Welcome to MichaelMoore.com!Hey now,
Michael, I just read 17 pretty good reasons why I shouldn't slit my wrists. I want to say thank you man. This country has been done a great service by you and those like you (Stern, Franken and the like) who are not afraid to buck-up to the right wingers.
I was a part of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. I was on the USS Peleliu 15th MEU (Marines) when we were attacked. We were in port in Darwin Australia and the moment I found out I knew our lives would never be the same. We, literally, immediately steamed over to East Timor dropped off food (SOP for the WestPac cruise we were on) and hauled ass to Pakistan. That is when I realized I was in an incompetently lead country.
We sat off the coast of Pasni, Pakistan for months. Now, I'm sure that they had plenty of special ops guys over there (I watched many of them fly off the boat to, I think, combat). But, it wasn't until Thanksgiving day that we sent a large force of Marines over there (I remember because the ones that went (I didn't go, I was an avionics guy) were pissed because they didn't get to eat that day). Now, why is it that we waited knowing fully well that Taliban, al Qaeda and bin Laden were over there basically mooning us not unlike the Scots in Braveheart.
I am so mad at this country for sending our guys (My contract was complete in June of 02) to the wrong war. I have so many friends over there right now. I saw an email that was pretty popular going around towards the beginning of the war. It was titled "How did you sleep last night." Well, a real good buddy of mine was in that email sleeping in the shitty dirt over there. This guy was on the Peleliu with me. He is a great guy and I can't imagine him hurting a thing that wasn't bothering him. Do the people not think about people like him when they are voting? I have people at work constantly talking about how we need to be over there. These are people like me, in their mid-20's. Of course they never volunteered, of course, "they would if they had to."
I just wanted to tell you a piece of my experience with this administration. Oh yea, the VA hospitals suck. Thanks for fighting the good fight. You are a true American and we could use a few more people with pull to be half the man you are.
Thanks,
O.G.
[city omitted], AZ