The US Soldier who Gets It!!!!!!!! There is Hope!!!!!!!

reply to post by TrueAmerican


There are a lot of military personnel that "get it."

I know there are some jerks in the military, but I have been around the military most of my life, and there are more good than bad in our troops. It breaks my heart, personally, that they are put in harms way to make others rich, and then denied the care they need, the jobs they need, etc., when they get home.

Originally posted by laslidealist
reply to post by daddio

 

I posted on here about Smedley Butler and tried to tell people about the 1933 coup that Bulter turned them all in only to have their hand slapped and be given free reign of the FED and the USA
A true American never talked about or taught in schools and we all know why

But yet again, we must keep reminding the people here and elsewhere to READ THE DAMN BOOK!! Look into what this man was saying. The "Corporate U.S." is a criminal organization and nothing more, it IS NOT "our" government!!!!

This is such a great video and I feel like many of our armed forces can fully relate to these men, but find themselves subjected to an insane amount of resistance from peers, officers, etc. I've been around a lot of it firsthand, and I honestly can't blame most of them for not speaking out a lot.

My father was a DoD employee, mother still is, grandfather is a retired Marine Colonel and my younger brother is Marine infantry (who happens to be deploying later this year to Afghanistan). At family gatherings I always try to give alternate points of view to their discussions and keep their minds open to our role in these conflicts, but it's all about your delivery of truth.

Don't try to tell an enlisted man or a vet about how the military is bad and evil. This is their job and livelihood, in most cases, and their choice to defend you and I is most certainly honorable. You must appeal to the fact that their honor and service is being abused by those who do not have to witness the warfare. Those who don't care about what is lawful and just, but what is profitable. Make a soldier realize he's a resource and you will at least make him self-aware of his role, and hopefully, take different actions in his future assignments.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


i saw this years ago, i do not remember where, maybe i watched it on youtube rather than here, but if it was on here its still a good message that needs hearing or rehearing.

flagged!

Wish I would have got to watch this one... link is telling me to come back later??

reply to post by CHeGuevara13


never mind got it sorry

reply to post by vonhelton


Being an American and supporting the current government are different. I believe in the American ideology (democracy) but I don't think what our government is doing right now is right. You can still be American and not like this government. Just because you don't support the current government does not mean you are "Un-American"...

While there is a lot of interesting info provided in this 3 year old video, one must remember that just because a soldier says something, it doesn't make it so. My gripe is with the bearded guy, presumably ex-soldier or Marine, who says that he was given orders to kill everyone in a crowd if even one shot was made. Well quite frankly that's BS. I know its BS because such an order would be a war crime, and in today's climate I can not imagine any officer or NCO giving such an order. And if someone did give such an order, the troops know well enough that to follow such an order would also be a war crime. My guess is the guy is saying that because he wants to embellish his anti-war point of view. Which point of view I am not against.

The ways things really work is that if a US patrol were to encounter fire from someone in a crowd, the first thing we are taught is to return fire, and manuver either towards the ambush or out of the fire-trap. Let us consider here, the worst case scenario, where a US convoy is fired on from a crowded market area. Those soldiers not immediatey identifying the sources of fire, would return fire in the direction of where they thought it had come from, and if that area was in a major civilian crowd, should fire in the air, above the head of the crowd. A person's natural relfex is to either duck or jump to the ground. Anyone not doing exactly that, puts themselves as very risk of being shot, particularly if they had anything that looked like a weapon in their hands. Do innocent persons get killed like this? Sometimes, and that is a tragic loss. However, put the blame on where it properly lay, which is on the cowardly attacker who risks his fellow muslim's lives by hiding in a crowd, and not on the US troops reacting to an attack.

Let us all remember that war is a terrible thing among humans; indeed, it should be the most terrible and horrific. And in this regard, the US has rather shown awesome restraint in its use of military power in pursuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know that seems hard for some to fathom when we hear of a dozen or two civilian casualties. Yes, that's very sad, but what would be sadder is to read of tens of thousands of civilian casualties on a recurring basis. And that is exactly what the US has the POWER to do, if it wasn't so concerned with avoiding as much harm to civilians as possible. People doubting this need to read their history, where in a war not so long ago, the US would inflict tens of thousands civilian casualties in a day in their bombings of Germany and Japan. Or cause hundreds in their bombings and artillery fires in Vietnam. And compared with other modern wars, the US has not conducted any ethnic cleansing of Iraqi or Afghani villages, even in retribution for heinous ambushes of US soldiers.

I don't agree with the political decisions to either invade Iraq or continue the war in Afghanistan, but having been a soldier myself, I have great sympathy for those over there then and now. And despite what a few pissed-off ex soldiers say, or some bad behaving persons that happen to be soldiers have done, the story from Iraq and Afghanistan is one of remarkable HONOR in the behavior of the vast majority of US (and its allied) military has behaved in these wars. The fact that we can discuss this on this forum - despite the great flaws in our political and social systems - is a celebtration in the continued freedoms we all enjoy. There is much broken in the western democracies right now, however there is also much that works right. So let's acknowledge that while we may not be doing well of late, that the basic model is correct, and that we as its moving parts simply need to keep pressing for change.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


That last guy with the vest and the beard.... keepin it real... WHY THE [snip] have so many people come and gone from the battlefield in the middle-east without voicing the truth like this guy? Is it really that much easier to take orders from #heads and commit crimes against humanity than it is to be honest and stand up for truth and basic human rights especially when you and your comrades are being thrown into a deadly fire?

[SNIP]

LONG LIVE THE UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND SOLDIERS AND OUR RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR DISSENTION FOR THE GOOD OF OUR PEOPLE.


Mod Note: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

There needs to be a credible high ranking military official that comes out and takes a hard stance against corruption. Someone that the troops and his peers respect and will follow.

Unfortunately, one soldier can't make a difference. It needs to be somebody we can get behind like Ron Paul, and boy what a pleasure it would be if a high military official stood beside RP.

Wow.
That was a pleasent surprise.
You got your flag fair and square.
Someone should "hack" into some tv network and start broadcasting these voices

Drakus.

Just out of curiosity wouldn't he get in trouble for posting stuff like that online. I mean as property of the US government, a soldier isn't allowed to form opinions just take orders. Is this grounds for some sort of punishment or something since we are at war right now.

First of all, there is no telling if this is an actual soldier. I rather doubt it. He certainly isn't in Iraq or anywhere overseas. Just because he spews a message wearing a floppy hat and military t-shirt doesn't mean a thing.

About his message: The first third of it, he goes on about contractors and how evil they are making a buck, while the soldiers fight the war and risk their lives. Well.. guess what.. you SIGNED UP FOR THAT. I served in the military. MY choice. I signed on the line. This dude if he serves (or ever has.. I doubt it), is a sad soldier. If you for a moment doubt the reasons for fighting in any war you are commanded to fight in, you should have NEVER JOINED. There are political agendas to wars? No... you THINK? If he was too dense to realize this, he should have never joined. He was not drafted.. he VOLUNTEERED. Why would you read and sign the forms that say you will basically be the tool of our politics and military, and then complain about it.

Second, contractors: I work for a company that has many contracts previously in Iraq and Kuwait, and now in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I may have to go to Afghanistan soon as part of my job, at Camp Bastion. Our contractors make 100k EVERY YEAR, no matter WHERE they work. Or more. Because they went to that place called college, and earned degrees in engineering and geology and chemistry, and work to restore military bases and rebuild towns, and survey for further work in Pakistan and Afghanistan, because of the mess war makes.

It's kind of ironic. Yes.. the Iraq and Kuwait peoples are innocent. Except.. we have to rebuilt military bases that were utterly stripped of every wire, screw and tile (literally), so nothing remained by the husk of buildings. Our contractors send us photos constantly. And what do they do? They buy BACK the materials stolen by the locals, and then HIRE THEM to help build the bases back. Yes.. they are complete monsters. Each morning, hundreds of locals camp outside the base, and our contractors each morning try to hire as many locals as they can for the days work. They do this every day. And because of their degrees and work ethic, choosing to live often LONGER in foreign countries than soldiers, they are monsters, greedy and power-hungry. They try to rebuilt military bases, towns, airports and police stations, so they can POLICE THEMSELVES.. trying to get them exactly where this supposed soldier wants them to be.. and they are monsters.

Get some perspective people. It's not as black and white as you think. And youtube is not always the bastion of truth and justice. It's quite often the source of bullcrap and ludicrous lies. That so many of you "intelligent' people buy into this crap without thought is frightening. You obviously don't know all the facts, if you claim this guy is the herald of all that is right and true.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine why the military (or just the people) doesn't just revolt and overthrow the govt. It's actually not impossible to overthrow the government, especially now w/ the internet.

Look at Egypt, Tunisia, Libya.

reply to post by TrueAmerican

i love what your saying( i cant say son, cos he has seen things we have never seen) but this great depresion is giving more young men no choice. this is going to be a very long war. and people will make money. if i needed an army give people no hope.
sorted

i understand yes the soldier gets it.and it is a very good thread...not trying to take any credit away but it seems like there are alot threads just as good if not better than this one and just because of the name of the OP people go crazy with stars and flags. like they are just giving them away for that simple fact...when other threads that there are pretty much get unnoticed do to the fact the the OP isnt as popular as another...why isnt credit given to all threads that deserve and not just the popular posters

Originally posted by AwesomeOverload
Sometimes it's hard to imagine why the military doesn't just revolt and overthrow the govt. It's actually not impossible to overthrow the government, especially now w/ the internet.

Look at Egypt, Tunisia, Libya.

Honestly? Why? If some of you hate our country SO much.. holy crap. I get tired of people actually PRAISING communistic dictators, and despising our own leaders. I don't always agree with our leadership, but at least it's a democracy. Oh.. wait.. never mind, I realize most of you who hate our country firmly believe absolutely everything is fixed. 100% of every event, be it man-made or natural, is a conspiracy with an evil agenda. Every hurricane, earthquake, drought, war and financial issue is a conspiracy, created by super-secret powers who want us to suffer for no apparent good reason.

When I get up on a Saturday, I can do many things. I can get up, and go drive 400 miles if I want. I can go to the mountains, go skiing if I choose. I can watch my tv, where I can see people saying all sorts of negative crap about our government. I can read papers where we constantly bash our politics and policies. This is.. freedom. Go move to some fun country like Libya where one dictator can rule for 40+ years. That's a better place right?

I'm all for keeping freedoms. But for all the issues this country has, it's still a great place, with a lot of freedoms. I keep hearing how EVIL it is, but usually, people bring it upon themselves. "The banks are EVIL! They gave us MONEY!" Yes.. you were stupid enough to not read the fine-print, and agree to a 29% interest rate. See, that's how freedom works. They are free to screw you over, and you are free to accept it, if you are too dumb to read the contract. Yet once it falls apart, the "system" is evil, even though so many Americans spent 10's of thousands of $'s they did not actually have. Of course, our banks did the same. But in a system where all are guilty, I find it ironic how our "system" is evil, and you are all right.

There is nothing to overthrow. If you don't like it, MOVE. Our evil wicked military and politics won't stop you. GO! You'll be happier, and so will we.

Originally posted by gdaub23
i understand yes the soldier gets it.and it is a very good thread...not trying to take any credit away but it seems like there are alot threads just as good if not better than this one and just because of the name of the OP people go crazy with stars and flags. like they are just giving them away for that simple fact...when other threads that there are pretty much get unnoticed do to the fact the the OP isnt as popular as another...why isnt credit given to all threads that deserve and not just the popular posters

So you are telling me that 109 people as of this post are flagging this because of my supposed popularity? :shk: Man, you really underestimate a lot of the members on here. If the content itself was not worthy, I could ask for flags all day long and wouldn't get jack. I hardly EVER on my threads outright ask for flags, and only in the cases where I feel the message is important enough to be worthy of the front page. And frankly, this thread would have 300 flags by now if it wasn't me that posted it. You need to get it yourself my friend. This ain't about me. This is about the message this soldier expresses for so many of us who see the problems, have researched the causes, and who see the value in what this soldier is saying.

And as you can see, damage control is already trying to intercept it in any way they can.

I could not agree more with the video in the OP!

I come from a long line of military service. I still remember my grandfather telling me the story in WW2, how his brother was fighting side by side him and he watched as his brother's head was blown off.

Stories like my dad in the first Iraq war where he became 100% DAV after he got the GWS.

I could go on and on and tell you all kinds of stories, but I will leave it as simple as that.

We fly the flag proud, we live here in this great nation proud, but war forever in my heart is something I'm not proud of. But war will continue to happen, it's just the way life is.

Sure I believe there is a time to go to war, but I believe that time should come only as a last resort cause even if you are going to war to help those whom are defenseless, more die than before it that war began, civilians and soliders on BOTH sides!

This world will continue to play us like puppets. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer and at the end of the day, the '' leaders '' sit in solitude, getting fat, laughing, living life.

But it's those fighting their battles that are dying, dying because they could not resolve a conflict with simple basic human ability.

I don't care if I get flammed, but I oppose ANY war that does not serve a meaning that is actually worth 1,000's to die for!

I know certain things and '' unique '' situations can occur and does not apply to what I feel. But I think there is always a way to reach agreements with oppositions without war.

Swallow your #ing pride, agree to disagree, w/e it takes!

Thats all..