Turning young American men into killers.

Faramarz_Fateh
by Faramarz_Fateh
18-Oct-2008
 

Kyle was 22 when he signed up for Iraq.  He had just dropped out of Cal State Long Beach and after a big fight with his father, he decided to join the Marines; to become a man.  To get trained to become organized, motivated and sober.  No more tequila shots and beer for Kyle.  He wanted to make his dad proud, like his older brother who is becoming a lawyer.

After 9 months of training in S. California, he was shipped out to Iraq to defend freedom and the American way of life.  So he thought.

Less than a month into his tour in Baghdad Kyle was caught in a situation which turned his life into a living hell ever since.  During a battle with some Iraqi fighters, Kyle had accidentally shot 2 innocent Iraqi kids who couldn't have been older than 8 or 9.  He was cleared of any wrong doing by the U.S. forces.  But his conscience was not cleared.  Not a least bit.

The boy from Los Angeles who turned 24 today is now in a mental institution.  I visited him this morning.  He has committed suicide 3 times; once in Iraq and twice since he has been back.

Kyle's dad was my first boss here in the U.S.  He gave me my first job after I graduated from college. I have known this family more than 25 years.  They are normal; well I should say they were normal.  Nothing is the same in their household.  For what?!

I never felt stronger feelings for trial of George Bush for crimes against humanity than I did today.

This is the story of just 1 family.  I am sure there are thousands more here in the U.S. and many many more in Iraq. 

I am just amazed at how apathetic the whole human race has become.  All that matters to us now is the economy and the stock market.  Fuck the Iraqi dead.  Who cares about the 10,000+ severely wounded U.S. soldiers.  Where can I invest my cash until the stock market settles down.

 

 

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To: Faramarz

by Reza K. (not verified) on Sun Oct 19, 2008 02:38 PM PDT

LOL..I feel you bro.
My wife doesn't listen to me either.
None of them do.
We were born in the wrong century!
LOL...


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Faramarz_Fateh

Reza K you are half right

by Faramarz_Fateh on Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:48 AM PDT

Thank you for the correction; I should have written attempted instead of committed.  Yesterday was a tough day.

Regarding your point about writing on the mighty dollar.  I do write a lot.  Perhaps because my wife doesn't listen to me anymore.  Poor women has had to put up with my nonsense for a looooong time.

Writing a lot about a subject and being apathetic are two different things.  Regarding the war in Iraq, or any war or atrocity for that matter, I am an activist.   I have and will continue to take action against these matter no matter how small or insignificant.

If 200,000 people take a small action however, it will have great results.  That was my point in the blog I wrote yesterday.


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This is only an example of .................

by Anonymous erooni (not verified) on Sun Oct 19, 2008 09:14 AM PDT

This is only an example of large number of people who eventually may become homeless and end up on the street.It is hard to believe that some people think that people living on the streets are lazy and they are drug addicts,but majority of them are veterans who spent time in wars and what they went through during the war was too much for them to handle and they turned to drugs in order to scape from want went on in their lives and eventually they end up on the street.In Kyle case I hope he make it all right.


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Mehdi-Palang

this is a very sobering story...

by Mehdi-Palang on Sun Oct 19, 2008 06:43 AM PDT

Thank you Faramarz jan for sharing this story with all of us.  I sincerely hope Kyle and the families of those two boys are able to recover.  I share your sentiments about the US's apathy towards Iraqi suffering.  I hate to generalize, but as a nation we've all been trained to focus on our selves. 

 There is a good movie on this called "The century of self" . It can be watched here : //video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151


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Agreed, but...

by Reza K. (not verified) on Sun Oct 19, 2008 06:17 AM PDT

"All that matters to us now is the economy and the stock market", you say.
No, other things matter to us too.

Aren't YOU, the one who is always writing about the economy, and the mighty $ in here?

(Oh and you could ATTEMPT to "committ suicide 3 times", but you certainly can't COMMIT suicide more than once!)


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