by James Glaser
September 22, 2003

There are three ways that American troops will me removed from Iraq. The first can be like Vietnam. That is when the American Public can no longer stomach the numbers of Soldiers and Marines killed and wounded. The second is the American people standing up right now and saying, we are not going to let the number of casualties get any higher, Bring the Troops Home Now! The third is waiting for President Bush to decide we have won and the our troops can come home. The flaw in the third way, is we have no idea of what winning in Iraq means.

It is your choice, but let me tell you if you sit there and read all about the war and keep telling yourself that nothing you do will make a difference, then you might as well put a bullet in some soldiers head, because that is exactly what you will be doing.

It took years and years for the antiwar movement to grow large enough during the Vietnam war before Washington took it seriously. Then it took several more years before the pressure brought to bear on the government by citizens, ended the war. In between the start of the antiwar movement and the war's end, tens of thousands of young Americans died.

Sure you can say that we haven't come close to that point yet with only about 300 Soldiers and Marines killed and maybe 1500 wounded, but we have only been in this war for six months and it took years for the Vietnam casualty rate to get that high.

From the Vietnam Memorial Wall information page, it took eight years of war in Vietnam, from 1957 to 1964 to get to 300 Americans killed. In 1968, 40 Americans were getting killed every day, wars can escalate real fast. Want to take that chance?

In the years after the war, just like with every war, another 867 Soldiers and Marines have died from their wounds received in Vietnam. 127 of them since 1997. Bringing the troops home does not stop the dying and that is why it is so important to end wars as soon as possible. There are now veterans from every war, WW2 to the last Gulf War, that are in VA., Hospitals around this country, men that will never get to "come Home," because their wounds are too severe.

Our modern medical care has kept the deaths of our troops in Iraq much lower than they might have been.. Many wounds that would have killed a man in past wars, can now be taken care of in modern front line hospital facilities. Many men can be stabilized in Iraq and then flown to the States in a matter of hours. Even then, some of the troops still die from their wounds in state side hospitals.

Every day that you wait to voice your opinion about this war, another 1, 2, or 3 Americans will be killed. About ten are wounded each day too and many of these are losing limbs.

We are all citizens and it is our right to tell our government just how we feel. Contrary to what some in Washington say, it is the Patriot thing to do.

If you are one of those that can't get out there and protest in Public, then put pen to paper and write your Congressman. The US Senate can be reached at http://www.senate.gov/ and the House of Representatives at http://www.house,gov/house/member

If you can't write or call, send an e-mail. What you will be doing, is trying to save lives, both American and Iraqi.