Last Tuesday, Americans voiced their concerns about the direction our country is headed.
As an Iraq veteran I am relieved to see that our citizens are demanding the type of leadership and accountability that the brave men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve.
Last weeks resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a giant step forward in this new direction. It is extremely important that Americans continue to demand accountability to ensure that our soldiers are provided the support they need to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We must also demand that when our soldiers return home, they receive the care and support that they so rightly deserve.
Our Battalion was only given five armored Humvees for over 600 soldiers. I often had to patrol the streets of Baghdad in a Humvee with canvas doors that provided no protection to our unit from the rampant road side bombs.
We tolerated these conditions for far too long.
We were outraged when Rumsfeld responded with the now infamous line about going to war with the "Army you have, not the Army you want." When America decides to go to war, it has the responsibility to provide its soldiers the gear it needs to win - that is all we asked. It was Mr. Rumsfeld's responsibility to provide that.
Now Americans are demanding accountability for this failure in leadership and policy and their voices are being heard!
This important first step is by no means the final solution. There is still a great deal of work to be done. We must demand that our elected leaders develop plans that will truly support our overstretched military as we continue to fight in our two wars. Many soldiers are involuntarily returning to battle for second, third and fourth deployments - this is putting a tremendous stress on our soldiers and their families.
Veterans are coming home from these gruesome deployments to a Veterans Administration that is under funded and overcrowded. I am distressed to know that my friends are being forced to wait over six months for basic health care. Americans must demand accountability on this front as well.
Americans have heard the concerns of their sons and daughters in uniform and responded loudly with Tuesday's referendum on Iraq. We held our elected officials responsible for the current course of the nation and demanded change. Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation is a reaction to this demand and if we hope to continue these positive changes we must continue to voice our concerns.
As an Iraq veteran, I appreciate that the citizens of this great country went to the polls on Tuesday to demand accountability and leadership from our officials in Washington, D.C. We must now continue this by ensuring that the promises made during the campaigns are turned into policy and a new course for our nation.
Jonathan Powers
Veterans for America