This story, written by "11 Bravo," is stolen from DU. I read it and I read through all the comments there, and it left me speechless.
This summer I posted about a young Army Lt. my wife and I met at a wedding. He was headed to Iraq within the week. As an ex-grunt, I struck up a conversation with him. I mostly just wanted to tell him to keep his head down, but the conversation evolved. I learned he was a Kerry supporter who didn't buy any of Bush's bullshit rationales for this war. But he told me that the civilian leadership of our nation was sending him to fight, and as a professional, he would go and do all that he could to ensure that the members of his platoon would make it home safely.
About three weeks after the initial post, I posted an update. The young man was in Walter Reed, missing his right eye, most of his right arm, and facing extensive reconstructive surgery for severe thoracic trauma. I visited him once, but always seemed to find a reason not to return. Eventually, he was transferred to a facility closer to his Pennsylvania home, and I never saw him again. I will regret that for a long time.
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This will be my final update. A half an hour ago I received a call from the friend at whose wedding I met the young man. On Thursday, during a day trip from the hospital, he wheeled himself into the bathroom, put a 9 mm pistol in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. If they ever build a wall, he won't be on it. He doesn't even count as a casualty of this war. But the next time you see the KIA number, add one to it.
The above post and its more than 150 comments at DU. Link.
There is so much to study and to know and to do to turn the tragedy around. Right at this moment, here below is my best shot. :
The real reason Cheney destroyed Plame's work with Brewster Jennings:
"According to U.S. intelligence sources, the White House exposure of Valerie Plame and her Brewster Jennings & Associates was intended to retaliate against the CIA's work in limiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. WMR has reported in the past on this aspect of the scandal. In addition to identifying the involvement of individuals in the White House who were close to key players in nuclear proliferation, the CIA Counter- Proliferation Division prevented the shipment of binary VX nerve gas from Turkey into Iraq in November 2002. The Brewster Jennings network in Turkey was able to intercept this shipment which was intended to be hidden in Iraq and later used as evidence that Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. intelligence sources revealed that this was a major reason the Bush White House targeted Plame and her network."
Cont...
Tinfoil hat jokes aside, this is worth considering. There was always at least some worry, dating back to the run-up to the invasion, that once Bush got himself some control on the ground in Iraq that he would work to make the facts fit his lies.
Haven't you ever thought it amazing that Bushco never found any WMD stuff - even something they themselves planted to be "found"?