Why are we in Iraq?

Deadly Week Ends in Tears for the Fallen

By MONICA DAVEY

Published: April 15, 2004

BROOKFIELD, Wis., April 14 — In a small town near Dallas, people lined the streets and waved flags for a funeral procession for Sgt. Gerardo Moreno of the Army. In Bradenton, Fla., Bach and Brahms were played in honor of Pfc. Christopher R. Cobb of the Marines, who had played the violin in high school. In Memphis, friends and family met for a viewing of Capt. Brent Morel of the Marines, whose relatives say he died fulfilling a mission he believed was worthwhile.
And here in the Milwaukee suburbs, family, friends and even strangers grieved over the death of Specialist Michelle M. Witmer, and some expressed anger at the prolonged sacrifice that had been demanded of her National Guard unit.
"At this point, I want to just go over and bring her home myself," an anguished Marie Galonski said of her own daughter, Specialist Juliana Bruening, who is in Specialist Witmer's unit and trained alongside her. "They said Juliana would be home in a year, and every time you turn around, it's another delay. Now I'm terrified and angry. The way I'm looking at this, this should have never happened to Michelle."
Although President Bush declared major combat over almost a year ago, last week was the deadliest yet for Americans in uniform. The Department of Defense identified 64 service members who died in the week that ended on Saturday. Until then, the highest toll had come many months ago, not long after the start of the war last March, in a week when 50 Americans died.
The dead came from cities and small towns across the continental United States, as well as from Puerto Rico and the Mariana Islands. They came from all the major service branches — the Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines, as well as the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.
They were as young as 18, as old as 45. At least two were women.
And this week their remains were returned home.
The death of Specialist Witmer, who was killed when her Humvee was attacked in Baghdad, attracted considerable attention after her father, John, urged his other daughters, who are also serving in the Guard in Iraq, to stay home after the funeral instead of returning to the units that they consider their other families. The sisters have not said what they will do.
But in the crowd that filled the church here Wednesday night to honor Specialist Witmer, relatives of other Wisconsin National Guard members were torn by the question. The death of Specialist Witmer, 20, brought the mounting dangers on the streets of Baghdad into clear focus for these military families of the 32nd Military Police Company. And then came the news that their own soldiers — Specialist Witmer's colleagues — would have to stay in Iraq even longer than planned, their tours extended by as much as four months.
Some families of the 32nd said they would accept the delay, just as they had the war. Others, though, were weighing whether to fight it. Some signed petitions. Others announced a rally to oppose it. And on a Web site for the unit's families, worries came tumbling forth. "It's been over a year, and she needs to be home," one man wrote of his soldier. "She is tired and can only handle so much. She is losing hope, and I need her too."
As chilling scenes of deadly skirmishes and hostage-taking played out in Iraq, funerals, one after the next, began filling long days in places like this. In different corners of the country, as the total American death toll climbed above 670, the eulogies, the salutes, the coffins came faster than ever.
Friends here said Michelle Witmer and her two sisters had joined the Guard to help pay for college. Michelle Witmer signed on in January of 2002. From Iraq, she sent home long dispatches describing the violence she had seen, the time she came close to vomiting at the sight of a bloodied Iraqi, the chaos at the Baghdad police station where she worked, the crazed traffic and maniacal driving, and the children.
"The children literally swarm you," she wrote. "Smiling little toddlers wave and cry after us saying, `Misses, misses . . . please water, please food.' These children usually wander around in filthy clothes and no shoes. Some of them can't be more than 4 years old. It breaks my heart not to be able to give them anything."

I read this stories with tears in my eyes and an ache in my heart and ask why? Why are we in Iraq? What is the justification? Why have the lives and futures of these Americans been cut short? Reviewing all the pap emanating from the administration propaganda mill I see no justification. Do you?