Families Push to
Bring Troops Home

by Rebecca Gordon

Larry Syverson, who has two sons serving in Iraq, joined a military families action calling for an end to the U.S. occupation.

"I want the son I sent to Iraq to come back to me," pleads Nancy Gallego of El Paso, Texas. "He is sick, he is tired, he is dirty and he has lost his spirit and laughter." She posted her letter on the busy website of Military Families Speak Out, www.mfso.org.

Chris Gallego tells his mother that he and his fellow soldiers work in temperatures well over 110 degrees and are issued just one prepackaged meal and a single bottle of water a day.

Chris is one of nearly 150,000 U.S. soldiers still in Iraq. Despite President Bush's "triumphant" landing on the USS Lincoln on May 1 declaring the end of major combat in Iraq, U.S. troops have faced mounting casualties and worsening military conditions.

Of the 268 U.S. soldiers reported killed in Iraq since the war began, the Associated Press says 130 have been killed between May 1 and Aug. 18. The number of U.S. wounded has been reported at anywhere from 900 to several thousand, with half of them occurring after May 1.

UNDER ATTACK AND ILL-PREPARED

Washington downplays the guerilla attacks on U.S. soldiers. But Susan Schuman's son Justin, who has been in Iraq since March tells her: "There are three or four attacks a night everywhere where there are U.S. troops. There are an incredible number of attacks, 30 to 40 major incidents a day."

The lack of an independent Iraqi government has forced many soldiers to act as police in extremely hostile territory, a job for which they have no training or experience. They make mistakes, often with deadly effects on both Iraqis and U.S. soldiers. Military parents such as Charley Richardson not only fear that their soldier-children will be harmed; they also worry that their kids will kill or injure innocent Iraqis.

At a recent press conference, Schuman said, "Our troops have become oppressors and occupiers in a hostile nation." And Nancy Lessin of Military Families Speak Out argued, "It was wrong for the U.S. to invade Iraq. It is wrong for the U.S. to be occupying Iraq. And there is no right way to do a wrong thing."

Worsening matters, the Pentagon recently threatened to cut their pay to balance its budget. Intense public outcry forced the White House to quickly back off the proposal.

Fernando Suarez del Solar moved his family from Mexico to the U.S. so his son Jesús could join the Marines. Jesús was one of the first U.S. casualties in Iraq.

As it became clear that President Bush lied and exaggerated to make his case for what is turning out to be a prolonged war, military families are dissenting in greater numbers.

"My son, Gary, has been in Iraq since March, 2003, and I just want him to come home," writes Vicki Bonkowski of Liberty, Mo. She and her husband favored the war at first and believed its purpose was to destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. But now they "fear that maybe they were never in existence or, if so, may never be found."

A common refrain on www.mfso.org is that "supporting the war was the biggest mistake I ever made."

"BRING THEM HOME NOW"

Military Families Speak Out is providing parents like Gallego, Schuman and Bonkowski a chance to speak out against the occupation of Iraq and mistreatment of U.S. soldiers—and to voice their fear that their children are serving an immoral and deadly cause.

On Aug. 13 MFSO along with Veterans for Peace and other veterans groups launched a new campaign called "Bring Them Home Now," aimed at ending U.S. military presence in Iraq (www.bringthemhomenow.com).

Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son Jesús was one of the first U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq, helped launch the campaign. Suarez moved his family from Tijuana, Mexico to Escondido, Calif. in large part to fulfill his son's lifelong ambition to become a "guerrero azteco"—an Aztec warrior—in the U.S. Marines.

"My son will not return but we want those other children to return to their families," Suarez said.

He now believes Latino youth would be better served by access to education than a career in the military. "Instead of grabbing a rifle," he told the Associated Press, "young people should be allowed to have books."

MFSO's Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson say the group's membership grew rapidly as news surfaced about the White House's exaggeration of the Iraqi threat. Since launching the Bring Them Home Now campaign, they have been inundated with thousands of calls and emails, many from other military families, about how to get involved. Numerous active duty soldiers have also written, detailing the impossible situation in Iraq.

Stan Goff is a founder of Bring Them Home Now, father of a soldier now serving in Iraq, and a 26-year veteran himself. At a recent veterans conference in San Francisco, Goff said that troops and their families "know they've been lied to by the president. And nothing makes people madder than the idea that we've been had."

Rebecca Gordon helped start Seminarians for Peace and is the chief fundraiser for War Times.

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