November 02, 2004
Quote Of The Moment #0080
I can never be the man I was before I left for Iraq. I had a lot of faith. I was a true believer in the administration's justification for the war -– about the weapons of mass destruction and Iraq being an imminent threat. I believed in what we were doing when we were over there.
That belief I had in the administration allowed me to balance what I was seeing, what I was experiencing, what I was a part of. With all that death and destruction -– the deaths of soldiers and Iraqi civilians who were caught in the crossfire –- it helped that I believed that it was all for a greater good. [...]
I know the real transition in me happened when my eyes were opened –- when I realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction. I realized that Saddam Hussein was not a threat to not just the United States but to any of the countries on his borders. That there was no tie to Sept. 11. And these were what I now believe were intentional misrepresentations and manipulation.
When you realize this, then you don't have anything to balance everything you've seen and been through. You're just stuck with it. And it hurts. You have to deal with what you've already been through –- the death and destruction that's haunting you. But now you're also dealing with a sense of betrayal that you'd trusted most. That's what I was left with –- what I'm still left with.
So in terms of change, I now don't have any faith in the policymakers of this administration. -- Sean Huze, United States Marine Corps
Posted by Eddie Tews at November 2, 2004 08:54 AM
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