Thomas said Iraq, like Vietnam, has seen elected leaders use the military to advance their “political ambitions and (for) ulterior reasons.” “The military always does what it’s told” without question, he said. And, he said, it “always gets betrayed.” He said he was working for the Peace Corps in Kenya when the U.S. invaded Iraq. “I couldn’t figure out why we were going to war,” he said. Now, he said, it’s clear to him that the war is a mistake. “You never gain the moral high ground if you invade for the wrong reasons,” he said. There’s never been a definitive link established between Iraq and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the search for weapons of mass destruction there has been unsuccessful, he said. With the military and civilian death toll rising, Thomas said it’s time to pull out. “If we’re out of there, I think they have a better chance of healing the wounds than if we’re there,” he said.
Kenya RPCV Terry Thomas of Redding, a Vietnam War combat veteran who said he's pro-military, is strongly opposed to the war in Iraq
Two wars, two views
By Jim Schultz (Contact)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The war at home over the war in the Middle East shows no sign of abating on this — the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
While the anniversary milestone is being met with calls from those who are opposed to the war to stop it now, there are those who are equally determined in their beliefs that the U.S. should push ahead on its existing course until victory is won.
Here are the viewpoints of two Redding veterans, one who recently returned from Iraq, the other a combat veteran of the Vietnam War.
[Excerpt]
Sixty-one-year-old Terry Thomas of Redding, a Vietnam War combat veteran who said he's pro-military, is strongly opposed to the war in Iraq.
"I think it's time to stop fanning the flame that exists there," he said. "I could never see the nexus between what we were afraid of -- terrorism -- and a political leader we didn't get along with."
Thomas, a four-year Shasta County resident and environmental consultant, served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 as a U.S. Navy corpsman with the Marine Corps.
Thomas, who sees some parallels with the Vietnam and Iraq wars, said he enlisted in the Navy because he was young, idealistic and wanted to serve his country.
But he soon became disenchanted with the Vietnam War when it became clear to him that the war could not be won, he said.
“I realized that we weren’t going to win because we didn’t have a sense of direction,” he said.
Thomas said Iraq, like Vietnam, has seen elected leaders use the military to advance their “political ambitions and (for) ulterior reasons.”
“The military always does what it’s told” without question, he said. And, he said, it “always gets betrayed.”
He said he was working for the Peace Corps in Kenya when the U.S. invaded Iraq.
“I couldn’t figure out why we were going to war,” he said.
Now, he said, it’s clear to him that the war is a mistake.
“You never gain the moral high ground if you invade for the wrong reasons,” he said.
There’s never been a definitive link established between Iraq and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the search for weapons of mass destruction there has been unsuccessful, he said.
With the military and civilian death toll rising, Thomas said it’s time to pull out.
“If we’re out of there, I think they have a better chance of healing the wounds than if we’re there,” he said.
