An Open Letter to Insiders...

Countdown to Memorial Day: An Open Letter to Insiders

Memorial Day is just a few days away.  Our troops in Iraq are under siege.  Who among them, living and breathing at this very moment, will be dead by our day of national commemoration?  And what will be the cause of death?  Bullets and bombs?  Or deception and silence?    

We, the community of The Daily Kos, are seekers of truth.  Based on our investigations, we know that President Bush was intent on invading Iraq from the beginning of his first term and that, further, his Administration "fixed" intelligence and promulgated false reports toward that end. Although this information has surfaced in one form or the other over the last few years, it has had little impact on the Administration, which continues on its perilous course, and the American people, who, by and large, remain woefully ignorant.  

Meanwhile:

• Our women and men in uniform are sitting ducks, with over 1,600 dead and thousands more injured.

  
  

• Iraq is set to explode in a civil war as it simultaneously implodes from lack of infrastructure and security.

  
  
  

• Anywhere from 25,000 to over 100,000 Iraqi civilians are dead.

  
  

• American and foreign "privateers" are on a feeding frenzy; and almost $9 billion in Iraqi funds cannot be accounted for by the former Coalition Provisional Authority.

  
  
  

• Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib have been imprisoned, humiliated and tortured without legal recourse; terrorism is skyrocketing; and the U.S. has earned the emnity of people in the Middle East and throughout the world.

  
  
  

In short, the war and subsequent occupation are a catastrophe.  Yet no one in authority is being held accountable.  Without accountability, there can be no solution; without a solution, more people will die.

We appeal to those of you "inside the Beltway" to come forward with any information you may have about the discussions, decisions and deceptions that enabled this Administration to go to war.  The American people want the truth, and no one deserves it more than those we've sent into harm's way--and their families: families that wait and worry, families that agonize over the suffering of their injured loved ones, families who will honor their dead this Memorial Day.

We understand full well what we are asking of you, and we don't ask it lightly.  We understand, too, that righting an egregious wrong is a formidable and daunting task.  But that is the history of our nation; that is, in fact, our national character.  From the Founding Fathers of our country to the leaders and activists of great movements--for suffrage, civil rights, labor, and peace--people of courage have put their lives on the line for what they believed.  Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost, but they always, always made a difference.

We don't expect the impossible.  We know that no one can turn back the clock or bring back the dead. We ask only that you come forward to save lives.  Whatever that requires of you, ask yourself what, in comparison, is your sacrifice compared to preventing even one more unnecessary death?

The dead cannot speak.  You can.  The dead will never know why they died.  You do.  Please, in the spirit of Memorial Day, heed these words by Mother Jones: "Mourn for the dead and fight like hell for the living."  

You can fight for the living with Truth.

Thank you.

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-The Oklahoma Hippy