'Wonderful time to be a soldier', A soldiers tale on the War on Terror

#1 Cheap shot at correcting my typing skills. If thats the type of thing that gets your rocks on then fine.

#2 Truth? Truth is relative my friend, and your truth is nothing more than opinion. And a bad one at that.

Oh, and whats does "Dgive" mean? It MUST be a real word coming from an English teacher such as yourself...

If the personal jibes, retaliatory or not, do not stop and you cannot discuss the topic without them I will just trash the thread.

Actually that is a mute point that like the dead horse has been beaten enough. The thing is we are there now and we have to deal with that. We can withdraw all our forces in a huff creating a vaccum that would suck the life out of whatever is left of Iraq and the Middle east. Or we can try to peace together some resemblence of order and maybe, just maybe leave a Democracy behind. If we pull out now as many want then Iraq falls into civil war with three factions seeking control. Grabbing the lion by the tail isn't such a great idea because there are teeth at the other end plus you have to decided on how the hell you are going to let go and not be eaten. Why we took hold of the tail really doesn't matter now does it? The important thing now is coming up with a way out that will not leave a black hole for Iran and Syria to move in an fill. Hindsight is 20/20 everyone has it. What I am not seeing is all the armchair quarterbacks coming up with any plays. Anyone can be a critic. Thats why the playmakers get the big bucks!!

[edit on 26-8-2005 by Yorga]

Sorry JAK, the man makes a point on my spelling and makes a miss spelling in the process. Just deffending myself.

[edit on 26-8-2005 by skippytjc]

So much hate and disrespect. I wonder why some soldiers would even WANT to defend us.

We all know that this war is BS and that Bush is a liar. HOWEVER, the folks in the military are doing what was ordered of them. We are there now.

I think is very important, even if you hate Bush like I do, to support the troops. It may be true that they aren't really defending us, but it is important to thank them and appreciate them just as if they were defending us. Remember how most of our boys felt when they returned from Vietnam.

Bush, you did us wrong and disapprove of your leadership.

Military folks, thank you so VERY much for what you are doing.

Never at one point in my post did I say ANYthing against the US Military, nor will I ever.

Touche. I apologize for my spelling comment.

You still haven't answered my question.

Don't give me this "hindsight is 20/20" BS. That is a crock. This administration knew full and well they were dishing out crap when they made their case to go to war. Now that you mention it, the only people dishing ANYthing to the US military is the current administration...they are dishing horse crap! You can sit by and think that what we are doing is all fine and well, but if you think that our soldiers are dying for a good cause, then you truly have a warped sense of reality.

I agree, we are in a stink hole that we cannot just abandon as is. My whole angst is with the frigging liars that are running things!!! They lie and lie to cover up their original lies. This whole war is a piece of propaganda, and a series of catch phrases. Our troops are dying so the ULTRA rich can get richer. That is the worst part about all of this. But don't take my word for it, the truth will be known by ALL eventually. The only thing that people will say about hindsight being 20/20, is why we let the POS group running the White house steal both elections and why we were so dumb.

I find it funny that people always blame this war on Bush and hate him for it. You do realize that congress voted for this war? Bush didn't push a button and send our troops oversea? You do realize that Bush didn't lie to anybody because his information he was regurgitating on TV was the exact same information Congress had laying in front of them from our Intelligence Committees. Before you hate this president to much hate the people who made this war happen in the first place your congressman and intelligence agencies that voted for it.

And how can you say our troops aren't defending us? Do you really think all these terrorists in Iraq would be sitting in their native countries picking their a** if they didn't have Americans in Iraq to try to kill, no they would probably be planning attacks on us in the US. I think it was a brilliant plan actually take the fight to them.

Most of what you said may have some truth to them, but the part above I disagree with. Most of these enemies we created because we are there. I don't think that they would be planning attacks on the US, although they may now. The numbers of folks that hate Americans has gone way up - we just made more "terrorists".

What is a "terrorist" anyways? Anyone know?

Don't try to get technical, we all know why we're calling them terrorists.


[edit on 26-8-2005 by WestPoint23]

In Vietnam our hands were tied behind our backs and we were not allowed to fight an offensive war with all the resources at our disposal. Had we been allowed to fight then that would have been an entirely different outcome. The protesting back home didn't help the situation. Pressure by Anti-war activist on Politicans created a climate that put me and my men in danger and attributed to the death toll by not letting us do what we were trained to do. I had hoped that America would have learned a lesson from Vietnam. If you are going to put our fighting men and women in harms way, for gods sake let them fight. Give them every f******* thing they need to get in, get it done and get the hell out. The Us Armed Forces is not a police force. It is the worlds best FIGHTING force, PERIOD. Now we are there and soldiers are again dying. Anti-War protesting whether meaning to our not will cost soldiers lives. Politicians will get nervous, a critical vote here or there will be missed and someone's son or daughter will die because of it. America is not in this alone and other countries have lost sons and daughters as well. We cannot just pull up stakes and leave, it is way too late for that. America and her Coalition Allies has to hunker down, get the situation under control and finish this. If we do not, you can bet five or ten years from now we will be back there.

No Anti war protests will NOT cost American lives. They will show the rest of the world that not all of us are that stupid to believe this crap. I will continue to protest louder & louder until I see PROGRESS. If we cannot pull out this second, fine! At least level with the American public and tell us the truth. Period. Why is it that people who want the truth are the ones that are labeled un-amerian??




Couldn't agree with you more. Not one single person with an anti war view has ever said anything different. Many of us who oppose this war do so just because of this reason. This war was planned by morons. We said not to go. You didn't listen. Now we are in a HUGE mess that will cost us over a trillion dollars in the long run. You do realize that there are Iraq veterans that are being DENIED benefits right as we speak???? How can you say you support the troops when you rally behind a government that can let this happen?

If we were truly over there for the reasons ORIGINALLY stated, then I think alot more of us "anti war" types would see things more from your point of view. I wouldn't protest my a** off if they weren't making billions off of this and laughing all the way to the bank. But hey, don't take MY word, we are liberating them.

What truth is everyone looking for? Here is my version of what the president would say the truth of the matter is (in my opinion).

Well folks we went over there with bad intelligence of Saddam having WMD's, I thought this was a potential threat to the US so I took action. Little did I know that he either destroyed/shipped to Syria all the weapons or our intelligence services are idiots.

Now that we can't say WMD's because obviously there aren't any now, we are going to go ahead and finish the job unlike we did with the last war and establish some sort of friendly democracy toward the US here.

As for the truth about Haliburton, you do realize that Haliburton is the largest contractor in the world before George Bush was in office? This company was going to be in any country rebuilding regardless of administrations. Now wether or not they have a larger stake in the country than they would have without having a friendly administration in office is probably true. But regardless Haliburton's name has been all over the world doing defense work and restructuring. They are known for handling places that other contractors refuse to work since they employee a large number of ex-special forces and merc type people. I never heard anybody complaining in the 90's when Haliburton was fixing all of Kuwaits buring oil wells when Saddam set them on fire? Or what about the helping rebuild the Balkans or Croatia and other countries is that this administration milking those countries to?

A good point, and despite my impressions, I still contribute often to the care packages, etc. that we send out. Having grown up on military bases, I know that a little something from home can really brighten your day....

That would be a start. At least you have the guts to tell it like it is. But what job are we finishing? Osama bin laden? Nope. Liberating the people?? Nope. Installing a democracy?? I dont think so - more like a US controlled puppet government. The Iraqi people will never be "friendly" toward us, not now....


Are you seriously defending Haliburton? Thanks, I needed a dose of humor for the day.

As regards the title of this thread:
'Wonderful time to be a soldier', A soldiers tale on the War on Terror
This guy doesn't seem to agree...

Letter from a Soldier to his Senator

Most of these trucks have been through two tours here taking numerous poundings and are starting on their third. We have inadequate maintenance manpower to maintain these vehicles having much less maintenance staff, and when I mean much less that is a gross understatement.
...
My vehicle constantly breaks down, my turret which is the main weapons platform hardly spins and some don’t spin, and our tanks which have had problems since Shelby are now breaking down. I think the tankers would want me to tell you of their woes since no one else seems to care.
...
The people here hate us and will always hate us until we go home.

Some officer might blow smoke up the proverbial ass and say that people like us but I work with them everyday.

They hate our interference in their government which only serves as a recruitment drive for the enemy and makes life miserable for the moderates.
...
People here are tired of being lied to and are frustrated with the apparent lack or care of anyone.

The people of this land want us gone and if we support a democracy and true democratic processes then we should do as they bid and let them become a sovereign nation again.
...
Integrity, honor, selfless service, and many of the cornerstones of the Army are gone and they began their demise at the very top of the chain of command.

This is very similar to a letter my cousin sent to his parents a couple of years ago. He was killed by a road side bomb four months later. He was supposed to come home to see his daughter's 1st birthday in another month.

This letter sounds just like my buddy when he was back in the states last (he is back in Iraq now). He was sick just thinking about how it really was over there and how in the dark we are all here. My buddy is very pro military and he wishes he had never joined. And to those of you who think he was there for just the "benefits" you are dead wrong. He came from a family that had enough money for him to never have to work.

[edit on 26-8-2005 by LogansRun]

I'm not defending anybody, I unlike most people on these boards can see both sides of the arguements on every side of the coin regarding this whole Iraq/terrorism situation. I just fail to see the big deal that everybody makes out of Haliburton, yes I know Chaney "use" to be on the Board of Directors and is still a major stock holder in the company, but before he was even in office this corporation was doing the exact same work they are right now in Iraq in other countries in the Middle East. It's just so easy for people to scream Haliburton but they never back up exactly why the scream it. I also fail to see why 1/2 of america wants to blame George Bush for this war when he is only 1/3 of the executive office that approved it.

I totally disagree though when people say this war in Iraq is not about terrorism. We are fighting terrorist yes, but this was more about establishing a staging ground in the middle east for us to fight it. It's much deeper than guns and tanks, people forget America is the master manipulator with media and social warfare. Why shoot one terrorist with a bullet when you can shoot 1 million with radio waves and TV.

I think that honestly it is a total mess in Iraq right now and something needs to be done. But the overall picture in the end I think will turn out well, this isn't the first country we have built from the ground up ya know. And to say it is a puppet US government is just showing ignorance. Their leaders were elected and appointed by the Iraqi people. Talabani is by no means America's first pick for the leader of Iraq, he has major ties to Iran.

I dont blame George Bush, he is a moron. I blame Cheney, Rumsfeld and all of the members of PNAC www.newamericancentury.org... for the mess we are in. They have had this invasion planned since the mid 90's.

I call it a puppet government because a large part of the Iraqi population boycotted the elections due the them not having a fair say. Do you really think that we would just get up and leave if they told us to? The Iraqi prime minister already asked the US to leave, and we are still there.

What right do we have to use this country as a staging ground?? Wasn't that what Afghanistan was for??? What ever happened to the hunt for Osama?



What?!? I thought we were making Iraq a democracy!!! Why would America have a pick at all?? If we rebuild Iraq, and they choose to elect Mickey Mouse as their leader, then that is who they should get! Or is there something other than a democracy being set up here? Who cares if Talibani has major ties to Iran? Iran would modernize within the next 30 years or so if we left them the f**k alone! Why can't anyone see that? Oh yeah I forgot, they have oil.