Mother Davis picks up the telephone as she notes,
There’s been a lot of empty talk about supporting the troops over the last couple years. Most of it has been nothing but empty talk and little ribbon. Real support has been sorely lacking.
Well, now is the time when the troops need some real support. Yesterday, a platoon of Army reservists were ordered to go on what they call “a suicide mission”. They were told to take unarmored tankers filled with explosive fuel through a neighborhood filled with enemy insurgents. They were given almost no armed escort for the trip.
Why was the trip so important? Members of the army reserve unit are not sure, because the fuel was contaminated, rendering it useless. They say that their commanders knew of the contamination, but ordered them into harm’s way anyway.
So, the entire platoon disobeyed orders and refused to go.
Now, the platoon is being held prisoner by the Army, in a tent in the desert. They are being refused the right to sleep, and are being interrogated – as the New York Daily News puts it, “treated like captured Iraqi insurgents”.
The Army has stopped even allowing the reservists to use telephones, although one member of the platoon, Amber McClenny, was able to sneak in one telephone call to her mother. McClenny asked her mother to call her representative in Congress and “raise pure hell”.
So, here’s the support the troops part.
These troops have been given unarmored vehicles, contaminated fuel, and inadequate armed escort on their mission. They are now accused of mutiny, and are being subjected military “justice”. Frankly, I don’t think that’s good enough. What this situation calls for is an independent, non-military investigation of all parties involved – both officers and enlisted soldiers.
If you really support the troops, I’m asking you to do what Amber McClenny asked her mother to do. Call your representative in Congress and “raise pure hell”. The American people deserve to know the whole truth about what went on yesterday in Iraq.
You’ll find your own representative’s phone number at Congress.Org
Dialing the number,
Mother Davis
