The REAL Reason We Invaded Iraq

When I was in Afghanistan with the US Army Special Forces in 2002 - 2003, we began to notice a significant reduction in our air assets towards the end of 2002 (EC-130 Talons, AC-130 Spectres, AH-64 Apaches, etc...). This told us that regardless of whatever message the White House was delivering over the airwaves, the decision had already been made to launch a full-scale attack on Iraq in short order, as essential assets are never removed from an active battlefield to be used simply as a show of force or even placed in a staging or holding pattern in a different AO unless that engagement was imminent.

Most all of us were thoroughly puzzled and began voicing great concern that our CInC (Commander-In-Chief) was making a very bad decision. We were where the bad guys were. We had UBL (Usama bin Laden) in our sights more than once - and were told to stand down. We found numerous caches of Chinese weapons that we destroyed in place with C4 and diesel fuel. Though we were deployed to "seek and destroy our enemy and to prevent freedom of movement and deny sanctuary to them", we saw our mission change over a short period of time into policing various regions and burning opium fields.

The reasons Americans were given for us going to war with the Iraqis were myriad - and they changed with each passing week. In fact, the reasons changed so rapidly that it was next to impossible to keep up with what the current rationale was.

First, was the excuse that the Iraqis were involved in terrorism and were providing sanctuary and training to Al Queda (we KNEW this was untrue). Then it was the "fact" that they had weapons of mass destruction. Though it had been true 10 years earlier, that was quickly discounted as well, as sanctions and UN oversight were in fact working, and Hussein was known to be bluffing in order to keep the Iranians at bay. Then it became an issue of human rights and the provision of freedom to the Iraqi populace. In fact, one of the primary messages used to garner support for this argument was the gassing of Iraqis by Saddam Hussein in 1988, though, as CIA and US Army reports acknowledge, we knew that he was not the one responsible for this, but the Iranians were (the Iraqis had no such nerve agent in their arsenal). That did not stop the WH from using this misinformation to sway the American public towards supporting this war.

Other reasons that were floated were oil and economic control of the Persian Gulf (though we had been in complete control of the Gulf since GHWB's term as we had wrested it away from the Russians in the first Gulf War using Kuwait as bait), GWB seeking vengeance for GWHB's being targeted for assassination, democracy, Iraqi Freedom, violations of a UN resolution (though the leading violator of UN resolutions was and continues to be Israel), and on and on and on.....

Most all of these reasons were hollow, had little merit, and were easily seen through by most "in the know". However, the sales job on the American populace was rather effective.

The REAL reason we went to war in Iraq was for the sake of Palestinian autonomy and Israeli security. Every US president since Woodrow Wilson has been trying to bring peace to the area after he agreed to partition Palestine in order to give European Jews a homeland. Every US president since Wilson has failed. President GW Bush thought he could make it work. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

His motives were admirable. His plan was naive.

In order to make this happen and in order to secure Israel's safety, we agreed to eliminate Israel's biggest threat - Saddam Hussein. In exchange, PM Ariel Sharon formed a third party and agreed to remove settlements from occupied Palestinian territories, grant Palestinians autonomy, and work towards a two state solution. This plan was masterminded and negotiated by Paul Wolfowitz, John Ashcroft, and Donald Rumsfeld.

This was told me by a friend who had very close ties to the GWB WH and was then corroborated by several other independent sources - including one who serves on the Council on Foreign Relations, and another who is on staff at The Fund for American Studies. This scenario does seem to make the most sense. In fact, SEC Powell's statement, "The decision to go to war was made well before evidence was gathered" which he made around noon on the day of his resignation as he and his wife stood on the steps of the US Capitol, seemed to support this argument by weakening the other reasons given for the war. Food for thought.......

Afghanistan 2002

I was scared. We all were, though not one would show it or verbalize it. Few of us had ever been in actual combat before. Our Special Forces team was flying on a Talon EC-130 into post-9/11 Afghanistan just months after our initial invasion. Our mission was to rout the Taliban and to deny Al-Queda sanctuary and freedom of movement within the borders of Afghanistan - and sometimes beyond.

We were all locked and loaded, each carrying an M4 Colt carbine and an M9 Beretta with a full battle load of ammo, forty pounds of body armor, and a seventy pound ruck sack. I remember wondering whether or not I'd just bought a one-way ticket, or if I'd make it home in one piece. I wondered if I'd ever see my wife and 2 year old daughter again. After viewing decapitation videos, and the video of the horrendous torture and eventual slaughter of the Navy SEAL who fell out of the back of the MH47 Chinook earlier in the war, we were advised to save one bullet for ourselves should we fall into enemy hands.

We bumped around the country at 10 miles an hour in our dust filled Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks wearing civilian clothes, hiking boots, baseball caps, and full beards - somehow thinking no one would know who we were. Afghanistan was the most heavily mined country in the world with some 20 million land mines scattered throughout the countryside by Russian and American forces 20 years ago. It wasn't just the land mines we were wary of, but the remotely detonated booby-traps set up to kill us, and to set us up for an all out ambush. These booby traps were usually well placed around tight curves and sheer rock mountain walls on one side so the majority of our team would be in the "kill zone" with little way of escape.

As we traveled we saw dozens of burned out Russian armored personnel carriers, tanks, helicopters, and planes. All had been scavenged for any part that was considered usable. We discovered weapon stockpiles - mostly Chinese rifles and mortars. We discovered mass graves with skulls, femurs, humeri. We found fields laden with opium poppies and hashish. Much of this served to remind me of the frailties of human life. Psalm 23 kept running through my head - "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me".... The Lord's protection of King David as he engaged in hand-to-hand combat many times throughout his life, encouraged me and gave me hope and confidence.

I was there for a purpose. I was the FOB 201 Special Forces Flight Surgeon and Diving Medical Officer with the US Army's 1st Battalion 20th Special Forces Group, (Airborne). I was responsible for all things medical in the two-thirds of Afghanistan that our unit controlled. My responsibilities included advising our commander with regard to medical issues, training our Special Forces Medics (who I trust more than I trust most medical or surgical residents), setting up medical supply delivery throughout our area of operations, coordinating and providing medical care to our forces in safe houses throughout the country, and setting up, coordinating, and overseeing Medevac routes and logistics - especially for those places north of the Hindu Kush as winter rolled in (helicopters just couldn't make it through the treacherous mountain passes in bad weather). We also organized and ran medical services for the indigenous population.

One of our most successful indigenous clinics was just outside of Asadabad just miles from the Pakistani border. We treated otitis, colitis, pneumonia, chronic pain, leprosy, and shrapnel injuries. This was the same place we mobilized from for our frequent forays into the surrounding areas with the CIA and Delta. We quickly discovered that our "allies" were anything but. We were held at gunpoint until a $50,000 ransom was paid to the Pakistani government. Along the border, Pakistani forces were told to engage us, and even went to arms on our forces - until a couple of Army A10s moved in with a low pass over the heads of our "friends" causing them to stand down.

Some ask why I gave up my job at the University of Tennessee and left my family to put myself in harm's way. As I sat in my living room watching events unfold on the morning of September 11, 2001, I realized we were at war. I realized life would never be the same again. I realized I must act to protect what I believe, and must sacrifice if my children are to grow up in a world free from fear. I experienced every emotion that morning from shock to sadness, from anger to bewilderment. We were at war. It was a religious war, and it was a war of values.

In the weeks before we deployed, I took my entire medical section to New York City where I had spent a couple of years of my life. I gave them each a New York Metro Subway token to place on the chain with their dog tags. As we viewed the site where the World Trade Centers once stood, we cried - Special Forces soldiers standing there in tears as we imagined people jumping from 80 stories above; we stood incomprehensibly envisioning planes flying into these symbols of freedom; we stood steeling our determination and resolve to find those responsible and meet justice to them.

The line from Braveheart rang true. "And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom".

Would I do it again? Certainly. Do people truly understand and appreciate what the average soldier sacrifices? Hardly. I do wish I could tell America that freedom is bought with a precious price. Appreciate it. Stop whining and complaining. Stop bickering. Unite. Learn humility. Give thanks. Get along. Love one another. Aim high. And remember, "Every man dies - but not every man truly lives".