A Nation Betrayed
SSG Matthew Sitton (1986-2012)
Below is an extraordinary, heart-stopping and historic letter.
It is a letter SSG Matthew Sitton sent to U.S. Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young after his commanders in Afghanistan told him to "quit whining"
about orders to lead patrols without objective "through, for lack of a
better term, basically a mine field on a daily basis," as Sitton wrote.
Twice daily basis, in fact.
On
August 2, 2012, Sitton and another US soldier were killed in one the
IED-riddled field he spoke of. Eighty-one-year-old Rep. Young, who
attends the same church in Florida as the Sitton family, this week
announced he no longer supports the presence of US troops in Afghanistan
and called for their withdrawal in advance of 2014.
Young
also held a hearing yesterday to ask the agency in charge of protecting
troops against IEDs to explain why so many are still dying and
suffering horrific injuries despite an annual budget of nearly $3 billion.
I support immediate withdrawal ("Let it go")
and commend the Congressman's resolve -- all but unique among his
hundreds of peers in the House and Senate, which is in itself a national
disgrace -- but he is asking the wrong people the wrong question.
This
is a question of strategy that goes to the heart of the whole
multi-billion-dollar nation-building endeavor predicated on a Big Lie
that Islam and the West are compatible.
It
is time for Sitton's commanders and their commanders and on up the
chain of command to be questioned, to talk to “We the People” about who
devised and signed off on this morally and militarily bankrupt doctrine
-- counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy -- that patriots such as Matthew
Sitton have paid for with their lives.
It is time for Generals Petraeus, McChrystal, Allen, Dempsey, Admiral Mullen and many more to face us and explain.
It
is also time for former President Bush and his advisors and President
Obama and his advisors to answer for the failure of their misbegotten
and irresponsible policy of nation-building in the Islamic world, which
COIN supports.
This letter by Matthew Sitton, RIP, is the right place to start:
SIR,
Hello
my name is SSG Matthew Sitton. I am in the 82nd Airborne Division
stationed in Ft. Bragg, NC. I am currently deployed with the 4th Brigade
Combat Team in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. I
am writing you because I am concerned for the safety of my soldiers.
This is my 3{+r}{+d} combat tour to Afghanistan so I have seen the
transition in Rules of Engagement and Overall Tactics over the past 6
years.
I
am only writing this email because I feel myself and my soldiers are
being put into unnecessary positions where harm and danger are imminent.
I know the threat of casualties in war and am totally on board with
sacrifice for my country, but what I don't agree with is the chain of
command making us walk through, for lack of a better term, basically a
mine field on a daily basis.
I
am in a platoon of 25 soldiers. We are operating at a tempo that is set
for a full 35-40 man infantry platoon. We have been mandated to patrol
twice daily for 2-4 hours each patrol on top of guarding our FOB and
conducting routine maintenance of our equipment. There is no end-state or purpose for the patrols given to us from our higher chain of command,
only that we will be out for a certain time standard. I am all for
getting on the ground and fighting for my country when I know there is a
desired end-state and we have clear guidance of what needs to be done.
But when we are told basically to just walk around for a certain amount
of time is not sitting well with me.
As
a Brigade, we are averaging at a minimum an amputee a day from our
soldiers because we are walking around aimlessly through grape rows and
compounds that are littered with explosives.
Not to mention that the operation tempo that every solider is on leaves
little to no time for rest and refit. The moral and alertness levels on
our patrol are low and it is causing casualties left and right.
Here
is an example of how bad things have gotten. Our small FOB (Forward
Operating Base) was flooded accidentally by a local early one morning a
few days ago. He was watering his fields and the dam had broken and
water came flooding into our living area. Since our FOB does not have
any portable bathrooms, we had to dig a hole in the ground where
soldiers could use the bathroom. That also got flooded and contaminated
all the water that later soaked every soldier and his gear. Instead of
returning to base and cleaning up, our chain of command was so set on
us meeting the brigade commander’s “two patrols a day” guidance that
they made us move outside the flooded FOB and conduct our patrols soaked in urine.
That
is just one single instance of the unsatisfactory situations that our
chain of command has put us in. At least three of my soldiers have
gotten sick since that incident and taken away from our combat power
because of their illness caused by unhealthy conditions.
I understand that as a commander you are to follow the orders of those appointed over you however
there needs to be a time where the wellness of your soldiers needs to
take priority over walking around in fields for hours a day for no rhyme
or reason, but only to meet the Brigade Commanders guidance of you will
conduct so many patrols for such an allotted time.
I'm
concerned about the well-being of my soldiers and have tried to voice
my opinion through the proper channels of my own chain of command only
to be turned away and told that I need to stop complaining.
It is my responsibility to take care of my soldiers
and there is only so much I can do with that little bit of rank I have.
My guys would fight by my side and have my back in any condition and I
owe it to them to have their best interest in mind. I know they would
and I certainly would appreciate it if there was something that you
could do to help us out. I just want to return my guys home to their
families healthy.
I
apologize for taking your time like this sir, and I do appreciate what
you do for us. I was told to contact you by my grandmother (name blacked out) who said that you had helped her son (my uncle) (name blacked) out many years ago. He also was serving in the military at the time.
Thank you again for allowing soldiers like me to voice their opinion. If anything please pray for us over here.
God Bless.
Very respectfully,
SSG Matthew Sitton
An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
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