by James Glaser
July 8, 2003

Yes I know we are all supposed to be supporting the troops and because I was one, I think supporting the troops does not necessarily mean supporting those commanding the troops.

In Iraq today American troops are ordered to terrorize that countries civilian population plain and simple. Here in America we believe that a man's home is his castle and you had better have some sort of evidence that you need to search his home and police must be civil when they do.

In Iraq today Americans are breaking down the doors of Iraqi's homes in the middle of the night terrorizing whole families. Can you imagine what it does to the children when our troops in full combat gear break in and take their father and humiliate him in front of his wife and kids by handcuffing him, make him lie face down, while searching the women and then they ransack the house looking for weapons?

As reported by the Associated Press, U,S, officials counter that soldiers don't intend to mistreat Iraqis. Well no, they don't "intend" to mistreat these people, but that is what they do because for one thing our troops are scared and for another they now hate Iraqis because of having friends killed and wounded over there.

"They're humiliating," Mahmoud al-Samarrai, 50, said of the raids. "Some of our fellow Muslims and Arabs say the Americans liberated us. If they think this is liberation, then we wish them the same."

People in Iraq have strict etiquette when entering someone else's home. The process is designed to safeguard the privacy and allow time for women to move out of sight or to change into more appropriate dress--- covering the body with loose garments and using a scarf to conceal the hair in line with Islamic law.

Sure that is different than here at home, but we went to Iraq to help these people, not to treat them like criminals in their own land. When American troops commit a "home invasion," the chaos created not only terrorizes the whole Iraqi family, but also creates intense hatred of American troops.

At the same time these orders of home searches terrorize our own American troops. Those young men will think about what they are doing to these children for the rest of their lives. Generals and those in Washington never think about what they are doing to our troops with these orders, because they don't go on these searches and see what really happens.

Our troops will live with these crimes against the Iraqi families for their whole lives. They will think about those Iraqi kids years later, when they are checking on their own sleeping children.

You mess with a man's wife and children and put him in a position that he can do nothing about it and he will dream of getting back at you some how. Things like this happen in wars, because those in charge have been cowards their whole lives and have no idea of what they are doing to innocent people with their orders.

Washington is forcing American troops to be terrorists!