I NEVER INTENDED FOR THIS TO HAPPEN

On March 26th I wrote about a website that simulates Donald Rumsfeld's answers to questions about the United States' actions in Iraq. (The site is still up, so click here if you didn't happen to catch it the first time around.) Apparently, people have been landing on Belicove.com after conducting an "ask Donald Rumsfeld" query on any number of search engins. As a result, two people have posted actual questions for U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the Beli-Blog, as opposed to using the referenced website. A grandmother named Miki posted the following on my March 26 entry just this past week:

It is my understanding that my grandson will be ordered to remain in Baghdad until april of '04 and I am absolutely amazed that whoever is making these decisions does not realize that these troops have to be completely drained by now. Are we so depleted of troops that we have to ask the unthinkable of these soldiers? My grandson told me that he was proud to be doing the job that was asked of him and that he thought that it was important to stabilize that part of the world in order to keep our country safe, but I have heard the depression in his voice lately and he has expressed the disappointment of being told that they were being sent home at a date that is reversed and now that it has changed again to a much later date.

How long can these boys be alert and helpful to our cause locked into the hell hole of Iraq? Haven't these troops done their part and isn't it time to send in some fresh troops? Please reconsider and let these guys come home for their sake and for their families and also for the country. Hopefully yours. Micki

So what did you tell her? :)

I wonder what her grandson would think if he knew his grandma was contacting the west wing trying to get him home!

The troops are trained to withstand a lot. Many want to go home simply because they have run the course of interest and mission in their own minds. Remember...the U.S. military trains these soldiers for such assignments. Although I don't believe we should have gone to war with Iraq, at the same note, I believe the soldiers can be kept there at least a year before it starts becoming extreme. The U.S. military has been sending its troops to Korea, Panama, and the Middle East for year tours for a very long time now. They are called unaccompanied tours and the soldiers with families actually receive separation pay during that time. No one seems to notice or complain about that until the media coverage notes it.

I was talking about this with B yesterday and he commented that it was 115 degrees while he was doing a 3 week military exercise in California this past June. He also commented that the soldiers complain continuously. It is the soldiers way. B is a National Guard Officer.

In the end, I guess my point is that the soldiers train to do what they are doing in Iraq. There are no such things as "fresh" troops. The soldiers in Iraq are working in luxury compared to the Vietnam, WWII, WWI, and Civil War soldiers. Soldiers always want to go home, no matter what they are doing. It's the life of a soldier.