Well, that must must justify what is going on now. Do not do anything because it happened before.


>No, because there is no doubt there is corruption in Iraq - visible and hidden. As was the case in all previous wars and military conflicts. Sadly, that has not improved over the years...
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>>Do you have any comments about the title of the post? There has been a good deal said about the corruption in Iraq related to contracts.
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>>>While I can sympathize with the soldier as far as the stress he endured in Iraq, I have a REAL issue with some of the information he posted. For example, he stated:
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>>>Because our unit no longer had a mission, we were forced into other things that we weren't trained to do. Mechanics found themselves on guntruck missions escorting convoys between bases. Many of us were forced onto guard duty while the contractors fumbled through our old jobs getting paid way more than any soldier. I spent months checking ID cards at the Post Exchange and Recreation facility
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>>>That is the reality of EVERY soldier and EVERY soldier is trained to do those very things. All soldiers are trained FIRST to be soldiers and that includes firefights, escort duty, guard duty, sentry detail, et al. To me, IMHO, he is complaining about BEING A SOLDIER. I have little sympathy for griping from someone who is complaining about performing the BASIC role he was tasked to do.
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>>>Aircraft missile systems mechanics pull guard duty, sentry duty, and just about everything else. So do interrogators. I can vouch for that as I had to myself during the many years I was a soldier. My response is:
>>>WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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>>>And by the way, I was cross-trained as an avionics mechanic (and aviation electrician) while I was an aircraft missile systems repairman IN THE ARMY. It is entirely possible. I can not count the number of hours on guard duty or patrolling with the infantry looking for weapons caches. Sheesh - there are names (which I won't repeat) for 'soldiers' like that one...
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>>>>I intend on attend a viewing party this weekend to view this movie:
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>>>>I served in Iraq and saw the cost of corruption first hand. Please help end it this weekend by going to a local screening of Iraq for Sale to learn the truth and reach critical voters through Call for Change.
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>>>>Dear MoveOn member,
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>>>>For two years, I risked my life in the Iraq war. I'm writing to invite you this weekend to see what I saw over there and take action to keep my fellow soldiers safe.
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>>>>This weekend, MoveOn members across the country are opening their homes to screen a powerful new film, Iraq for Sale, about the big corporations that are endangering soldiers' lives and ruining the chance for peace.
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>>>>I'm asking all of you to go see this groundbreaking movie and to bring as many friends as you can. There are nearly 1,500 screenings in cities and towns across the country. To find the closest one and RSVP, just click here:
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>>>>http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=59&id=9054-7652326-prj.Q2U9ZOdt47tX43zjhQ&t=4
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>>>>When you see what's in this movie, you're going to want to do something about it—and you can. At these same parties, we'll be calling key voters through MoveOn's Call for Change program and reminding them to get to the polls. The calls are simple and easy, and—speaking as someone who has seen the consequences of Republican misrule first hand—they're well worth it.
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>>>>Why do I know this film is so powerful? Because I'm in it. Here's a little more about my story.
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>>>>I am the child of a career Army man, and when it came time to decide what to do after high school, I knew I wanted to follow the same path. In 2003 and then again in 2005, my unit was deployed to Iraq.
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>>>>As a maintenance unit, we were responsible for repairing everything and anything soldiers used to do their jobs and stay alive: weapons, radios, trucks, computers—you name it. So you can imagine our shock, weeks after getting to Iraq, when we were ordered to hand our mission over to private contractors employed by Halliburton.
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>>>>But there's a catch: Halliburton had neither the training nor the equipment to take over our mission. Most of the contractors had no previous knowledge at all of our equipment before coming to Iraq. One of the contractors I "trained" was not even remotely familiar with radio systems, but had been a missile systems repairman while he was in the Army.
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>>>>Because our unit no longer had a mission, we were forced into other things that we weren't trained to do. Mechanics found themselves on guntruck missions escorting convoys between bases. Many of us were forced onto guard duty while the contractors fumbled through our old jobs getting paid way more than any soldier. I spent months checking ID cards at the Post Exchange and Recreation facility.
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>>>>I felt helpless and awful, like I was letting down my fellow soldiers while they were being put into life-threatening situations with unsafe equipment, and there was nothing I could do about it.
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>>>>Since I returned to the States, I've learned more about why all that happened—about how the Republicans gave Dick Cheney's old company all these huge contracts and didn't care at all how it endangered us soldiers. And now, there is something I can do about it—I can speak out.
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