Using soldiers as bait

A soldiers opinion.

I was a captain with the 2nd Battalion 4th Field Artillery during the invasion of Iraq. My active duty commitment to the military ended in May 2004. In January 2003, I requested a transfer to this battalion to fill an officer vacancy because it was the first battalion from Fort Sill to mobilize during the pre-invasion build up. I, like the rest of us, still felt the deep emotions that followed 9/11. I was told of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and links to al-Qaeda. I wanted to do my part to protect America.

From March 20 to May 12, 2003, the 4th Field Artillery moved from Kuwait, through the Karbala gap, into Baghdad before the city capitulated, to Tikrit, and finally back to Kuwait. Along the way, I saw firsthand what death and destruction look like. I learned what it feels like to realize that your life may end in a few minutes, but my personal experiences back then pale in comparison to the violence that is currently happening in Iraq every single day.

This is not why I oppose the war. I would do it again if my actions were protecting American citizens, but this is not what we are doing in Iraq.

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Fighting them over there is immoral for two reasons. First, it means that we're fighting our war in someone else's home and they get to suffer for it. Second, it means that we're using our soldiers as bait.

This is not what I call supporting our troops. The military is not a sports team, and war is not a football game. It's very real. As a nation, we have to ask ourselves if what we're doing is right. Are we having a positive impact in Iraq? Is our presence there protecting American citizens? The answers are overwhelmingly no, and this is why I cannot support the war.