Letters to the Editor
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INVESTIGATE THESE DEATHS!
REMEMBER PAT TILMAN? AND JESSICA LYNCH? COULD IT BE THAT
THIS IS JUST ANOTHER 'CONVENIENT INCIDENT' OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION?
I SAY, THE FACT THAT 2 OF THE 7 SOLDIERS ARE DEAD AND A 3RD
IS WOUNDED....DEMANDS THAT WE DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION. WE
CAN DO NO LESS.
I'VE ALREADY EMAILED 4 SENATORS: BIDEN, LEVIN, WEBB & FEINGOLD.
I TRUST THEM & RESPECT THEM. YOU CAN CHOOSE WHO YOU WANT.
BUT DO IT NOW. THESE HEROS DESERVE NOTHING LESS.
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the soldiers who died for telling the truth
Let us be blunt. This is so pathetically, terrifyingly obvious. These courageous soldiers were rubbed out. Just the same as retribution was taken against Valerie Plame for her husband's truth-telling, just a bit more lethal. But what could be more lethal than the Iraq war? When you think about how much is at stake for GWBush and his buddies, a few more lives mean nothing.
This is so 1984 and revolting. Salon, I love you. Don't pull any punches here. These fellows gave their lives to tell the truth. FIND SOME EVIDENCE and let's get those murderous greedy bastards!
Gail
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Montana boy to be buried at Arlington, Texas immigrant to be buried near family at home
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Seven soldiers killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq were members of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
The accident in western Baghdad also injured 10 other soldiers from the unit, based at North Carolina's Fort Bragg, along with one additional detainee, said division spokesman Maj. Tom Earnhardt. Two detainees also were killed.
The soldiers were returning from a raid that took place late Sunday and early Monday when their truck "veered off an elevated highway" and fell about 30 feet, Earnhardt said.
Houston Chronicle: "Mora came to Texas City from Ecuador with his mother, Olga, when he was about 2 years old."
The family of Army Sgt. Omar Mora remembered him as a loving man who was passionate about playing soccer, fixing cars and being a soldier.
The 28-year-old Texas City resident was killed in a noncombat-related vehicle accident in Baghdad on Monday, said Robert Capetillo, his stepfather.
"We'll never see him coming through the house anymore," Capetillo said Tuesday. "That's so hard to even think about."
Capetillo said Mora was a member of the infantry unit of the 82nd Airborne Division.
"It was something he always wanted to do," he said. "He always wanted to be in the military."
His stepfather said Mora once told him that the situation in Iraq was desperate. He was especially sad about the children.
"He was sad about the way they were having to live in Iraq with the war going on," he added.
Mora's sister, Erica Capetillo, 18, will miss his big-brotherly advice and kindness.
"He was very protective over me," she said. "He wanted the best for me. He always told me to stay in school and not to drop any of my college classes."
Mora came to Texas City from Ecuador with his mother, Olga, when he was about 2 years old, his stepfather said. Capetillo said he married Olga when Mora was about 5 years old.
MILES CITY, Mont. (AP) - Staff Sergeant Yance Gray of Ismay was killed when the cargo truck he was riding in overturned in Baghdad.
It happened yesterday.
The 26-year-old Gray joined the Army in 2000.
Public information officer Major Garth Scott of the Montana National Guard says Gray was a member of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, attached to the 1st Infantry Division at the time of his death.
Sergeant 1st Class Steven Klang of Baker is serving as the casualty assistance officer. He says Gray was a passenger in an M-915 five-ton cargo truck when it rolled over. Klang says he has not been told what caused the rollover.
A funeral with military honors is planned at Arlington National Cemetery. And a public memorial service is planned later in Ismay.
Gray was a graduate of Plevna High School, and the son of Richard and Karen Gray of Ismay. He is also survived by his wife and infant daughter, who live in North Carolina.
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What it tells us:
The casualty rate in Iraq is probably far worse than many of us realize or are told. What we need to know (and don't) is the chance of a soldier serving in the field in Iraq to be killed or wounded. I would not be surprised if this turned out to be much higher than in most of our other wars.
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Oh, go ahead . . .
Bring out the "dark theories."
You know we're all thinking the same thing.
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No coincidence
After several troops were threatened if they testified in war crimes investigations. After Pat Tillman. After General Betrayus. America, this is your first line of defense, the smirking chimp and his political appointees.
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Washington DC is All About CYA
Really Joan, are you that naive to think that Washington DC will do anything? Bush and Cheney will lie and the feeble Democrats will twitch their jaws and let them get away with it.
If there was justice in DC, bush and cheney would be in prison.
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Encouragement
I found myself wondering how these young men got the courage to write their searing Op-Ed, at a time when Petraeus was giving the media and Congress members personal tours of Baghdad's Green Zone, serving lobster tortellini and asparagus soup, and spinning his story of progress.
Well it certainly took courage, there's no doubt of that, but it may help answer Walsh's question to note that you didn't have to be an NCO to think poorly of Petraeus. Admiral Fallon called the good general an "ass-kissing little chickenshit" to his face. Fallon sets military policy for the entire US Central Command, so (one might conclude) when he calls Petraeus "chickenshit," it's official.
I imagine the NYT Seven would have written their letter anyway, but I have to think that it was encouraging to them to know that so many of their siblings-in-arms, and such high-ranking ones, were with them.
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When will this long nightmare end?
My heart was broken when I read this. Whenever I thought of it all day today, I broke into tears of sadness and grief and brotherhood for these beautiful men and their families. What a terrible waste of life. I also cried from anger.