By Dan Winters
Voices in the Wilderness
April 20, 2004

The Denver Post editorial of April 1 called for the continued occupation of Iraq. I disagree. The time to call for the US to lead in rebuilding is long since past. The best that we can do is to assist a UN effort (which may now be too late) to help rebuild what two wars and thirteen years of sanctions have destroyed.

On the same day your editorial appeared my son arrived in Baghdad. My son, who lives in Hawaii, was activated with his Army reserve unit and will serve for 18 months (12 or more in Iraq). He leaves behind his wife and their 3 daughters who are 12, 7 and 5.

It is heartwarming to read Post articles about our men and women and the sacrifices they are making and the loved ones they left behind. When I say these men and women symbolize what America stands for the Bush administration nods their head in agreement. When I ask why our sons and daughters are bleeding and dying for a war built on fabrications - that same administration accuses me of being un-American and unpatriotic. President Bush needs to understand that those of us who strongly disagree with his war on Iraq also love our flag.

It also distresses me that the Bush Administration, for purely political reasons, has denied the families of our dead the right to see the nation honor their lost loved ones via TV coverage. Over 600 flag draped coffins have returned from Iraq and the press has been denied covering their arrival by the administration. Our ancestors carried the flag against the British, in the Civil War and when our fathers turned back the empire builders of WW II. We held the flag in Korea and Vietnam. Mr. President, we love our flag and it should not be used for such manipulative and dishonorable purposes.

When I asked my 40-year-old son how he felt about going to Iraq he responded “I don’t think we should be in Iraq, but I signed a contract and I am obligated to fulfill it”. I was less than half my sons’ age (17 years old) when I also signed a contract and joined the Army. One of my duty stations was in Korea not long after the truce was signed. There was a constant threat that the North Koreans would cross the demilitarized zone and attack us. Our infantry divisions mission was to hold at all cost. All of us understood what that meant. We were prepared to honor the contract we had signed because there was an implicit understanding that the leaders of our country, especially our president, would not put us in harms way unless it was absolutely and without doubt necessary.

A contract puts responsibility on both parties. President Bush has not honored his half of the contract. Unashamedly he concocted numerous justifications (before and after the war) for putting our military in harms way without cause. He has not only put our military in harms way but he has sullied the office of the President. He has no right to do either.

If the unthinkable, which I think about all the time, happens to my son or the sons’ and daughters of so many from all over our nation - what do I say to his three daughters? Do I choke back the tears and the anger and tell the little ones “he was doing his duty for his country”? Or should I be honest and say the president, vice president and all the rest of that Bush crowd twisted, structured, manipulated and just plain lied to send over 500 to their deaths in Iraq? Both statements speak the truth - I would say both. To my granddaughters, it will not make much difference - they will have a hollow ache in their hearts for the rest of their lives.

We desperately need to change those who have the obligation to lead but can not lead with honor, with justice and with decency. Only thoughtful and responsible individuals can bring that about.

I would welcome email responses to my letter at dancwinters@yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Dan C. Winters

Winters is a long time peace activist dating back to the 60’s. In the past 13 years he has been, with peace or humanitarian groups, to Iraq three times, Bosnia twice and Palestine once. He was also in East Timor twice - the first time as a UN elections observer in 1999. Next week he leaves for Hawaii to help with his grandchildren for the rest of the school year.