[Vision2020] Soldier Responds to my Iraq column

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

Greetings:

After posting my column on Iraq on the New West e-zine, I received this response from a veteran of Afghanistan.

Hello Professor Gier,
   I am a Geography major here at the U of I. I want to thank you for the article that you wrote in the New West newspaper. I am  a returned soldier from Afghanistan and also deployed to Hurricane Katrina. I have not been to Iraq but talk to a lot of my fellow troops who have been there. While in Afghanistan ( the forgotten war), I was dismayed at the appearance of substantive action posing as substantive action that were not only hurting Afghans but leading Americans to spend more of the money we don't have (and that we borrow) on that fruitless adventure. We aren't helping Afghans, just as I am sure that we aren't helping Iraqis ( nor are we helping lower rung New Orleaneans). It seems to me that we are attempting the ol' British "divide and rule" strategy. Our leaders talk about winning hearts and minds but my experience in New Orleans and Afghanistan suggests otherwise. (lots of light and no heat) I also get pretty burned up at the continuing coverage of celebrity misadventures, car crashes, funny videos, sex scandals that pose as news. Sorry to vent! Thanks for the article.

Cheers,
Erik Stromvall