As Iraq edges to the brink of civil war, our 21-year-old son, our only child, is training for his second deployment to Iraq as an MP in the U.S. Army.
John and Virginia, MA

Dear Senator,

As Iraq edges to the brink of civil war, our 21-year-old son, our only child, is training for his second deployment to Iraq as an MP in the U.S. Army.  As people who regularly rely on the best informed of the available media, such as National Public Radio, the BBC and the New York Review of Books, we knew before this war began that it was extremely ill-advised, given the historical and political realities of Iraq, that it would inevitably lead to civil war.  We may have had a moment of questioning our views when we heard of the allegedly growing capability of Saddam Hussein’s government to develop a nuclear weapon, but as we generally expect the current administration to bend the truth to suit their aims, we have always been convinced that this war would be disastrous to both the United States and the Middle East.  Sadly, and for us frighteningly, we see that this is coming to pass.  It was hard enough to get through our son’s first deployment.  Now that we’ve heard some of his experiences during that time, such when an RPG passed within a yard of his head as he manned the gun on a Humvee; and now that he will most likely be walking into the midst of a violent and widespread struggle among Iraqi and foreign terrorists factions; we don’t know how we are going to endure the agony of unrelenting worry about his safety. 

It seems clear that the presence of the American military is serving as a flashpoint for burgeoning civil strife in Iraq, particularly that incited among followers of the more militant Shiia leaders such as Muqtada al Sadr; and is no doubt being well-exploited by foreign terrorist instigators like al Zarqawi.  We are not helping the situation by our presence.  We must leave immediately and fully.  We cannot stop this civil strife. If Iraqi politicians are to have any chance of cooperating with one another to limit the internal strife and find a means to build some sort of working coalition government, they and the people they represent must know that they are now in charge of their own country and will survive as a sovereign state, or not, depending on what they together decide to do.  The only outcome of the continued presence of our soldiers in Iraq will be that more and more of them are maimed or killed, and more and more American families will grieve forever. 

Senator, we’ve always felt fortunate to live in Massachusetts and have the representation that we do in Washington, and have usually supported your work in the Senate.  One of us, a lifelong active Democratic, both contributed to and worked on your presidential campaign and will serve as an alternate delegate at the state Democratic Convention in June.  We now implore you to use your position in the Senate to do all that you can to extricate us from this ill-conceived, destructive war NOW.

 Sincerely Yours,

John and Virginia, MA