A letter submitted to the Washington Post
by Dante Zappala

I am the brother of a fallen soldier in Iraq. Your statement that those who are calling for a pullout are not serious is offensive. To quote you:

"While public support for a pullout has grown, almost no one in Congress is advocating such a step.

What serious people are asking of the administration is a set of yardsticks by which the situation in Iraq can be realistically measured -- and accountability established for a strategy to reach those goals."

What many serious people who have suffered a serious loss are asking is when will people in Washington start being serious about protecting the lives of soldiers and when will they be serious about upholding their end of the bargain to commit soldiers into harms way as a last resort? When will they show serious empathy for the plight of soldiers and their families instead of waving a flag and co-opting their sacrifices for political gain? It's insulting for you to say that our work to not see more families end up like ours is not serious.

You cannot morally and legally leave soldiers in another country indefinitely with no clear mission and with no timetable to complete that non-existent mission--that is, if you claim to support our troops, you can't. Does anyone stop to ask the soldiers what, perhaps, they want? Does anyone think to ask the families of fallen soldiers what the meaning of their loved one's sacrifice is? Has a single pundit who tells me it's 'worth it' ever asked me my opinion? Perhaps you should write a column that asks to quantify not just progress but failures.

Perhaps you should consider the betrayal of an honest American who joined the National Guard to serve his community and country. He died in the desert providing security for the Iraq Survey Group as they looked for WMD while he was on daily rations of three bottles of water and one MRE. Maybe that story would inspire a column about quantifying failure. Or maybe it just doesn't fit into your neat little theory about 'metrics.'

My friend, I know what is happening over there because I talk to soldiers who have returned, I talk to the families of those who have died, I listen to what our military has been and continues to say about what has happened and what will happen. And I don't trump their voices for political hot air. If you would stop regurgitating rhetoric and passive strategies for 'success', you'd know exactly what is happening in Iraq and be able to think for yourself about how to get out of there.

As you consider your next piece, please have some courage to say something meaningful.
Peace,
Dante Zappala
Brother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker
KIA 4/26/04 Baghdad, Iraq

Bush's Speech

A year after of the transfer of power in Iraq, President Bush spoke to the nation from Fort Braggs, North Caroline to show that he is supporting our troops.  

In his speech, Mr. Bush continued mentioning the events of 9/11/01 to justify the unjustifiable, the invasion of Iraq. He said that our children are fighting in Iraq to set up a free society in a country that didn't have anything to do with the attacks in 9/11.  

Mr. Bush said that the United States won't leave Iraq until the "mission is accomplish", we need to remember that he said that "the mission was completed" while he stood aboard a aircraft carrier back in May 1003.  I would like to know, what mission is he talking about?, what is the real objective that we need to finish in Iraq? Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, Iraq did not posessed wapons of mass distruction, so what is the justification to continue occupying a sovereign nation?.  

Mr. Bush says that we will continue in Iraq until there is a climate of peace and liberty, but how is possible for tranquility to exist in Iraq while it is ocuppied by a foreign contry?. Mr. Bush says that the terrorist are the ones that are killing  thousands of women and children, but he forgets that in the first days of the war our troops done away with thousands of them when hospitals, schools were distroyed by the United States bombardments. How does he dare to say that the problems in Iraq are due to handful of insurgents,  but who oppened the doors to this terrorist?  It was Bush, when in December 2003 when the borders between Iraq and Jordan were wide open without a civil or military control.  

Bush demostrated a great cynisism and hipocracy when he thanked the military families for their support to his war policies. This belief of his wouldn'be farter  from the truth , many military families including the families of soldiers fighting in the war, and the ones that lost love ones including myself are opposed  to this illegal occupation.  

Mr. Bush hides behind big  companies that are making billions of dollars  while pretending to rebuilt Iraq, when in reality the people in Iraq do not have clean drinking water, no electricity, and gasoline prices are out of reach for average Iraqi people.  

Mr. Bush talks about a free elections, doesn't he realize that the Iraqi people voted so the occupation would end , not to continue it..  

In conclusion, Mr. Bush said more of the same. The same lies trying to encite the patriotism of our young people to enlist in the arm forces since the volunteer enlistment is in trouble, and there is not enough manpower to continue this war and the ones he may have planned for the future. What he doesn't understand is that the American youth is not going to be fooled anymore,  knowing that there are more than 1700 members of our armed forces dead, more than 100,000 Iraqis dead, thousands of Iraqs dying for luck of humanitarian help, and thousands of American children left orphans. The American people no longer will believe and follow Bush's call for war. We will continue the fight to end this illegal occupation and work for the return of our troops.
POR UNA GENERACION LLENA DE PAZ Y AMOR!!
EL GUERRERO AZTECA
Que dios les bendiga.
Atentamente:
Fam. Suarez del Solar.
Padres del "GUERRERO AZTECA"
Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar Navarro Lance Corporal USMC
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division
fernando@guerreroazteca.org
Fvsuarez2000@yahoo.com.mx

Silence in the Face of Truth: The Downing Street Memo

For the first 30 years of my brother Sherwood Baker’s life, his mission was to be a responsible citizen. He made oaths and he honored those oaths. This made him a loving father and husband. This also made him a noble and committed soldier. He courageously deployed with his National Guard unit to Iraq in 2004.

For the last six weeks of his life, Sherwood’s mission was to provide convoy security for the Iraq Survey Group. He was killed in action, providing site security for the group that was looking for weapons of mass destruction. Mounting evidence indicates that the weapons’ non-existence wasn’t a mistake. It was a ruse.

The clouds surrounding Sherwood’s death became even darker recently when I read the contents of a memo from the upper echelons of the British government. The memo reiterates the fact that our administration had every intention of invading Iraq in the summer of 2002. The White House needed only to sell the idea to the American people.

Prior to Congressional approval, prior to saying, “War is the last resort,” the decision had been made to go to war regardless of legal justification or the problems associated with the aftermath of an invasion. The most telling quote in this memo reads, “The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” Read the memo: http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memo.html .

My brother died scouring the Iraqi countryside not to protect his country, but to satisfy the Bush administration’s public relations agenda.

The leaders of our country politicized intelligence to satisfy an ideology. My brother and more than 1,700 other soldiers have been killed as a result. Yet I have to sift through the papers and the news channels to find even a pulse of concern. In the wake of such disturbing revelations, a majority of our press and populace resoundingly choose to be silent.

Overwhelmingly, Americans have ceased to care about how and why we went war. Apathy, in the face of our soldiers’ sacrifice, seems more convenient.

We cannot allow our government to simply replace the motivations for war midstream and expect an entire nation and all its allies to succumb to selective memory. Yet that is exactly what has happened.

The poet Archibald MacLeish, who also lost a brother in war, wrote:

They say We leave you our deaths Give them their meaning.

If we are to give meaning to the deaths in Iraq, we must be willing to engage in truthful dialogue about the pretenses of war. Acquiescing to the lure of silence and ignorance is an affront to the families and memories of all who have fallen. It is a prescription for unending violence and suffering.

Are we so ashamed of what our soldiers have and continue to do in Iraq that we can’t even talk about how they got there? Or, are we simply ashamed of ourselves for letting it happen?

We must each confront ourselves over the failures in Iraq. For that failure is not simply the fault of our leaders misusing suspect intelligence. Our course as a country, ultimately, stems from the individual conclusion of all of us to be either complicit or resistant to war.

The government’s failure in Iraq becomes our own failure when we substitute political rhetoric or blanket ideology for reason. It becomes our fault when we are recklessly arrogant and willfully deaf.

Our responsibility as citizens is to acknowledge and embrace the whole truth about the Iraq War. We must look past partisanship and hold ourselves and our leaders to the high standards of integrity that citizenship demands. When we fail to honor that responsibility, we fail to honor the sacrifices of our soldiers.

Dante Zappala is a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus (online www.fpif.org) and a member of Gold Star Families for Peace www.gsfp.org, and Military Families Speak Out www.mfso.org. He lives in Philadelphia.

For More Information:

Rep. John Conyers is running a campaign to get President Bush to answer the questions regarding the “Downing Street Memo.” http://johnconyers.campaignoffice.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={456ECCD 5-4EAC-4C6D-8A17-89728B250AE2}

Get the most up-to-date list of the members of Congress who have signed on to the Conyers letter and additional information: www.afterdowningstreet.org

First of all, thank you so much for your tireless efforts for the truth and for representing so admirably not only your constituents, but the people of America as well.

My son, Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, was KIA in Iraq on 04 April, 2004. I knew when I was watching him leave me for that mistake of an invasion/occupation that it was an immoral war based on lies and exaggerations and that I should have somehow stopped him. But he went, and he was killed trying to rescue some of his buddies after he had only been in Iraq for two weeks.

Congressman Conyers, this aggression in Iraq has been wrong from the beginning and has been proven over and over again to be a huge betrayal of the world. The memo about the upcoming invasion of Iraq that just recently surfaced in Great Britain, dated 23 July 2002, is only confirmation of what we already know: the intelligence was cooked and manipulated to fit the goals of the Administration driven by the Neo-Con agenda. Part of the memo states:

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD.

Congressman Conyers, in July of 2002, my son didn't even realize that he was already a dead man. My entire family was still living our lives like we were always going to have each other. We were operating under the false and tragic assumption that all the children would bury the parents. Casey had a good life and we were a happy family. Casey was a kind, generous, intelligent, loving, funny, and indispensable part of our lives. Our lives have now been ripped open and devastated by his needless murder.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Duelfer report so clearly states that Iraq wouldn't even have had WMD's in the near future. Saddam did not plan and execute 9/11. We all know who did plan 9/11 and that person is still running free. The policies of the murderous thugs in the White House have killed thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan who had no connection with 9/11. The same pack of liars and murderers in the Bush regime is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and many hundreds of innocent Americans. How many people are George Bush, et al, going to slaughter before they feel some kind of revenge (no matter how misplaced) for 9/11? The leaders of our country rushed us recklessly headlong into an invasion that should never have happened and our children are still not properly armed, armored, equipped, or trained. In my opinion, the invasion could have waited forever, or at least until Rumsfeld had the Army that he "wanted."

Congressman, the only people the aggression in Iraq have benefited are the people who have become fabulously wealthy because of it. Follow the money trail and you will see who is responsible for so much senseless bloodshed. In addition, there are billions of dollars missing from the Provisional Authority in Iraq. BILLIONS! Who will be held accountable for that crime? The criminals that need to be held accountable are master manipulators and they need to be brought to justice.

In addition to the treasonous lies that convinced some of our fellow citizens that we needed to invade a sovereign country that posed no threat to the USA, our country has stooped to the most lowest of forms of humanity: humiliating and painful torture of our so-called enemies. The orders for this torture were given and endorsed from the very top of the chain of command and the only people who are being punished are privates and specialists from West Virginia. The people who should be held accountable for the despicable crimes of torture sit in comfy offices on nice chairs counting their money in the Oval Office, VPs office, Pentagon, and the Attorney General's office. Every one of the people who defile these offices should be arrested and handcuffed for war crimes and treason.

Congressman Conyers, it is obvious to me that George Bush has committed high crimes and misdemeanors against this country and the citizens of the world. His lies, betrayals, mistakes, miscalculations, arrogance and stupidity are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people and the destruction of a sovereign nation and civilization.

I am strongly urging you to introduce Articles of Impeachment for Bush and Cheney. It is the only moral thing to do to try and stop these immoral people who are waging an immoral war. The resignations of Rumsfeld, Rice and Gonzales should also be stridently called for. There should actually be a wholesale cleaning out of the Pentagon and the Cabinet to get this country and the world back on track to healing and regaining our humanity.

Congressman, nothing will bring my son back. However, seeing the monsters who sent him to be killed in a prefabricated war, brought to justice, will help my healing process immensely. Also, seeing the occupation end and the bloodshed stop will be the best outcome of getting the thugs out of our government.
In Peace and Hope, and with all sincerity,
Cindy Sheehan
Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace
http://www.gsfp.org/

Letter to Donald Rumsfeld from Bill Mitchell

As I awoke this morning on the eve on my second trip to Washington, D.C., I re-read the letter that I had sent to you from Germany on May 4, 2004 (see attached). I was there in Germany with my son’s fiancée, Bianca. I mailed that letter on the one month anniversary of my son’s death. Just so you know, SSG Michael William Mitchell was killed in action on 04-04-04 in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq on the first day of the Shiite uprising. Mike volunteered for the mission that day with just a week left in his tour. Imagine my horror this summer while meeting with Mike’s buddies back in Germany and learning that all of their equipment had been turned in the day before on 04-03-04. All I can think is that if you had not shut down Mutqada al-Sadr’s newspaper and arrested one of his top aides in that prior week, my son would be alive today and my life would not be in the shambles that it is. I find it rather ironic that as we claim to be bringing democracy to Iraq, we eliminate freedom of the press. It is quite obvious that our administration does not like dissention.

I had not read that letter in months but I could clearly touch again upon the anger and hostility that I felt so strongly then. It has now been 9 ½ months since my only son’s death and although the anger has subsided, the sadness and pain that I feel are always present. When I first learned of Mike’s death, my immediate response was to write letters, grant interviews, and in general speak out against this unjust war every chance I got. These actions kept me strong and gave me the strength to continue living. I made my first trip to Washington, D.C. in early October and participated in a rally and march from Arlington National Cemetery to the White House. It felt great as I had wanted to go to the White House ever since I refused the priority mail from the White House containing President Bush’s condolence letter. It was then that I first requested a meeting with President Bush and yourself, but there was no reply and no meeting.

However, after being spiritually uplifted during a great week spent with my new friends, I came home and crashed and burned; hitting my deepest depression yet. I realized that no matter what I did, my son will never come home again. I could not write letters nor could I go out and speak. In fact, I could hardly eat and sleep. Well, I did bounce back from that depression and started feeling stronger again just to be knocked back down by the election results. Myself and many others who have lost their loved ones took those results as a real slap in the face. Oh, and then the holidays came around; Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Mike’s Grandma’s birthday on December 11th, Christmas, and then my birthday just passed on January 9th. All of these events without a card or phone call from Mike. On my birthday, I just kept re-reading last year’s card while I cried. I can’t begin to describe to you the pain that one feels at these moments but my new friends know what I am talking about; and if you let us, we will share these stories with you. So with the encouragement of my friends, I have decided to make another trip to Washington, D.C. so that we can support each other as we make a final plea to meet with you. If you are sincere in your statements that you “feel our loss” and that this grief that we are experiencing is “felt to your core”, then I am sure that you will want to meet with us and then you can see what “grief” really looks and feels like. I must say that I am really amazed that you and the others at the DOD as well as our commander-in-chief are not interested in meeting with Gold Star Families. Anyway, I will be there along with my new friends at the Pentagon on Wednesday at noon. I am really hoping that you find the time to meet with us as I am sure it will be an enlightening experience for both parties.

The Secretary of Defense Mr. Donald Rumsfeld The Department of Defense Washington, D.C. 20301

I want to thank you so much for the wonderful form letter that one of your employees at the Department of Defense took the time to send me. My only son, SSG Michael William Mitchell, was killed exactly one month ago today in Sadr City, Iraq on 4-4-04 in the first day of the Shiite uprising. He took a rifle shot to the back of his head after volunteering to go to the rescue of 20 soldiers from another company who had been ambushed. For this, he was given the Bronze Star. Maybe if my son had once been a professional football player, he might have been posthumously given the Silver Star??? In addition, I am positive he was in one of the coffins from that oh so “controversial” picture published in the Seattle Times. I want you to know that I support the publishing of that picture. I think our government has a lot of nerve to attempt to hide the truth from the American people and then have that poor woman and her husband fired. How do you sleep at night? I read with amazement your quote which a friend sent to me, “Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.” With the ability to think like that, it is no wonder that you and your staff as well as many politicians in Washington attempt to hide the true cost of this war. It is my firm opinion that Mike was just a puppet in a play. OK… I plagiarized that from the song “John Brown” by Bob Dylan written during and about the Vietnam War. You might want to take a few minutes to listen to this song and just possibly, you may get a sense of how so many people in this world feel about war!!!

If you think that I am mad about the unnecessary and untimely death of my son, then you are entirely correct. In addition, there are a great many other emotions that I am experiencing which I am sure you have no clue. Now if you can tell me that your son has died in a war in which you believe was waged in the name of modern day imperialism fueled by capitalism, then I will concede that you have some idea of how I feel.

Now as far as your letter goes, let me respond to it now. I really do not believe that ALL of the employees at the Department of Defense know about the death of my son so how could they possibly be deeply saddened, have him in their thoughts and prayers, or be proud and grateful for his service. Another comment here; many, many good people were praying for Mike when he was alive and doing your dirty work in Iraq. You and your employees’ prayers at this time give me little or no relief from this tragedy. As his father, a Vietnam era veteran, and an anti-war protestor; I am also very proud of him. However, had he departed Iraq on April 11, 2004 as scheduled and arrived in Germany alive, then I might possibly be able to say that I too am grateful for his service. Yet I can state unequivocally that I am not grateful for his death. To be perfectly honest, I am appalled at your even suggesting this to me. My projection based upon the last phone conversation I had with my son is that he was planning to arrive in Germany just about today. I am currently here in Germany as I am with his grieving fiancée, Bianca. There is much more information available about their relationship in “An open letter to the Commanding Officer of SSG Michael William Mitchell” which I am enclosing in this package. If you sincerely care, then you will take the time to read this four page letter. You did not know my son so how can you possibly state that he was a devoted soldier who served his nation with honor??? I bet you tell this to all the grieving parents!!! Are we supposed to feel better for your mere words which I think lack conviction when compared to your actions??? For the record, he was a devoted soldier and he did serve this nation with honor. I personally do not want your heartfelt condolences; I want to have my son alive and for this most horrible nightmare in my life to be over. However, after one month now, awakening each new day to this fact, I am afraid I have to admit that this is indeed a harsh reality. And let me tell how upset I am that I know now, the great surname of Mitchell will not be carried on along with its wonderful and blessed history. I am deeply saddened that Mike’s grandparents are alive today and know the pain I feel every time I look at our four generation pictures with Mike as a small child; knowing that I will never have a picture of my dad, myself, Mike, and Mike and Bianca’s child. Plans and arrangements were being made for their marriage in Germany this August. Believe me when I say, this is the saddest event to ever happen to our family!!!

In addition to this letter, I am including two documents. The first is a letter introducing and sharing information about his life and death; complete with pictures so you can see the wonderful man in which you share some of the responsibility for his death. It also talks about the creation of the Mike Mitchell Memorial Fund. Please, do not send a contribution as I would only have to return it to you and frankly, I already have way too many things on my “to do list” relating to the death of my son!!! Secondly, I am also enclosing a copy of the letter I have written to Mike’s commanding officer in Iraq. I changed the name to protect the innocent as I have personally absolved him of any responsibility in this matter. I do realize this “Open letter to the Commanding Officer of SSG Michael William Mitchell” is a long document and you will probably not have time to read it; nor possibly even this letter or the other attachment. However, you might possibly have one of your clerks read it and give to you the Cliff notes version for your review. My son died with dignity in an undignified war. I hope to become a thorn in your side as well as the others who are responsible for this war and the death of my son.

Bill Mitchell

Ps… Donald, I just have to ask you, is that really you in the picture I saw dating back from the early ‘80’s buddying up with Saddam Hussein; or was that just another example of some of that trick photography which is so abundant on the Internet??? Pps… You may also want to join us in the meeting that I have requested with President Bush to discuss my son’s death as I am hoping to bring Mike’s grandfather and his sister. I would feel badly having additional people with me and our poor president feeling that he is being ganged up on by the grieving family of one of the far too many soldiers that have been senselessly killed in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Liberation… OOPPSS… I mean Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The following letter was submiited to Time Magazine on 12/20/04 by GSFP Founder Cindy Sheehan

My son, Spc. Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq on 04/04/04. This has been an extra-ordinary couple of weeks of "slaps in the faces" to us families of Fallen heroes.

First, the Sec. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld admits to the world something that we as military families already know: The US was not prepared nor had anyone planned for the assault on Iraq. Our children were sent to fight an ill-conceived and badly prosecuted war. Our troops were sent with the wrong type of training, bad equipment, inferior protection, and thin supply lines. Then when we find out that our children have been killed, and we have made the ultimate sacrifice for this fiasco of a war, we find out this week that Rumsfeld doesn't even have the courtesy or compassion to sign the "death letters" as it has been so callously put. Besides the holidays coming up and we miss our children desperately, what else can go wrong this holiday season?

Well let's see: oh yes. George W. Bush awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to three more architects of the quagmire that is Iraq. Thousands of people are dead and Bremer, Tenet, and Franks are given our country's highest civilian award. What's next?

To top everything off; after it has been proven that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction; no ties between Saddam and 9/11; Saddam is in prison: over 1300 brave young people in this country are dead and Iraq lies in ruins, so what does Time Magazine do?: names George W. Bush as it's Man of the Year. The person who betrayed this country into a needless war and whom I hold ultimately responsible for my son's death and who was questionably elected, again, to a second term, is honored this way by your magazine.

I hope we finally find peace in our world and that our troops who remain in Iraq are brought home speedily....after all, there was no reason for our troops to be there in the first place. No reason for my son and over 1300 others to have been taken from their families. No reason for the infrastructure of Iraq to be demolished and thousands of Iraqis being killed. No reason for "happy" holidays to be robbed from my family forever. I hope that our "leaders" don't invade any other countries who hold no serious threat to the United States, and I hope there is no draft. I hope that the 5 people mentioned in my letter (and many others) will finally be held responsible for the horrible mistake they got our country into. I hope that competence is finally rewarded and incompetence is appropriately punished. These are my wishes for 2005.

This isn't the first time your magazine has selected a questionable man for this honor, but it's the first time it affected my family so personally and so sorrowfully.

Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000

It is hard to believe that it has been almost one year since my nephew, Pfc. William Ramirez, was killed in Baghdad while on night patrol in his unarmored Humvee. The improvised explosive device that killed him and Sgt. Patrick Tainsh last February 11th is still the weapon of choice for the Iraqis who oppose our occupation of their country. It is particularly effective against the Humvees that our soldiers are forced to drive through combat zones that they were never designed to be used in. Bombs rip through the sides and bottoms of these vehicles as if they are cardboard. William died of massive trauma to his head and torso. It is equally hard to believe that deaths like his are still occurring almost daily because of the failure to better equip these soldiers to do the jobs they are being asked to do.

I listened with interest to the question you fielded from Spc. Tom Wilson a few weeks ago. Despite all the allegations that his question was set up by the media, he still spoke from his heart and, judging from the enthusiastic response of the other soldiers in attendance, he spoke for them as well. I know his question has run in the minds of family as we try to make sense of the senseless loss of a 19 year old life. The "if onlys" go on and on but they do not bring William back to us.

Your response to Spc. Wilson's question was extremely troubling. "You go to war with the army you have, not the one you wish you had." Every time I hear your voice replayed saying that I have to control my screams. You have skipped the most important point of the whole situation--WE DID NOT HAVE TO GO TO WAR!!!!! There was NO immediate threat, in fact there was no threat at all. And, even if after better intelligence and time spent on strategy, you would have still decided that Iraq must be invaded, you should never have sent our children into harm's way without the tools and the plans to be effective and safe. You have proven your complete disregard for our soldiers and their families. Your cavalier attitude displayed in your actions and in your response show the true colors of you and this entire administration. Soldier casualties are just another cost of war in your mind. It is apparently more cost effective to sacrifice lives instead of time and money preparing and equipping our military. I wonder if you would feel the same if your child or grandchild was riding around Iraq in one of those Humvees?

Your remarks about working on the armor issue were later proven to be false. You never even placed the order to step up production of armor kits for the Humvees. The manufacturers were not working to capacity. As hard as it is for my family to sleep at night as our thoughts keep straying to William and all those suffering in the quagmire you have created, I can only wonder how you and the rest of the administration find peace. I also wonder how the military in Iraq keep their sanity as they feel first hand the effects of your lies and complete disdain for their lives. I cannot imagine how they keep going each day.

I cannot imagine how you keep going each day. How hard you must work to believe in what you are doing and saying. Please take a break from it and tell the public and our military the truth, admit the horrible mistake of this war and put your efforts into fixing this mess. William is gone along with the lives and well-being of thousands. Please take the time to meet with the families of these victims and answer our questions and accept our input.

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Department of Defense

I am requesting a meeting with you during the period of January 19 to 21. I, along with Cindy Sheehan and other family members of fallen soldiers, would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about our grief of having lost our children, and our efforts to prevent this same tragedy happening to others.

I am well aware that you do not welcome dissent or disagreement with your policies. However, my son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, the first National Guardsman from Pennsylvania killed in combat since 1945 was shipped to Iraq after minimal training, with some equipment we had to purchase for him, to provide security for the Iraq Survey Group as they fruitlessly searched for the weapons of mass destruction. He died on April 26, 2004. He died in his Humvee, which was later burned. So I do not know if it was up-armored. I know little. No one has given us any reports. But I am told he lived for two hours after an explosion in a munitions factory impacted him. He leaves a 10 year old son, his wife, two brothers and his Dad and I. He was a social worker. He was a sweet and noble man.

During our very last conversation Sherwood told me he needed food and water. I sent food to him but of course it arrived too late. I called my Senators and the House Armed Services committee to tell them about the shortages and about the equipment we had to buy. No one cared. I called you office recently too. I had to beg them to take my name.

Was my son important to any one besides us? Was he fodder?

I understand you do not want to discuss your decisions with those of us who disagree with you, however, I am bound by the love of my country and the honor of my son to try to meet with you so that we as citizens of the same great Nation can begin a dialogue that may yet lead to some truth about this war, and perhaps even a resolution.

We are writing in support of the request you received from military families whose loved ones were killed in Iraq to meet with you in Washington D.C. sometime during the period January 19-21, 2005.

As co-founders of Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of military families who are speaking out against the war in Iraq, we know that there are few voices in the discussion and debate over this war that are more important than those of military families who have suffered the ultimate tragedy as a result of the war you have chosen to prosecute in Iraq.

We believe that you, as Secretary of Defense, owe it to these families, to all military families, and to this nation, to honor their request for a meeting. These are families who have been denied requests to meet their sons' coffins as they returned to Dover Air Force Base. They are families who received formal "Killed in Action" letters that had a signature stamp, rather than your actual signature. Their loved ones were in Iraq without the proper equipment, armor, support and training. Most of all, these families suffered their loved ones' deployment -- and demise -- in a war that should never have happened. They will never again see and hold and touch and experience their loved ones because of that war. As Secretary of Defense it is not only your job, but your moral duty, to hear what they have to say and to answer questions that they have.

Military Families Speak Out currently has a membership that includes over 2,000 military families. Fifty of these families are Gold Star families - those whose loved ones died as a result of the war in Iraq. The number of Military Families Speak Out members is growing daily and, unfortunately, so is the number of Gold Star families in our membership. We all know that Gold Star status could soon belong to any of us. For too many families, the reality is that tomorrow or the next day or the next day it might.

Please let us know the date and time when you will be meeting with these families. Thank you.

Sincerely, Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson Co-founders, Military Families Speak Out

My son, Spc Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq on 04/04/04. I am very concerned because he was killed due to lack of training, planning, equipment, armor, etc.

I would really like to know why our children were sent to fight this war without the proper resources. You haven't really explained it well...and the answer you gave to Spc Tom Wilson was not adequate.

I will be in Washington DC during the Inauguration time from Jan 18 to Jan 21 and I (and some other military families) would love to sit down with you and get some answers to our questions about our loved one's deaths.

We will meet at your convenience. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

I know answers won't bring our children home, but we as family member of heroes deserve some answers and it may help us in our healing process. This is also a good time to demonstrate that you really do care about our children and their families...since we all thought that you signed the letters that you sent us

I am writing in response to two of today's articles in your paper. Bush Says Election Ratified Policies and A Father Transformed by Anguish.

As a mother whose son, Army Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, was killed in the of Iraq, on 04/04/04, the first mentioned article filled me with rage and the second one filled me with pain.

How can Mr. Bush say that the election ratified his policies? I have seen polls where 60 to 80 percent of the people who voted for him still believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Most of the people who voted for him voted for him based on lies and deceptions promulgated by him and others in his administration. The election was as much of a sham as his first presidency was.

I remember when Carlos Arredondo burned the van of the Marines who came and told him his son was dead. The first thing my husband said when he heard about Carlos' actions was, "Why didn't I think of that?" And the first thing I thought of when I heard about the mother who died of a broken heart when she saw her KIA son in his coffin was, "Why couldn't that have been me?" My heart and soul go out to the Arredondos in the pain and anguish that this reckless and arrogant administration's "mistakes and misjudgements" have caused. My husband didn't burn the Army's emmissaries of doom's car and I didn't die of a broken heart when we heard the news of Casey's murder....my husband just stood there holding the pants he was folding and staring in shock and disbelief and I collapsed on the floor screaming "NO, NO, NO!"

Someone needs to be held accountable for the lies and betrayals that this administration has handed to the American people and for the needless deaths of Casey Sheehan, Alex Arredondo, the over 1360 other brave Americans who have now died in this quagmire of a war and the thousands of innocent Iraqis who have been killed. Iraq was not an imminent threat to the USA, as Mr. Bush told us over and over again before he sent our children to invade the country. Mr. Bush needs to realize that over 57 million people voted against him and his policies and his agenda in Iraq. He can reach out all he wants to me, but he is not my President...he is the person whom I hold ultimately responsible for my son's death. He can also afford to be "patient" he doesn't have a loved one over there in harm's way.