks, they deserve a big piece of the pie that we dine on, those of us who never have to worry about taking a bullet while we fret over which Palm Pilot to buy the nephew for Christmas.

In fact, all that these kids in the army ask for in return from us is our promise that we never send them into harm's way unless it is for the DEFENSE of our nation, to protect us from being killed by "the enemy."

And that promise, my friends, has been broken. It has been broken in the worst way imaginable. We have sent them into war NOT to defend us, not to protect us, not to spare the slaughter of innocents or allies. We have sent them to war so Bush and Company can control the second largest supply of oil in the world. We have sent them into war so that the Vice President's company can bilk the government for billions of dollars. We have sent them into war based on a lie of weapons of mass destruction and the lie that Saddam helped plan 9-11 with Osama bin Laden.

By doing all of this, Mr. Bush has proven that it is HE who does not support our troops. It is HE who has put their lives in danger, and it is HE who is responsible for the nearly 500 American kids who have now died for NO honest, decent reason whatsoever.

The letters I've received from the friends and relatives of our kids over there make it clear that they are sick of this war and they are scared to death that they may never see their loved ones again. It breaks my heart to read these letters. I wish there was something I could do. I wish there was something we all could do.

Maybe there is. As Christmas approaches (and Hanukkah begins tonight), I would like to suggest a few things each of us could do to make the holidays a bit brighter -- if not safer -- for our troops and their families back home.

1. Many families of soldiers are hurting financially, especially those families of reservists and National Guard who are gone from the full-time jobs ("just one weekend a month and we'll pay for your college education!"). You can help them by contacting the Armed Forces Emergency Relief Funds at http://www.afrtrust.org/ (ignore the rah-rah military stuff and remember that this is money that will help out these families who are living in near-poverty). Each branch has their own relief fund, and the money goes to help the soldiers and families with paying for food and rent, medical and dental expenses, personal needs when pay is delayed, and funeral expenses. You can find more ways to support the troops, from buying groceries for their families to donating your airline miles so they can get home for a visit, by going here.

2. Thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by our bombs and indiscriminate shooting. We must help protect them and their survivors. You can do so by supporting the Quakers' drive to provide infant care kits to Iraqi hospitals—find out more here: http://www.afsc.org/iraq/relief/default.shtm. You can also help the people of Iraq by supporting the Iraqi Red Crescent Society—here’s how to contact them: http://www.ifrc.org/address/iq.asp, or you can make an online donation through the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies by going here: http://www.ifrc.org/HELPNOW/donate/donate_iraq.asp.

3. With 130,000 American men and women currently in Iraq, every community in this country has either sent someone to fight in this war or is home to family members of someone fighting in this war. Organize care packages through your local community groups, activist groups, and churches and send them to these young men and women. The military no longer accepts packages addressed to “Any Soldier,” so you’ll have to get their names first. Figure out who you can help from your area, and send them books, CDs, games, footballs, gloves, blankets—anything that may make their extended (and extended and extended…) stay in Iraq a little brighter and more comfortable. You can also sponsor care packages to American troops through the USO: http://www.usocares.org/.

4. Want to send a soldier a free book or movie? I’ll start by making mine available for free to any soldier serving in Iraq. Just send me their name and address in Iraq (or, if they have already left Iraq, where they are now) and the first thousand emails I get at soldiers@michaelmoore.com will receive a free copy of "Dude..." or a free “Bowling…” DVD.

5. Finally, we all have to redouble our efforts to end this war and bring the troops home. That's the best gift we could give them -- get them out of harm's way ASAP and insist that the U.S. go back to the UN and have them take over the rebuilding of Iraq (with the US and Britain funding it, because, well, we have to pay for our mess). Get involved with your local peace group—you can find one near where you live by visiting United for Peace, at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org and the Vietnam Veterans Against War: http://www.vvaw.org/contact/. A large demonstration is being planned for March 20, check here for more details: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2136. To get a “Bring Them Home Now” bumper sticker or a poster for your yard, go here: http://bringthemhomenow.org/yellowribbon_graphics/index.html. Also, back only anti-war candidates for Congress and President (Kucinich, Dean, Clark, Sharpton).

I know it feels hopeless. That's how they want us to feel. Don't give up. We owe it to these kids, the troops WE SUPPORT, to get them the hell outta there and back home so they can help organize the drive to remove the war profiteers from office next November.

To all who serve in our armed forces, to their parents and spouses and loved ones, we offer to you the regrets of millions and the promise that we will right this wrong and do whatever we can to thank you for offering to risk your lives for us. That your life was put at risk for Bush's greed is a disgrace and a travesty, the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime.

Please be safe, come home soon, and know that our thoughts and prayers are with you during this season when many of us celebrate the birth of the prince of "peace."

spent 26 years in the Army to and thru retirement and it was just a matter of fact that lower graded enlisted were almost never issued a sidearm.

I spent 13 years in and the closest I came to a sidearm was an M3 to go with my M16.

Cool factor was way high though :-)

HA HA!!! I was just thinking the same thing--- I didn't catch the whole thing, but what I saw had me rolling on the floor laughing-- did they have that disgusting waste of flesh to a "T" or what? I had to call my husband at work to tell him what he missed!!!

I have no doubt that most if not all the letters are genuine. As previously stated, the military is a large organization. Just because a few dissaffected military folks wrote The Great White Whale, don't think it's the end of the world.

As far as the people themselves, MI enlisted are a very easygoing group of geeks, misfits and genuises...

Wow! You've either been there or know! I was thinking along the same lines as I was reading the letters. As a matter of fact, one of the letter writers, Mike Prysner, as discovered by the poster anonymous user, apparently went to AIT at Ft Huachuca. So I think you're on to something :-)

Aside from the fact that I consider Michael Moore to be little more than a mendacious con artist, we must expect that every field army will contain enough people who are liberal Democrats to fall for MM's bullsh*t.

History is already proving us right, of course, and it will prove Moore and the Appeasement lobby to have been altogether wrong in just about everything they stood for.

Moore's side is losing the war, and that's what makes him so sad. The problem with the War on Terror is that Bush is conducting it. If Bush were not conducting the war, Moore would either be supportive or ambivalent. He's simply not honest enough with himself and his audience to admit it.

As it stands, this is a window into the Conventional Wisdom of the Left. It doesn't sell with the Public because the public understands that the Left is peddling a lie.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

Interesting info on Google for the second letter writer in the list, Mike Prysner.

He shows up as a writer in a couple of places, and in the Army, but look at his attitude here in this piece:

http://www.westchasewow.com/Archive/2002/03/kudos/default.htm

The Community Center Committee standing left to right are Diane Wells, Luiza Holtzberg, Virginia Larrea-La Tourette, Chair Lisa McCallister-Grant, Mike Prysner and Rick O'Keefe. Not pictured is Jon Stein.

As a matter of fact, one of the letter writers, Mike Prysner, as discovered by the poster anonymous user, apparently went to AIT at Ft Huachuca. So I think you're on to something :-)

That does not surprise me one iota. No one whines better, complains longer, or shams harder than MI. Amongst ourselves it's not as noticiable, but when we work with other people it can be pretty embarassing.

Just to get the right clearance level you need to have a flawless background and no major vices. This basically weeds out everyone but computer nerds, Mormons and good liars. While the bulk of us shady bastards are simply good liars, the sad fact is many people who are good liars are predisposed to be liberal. Nature of the beast, I guess.

Disgusting. This pig is taking advantage of a bunch of kids who sound uncertain about the central issues of their own lives, much less the political aspects of a war. They're a bunch of devotees to Moore, already misinformed by the nonsense he spews beforehand, else they wouldn't be writing to him. And then he goes and tries to pump up his own jackassed conspiracy theories with their words.

"I joined the army as soon as I was eligible – turned down a writing scholarship to a state university, eager to serve my country, ready to die for the ideals I fell in love with. Two years later I found myself moments away from a landing onto a pitch black airstrip, ready to charge into a country I didn't believe I belonged in, with your words (from the Oscars) repeating in my head."

Sick.

There is a war for profit going on, but it's Michael Moore v. Reality.

Complete and utter BS. The military consists mostly of conservative Republicans. Ask AlGore why he wanted to throw out the military absentee ballots. Being in the military, I can tell you that the vast majority of troops have a deep respect for President Bush, and believe we are doing the right thing. If the emails are authentic, so be it. But I can honestly say that they represent a very small minority of troops that have bought into the democrats message. That, and they were probably "starstruck" by a certain Senator.

There are strict rules about what the soldiers can and can not say. If there really are soldiers at "the front" writing this stuff to Moore, it is a breach of security.

I doubt very much Moore is actually checking the sources of the letters. I could write him one which says they are setting up an area 54 annex in Iraq and he would believe it.

But I can honestly say that they represent a very small minority of troops that have bought into the democrats message

Agreed.

When I was in the 101st, there was a group of about 5 of us that were very tight. All except one were Republican. On the nights we got together for adult beverages it would invariably end-up with an "in your face" shouting match with this one guy over Reagan and the Republicans vs Dems.

It really was all in good fun though :-)

"I was recently discharged with Honorable valor..."
"However, it's probably just the generic phrase."

Honorable valor? What the devil is that? That has never been a phrase in the lexicon of GIs. "Good paper", "honorable discharge", "clean sheet" ... those are the only ones I've ever heard in more than 22 years active service and 8 years DoA civil service. Sorry, but that one, specifically, is a bolo.

It may have been a generic phrase even as late as Vietnam, but I haven't heard that one since the late 70's. I'm inclined to think that that one is a troll as well.

"I spent 13 years in and the closest I came to a sidearm was an M3 to go with my M16."

They gave me a .45 to go along with my M-60. Never had to use it though ... my little baby and I got along just fine. She never jammed on me, and, since I "liberated" a base maintenance cleaning/repair kit, I kept her shiny and smoothly-operating.

Carried that sucker from '75 to '78 when I made buck sergeant. They wouldn't let me carry it after that.

The fact that he is able to list the ages of all those who "wrote" him tells me this is BS. Maybe one in 10, unless they are under age 10, would include their age in a letter to anyone. Most adults realize that it would be an irrelevant fact and not even think about putting it in there.

Reading this seems to me Mikey got the idea from ZOOM.

"Dear ZOOM,
You have taught me so much about stuff, I think you are great.

Sara, Age 9
Cambrige, Mass."

See what I mean?

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