NATIONWIDE - April 8 -As General David Petraeus prepares to report to Congress, members of Military Families Speak Out are offering their own assessment of the current situation regarding the war in Iraq and its impacts on our troops and their families. Military families will be available to comment before and after the testimony of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Military Families Speak Out is the largest organization of military families to oppose a war in the nation's history.

Larry Syverson, a member of Military Families Speak Out from Richmond, VA, has three sons serving in the military, one of whom is scheduled to return to Iraq in January as part of an Army Stryker Brigade. "The President keeps telling us that if we can just hang on a little longer, things will improve in Iraq. But we are more than five years into a war that has claimed the lives of over 4,000 U.S. troops and perhaps millions of Iraqis. Just yesterday, five more U.S. troops were killed, and scores of Iraqis killed and wounded. As the father of three sons who have served in Iraq, one of whom is set to go back to the front lines next January, I and so many other military families are not willing to wait any longer. Congress needs to act now to bring all of our troops home now – by refusing to appropriate any more funds for the war in Iraq, and appropriate all funds needed for our troops’ swift and safe return." says Syverson, who serves on the Board of Directors of Military Families Speak Out.

Stacy Bannerman, a member of Military Families Speak Out from Fife, WA, and the wife of a soldier in the Washington National Guard’s 81st Brigade, recently learned that her husband is being sent back to Iraq. She describes the stress repeated deployments are putting on National Guard members and their families. "My husband and I are finally finding our way back together after his first deployment to a war that should never have happened, and now he's got orders for a second tour in Iraq, The Department of Defense keeps violating its policy mandating one year mobilized and five years not mobilized for Reserve forces. Guard and Reserve families are denied anything approaching a 'normal' life, or planning for the future, because of the Pentagon's pattern of broken promises Repeat tours increase psychological injuries and post-combat mental health problems, which already affect nearly half of our citizen soldiers. But with this endless occupation of Iraq, and the Pentagon's lack of integrity, I fear that our soldiers will never be allowed to be citizens again. When will we have our loved ones back home for good? And what are they fighting for now?"

Members of Military Families Speak Out are available for interview -- including families with loved ones currently serving in Iraq, families whose loved ones have died as a result of this war, families of troops who have suffered physical and psychological injuries, and families of those awaiting deployment or re-deployment. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of almost 4,000 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones who serve or have served in the military since the fall of 2002.

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