Moving forward on Iraq

All summer long on behalf of a nationwide campaign I lobbied members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to stand up to President Bush and put an end to the war in Iraq. Most of the feedback I received regarding any decisions they would make were directly related to the highly anticipated report from General Petraeus. The report came and went and with no action whatsoever from Congress.

This week I traveled back to Washington to continue my efforts to end the war. But this time I didn’t go on behalf of a campaign. Instead, I went alone as an Iraq war veteran and that is all I needed. I never looked at ending the war in Iraq as campaign work or a political strategy. Contrary to what some people may believe that is not my business. I know what it is like over there and I know the time has long past for this disaster to end.

I wish I could report that I made some progress but all I can say is that nothing has changed but the weather.

If you look at the current legislative action in Congress to force Bush to end the war on his watch it appears that the fight could very well be over on that front.

As it stands now it is highly probable that Bush will get his way for the duration of his tragic presidency and we could very well still have troops in Iraq after he leaves office.

A few nights ago I watched the Republican presidential candidates (who want to carry on Bush’s Iraq policy) debate each other and it totally reinforced my determination to fight for an end to the war and a change of direction in America despite how dismal the situation my appear.


For those who missed it the Republican candidates were challenged with the question of whether or not the President needs Congressional approval prior to taking military action against Iran. With the exception of Ron Paul most of the candidates avoided the question by creating hypothetical scenarios that would not afford the President the time or luxury of consulting Congress prior to a military strike. Sadly, I was not even appalled by their blatant disregard for the Constitution. It’s what I have come to expect from them now.

How could they even contemplate a war with Iran when the Army has been totally disabled by the war in Iraq?

As a Democrat I should ask my party’s frontrunner what she was thinking when she voted to give Bush more leverage to attack Iran.

While pondering that I recalled a very disturbing incident during my tour in Iraq. A scout platoon in my unit was conducting a routine patrol when they were hit by a roadside bomb in a narrow Baghdad alley. My squad was called to respond. When we arrived we were told by some local Iraqis that the people who planted the bomb were in a house about 50 yards away. My squad entered the home to find a family sitting on the floor in the main room. As other troops in my squad searched the home I remained in the room with the family. I noticed a teenage boy looking right at me with a venomous stare. I looked into his eyes thinking he would look away but he kept looking right back at me as if he wanted to kill me. My rifle was locked and loaded with my finger on the trigger. Even though he could do me no harm at that moment just the way he looked at me scared me enough to have him arrested. Later that evening I received word that his hands tested positive for the highest reading of bomb making material of any Iraqi we had arrested up until that point.

That teenage boy wasn’t a terrorist, a member of the Baath party, or a member of Al-Qaeda. That incident had nothing to do with so called "Islamofascism" as Bush and the neocons love to use to defend their hopeless war in Iraq. That boy just hated that the American military was occupying his country and he wanted to kill us for it.

That is was these idiot politicians in Washington don’t understand when they continue to play politics with people’s lives by allowing this war to continue. I don't mean that as a partisan statement either. This type of politics is clearly being practiced by both Democrats and Republicans.

Frustrated by my inability to influence members of Congress to change their position I called my friend Ron Kovic to vent. We spoke about how important it is for veterans to educate people to the harsh reality of war. I told him of the difficulties I often encounter being that the sacrifice is so unshared causing a total disconnect between Americans and the reality of the situation. If it were not for me most of my friends and family would not even know anyone who served in Iraq. This is all the more reason why I need to keep raising awareness and I'm so glad I made the call.

Hopefully when this war is over those of us who fought to end it will have succeeded in establishing a precedent that never again will we allow our leaders to recklessly plunge our great nation into a needless war and use the lives of our troops for their personal agenda.

On election day of November 2008 we must go to the voting booths and hold those we elected in 2006 to end the war accountable for their failures. We can't allow ourselves to be fooled again by hollow promises from politicians who didn't live up to their word.

Somehow we must make politicians from all political parties realize they need to work together to end this war and take care of our troops when they return home.

It is our responsibility as Americans.

John Bruhns
Iraq Veteran