by Michael T. McPhearson
Twenty years ago this month I sat in the vast wilderness of the Arabian Desert as a Captain in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division waiting to invade Iraq. I remember wondering how many of us would die, how many would return home scarred, broken. Would I ever see my wife and five year old son again? I never imagined U.S. troops would still be fighting in there eleven years into the next century. Today when most people think of Iraq they think of the 2003 invasion, justified as the appropriate response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. People think March 20 will mark eight years of U.S. war on Iraq; this is far from the reality.
In December 2003, as part of a peace delegation of military families and veterans, I visited Baghdad and sat with an Iraqi human rights activist who spoke the truth as many Iraqis see it. The man, who appeared to be in his late 50’s, told us through an interpreter that “…all the Iraqi suffering is because of the Americans.” He explained that Saddam Hussein’s Baath party cronies, who came to power via a 1968 coup after a failed 1963 attempt, boasted of having U.S. help. He went on to remind us of the first invasion and the following decade of Iraqi suffering under U.S. led economic sanctions. He ended his comments citing the March 2003 invasion and ongoing occupation mounted by the U.S. to remove a dictator that the U.S. helped put into power. According to this Iraqi in Iraq, our nation has meddled in his country’s affairs for over forty years. His feelings were confirmed by many other Iraqis I spoke with over the course of my visit.
After I left the Army in 1992, I paid little attention to U.S. activities in Iraq, although I knew that U.S. forces had never ended military operations there. Containment was the policy. Operation Southern Watch begun in August 1992 to enforce the no fly-zone over southern Iraq did not officially end until the 2003 invasion. There were Operations Vigilant Warrior in 1994 and Desert Strike in 1996, which expanded the no fly-zone to parts of northern Iraq. There was Operation Desert Fox, a four day bombing campaign launched on December 16, 1998.
According to GlobalSecuritiey.org, between 1992 and 2001 allied pilots entered the no fly-zone over southern Iraq 153,000 times. I remember hearing about some of these actions, but rarely, and news outlets and politicians seldom discussed or questioned our Iraq policy.
Then one summer day in 2001, I was confronted by activists in New York City holding a sign reporting that half a million Iraqi children died due in part to the U.S. led economic sanctions. This made me take notice. I began to feel some responsibility for my role in my nation’s foreign policy toward Iraq, so I began to learn more. A few months later, boom; September 11 happened, and the drum beat for more war on Iraq began anew. By that time, counting from the day of my invasion, the U.S. had been dropping bombs on Iraq for 10 years.
Since then, as I mentioned, I have returned to Iraq seeking peace, my five year old son grew up and like his father, served a tour waging war in Iraq, the Obama Administration declared the end of U.S combat missions in Iraq, U.S. troop levels have been reduced to 50 thousand and the U.S. has pledged to remove all troops by the end of this year.
Is this 20 year nightmare for the Iraqi people about to end? I don’t know, but I do know that after 20 years it is time for the U.S. to leave the Iraqis alone. Do not let media spin and labels like Gulf War and Iraq War distort the truth. January 16, 2001 was the real start of our invasion of Iraq. From the time of the Baath Party coup through Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and now Obama, U.S policy has meant nothing but hell for the Iraqi people.
Forty years of meddling and 20 years of war is enough. We must not allow the Obama Administration to drag its feet or back out of leaving Iraq. We owe it to the Iraq people. They have suffered enough.
Michael T. McPhearson was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield /Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. A Newark resident, Michael is currently the Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice and former Executive Director of Veterans For Peace.
by Michael T. McPhearson
Twenty years ago this month I sat in the vast wilderness of the Arabian Desert as a Captain in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division waiting to invade Iraq. I remember wondering how many of us would die, how many would return home scarred, broken. Would I ever see my wife and five year old son again? I never imagined U.S. troops would still be fighting in there eleven years into the next century. Today when most people think of Iraq they think of the 2003 invasion, justified as the appropriate response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. People think March 20 will mark eight years of U.S. war on Iraq; this is far from the reality.
In December 2003, as part of a peace delegation of military families and veterans, I visited Baghdad and sat with an Iraqi human rights activist who spoke the truth as many Iraqis see it. The man, who appeared to be in his late 50’s, told us through an interpreter that “…all the Iraqi suffering is because of the Americans.” He explained that Saddam Hussein’s Baath party cronies, who came to power via a 1968 coup after a failed 1963 attempt, boasted of having U.S. help. He went on to remind us of the first invasion and the following decade of Iraqi suffering under U.S. led economic sanctions. He ended his comments citing the March 2003 invasion and ongoing occupation mounted by the U.S. to remove a dictator that the U.S. helped put into power. According to this Iraqi in Iraq, our nation has meddled in his country’s affairs for over forty years. His feelings were confirmed by many other Iraqis I spoke with over the course of my visit.
After I left the Army in 1992, I paid little attention to U.S. activities in Iraq, although I knew that U.S. forces had never ended military operations there. Containment was the policy. Operation Southern Watch begun in August 1992 to enforce the no fly-zone over southern Iraq did not officially end until the 2003 invasion. There were Operations Vigilant Warrior in 1994 and Desert Strike in 1996, which expanded the no fly-zone to parts of northern Iraq. There was Operation Desert Fox, a four day bombing campaign launched on December 16, 1998.
According to GlobalSecuritiey.org, between 1992 and 2001 allied pilots entered the no fly-zone over southern Iraq 153,000 times. I remember hearing about some of these actions, but rarely, and news outlets and politicians seldom discussed or questioned our Iraq policy.
Then one summer day in 2001, I was confronted by activists in New York City holding a sign reporting that half a million Iraqi children died due in part to the U.S. led economic sanctions. This made me take notice. I began to feel some responsibility for my role in my nation’s foreign policy toward Iraq, so I began to learn more. A few months later, boom; September 11 happened, and the drum beat for more war on Iraq began anew. By that time, counting from the day of my invasion, the U.S. had been dropping bombs on Iraq for 10 years.
Since then, as I mentioned, I have returned to Iraq seeking peace, my five year old son grew up and like his father, served a tour waging war in Iraq, the Obama Administration declared the end of U.S combat missions in Iraq, U.S. troop levels have been reduced to 50 thousand and the U.S. has pledged to remove all troops by the end of this year.
Is this 20 year nightmare for the Iraqi people about to end? I don’t know, but I do know that after 20 years it is time for the U.S. to leave the Iraqis alone. Do not let media spin and labels like Gulf War and Iraq War distort the truth. January 16, 2001 was the real start of our invasion of Iraq. From the time of the Baath Party coup through Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and now Obama, U.S policy has meant nothing but hell for the Iraqi people.
Forty years of meddling and 20 years of war is enough. We must not allow the Obama Administration to drag its feet or back out of leaving Iraq. We owe it to the Iraq people. They have suffered enough.
Michael T. McPhearson was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield /Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. A Newark resident, Michael is currently the Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice and former Executive Director of Veterans For Peace.
The reason why the United States is in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is one word: ISRAEL, Israel was true to form in pulling off the false flag op known as 9-11. Most Americans even to this day can’t seem to bring themselves to believe that and so the hell we have created in those other countries will continue. See http://www.bollyn.com
James B. Phillips
Former U.S Marine Rifle Platoon Cmdr. (!st Lt.) in Vietnam who is all too aware of the fact that a different lie called the Tonkin Gulf Incident got the U.S. to create a different hell on earth over in Vietnam.
Mike!! give me a break!!! You have nothing better to do but protest against the same organization you joined while in high school? Can you say “For real’!!!!! Leave it to the along dog. Answer this? are you still getting payed by the VA? It must be nice to still get paid by the same people you diss!!! Please!!! Get a new life!! we all still know you as “Little Mike”!! at 71st!
Nice article, Michael. It will not be easy! Any change of direction will be difficult. Past errors will not be corrected. US media will continue the propagandan that all is well. Serious analysis is not possible. Unemployment will continue to rise. Poverty will expand. The number of sick will grow. Inflation increases. The bad economy will go worse, and so on. I on the other hand offer Euro 10 000:- to anybody proving me wrong. http://heiwaco.tripod.com/chall.htm
@Please!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Home-girl/boy, 71st classmate,
I just want you and others reading this to know that I am not dissing the Army or military. I disagree with my nation’s foreign policy. I respect the choices young people make to serve our nation. That is the choice I made in 1981. But I am a different person than I was at 17; 29 years ago. I am sure you or I hope you have gained some new wisdom in the last 29 years that has changed your views about life and politics. The wisdom I have gained has led me to disagree with and work against the choices our leaders are making about endless war and their strategy to address terrorism.
No I do not receive money from the VA or the government. I have been blessed not to be disabled etc. However, if I was I would take it as I think all vets should receive what is due to them as vets.
I have a right as a person to think, to examine the world and to speak out when I see something I believe is wrong. I in fact have that obligation as a citizen. I love my country and I want to see it be better. You do not have to agree with my observations. That’s one of the things that is so great about freedom.
I will give it a rest when injustice become a thing of the past. I really don’t see that happening soon.
“Get a new life!!” you say. Well God(ess) has led me down the path I currently tread. If she instructs me to a new path, I will listen.
“So I was known as Little Mike.” Learn something new everyday.
Take care whoever you are. Perhaps we can discuss this more over a beer at a class reunion.