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I guess my LJ is as good a place as any to archive this. I wrote a letter about a month ago to both of my representatives. I got a response back from Herseth, but still haven't received one from Tim Johnson (owing I believe to the severe stroke he had recently).
Dear Miss Herseth,
I write this letter to you on a grim anniversary. Today marks the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. There are many ways to measure the time that has passed since March 20, 2003 and today.
We can measure that time in the amount of blood that has been spilled in the war since that date: 3213 confirmed US deaths according to official figures of the Department of Defense, and 23,417 US casualties. The number of Iraqi civilians killed and maimed in this war will probably never be known.
We can measure that time in dollars spent by the US government: 351 billion US dollars to date - with an additional 181 billion being requested by President Bush for 2007 through until 2008. This is money that is not being spent on health care, on fixing social security, on education, on scientific research and development, and on a host of other endeavors that could be improving the lives of Americans and of others all over the world. By 2008, if funding
for this war continues uninterrupted, it will be the second most costly war in American history exceeding even Vietnam).
And finally, we can measure that time through less tangible metrics. There are the thousands of American and Iraqi families damaged and destroyed forever through the death of loved ones caused by this war. There are the wounded veterans who will never be able to work again in their lives. There are fractured and destroyed marriages and families that are forever broken. And finally there is the emotional trauma of the veterans on both sides the Iraqi civilians and our own soldiers) who will be scarred for life by their experiences. Given the horrific costs this war has incurred upon my own country and upon humanity in general - I have to ask why our are soldiers still fighting and dying?
Originally we were told it was to protect the US from the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein was amassing. There were no weapons of mass destruction. That was a lie. Then we were told that the real goal was to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein and establish a democracy in the region that would then spread throughout the Middle East. The Domino Theory in reverse. Why this was considered a realistic plan by many I cannot fathom, given the previous "success" of this theory when applied to the politics of southeast Asia in the 50s and 60s.
Well, we have established a government in Iraq. There have been elections. And yet our troops are still being asked to fight and die in the middle of a bloody civil war they seem powerless to stop. I fail to see how we are bringing democracy to the region. The people of Iraq would like the US to leave. A majority of the US population wants us to leave. And yet our troops stay on, seemingly locked in an endless spiral of death from which it is impossible to extricate ourselves.
Miss Herseth, I am very tired of measuring the passage of years in blood, money, and tears. I am imploring you to do all that is within your power as a representative of my state to get the US out of Iraq immediately. Not in two years, not in a year, but now. We do not belong in Iraq. We never belonged in Iraq. It was a mistake from the very beginning. Whatever happens in that country is going to happen regardless of whether a US military presence is there or not. In fact, it seems that the only thing our current involvement is doing is exacerbating the situation.
To paraphrase the Reverend Martin Luther King, when he spoke out against another war that started before either of us was born; somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God, and brother to the suffering poor of Iraq and of our own soldiers. I speak as a citizen of the world, and for a world that stands aghast at the path we have taken. The great initiative in this war is ours. The greater initiative to stop must be ours as well.
My representative, Stephanie Herseth (now it's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin - she just got married) is one of the major leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats. Those are the guys who vote with the Republicans on almost everything - including the disgraceful funding bill they just agreed to that doesn't place any deadline on getting our asses out of Iraq.
Anyway - in between learning flash and studying probability - I've been trying to compose another letter to her about her most recent vote. It feels like shouting into the wind - but what the hell. At least I have a voice...no matter how pathetic.
But how do you tell someone who is a politician that of all the decisions they make in their careers - the ones regarding this war are the most important they will ever face? I mean - if you're talking with someone who isn't a psychopath (I believe quite a few politicians are psychopathic - since psychopaths are drawn to power) but who entered politics to help other people and generally make the world a better place. The basic message I'm striving for is: "HEY! Asshole!! You seem nice, but that vote of yours will bring pain and misery into the world for generations. WTF is wrong with you?" But more diplomatic and stuff - so her aides won't write me off as a crank.
Dear Miss Herseth,
I write this letter to you on a grim anniversary. Today marks the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. There are many ways to measure the time that has passed since March 20, 2003 and today.
We can measure that time in the amount of blood that has been spilled in the war since that date: 3213 confirmed US deaths according to official figures of the Department of Defense, and 23,417 US casualties. The number of Iraqi civilians killed and maimed in this war will probably never be known.
We can measure that time in dollars spent by the US government: 351 billion US dollars to date - with an additional 181 billion being requested by President Bush for 2007 through until 2008. This is money that is not being spent on health care, on fixing social security, on education, on scientific research and development, and on a host of other endeavors that could be improving the lives of Americans and of others all over the world. By 2008, if funding
for this war continues uninterrupted, it will be the second most costly war in American history exceeding even Vietnam).
And finally, we can measure that time through less tangible metrics. There are the thousands of American and Iraqi families damaged and destroyed forever through the death of loved ones caused by this war. There are the wounded veterans who will never be able to work again in their lives. There are fractured and destroyed marriages and families that are forever broken. And finally there is the emotional trauma of the veterans on both sides the Iraqi civilians and our own soldiers) who will be scarred for life by their experiences. Given the horrific costs this war has incurred upon my own country and upon humanity in general - I have to ask why our are soldiers still fighting and dying?
Originally we were told it was to protect the US from the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein was amassing. There were no weapons of mass destruction. That was a lie. Then we were told that the real goal was to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein and establish a democracy in the region that would then spread throughout the Middle East. The Domino Theory in reverse. Why this was considered a realistic plan by many I cannot fathom, given the previous "success" of this theory when applied to the politics of southeast Asia in the 50s and 60s.
Well, we have established a government in Iraq. There have been elections. And yet our troops are still being asked to fight and die in the middle of a bloody civil war they seem powerless to stop. I fail to see how we are bringing democracy to the region. The people of Iraq would like the US to leave. A majority of the US population wants us to leave. And yet our troops stay on, seemingly locked in an endless spiral of death from which it is impossible to extricate ourselves.
Miss Herseth, I am very tired of measuring the passage of years in blood, money, and tears. I am imploring you to do all that is within your power as a representative of my state to get the US out of Iraq immediately. Not in two years, not in a year, but now. We do not belong in Iraq. We never belonged in Iraq. It was a mistake from the very beginning. Whatever happens in that country is going to happen regardless of whether a US military presence is there or not. In fact, it seems that the only thing our current involvement is doing is exacerbating the situation.
To paraphrase the Reverend Martin Luther King, when he spoke out against another war that started before either of us was born; somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God, and brother to the suffering poor of Iraq and of our own soldiers. I speak as a citizen of the world, and for a world that stands aghast at the path we have taken. The great initiative in this war is ours. The greater initiative to stop must be ours as well.
My representative, Stephanie Herseth (now it's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin - she just got married) is one of the major leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats. Those are the guys who vote with the Republicans on almost everything - including the disgraceful funding bill they just agreed to that doesn't place any deadline on getting our asses out of Iraq.
Anyway - in between learning flash and studying probability - I've been trying to compose another letter to her about her most recent vote. It feels like shouting into the wind - but what the hell. At least I have a voice...no matter how pathetic.
But how do you tell someone who is a politician that of all the decisions they make in their careers - the ones regarding this war are the most important they will ever face? I mean - if you're talking with someone who isn't a psychopath (I believe quite a few politicians are psychopathic - since psychopaths are drawn to power) but who entered politics to help other people and generally make the world a better place. The basic message I'm striving for is: "HEY! Asshole!! You seem nice, but that vote of yours will bring pain and misery into the world for generations. WTF is wrong with you?" But more diplomatic and stuff - so her aides won't write me off as a crank.
