Lew Lubka's Testimony in Support of SCR 4022
My name is Lewis Lubka. I reside in District 11 and am proud to be a constituent of Sen. Tim Mathern who is a co-sponsor of Concurrent Resolution No. 4022
Debate, dissent and discussion are at the heart of democracy. Many other states are holding similar hearings. The people want a voice in their future.
I'm here because I am concerned about our future. I served as a parachute rifleman in the 82nd Airborne Division and made 12 jumps out of airplanes. Now I'm glad to jump out of bed in the morning. This shirt that I am wearing was my uniform 61 years ago. As you can see, it may be a little tight in the midsection, but it still fits.
There was only one way to get into the airborne - you had to volunteer. If I thought my country was in any danger, I would volunteer again. I turned 80 this past summer and can still handle a gun. The most powerful nation in the world is not endangered by a small Middle East country. The war is about oil. The longer we stay in Iraq, the more enemies and terrorists we will create and we will continue to throw more billions into the pockets of a bunch of crooked no-bid war profiteers.
We are supposed to be nation building but we are doing nation destruction. We are trying to get the Iraqi people to carry the can for us. We failed to get the Vietnamese to do it and we will never succeed in Iraq. We would still be in Vietnam if millions of Americans hadn't protested on the streets and in the voting booths.
Two of the policy making groups in Washington are the neocons and the realists. Among the realists is Gen. Abizaid, former commander-in-chief in Iraq, He is of Lebanese descent, served with the UN in Lebanon and earned a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard. He served in the 504 Parachute Infantry Regiment, which was my regiment. With his knowledge and expertise he says that the addition of more troops would not improve the situation in Iraq. Bush, who barely made it through college, is pushing for an escalation.
We were told that this war wouldn't affect the country's budget. Now we are feeling the cuts in social programs, health programs, housing, education, agricultural programs and they are trying to cut Social Security, Medicare, NPR, PBS and so forth. It's an old truism that you can't have guns and butter too.
Support the troops by bringing them home, by helping them when they get here. I had the GI Bill of Rights when I was discharged in 1946. What awaits those that return now? Another rotation back into combat.
There is old story about an Emperor who paraded in the nude in front of his people, and his propaganda machine, his embedded press, talked about how nice his clothes were. A boy said, but the Emperor has no clothes! I say the Emperor has no brains. The proposed troop increase in Iraq is the misguided escalation of a failed policy.