To A Soldier, From A Citizen

To the soldiers of my nation, wherever you are, I send you greetings from the heart of your empire. A grateful nation awaits your homecoming.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Cherokee. I am Creek. I am Choctaw. I am also German, Dutch, French, Scottish, Irish, English and Portuguese. I am a true daughter of America, and I have never known any other way of life.

I am from the rural ghettos of Louisiana. I am from the ghettos, but, I did not make them. Many of you are from such places, as well. Perhaps you call them 'el barrios', the hood, the projects, or trailer parks. Most of the soldiers who fight for this nation are from exactly these places. And we all know, you did not make them either.

Whatever place you come from, you have chosen a higher path.

I was married to a soldier once. He taught me many things. He said to me 'No soldier ever declares the war he fights. And no politician ever fights the war he declared.'

We had only been married five days when he went to Saudi Arabia. He had 9 days left when a bomb exploded in front of his barracks at Khobar Towers. We were on the phone when it went off. From half a world a way I was an ear witness to it.

Needless to say he returned to me a haunted man. When he slept he would grind his teeth. When I think of soldiers, that is what I see, men who grind their teeth in their sleep.

When he dreamed, I was forced to seek dark corners.

Strangely enough, he did not dream of bombs. He would scream vulgarities at the people in his memory who were bringing little girls into the clinic across from his office to be castrated with no anesthesia. He would beg them to take their baby from there. For months and months he had to sit there, and listen to them, day after day. He refused to discuss it while awake. At night he would sob himself into howls of pain. It will surprise no one when I say he lost his way, we both, lost our way together.

In my hasty retreats I often wondered about the very freedom I was born with. He never knew he had taught me about freedom. The freedom to not be mutilated. In the dark I reflected on how lucky I am to be an American. The freedom to know my daughters will never be slaves. The right to not be ignored, forgotten, forsaken. Brutalized. Tortured. Freedom from fear.

That is what my grandfathers fought for. My own brother wore this nation’s uniform to ensure such rights would not be breached. This is what you now fight for.

Certainly, no one knows that better than you who actually stand watch over us all.

As a citizen, my duty is to love you and live up to the privileges you ensure. To maintain the home front, so it is worth fighting for.

It is my duty to say what you can not, and as a sister and wife to hold you when the uniform comes off to reveal a human being shattered by the illusions of power.

Which brings us to Iraq.

It is my duty to break the bonds of silence between us and as a patriot, warn you of open treason in our White House. Treason so blatant and wicked we will all be damned for it. It is a treason that has led directly to your presence in Iraq. Those who have refused to fight for this nation in their own time of duty has committed you to sacrifice yourself for their open lies.

Treason is afoot. There is no doubt about it any longer.

The most dangerous times are now upon us. It is time for soldiers to question the politics of war, to question your own leaders. And their motives. Before you EVER decided to wear that uniform you were a citizen first, protected by a Constitution that is even now being violated.

As a citizen it is my duty to tell you that there are traitors who have endangered us all, walking among us. And they are among your leadership.

There are those even now saying this treason does not matter. There are those saying even if it does matter, it does not count for much. It is time for them to tell it to the MARINES. The same soldiers they have left digging through garbage to up armor yourselves, they OWE YOU an explanation. Let them say to you, who is bloodied, that more blood will wash away these lies and render the dead moot.

They are saying to withdrawal would bring dishonor to you, the soldier. Those who say that are the same people excusing TREASON. The truth is, withdrawal will not be about your shame or guilt. It would expose their lies as lies with no more blood to cover them. The failure would be theirs alone, and the ones who lied us into Iraq know that very well. They know by our own laws they are RESPONSIBLE for each and every death.

Every single American that exists knows how bravely you have fought. They are using the pride of that bravery against you. They say disengagement means defeat. What they do not say is it will be their own defeat that will be suffered when we handcuff them and frog march their asses to prison. They tell you their defeat is your defeat, to ensure you do not question their choice of enemies.

The ONLY way to honor the fallen now is to question why they were sacrificed in the first place. It is time to openly question the terrible cost of TREASON. The dead do not demand honor, they only demand truth. A truth that has been long denied.

It is time to find out where all those billions, nay, trillions, of dollars went. It is time to find out who 'Fixed the facts around the policy.'

In the end one undeniable fact will remain. Iraq never threatened us. Iraq was incapable of threatening the freedom of ANY American. Withdrawal, not withdrawal, at this point we need the brightest and the best to figure out what to do in Iraq. The traitors who turned it into a war zone can not be trusted to seek peace there.

And let us never again forget that an enduring peace, IS victory. Triumph lay in just laws.

For now we need those who actually fought in Iraq to turn their attention back homeward. Your nation, our nation, is in grave danger. Not from without, from within. Those who have profited from your deaths are even now wiping the blood from the silver.

Those that command you at the highest levels have betrayed our nation. There is NO DOUBT treason has been committed.

True patriots, citizens, are now the enemy of those who inhabit the halls of power. Very soon the very young, the very old, and all shades in between will be freezing to death with empty bellies on our own streets. Laws have been passed to ensure their starvation.

When a lost soldiers mother steps forward to ask why, those who find sacrificing you only a pen stroke away call those mothers 'clowns' for even asking. It is time for you to ask before your mother has too. It is time for you to fight for WE The People.

I can not by law tell you to disobey an order, or command, but I can tell you what I was taught to believe. I was taught a better man will always follow the truth, no matter where that takes him. I can tell you I want you to LIVE. I want you to live to fight another day.

God bless America, and may God help us all.

We miss you. We love you. We NEED you now more than ever.

Please come home soon.

With Respect,

A Citizen of the United States of America.


Strength to Our Soldiers. Power to the People.