Dear Doctor Bennitchi; Today was a very bad day for me, we just got back from patrol and we captured an Iraq civilian.
I was present when he was questioned and I was curious to get some insight on how the Iraqi civilians felt about us. he seemed very relaxed and willing to talk. One of the questions he was asked was why we were hated so much. Michael, this is what he had to say.
"We can not understand how the American soldier can stay dedicated to the cause that your government sent you here on. Your very own people hate what you are doing and protest this war.
We love to see that, because it makes us stronger. You soldiers are tied to what you can not do. We can hide behind women and children and in our churches and you can not follow us there and we can kill many of yours behind these doors.
We can walk up to you as a friend with extended hand and you drop your guard and we can kill you. We know because your reporters tell us every day what you can and can't do.
In our prisons we beat and kill your people and for what you do to us at your prisons you are put on trial and sent to prison yourself. We would have been embraced and given a medal.
You have been told you are not allowed to read your bible or wear your cross on your neck in our country and your officers make you take them off.
You can not mention your God on our land. We spit on, burn, hang your people and you do nothing. You will not and can not retaliate. We have sent some of our young people to your country to be safe and destroy your people when the time is right and your sons die on our soil.
Your soldiers are not protected, you can not kill us without suffering retaliation from your generals. Anytime your people protest, we dance in the street.
Every time we kill one of your soldiers we are paid. We do not care if he is carrying a gun or not, he dies, we get paid.
You soldiers hug some of our children and try to comfort them and you are then a target for us.
We hate you people because you are cowards, oh you have much power, but no guts to use that power. We know that when we push you out of Iraq you will rebuild our country bigger and better that it was.
You can not buy our friendship and all you Americans think that you can buy our loyalty. You are wrong you can never buy friends. but you stupid Americans think you can buy your way out of any kind of trouble.
He than asked a marine standing next to him to come closer and when the marine did, he spit in his face and laughed. Two of the other marines shot him dead. They were taken away under arrest. The Iraq civilian covered in blood was right, we can not kill them , we are just supposed to endure the humiliating and demeaning treatment we get from them. What he said before he died was that he could not understand why we stayed true and loyal to an army that would not stand behind its troops.
Your Friend Peter
That afternoon, Peter picked up a child to comfort him and was shot dead.
The warning was there, but our boys are full of love and yet are treated as criminals.
If we are not allowed to go there and win that war, than bring our troops home and protect our own land. Peter's words will live in my heart and mind forever. We can not buy friends so why don't we stop trying?
Money spent on people who hate us can better be spent on our own people. just one day of the money spent on that useless war, could feed millions of our own people.
I fully supported the war in Iraq at first, but now that I see what our young servicemen and women are having to endure, it's more than I can do to support it any longer. Our troops have made mistakes it's true , but war makes people do things sometimes they would never dream of doing under normal circumstances. I personally will support our troops no matter what. And we should not condemn them for things we don't know all the particulars about.
My heart is heavy today because I lost a dear friend and his wife can never gain back what she has lost.
Dr. Michael Bennitchi
This is a true story, Dr. Michael Bennitchi sent me an email sharing this young marine's last letter with me. He had been very saddened by the death of his young friend and he thought maybe I might want to make a web page of Peter's story in honor of this young marine who died trying to comfort a crying child, shot down in cold blood. I feel honored to have the opportunity to tell Peter's story and I thank Dr. Binnitchi very much for allowing me to do so.
Page by Mary Jones June-2005
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