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To
The New York Times (and local radio stations) Dear Editor: I have been having a reoccurring nightmare that I am with my Mom and sister in our car on a dark night. The radio announcer comes on to say that the missiles are on the way. In a few minutes the world will be destroyed. I ask Mom, what happened? She replies that Bush pushed the button. I am filled with indescribable fear and regret. I wake up heart pounding thinking - why didn't we do anything? There is not even an argument anymore whether or not there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There were no weapons. Forget Independence Day - we are the aliens sucking the planet dry of its natural resources. Why don't we spend the 39 billion dollars to create new resources? Imagine the President telling a mother and father "we could spend the money to find a new resource but we'd rather steal this other country's supply, butcher the people and sacrifice your son and daughter." And if Iraq did have WMD and had any intention of using them - wouldn't they have by now? Are they just playing hide and seek with their best weapon while we destroy and attempt to take over their country? What will it take? Are people that blind or just unwilling to admit that we are wrong? Newsflash - we are NOT the greatest country on earth. Although right now we're looking like the greatest hypocrites. People are worried about saying anything negative about the soldiers that committed these crimes because they don't want to offend anyone. They have offended us. They have disgraced our country. They put the rest of our soldiers in more danger. They put the entire country at greater risk and legitimized the Middle East's hatred of us. What were they thinking? We went in to stop the brutal torture that Saddam was causing and what do we do? We go in and use the very same prison and equipment to torture the people ourselves. Is there no common sense? Certainly there is no empathy, human feelings or reason. We invaded their country bathing them in the same abhorrent violence that we supposedly were saving them from. There wasn't time for training? There were months and months of warnings before we actually went over there. And what kind of training do you need to know that beating a man to death or raping is wrong? Have we learned nothing from history? All of our tributes and monuments to the Holocaust are meaningless. This time WE are the ones committing acts against humanity. The responsibility begins at the top. It’s unbelievable to think that they didn’t know. Recall what Bush said after 9/11. He called the terrorists animals. Now he has created this myth that the 9/11 terrorists and Iraqi people are one and the same. Therefore the Iraqi people are animals. But even if they didn't - THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. Bush is sending our sons and daughters over there and he can't tell me exactly what is happening to them? In a prison that we are in control of?? Right now I’m more afraid of the actions of our own government than I am of more terrorist activity. The damage that Bush has inflicted on our relations with the rest of the world - including countries that were on our side - is horrifying and immeasurable. He believes that God appointed him and that he was destined to lead this war. Instead of consulting George Sr. - he consulted a 'higher father'. A higher father and apparently other Middle Eastern leaders who have the ability to walk in at any moment and badger him about when he is going to war. I couldn’t believe when I heard Bush praise Rumsfeld. I screamed when I heard that the polls were still showing support for the war. I cried when I heard commentators say, "Well that's just normal in battle". This is not my country. This is madness. Others sadly say, yes this is America. Our own prisons are filled with stories of abuse. Maybe this is our country. But it shouldn't be. It doesn't have to be. One person can make a difference. Ask Army Reserve Spc. Joseph M. Darby who reported the abuse overcoming the fear of retaliation and alienation by his fellow soldiers. Each and every one of us has to be willing to do the same. I'm down on my knees begging the American people. It's not enough to speak up anymore. We must shout from the rooftops and jump up and down. Bring back our soldiers. Get rid of this administration. Impeach this president. Take back our country. Or continue to live in the disgrace and bloodbath that we have created.
Michelle Zeman New York
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