Hey Mr. President!!

Hey Mr. President, I am an American and I have something that needs to be said.Seven years ago on a sunny September day I watched as terrorists attacked America and many innocent people lost their lives. Along with many others I listened as you addressed the American people, speaking words of comfort and compassion. I saw and heard the resolve as you promised to avenge these atrocities. With little need for deeper thought I placed my trust in your judgment and integrity. I supported American military retaliation against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then America invaded Iraq and the “War on Terror” began on another front. Five years have passed and with each passing year I continue to question America’s involvement in Iraq. The more I learn the more disgusted and angry I become at this tragedy.

Hey Mr. President, we the American people were told there was irrefutable evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Yet U.N. inspectors had searched for these weapons, without success. Now we’ve learned that this “irrefutable” evidence was gained from a single Iraqi deserter, “Curveball”, who was deemed unreliable by German intelligence. Their fact-checking revealed that he was lying, and they informed American intelligence of their findings. Yet we went to war.

Hey Mr. President, your former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on numerous occasions approved and encouraged the unlawful torture of “enemy combatants”; irrespective of Geneva Conventions and international law. How can we expect our soldiers to be treated with dignity, if we fail to adhere to these rules? Throughout the conflict countless innocent Iraqis civilians have been arrested in their homes, degraded, and tortured. Nakedness, sexual acts, water boarding, and sleep deprivation are just some of the methods used against prisoners. In the very prisons where Saddam’s regime tortured the innocent, we are doing the same. When did women and young children become “enemy combatants”?

Hey Mr. President, vice-president Cheney’s wealth has increased drastically through stock ownership in Halliburton. This military contractor, which was basically nonexistent in 2001, now enjoys virtually noncompetitive status. The crimes committed by this company are infuriating. This company has knowingly provided our troops with contaminated water. Military personnel have been forced to train higher-paid incompetent individuals to take over their jobs. With full knowledge of the extent of the danger, Halliburton sent civilian truck convoys into enemy territory unprotected. They were murdered! Yet this company, through its non-competitive status and monopoly, keeps raking in the profits because the more money they spend the more they receive. They knowingly cheat the American taxpayer out of millions of dollars through corrupt their business practices. Did you not know President Eisenhower warned of the creation of just such a “military industrial complex”?

Hey Mr. President! you told us war with Iraq was necessary because of weapons of mass destruction, but Saddam didn’t have any. Then you told us Iraq harbored terrorists, but this was also false. Now you say that we occupy Iraq in the name of freedom. This seems to be a noble cause, but why Iraq, there are so many other places where the cry for freedom is heard? Why are we spending billions overseas (12 billion each month) while our economy suffers. Why didn’t you invest all this money, which we borrow from China (what about their civil right violations?), in humanitarian programs? Think of the goodwill America could garner by giving food and shelter to starving refugees, fighting the AIDS and malaria epidemic, and other relief efforts?

Even after spending billions overseas there would still be billions remaining for domestic programs like health care, social security, and education. If so many countries and Americans are against this conflict, why are we still fighting? Why is the U.S. government prosecuting an American doctor for ignoring sanctions to bring much needed medicine to the Iraqi people? Why aren’t hospitals in Iraq protected from insurgents? Why do you keep saying that America is safe from terrorist attacks? Aren’t Americans killed with great frequency by terrorists on foreign soil (four thousand to date, not counting thousands of wounded and debilitated)? Aren’t we paying the warlords enough not to fight, while our citizens struggle to make ends meet?

Hey Mr. President! I am an American and I have something that needs to be said. I trusted you, the American people trusted you, but you have betrayed us. America spends billions killing people, while the heroes of 9/11 can’t get medical help for their injuries. You have pursued an unjust war, against the wishes of the greater world community, and propagate an imperialist image of America. Don’t you know what is actually happening? Don’t you remember 1968 and a war called Vietnam? Is America bound to repeat the mistakes of the past? You believe that history will brighten your legacy, but Benedict Arnold is still is a traitor, Vietnam is still a disgrace, and you and your cohorts will still be viewed as war criminals.

Hey Mr. President! I trusted you, America trusted you, but you have betrayed your country. If you value freedom, like the rest of America, end this disgraceful conflict.