Fallujah Veterans Ask Hard Questions About Their Sacrifices...So do I

"The question I have to ask myself is was that effort in vain?" he says now. "Was all the work that we did, all the sacrifice that we had, what is the benefit?"

I am so sorry to say it....But, it wasn't worth it.

Walsh's platoon lost one man in Fallujah. Hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded there. It was 2004. Al-Qaida had taken control of the city, and most civilians had fled. Fallujah was: house-to-house patrols, snipers, alleyways and American bombs shaking the earth. Walsh says he has thought about it every day for nearly 10 years — and he's not alone.

Your buddies died for a reason I can not understand. I am very sorry.

"First, the Iraqis didn't ask to be invaded by us. We invaded and occupied badly," he says. "But on top of that, I'm angry our policy never matched the sacrifice, especially of the Marine Corps."

We should never put our troops in this situation. They deserve better.

"I don't think it was all in vain," Weston says. "But in the big picture, the American legacy there is now being subsumed by more violence."

Yes it was...but, I understand why you feel that way.

Now the collapse of Fallujah has veterans debating what the war in Iraq was even about. Paul Szoldra served as a Marine in Afghanistan but knew many Marines in Fallujah. Szoldra is known by veterans as the editor of a satirical military newspaper, the Duffel Blog, but his last piece was serious, titled "Tell Me Again, Why Did My Friends Die In Iraq?"

I wish I could tell you it was more than a irrational payback from Jr. To Saddam.

Szoldra says he got a storm of responses to the article — much of it supportive, some of it critical. He says a national discussion is starting about the meaning of the recent wars. He hopes the discussion will be a civil one —even if it's a painful one.

That seems like the least we can do....Thank you for your Service. It mattered to me. 👍

NPR.org

reply to post by whyamIhere


I agree, how many lives lost (to be fair on every side) Iraq was just a money making scheme at the expense of normal joes and janes.
I feel sorry for the poor souls just wanting to live their lives and get by being caught in the middle of all this BS.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Human suffering matters to me. Your post got me angry. I believe I'm not alone.

My heart breaks for young people that had,have and will have their idealism and bodies broken by this empire. There will be many many more until American parents start teaching their children that "mercenary" is not a virtuous, rewarding profession.

Respect the troops by not allowing the next war. Don't raise your kid to be a mercenary. Starve the beast.

Iraq and Afghantisan were terrible waste of lives by both the USA and UK and have done more damage than good.


If anyone is a ACTUAL threat to the world its North Korea but for some reason we have decided to invade already crippled countrys that had no actual threat to us.

I understood that there was no answer to the question "why am I here?" back when I served in Iraq in 2005. It took the taking of Fallujah by terrorists for these soldiers to question those motives? It was the biggest waste of time. I spent my nights driving up and down the one highway in Iraq protecting supply trucks all so that these bases could stage operations to patrol neighborhoods and kick down doors. You know what all that nonsense is? Police work, NOT the domain of the military. It was all a HUGE waste of time and I also knew nothing would change before, during, or after our involvement there.

Krazysh0t
I understood that there was no answer to the question "why am I here?" back when I served in Iraq in 2005. It took the taking of Fallujah by terrorists for these soldiers to question those motives? It was the biggest waste of time. I spent my nights driving up and down the one highway in Iraq protecting supply trucks all so that these bases could stage operations to patrol neighborhoods and kick down doors. You know what all that nonsense is? Police work, NOT the domain of the military. It was all a HUGE waste of time and I also knew nothing would change before, during, or after our involvement there.

You showed up....That matters.

Thank you for your Service.

reply to post by InverseLookingGlass

During the shutdown charities had to pick up and fly home the dead not one General had the balls to use emergency discretionary spending powers,but thats just the start of it for example the airforce now lays off people with often hundreds off missions just prior to their entitlements are due accountants now run the show things are so poor the US army at this point only has 2 combat ready brigades thats 10000 troops,add to that the homeless vets and all the rest....all this stuff would spark outrage if it occured in my country at least we still look after our troops.

Fallujah, the rest of Iraq, and Afghanistan were all resounding successes; although, it's unfortunate that soldiers were lied to when it comes to the reasons. It all boiled down to corporate profits. Bilking tax dollars into preferred private sector companies with the Bush/Cheney era nepotistic no-bid-contracts. It was pay-to-play. The more a company spent the more the company made, and they spent like it was going out of style. Flat tire on that Caddy Escalade? "Torch it and bill 'em for a whole new vehicle" was the S.O.P.. The more wasteful spending was done, the better it was for their bottom line.


I'd imagine if soldiers were told the truth, at the time, their morale and desire to battle would have been hindered causing more lives to be lost; so, in a way, the lies saved lives while Bush's family fortune grew (through his father's Carlyle Group defense contractor holdings), and especially Cheney's Halliburton shares soared.

reply to post by whyamIhere


as a small boy in the late 70's I recall the phrase "never again" in regards to Vietnam. and the utter pointlessness of that fiasco.

not only has history repeated itself in the USA, the govt doubled down, and did it TWICE.. Afghanistan and Iraq.. unreal.

Cui Bono?

Next time, will we invade 3 or 4 countries?

If there really were Alien motherships observing their petri dish (earth), somebody up there needs FIRED!

Nothing in Iraq was worth an American life. Iraq had not attacked America nor was it a threat to America.

This was a statement made by General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff

Many of them died doing the things that they wanted to do.

This is a lie these people joined the military to protect America not die in another nations civil war. The man is a disgrace to his uniform and his nation.

buster2010
This was a statement made by General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff

Many of them died doing the things that they wanted to do.

This is a lie these people joined the military to protect America not die in another nations civil war. The man is a disgrace to his uniform and his nation.

Did you ask them?

The government and their political supporters use the blood of our brave soldiers for their own twisted ends.Then after our troops are killed or maimed and come home they're completely ignored by the government.This has been going on since Vietnam.They give the world BS excuses to the world and their own people for these wars.Damn them.We are not obligated to police this mess of a planet.

I suppose I am a bad example because I joined up after Beruit and wanted to fight,that's who I am,however we are by no means diminished,no honorable man who sticks his neck on the line ever trully is. To do what we do you must become monsters who like bad meat,it has never been pretty,but someone somewhere who believes might makes right believes he wants you gone.

Politics MUST be separated from conflict in order to preserve life, I advocate a 1980s strength military, I advocate school firearms training.

But we must stop what we have done and now that we know,we really have NO DAMN CHOICE. Both for ourselves and the world.

Iraq was about conquest and nothing else. American servicemen were used as pawns to fight a battle for the money changers. I am sure they thought they were there fighting for American freedom, but we all know that is not the case.

As someone who fought in Operation Phantom Fury in November of 2004 in Fallujah and has been haunted by it for almost ten years now this was a huge kick to the groin to hear about. To me it is a disgrace to the men who died, the men who were severely wounded, those who are haunted by what they went through, and their families. Fallujah was the deadliest battle for the Marines since the battle of Khe-San during the Tet-offensive in the Vietnam war. To see it fall back into the hands of the very people we cleared out before just sucks. Fallujah has been a save haven for criminals and religious extremists ever since it was the ancient city of Sippar thousands of years ago, We are seeing history once again repeat itself at the expense of good American lives.

reply to post by khnum

I don't think the Obama Administration has left any "old" top brass who might have the necessary orbs to follow thru on bucking the system. Didn't you notice the mass elimination of military experience and backbone. It was part of the reason it was done. So many on
ATS seemed to think it was entertaining. Too busy making smart remarks to sit back and ponder. What more is going to surface?