thedrifter
12-22-05, 06:37 AM
Vets: Finish job in Iraq
Group agrees now isn't time to bring home U.S. troops
By John Davis
Poughkeepsie Journal
December 22, 2005
Despite calls from a decorated ex-Marine in Congress to bring home the American troops in Iraq, one local soldier and several veterans say they back President Bush in staying the course.
"If we pull out now, all the soldiers and Marines and everyone will have died for nothing," said Army Reserve Sgt. Vinnie Cullaro, 29, of Hyde Park, who participated in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and capture of Baghdad.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq continues to climb, with at least 2,158 troops killed as the military occupation there extends beyond two and a half years.
The steadily rising death toll and the cost in hundreds of billions of dollars to finance the war has fomented dissension in Congress and across the nation.
At the same time, supporters of the Bush administration were heartened by the turnout of 70 percent of registered voters in Iraq in Wednesday's relatively peaceful first-ever parliamentary election.
Now, debate in Congress and elsewhere is on how much longer the 160,000 American troops must remain in Iraq to provide security for the fledging democracy.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., has called for a redeployment of American troops from Iraq.
Having completed the military mission of deposing Saddam Hussein and overseeing successful elections last week, Murtha said it's time to turn security of Iraq to its own army and police.
Murtha favors "in as little as six months" redeploying 50,000 of the 160,000 American troops in Iraq to outlying areas such as Kuwait and even Okinawa, said Brad Clemenson, Murtha's spokesman. The remainder of the troops could gradually return home.
What has captured the attention of the nation is Murtha's own military background and initial support for the war. A retired Marine colonel with two Purple Hearts for service in Vietnam, Murtha voted in October 2002 to give President Bush the authority to attack Iraq.
A Hyde Park Army reserve soldier and four local military veterans gathered last week at American Legion Post 1466 in Hyde Park to discuss the impact of Murtha's about-face and their own views.
All five said they respect Murtha for his 37 years in the Marine Corps and tour of duty in Vietnam.
But they each disagreed with his call to begin withdrawal of the American troops.
"I agree with everything he's saying, except for the redeployment of the troops," said Cullaro who was stationed in Iraq from March to July 2003. "I think if we pull out right now, the country's going to be in chaos."
George Webster, 58, of Hyde Park, who served six years in the Air Force and Navy during the Vietnam War era, said, "If we pull out now it will be right back to where it was in 30 seconds. You've got 14 different factions over there that do not like each other."
The announcement Wednesday by President Bush that the intelligence information he used to justify attacking Iraq in 2003 was faulty reinforced Murtha's mid-November statement that the main reason for going to war — weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's arsenal — was wrong.
Tony Storzieri, 72, a Town of Poughkeepsie resident and Army combat veteran of the Korean conflict, said despite the bad intelligence Bush relied on, the president did the right thing in invading Iraq and deposing Saddam Hussein.
"If you're handed information, that's what you go by," Storzieri said. "We had to react to the information that was given us."
Webster agreed: "I think we did the right thing based on the information we had."
With the participation of 11 million out of 15 million voters in Wednesday's Iraqi elections, another debate on when to begin withdrawal of American troops broke out in Washington.
Republicans in the House of Representatives proposed a resolution rejecting "setting an artificial timetable for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq or immediately terminating their deployment in Iraq or redeployment elsewhere."
Murtha fired back with a short letter to the House Democrats warning against repeating the mistakes of the Vietnam era:
"One month after I came back from Vietnam in 1967, South Vietnam also had a historic vote and at the time they said a successful election had long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam.
"The war in Vietnam raged for another seven years and over 38,000 more Americans were killed," he wrote.
But some local veterans rejected Murtha's call for establishing a troop redeployment timeline.
"This might take another two or three years before we're up and running," Webster said of the newly elected Iraqi government. "Right now, my philosophy is we should stay on course."
Steve Dorney, 36, a Navy veteran and Hyde Park resident, defined what would be a mission accomplished: "When the Iraqi government is in place."
"Pulling out right now would send a message to Iran we're not serious," Dorney said.
The leadership of Iraq's neighbor, Iran, has increasingly alarmed the international community. The rigid Islamic theocracy has resisted warnings not to acquire nuclear technology and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, recently denied the Holocaust while calling for the destruction of Israel.
Last week's gathering at the Legion hall was divided on the impact debate on the war has had on troop morale.
Jimmy Devine, 57, of Hyde Park, who served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, likened Murtha's statements to those of the anti-war protesters in the 1960s and 70s. The rhetoric back home, he said, tended to undermine those soldiers fighting to win the war.
"I didn't like it when I was in Vietnam and I heard what was going on back here," Devine said. "It was definitely a downer. Half of them didn't care and you had guys who really wanted to get the job done. So, I don't think he's helping any."
Gratitude boosts morale
During his 2003 stint in Iraq, Cullaro tended to ignore the policy debates going on in Washington, he said. His morale was sustained more by the gratitude of the Iraqi people he encountered.
"Despite what the public thinks about Iraq, a lot of people were glad we were there," Cullaro said.
One veteran, Fred Nagel of Rhinebeck, was not present at the Legion Hall gathering. Nagel, 61, is a member of Veterans for Peace and frequent participant in local anti-war protests.
Nagel, who was drafted in 1968 and spent some of his two years in the Army stationed at the border between South and North Korea, said he was surprised by Murtha's statements.
"I was amazed that a person who is part of the military establishment would come out against the war," Nagel said. "This war, just like the Vietnam War, is tremendously destructive of the U.S. military."
Nagel said the Bush administration has misused the military volunteers in waging a war that has provoked animosity around the world while he continues to mislead the American people into why we are doing so.
"As a veteran, I'm furious this administration has gone ahead and destroyed the good name of the U.S. military," Nagel said. "The only chance for democracy is if the U.S. pulls out and gives up its claim on Iraqi oil. That's why we're there. Democracy to us is a government that gives us free rein to their oil."
John Davis can be reached at jpdavis@poughkeepsiejournal.com
Ellie
Group agrees now isn't time to bring home U.S. troops
By John Davis
Poughkeepsie Journal
December 22, 2005
Despite calls from a decorated ex-Marine in Congress to bring home the American troops in Iraq, one local soldier and several veterans say they back President Bush in staying the course.
"If we pull out now, all the soldiers and Marines and everyone will have died for nothing," said Army Reserve Sgt. Vinnie Cullaro, 29, of Hyde Park, who participated in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and capture of Baghdad.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq continues to climb, with at least 2,158 troops killed as the military occupation there extends beyond two and a half years.
The steadily rising death toll and the cost in hundreds of billions of dollars to finance the war has fomented dissension in Congress and across the nation.
At the same time, supporters of the Bush administration were heartened by the turnout of 70 percent of registered voters in Iraq in Wednesday's relatively peaceful first-ever parliamentary election.
Now, debate in Congress and elsewhere is on how much longer the 160,000 American troops must remain in Iraq to provide security for the fledging democracy.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., has called for a redeployment of American troops from Iraq.
Having completed the military mission of deposing Saddam Hussein and overseeing successful elections last week, Murtha said it's time to turn security of Iraq to its own army and police.
Murtha favors "in as little as six months" redeploying 50,000 of the 160,000 American troops in Iraq to outlying areas such as Kuwait and even Okinawa, said Brad Clemenson, Murtha's spokesman. The remainder of the troops could gradually return home.
What has captured the attention of the nation is Murtha's own military background and initial support for the war. A retired Marine colonel with two Purple Hearts for service in Vietnam, Murtha voted in October 2002 to give President Bush the authority to attack Iraq.
A Hyde Park Army reserve soldier and four local military veterans gathered last week at American Legion Post 1466 in Hyde Park to discuss the impact of Murtha's about-face and their own views.
All five said they respect Murtha for his 37 years in the Marine Corps and tour of duty in Vietnam.
But they each disagreed with his call to begin withdrawal of the American troops.
"I agree with everything he's saying, except for the redeployment of the troops," said Cullaro who was stationed in Iraq from March to July 2003. "I think if we pull out right now, the country's going to be in chaos."
George Webster, 58, of Hyde Park, who served six years in the Air Force and Navy during the Vietnam War era, said, "If we pull out now it will be right back to where it was in 30 seconds. You've got 14 different factions over there that do not like each other."
The announcement Wednesday by President Bush that the intelligence information he used to justify attacking Iraq in 2003 was faulty reinforced Murtha's mid-November statement that the main reason for going to war — weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's arsenal — was wrong.
Tony Storzieri, 72, a Town of Poughkeepsie resident and Army combat veteran of the Korean conflict, said despite the bad intelligence Bush relied on, the president did the right thing in invading Iraq and deposing Saddam Hussein.
"If you're handed information, that's what you go by," Storzieri said. "We had to react to the information that was given us."
Webster agreed: "I think we did the right thing based on the information we had."
With the participation of 11 million out of 15 million voters in Wednesday's Iraqi elections, another debate on when to begin withdrawal of American troops broke out in Washington.
Republicans in the House of Representatives proposed a resolution rejecting "setting an artificial timetable for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq or immediately terminating their deployment in Iraq or redeployment elsewhere."
Murtha fired back with a short letter to the House Democrats warning against repeating the mistakes of the Vietnam era:
"One month after I came back from Vietnam in 1967, South Vietnam also had a historic vote and at the time they said a successful election had long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam.
"The war in Vietnam raged for another seven years and over 38,000 more Americans were killed," he wrote.
But some local veterans rejected Murtha's call for establishing a troop redeployment timeline.
"This might take another two or three years before we're up and running," Webster said of the newly elected Iraqi government. "Right now, my philosophy is we should stay on course."
Steve Dorney, 36, a Navy veteran and Hyde Park resident, defined what would be a mission accomplished: "When the Iraqi government is in place."
"Pulling out right now would send a message to Iran we're not serious," Dorney said.
The leadership of Iraq's neighbor, Iran, has increasingly alarmed the international community. The rigid Islamic theocracy has resisted warnings not to acquire nuclear technology and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, recently denied the Holocaust while calling for the destruction of Israel.
Last week's gathering at the Legion hall was divided on the impact debate on the war has had on troop morale.
Jimmy Devine, 57, of Hyde Park, who served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, likened Murtha's statements to those of the anti-war protesters in the 1960s and 70s. The rhetoric back home, he said, tended to undermine those soldiers fighting to win the war.
"I didn't like it when I was in Vietnam and I heard what was going on back here," Devine said. "It was definitely a downer. Half of them didn't care and you had guys who really wanted to get the job done. So, I don't think he's helping any."
Gratitude boosts morale
During his 2003 stint in Iraq, Cullaro tended to ignore the policy debates going on in Washington, he said. His morale was sustained more by the gratitude of the Iraqi people he encountered.
"Despite what the public thinks about Iraq, a lot of people were glad we were there," Cullaro said.
One veteran, Fred Nagel of Rhinebeck, was not present at the Legion Hall gathering. Nagel, 61, is a member of Veterans for Peace and frequent participant in local anti-war protests.
Nagel, who was drafted in 1968 and spent some of his two years in the Army stationed at the border between South and North Korea, said he was surprised by Murtha's statements.
"I was amazed that a person who is part of the military establishment would come out against the war," Nagel said. "This war, just like the Vietnam War, is tremendously destructive of the U.S. military."
Nagel said the Bush administration has misused the military volunteers in waging a war that has provoked animosity around the world while he continues to mislead the American people into why we are doing so.
"As a veteran, I'm furious this administration has gone ahead and destroyed the good name of the U.S. military," Nagel said. "The only chance for democracy is if the U.S. pulls out and gives up its claim on Iraqi oil. That's why we're there. Democracy to us is a government that gives us free rein to their oil."
John Davis can be reached at jpdavis@poughkeepsiejournal.com
Ellie