Editor,
New Mexico's congressional delegation has no idea why New Mexico's National Guard troops have only 33.8 percent of the equipment and support they need. Perhaps borrowing and spending $8 billion every month in Iraq might have something to do with it.
Where is the outrage from members of the New Mexico National Guard? Where is the outrage from tax-paying New Mexicans? Where is the criticism of our local, state and national governments?
Where are the calls for our leaders to step down and resign? Politicians like Rep. Heather Wilson and Rep. Steve Pearce are not representing our national interest. These politicians do not support the troops - not with the proper equipment, training, armor, downtime or mission.
Military and political leaders had no idea that the conditions at the Walter Reed Building 18, an outpatient facility, included rat infestations, cockroaches and mold. With more than 50,000 U.S. medical evacuations from Iraq, there is not proper funding for the mental health care, research and treatment of brain injuries or even housing for some homeless Iraq veterans. A cheap yellow magnet made in China does not support the troops. If you support the troops, enlist.
The U.S. spends $1 trillion every year on so-called defense. How much of this money supports the troops, and how much supports the defense contractors? A trillion dollars isn't enough to protect and defend any of us from the cheap blowback of terrorist tactics here in the U.S. homeland.
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Every morning, I wake up to read letters in the Daily Lobo about skateboards, trash, smoking, parking, cell phones, drunken drivers and climate changes. This generation will never be able to do anything about any of those problems. I can't recall the last time I read a letter in the Lobo supporting war in Iraq or the buildup for war with Iran. The only thing this generation can stop is the war, but it seems so wasted.
A recent poll showed that average Americans think around 9,890 Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion, and that most of these people were killed by terrorists. Studies show Iraqi deaths to total more than half a million, and that they were killed mostly by the U.S.
Brian Fejer
UNM alumnus
