Feb. 25, 2007
GIs Petition Congress To End Iraq War
More Than 1,000 Military Personnel Sign Petition Urging Withdrawal
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Play CBS Video Video Some Soldiers Oppose Iraq War A new opposition to the war in Iraq comes from some men and women in uniform. Hundreds of soldiers have publicly asked Congress to stop the war. Lara Logan has this "60 Minutes" report.
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Video Logan's Reporter's Notebook Over 1,000 active-duty and reserve members of the U.S. military are against the war in Iraq and have said so in an unusually public way.
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Video Soldiers Oppose Iraq War In Full: Lara Logan talks to a group of soldiers who are against the war in Iraq. Their dissent has been criticized, but they say that nobody has the right to question their patriotism.
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(AP / CBS)
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Interactive New Plan For Iraq Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
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Interactive Military 101 Basic training to learn all about America's fighting force.
"That’s not something I would do personally," a specialist remarks.
Logan spoke with soldiers from the 1st Cavalry who are currently serving in Baghdad. They acknowledged that the servicemen and women who signed the petition have the right to do so – but that doesn’t mean they should.
"I think every American soldier throughout history has wanted combat to stop," a major remarked.
"As an American soldier I feel like we took an oath to obey the orders of our Commander in Chief and officers appointed over us," Army Spec. James Smauldon adds.
"The war has been very difficult, the violence has not decreased at all, if anything it has gotten worse. Is there a part of you that sort of says, 'Yeah I understand why someone feels like this?'" Logan asks.
"I know what I’m here fighting for, to give the Iraqi people some democracy and hope so I am 100 percent behind this mission. You don’t sign up to pick which war you go to," Army Capt. Lawrence Nunn replies.
What would Ronn Cantu say to that?
"We haven't said that we're not going to war. But the time this airs I'll be back in Iraq," he replies.
"We don't get to choose the mission. Our leadership gets to choose the mission. Congress gets to choose the mission. My Congressman is Lacy Clay. I would like to tell him as a constituent of his, "Is this really – is this it?" Staff Sgt. Matt Nuckolls says.
"What do you mean, is this it?" Logan asks.
Says Nuckolls, "Is the mission in Iraq really what you want us to be doing? And then he responds, yes. Okay, well we go back to Iraq and keep doing what we're doing."
"We volunteer to make a difference, not just throw our lives away," Cantu adds.
Sgt. Ronn Cantu served in the army before 9/11 and re-enlisted after the terrorist attacks. He was in Iraq in 2004 and was headed back when 60 Minutes interviewed him. Although he says he will follow whatever orders he’s given, he personally feels this war is no longer worth fighting.
He is a third generation military man in his family. "The third generation to have served, the first who made the decision to make the military a career," he explains.
Asked if he thinks the petition could be career suicide, Cantu says, "Only time will tell."
"You're going back. Are you worried about what the consequences are going to be for you back there, when people know how you feel?" Logan asks.
"All I can do is just convey to those soldiers that I do not want them to die in Iraq and that I will do everything I can do bring them home safe," Cantu says.
"Once you're in that combat zone and once those bullets start flying it's, all those politics are out the window. It's not about foreign policy or what anybody says. It's about the man to your left and to your right. And now you're just out there defending each other," Kevin Torres says. "Nothing will ever change that."
Despite the fact that polls show the majority of the American public has turned against the war in Iraq, support for the troops remains high, even for soldiers like Specialist Torres, whose 101st Airborne was recently welcomed home with a parade near their home base at Ft. Campbell.
What did that mean to him when he returned home and saw the warm welcome?
"When you're in Iraq you're worried that you're sort of forgotten. The only people that are really concerned with the war in Iraq are people who have family members or loved ones in Iraq. And when you come home and you see a town welcome you and, you know, set up a parade it's comforting," he says.
"What would you say to your children 30 years from now about the war you fought?" Logan asks.
"That I was just doing what my country asked me to do and I did it well," Torres replies.
Produced By Peter Klein
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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- I wish they would've said that they oppose fighting for US imperialism. I am NOT at all proud to have served the STATE in uniform. I have no respect for the politicians in Congress and call for their removal by any means required because they will never support the withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq or anywhere else for that matter.
Carl Webb
Defend Iraq!
http://carlwebb.net - Reply to this comment
- When you compare this to Desert Storm, it is like night and day. DS, handled in a very short period of time mostly thru hi-tech, was over in a matter of days. This one: urban warfare and desert patrols, has become a tough, bloody, heart-breaking road. In Korea, the US lost 2 division generals, but overcame the N Koreans, only to face war with neighboring countries, happening again in the 60's. But, in time, the US with ROK & UN forces saved S Korea's Republic status. When you look at that plan, it looked like a football field. This one has been described by one of the generals as playing chess in the dark. The South Korean Army was unified, fiercely patriotic & in large numbers, were unwaveringly persistent, often on the front lines. If the same situation existed now, there would not be the setbacks existing in Iraq.
Playing chess in the dark could be construed as engineered by blind politicians, or by a non-unified political front. Securing neighborhoods and borders, block by block and mile by bloody mile is a difficult and painstaking task. The only dim hope is that the Arabs and Persians form a union to achieve stability, and agree to enforce their borders. I have no doubt we can aid Iraq in its containment, but the region must take care of business, and it looks doubtful they can look beyond their own cloaks. - Reply to this comment
- jcsats, how many tours of duty have you done over there? How many people have you killed in a combat tour and how many of your friends brains have you had to clean out of your uniform after they were killed in front of you?
If your answer to ANY of these if none, you better go enlist and volunteer for duty in Iraq before calling these soldiers "communist *******" and "cowardice son-of*** and ***." - Reply to this comment
- ***the*** ***interview*** ***with*** ***the*** ***Iraq*** ***soldiers*** ***was*** ***not*** ***at*** ***all*** ***supportive*** ***to*** ***their*** ***cause***. ***If*** ***anyone*** ***has*** ***the*** ***right*** ***to*** ***protest*** ***the*** ***legitamacy*** ***of*** ***a*** ***war*** ***it*** ***would*** ***be*** ***the*** ***soldiers*** ***that*** ***have*** ***been*** ***there***. ***noone*** ***has*** ***the*** ***right*** ***to*** ***lable*** ***these*** ***men*** ***cowardice***,***they*** ***are*** ***expressing*** ***their*** ***honest*** ***opinions*** ***and*** ***regardless*** ***of*** ***how*** ***that*** ***is*** ***recieved*** ***they*** ***are*** ***still*** ***going*** ***back*** ***to*** ***carry*** ***out*** ***their*** ***duty***. ***This*** ***takes*** ***courage***, ***to*** ***stand*** ***up*** ***in*** ***the*** ***face*** ***of*** ***adversity***. ***we*** ***are*** ***not*** ***mere*** ***sheep*** ***going*** ***to*** ***slaughter***, ***we*** ***are*** ***humans*** ***with*** ***brains*** ***that*** ***think***. ***God*** ***help*** ***us*** ***if*** ***we*** ***stop*** ***thinking***,***and*** ***God*** ***help*** ***us*** ***more*** ***if*** ***we*** ***don***'***t*** ***voice*** ***our*** ***thoughts***.
- Reply to this comment
- NonYa1 ... the best redress was right here on 60 minutes! So you want to lump 60 minutes in with CNN? It's a great match .. because both of those institutions foster thinking, not the knee jerk reaction of people who have been "conditioned" like you appear to be.
I seriously doubt that 60 minutes or CNN will experience any jeopardy because you decided to stop watching! Your way of "thinking" is bias. Any editorial piece done about our troops in Iraq today must have some kind of built in bias because of the nature of this "war". This isn't WWII where everyone felt pretty much the same.
No one thinks war is pretty. We were duped into this mess... there is no "may have" about it. The bottom line as you put it is "we are in Iraq" the reason why is highly RELAVANT. That is where you and I part ways. If you want to demean the media start with the media that condones and supports the mess we are in they are the true warmongers
here not CNN and not 60 Minutes.
You mentioned that dissident's of the war should step out of their comfort zone? The fact is the more we go along with this fiasco .... the smaller and fragile our comfort zone becomes. Ever think of that? I didn't think so.
CNN publishes the number of dead and wounded every night .... FOX doesn't .... THINK MAN! - Reply to this comment
- Usually I pretty much keep to myself and let others speak their piece. Your "GI's petition" episode stirred me so that I felt I should write this. The people on your program wanting to petition the stopping of the "Iraqi War" are in my opinion the bravest of the brave. They buck the tide in their ranks and hopefully will get others to wake up. If anyone deserves the right to petition our government to stop this mess we are in, it is they who served, experienced error and have the courage to come forward and speak out. What these people did took more courage than going along with indoctrination of thier peers. They are the true patriots.
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- well not a puc, nam,ca but ya sone of them are give n out for beibg there those are not the 1s im talking about
semper_fi183 said, "respect ..... i dont have to prove it to u i got my metals to prove that ty."
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Hate to break the news, but some medals are awarded for job performance, and some for simply being there, and not *** up. Medals are not Nobel prizes, though some undeniably represent courage.
What McDazz means is courage is found everywhere people do their best for their country, from whatever station in life they come. All these people deserve respect-- if not also medals.
Posted by alphaa10 at 12:27 AM : Feb 26, 2007 - Reply to this comment
- peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first
The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life. Theodore Roosevelt - Reply to this comment
- Appeal for Redress
Sign this Appeal.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.
The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.
This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress.
http://www.appealforcourage.org/ - Reply to this comment
- To each General out there that waits until they are in the safety of their retirement to speak out, well, hopefully you'll learn something from the power of convictions the troops under you are displaying. As far as I'm concerned, you do nothing when you wait until you are no longer in a position to stop the madness. I can only hope the leadership will display the honor and integrity that those, those whose lives your are responsible for, have done. If our troops ever needed strong leadership it is now...you know just as well as we the majority of the country knows, this is all politics now, and continued military presence is wrong....
- Reply to this comment
- I have never felt more prouder of our troops than to learn they're stepping up to the plate and expressing their concerns about Iraq, while continuing their service to our country, regardless of these concerns.
I recently retired and spent the majority of my career as a paralegal and I can only begin to imagine how difficult the decision to come forward must have been, and I pray that none of you will suffer fall-out for standing true to your convictions.
I have been opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the get-go...I understand and support Afghanistan, but Iraq does not, to this day, make any sense. I hope one day the "truth" behind this decision, the real reason, Bush invaded comes out.
I also want each and every one you to know I have been doing all I can to bring you home...home, where you belong. And if the people I elected into office does not stop the illegal invasion of Iraq...they be gone too.
I truly can't stand it...lives are being destroyed, and for what? Be safe and come home soon! - Reply to this comment
- I have never felt more prouder of our troops than to learn they're stepping up to the plate and expressing their concerns about Iraq, while continuing their service to our country, regardless of these concerns.
I recently retired and spent the majority of my career as a paralegal and I can only begin to imagine how difficult the decision to come forward must have been, and I pray that none of you will suffer fall-out for standing true to your convictions.
I have been opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the get-go...I understand and support Afghanistan, but Iraq does not, to this day, make any sense. I hope one day the "truth" behind this decision, the real reason, Bush invaded comes out.
I also want each and every one you to know I have been doing all I can to bring you home...home, where you belong.
Be safe and come home soon! - Reply to this comment
- I have never felt more prouder of our troops than to learn they're stepping up to the plate and expressing their concerns about Iraq, while continuing their service to our country, regardless of these concerns.
I recently retired and spent the majority of my career as a paralegal and I can only begin to imagine how difficult the decision to come forward must have been, and I pray that none of you will suffer fall-out for standing true to your convictions.
I have been opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the get-go...I understand and support Afghanistan, but Iraq does not, to this day, make any sense. I hope one day the "truth" behind this decision, the real reason, Bush invaded comes out.
I also want each and every one you to know I have been doing all I can to bring you home...home, where you belong. And if the people I elected into office does not stop the illegal invasion of Iraq...they be gone too.
I truly can't stand it...lives are being destroyed, and for what?
Be safe and come home soon!
Susanne - Reply to this comment
- lars008
Just wanted to let you know that there are 2 Appeals for Redress out there. If you would like to link to the one lars008 spoke of copy and paste the following into your address bar and it will bring you there. http://www.appealforcourage.org
As far as the show in CBS they in my book are right u there with cnn who I no longer watch. If you are going to do a piece on the troops in Iraq do it without bias. I am at this point so disgusted with the media in this country. War is not pretty. I do understand that the reasons we went to Iraq MAY HAVE been false and I will repeat MAY HAVE but the truth is buried so deep in the media and politics that we as everyday American will never know what it is. The bottom line is we ARE in Iraq and why we got there is irrelevant at this point. All you who say we should leave are blind to the fact that if we do the deaths there will increase 100 fold and that blood will be on our hands nad they will want revenge. So step out of you comfort zone for 5 minutes and look at reality we can not walk away from a mess we created. - Reply to this comment
- This war is one of the most successful wars in world history!!! Average 800 deaths per year. There are more deaths in military training accidents then there are in Iraq!!! As for Iran, No one can deny they are supplying the supplies and money and training that keeps the war going. Their Major General of the Revolutionary guard was captured in Iraq. If you don%u2019t believe me on the deaths look for your self!! I Was there and we need to stay.
http://siadapp.dior.whs.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/Death_Rates1.pdf - Reply to this comment
- After 3,157 dead American soldiers the filthy pro-death, pro-war, pro-torturing, sanctimonious phoney christian republicans lust for blood is still not satisfied. It just bothers me that I have to breath the same air as these ******* republicans!
Laura Logan, the CBS reporter, is a hero in my book for bringing out the gruesome details of this terrible civil war in Iraq. I would now like to see her employer, CBS, begin showing us the names, faces and ages of those killed daily in Iraq during the CBS Evening News in the same way the PBS News Hour does now. Once the viewers begin seeing the faces of the 18, 19 and 20 year old soldiers who die daily in Iraq their opinion of this bloody quagmire will change quickly.
As a vietnam veteran I salute every soldier who has been killed or injured or who has endured countless additional tours of duty in this useless illegal war for oil and Halliburton profiteering.
The moron-in-chief, Chimpy The DECIDER, (Wastey Pants) now plans to start a war with Iran. IT IS TIME FOR THE CONGRESS AND THE SENATE TO PUT AN END TO BUSH%u2019s WAR IN IRAQ AND HIS FUTURE WAR PLANS WITH IRAN!! - Reply to this comment
- I've read Hubris, I'm reading Fiasco and Life in the Emerald City. Do all of yourselves a favor and read what your gov't has done to the truth! I'm a vet and my gov't tried to kill me in Nam based on a lie (Gulf of Tonkin). They are trying to kill this generation based on lies also. Read, study, understand what these policy wonks do to us.
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- The American Civil Liberty Union defends the Constitution Ray. They are for strict interpretation of the Constitutional law that it embodies. For example I really hate Nazi's but the ACLU supports the 1st Amendment, freedom of speech. I accept that because they are defending the constitution even if I hate Nazi's. Why do you hate everyone who disagrees with you? America is about different opinions, options, Etc. You seem to have a real problem with that org and need to see a professional.
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- I do not think the servicemen you interviewed are unpatriotic, I believe they have simply lost their will for the mission. This has happened in every war since the beginning of time. War is ugly, always has been. These people volunteered to serve their country and to follow the orders of the Commander in Chief, as well as their superior officers. They don't get to choose which action they want to support or participate in.
Now that CBS has represented this view of the Iraq war, it would only be fair to interview an equal number of soldiers that have not lost their will and continue to support our action. They should not be hard to find as I believe they are in the vast majority of the soldiers.
Will CBS do this? I highly doubt it. - Reply to this comment
- Also Ray, learn the english language "OUR" not "Are". Obviously you're a typically well read American!
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