Marcy Kaptur: “this evening I wish to enter into the Record the compelling story of one of our soldiers from Iraq. This is a soldier…”

“this evening I wish to enter into the Record the compelling story of one of our soldiers from Iraq. This is a soldier who voluntarily joined our Army in February 2002; trained as an infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia; sent to Fort Riley; participated in the opening stages of the war, fighting all the way to Baghdad where he would remain for the next year and was promoted to the rank of sergeant during his service to the United States and was honorably discharged. He is 27 years old. His writings include this: A view of Iraq from a soldier dated this July 2005. He says, ``I am a concerned veteran of the Iraq War. I can offer some firsthand experience of the war on Iraq through the eyes of a soldier. ``My view of the situation in Iraq will differ from what the American people are being told by the Bush administration. My opinion on this matter comes from what I witnessed in Iraq personally.'' He talks about members of the Bush administration creating an image of wine and roses in terms of the aftermath of the war. And Vice President Dick Cheney said American troops would be greeted as liberators. But he goes on to say, ``I participated in the invasion, stayed in Iraq for a year afterward. What I witnessed was the total opposite of what President Bush and his administration stated to the American people. The invasion was very confusing,'' this soldier says, ``and so was the period of time I spent in Iraq afterwards.…”