Being a former soldier and experiencing combat is no easy task. I was lucky, I know it. I was fortunate enough not to be shot, maimed or killed. I was also lucky not to have experienced killing anyone. I was going to fight a ruthless dictator, Noriega, before I left. When I got there I was more concerned with staying alive. I didn't care about democracy. I would have killed someone else to preserve my own life. The instinct for survival is greater than an abstract ideal of democracy.

The burnt and destroyed buildings, the poverty and sadness of people. The constant operational changes, no sleep and little food. Most officers trying to be a *censored*ing hero at the expense of the men that serve under them. Trying to comfort a soldier who lost a friend on a drop zone, a boy who bled to death from a bullet wound to the leg, waiting for a medic. Only five known casualties from the 82nd Airborne, yet hundreds of people suffered their loss, that's just our side.

The media stories of victorious soldiers returning from battle is what people what to hear. Americans are prideful people who want to win and believe they are fighting the good fight. Sometimes we don't. The good fight is defending your country and a people from aggression and invasion. If you aren't fighting that, what are you fighting for?

A good soldier is the last one who wants to fight, but is prepared. I saw many a good officer and enlisted who left because a command was screwed up and self serving. I saw great senior NCO's busted down to private, no longer caring about themselves are their families, their dignity and respect cast away. I have heard 1SG's flatly say "I don't give a *censored* about you or your family." Those whose position dictated responsibility to the lower enlisted.

No doubt exists in my mind Saddam was FUBAR. Those people suffered then and suffer now. They had a responsibility to protect themselves from his regime. They failed because they wanted security at any cost, that being liberty.

A soldiers life is hard, some say we are murders and others place us in harms way. You lose your family life, you get little pay or respect. Most soldiers are the poor and lower middle class, still on food stamps, still struggling to pay bills, still missing the birth of a son or daughter, still wanting respect, still caring enough to serve.

War and service is a machine that destroys lives and benefits the nameless, faceless few. A soldiers death becomes a family's grief and a government's statistic.

Now the White House laments the press is only telling the "bad parts" of the war, not the good. A road was built, a school opened and electricity is on. These can't replace the lives lost. If these are signs of success, it means lives are nothing compared to infrastructure.

A soldier tells his story. Some would say a soldier with an attitude. I see a 20 year veteran who cares about his lower enlisted. A man and a human. Careful, you are about to read a story of graphic detail. You may also elect to read the bogus ones, courtesy of the Dis-Administration.

Families and soldiers are hurting as well as Iraqi citizens. The psychological damage of our "New Veterans" returning from this war will be devastating. The current administration is cutting back funding for VA hospitals, closing military bases and reducing hazardous duty pay. Neo-Cons want 87 billion dollars to pay for Iraq's infrastructure. Congress just increased their annual pay. Money already allocated to rebuild Iraq is missing. The meaning of the "Support Our Troops" phrase has been co-opted, it means "Support the Administration's War" Is the administration supporting our troops? You decide.

Who can declare war?

U.S. law concerning declarations of war:

• US President - has no clear constitutional authority to declare war.
• Congress - the sole branch of government with the constitutional authority to formally declare war .
• War Powers Resolution - the 1973 congressional resolution that attempted to restrict the president's ability to order military deployments by calling for the president to consult with Congress before sending troops into hostilities, to make periodic reports on the status of hostilities, and to end unauthorized hostilities after 60 days.

Prior to the Gulf War II, the Congress abdicated it's responsibility to declare by giving the President the authority to do so. This is unconstitutional. 29 Democrats voted to pass the resolution, 21 opposed. All Republicans except one voted for it. The Congress, in a representative democracy, is supposed to vote in representation to the will of the people.

Does anyone care about how soldiers feel? Listen to a soldiers story about the effects of war.