Aunt of Dead Kentucky Soldier Speaks Out

Missy Conley Beattie is the aunt of Marine LCPL Chase Comley of Lexington, Ky. She wrote a guest column, Iraq War: Tragedy of Errors, in the Lexington Herald-Leader decrying the war that took the life of her nephew.

Excerpt:

For those of you who still trust the Bush administration -- and your percentage diminishes every day -- let me tell you that my nephew Chase Johnson Comley did not die to preserve your freedoms. He was not presented flowers by grateful Iraqis, welcoming him as their liberator.

He died fighting a senseless war for oil and contracts, ensuring the increased wealth of President Bush and his administration's friends.

He died long after Bush, in his testosterone-charged, theatrical, soldier-for-a-day role, announced on an aircraft carrier beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner that major combat was over.

He died in a country erupting into civil war and turned into a hellhole by Bush, a place where democracy has no chance of prevailing, a country that will become a theocracy like Saudi Arabia.

This is a must-read. Too bad Fearless Leader won't see it. He's too fucking busy getting on with his life.

Too bad Chase Comley won't be getting on with his.