Posted on 09/27/2004 9:22:54 AM PDT by FlyLow
If overall support of the mission was higher in Mass., do you think it would make it seem more worthwhile?
You think we have every terrorist in the world surrounded, and identified? You think the bad guys are all sitting in Iraq?
Our borders are a wide open free for all, as millions from God knows where pour in unabated. How can we be serious about the war on Terror, yet leave the doors and windows wide open to our home?
I agree about our borders....I still dont get why they are as open as the dog gate in my door.....
BUT I do think the Iraq fight is one that at least is working on the decimation of those psychos that want to kill every american they can see/find/look for/behead/blowup/ and on and on
A different perspective:
Rain lashes Haitian storm survivors
Death toll tops 1,650; U.N. troops send reinforcements
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6004150/
A bit of history:
Selected Death Tolls for Wars, Massacres and Atrocities Before the 20th Century
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#30YrW
Death in battle should not be a propaganda message. Fighting for one's freedom or to bring freedom to others should be a badge of honor, not something to be besmirched as a lost cause or a "senseless death".
"big difference"...? dead is dead, and to politicize one set and not the other is your mistake.
"It just plain sucks over there. Nobody wants to be there."
You are A poor commander if you allow your sentiment to distact you from your mission or affect the preformance of your troops.
the "scumbags" your troops are fighting for are right here in america, most, voting for John Kerry. remember freedom? they don't.
as a commander, I expect more of you than to just "Soldier on" .
Did I SAY we have all bases covered? I don't think I did.
I, more than most, have a very unique perspective of problems in the world. Not only have I been there and helped confront it, my job right now is "big picture" National Security. I also understand that we have a nearly 2,000 mile-long border - and that one is just to our South. That's a lot of territory to cover.
Right now, the most serious threat to this country (aside from the domestic enemy scum among us) is radical Islamic fundamentalist terror. If they are allowed to overtake Iraq, they'll become far more dangerous than they were pre-9/11. Once we took out the Taliban in Afghanistan, they moved elsewhere and had already begun establishing their new home in Iraq with the welcome complacency of Hussein. The eventual goal of these evil dogs is to plant their vile seeds in all parts of the world and have that become tolerated at first, then an accepted norm. Next step - methodically taking control. That's their charter, like it or not - and believe it or not!
They have also got their claws into Indonesia and the Phillipines. (More to come on that, I can assure you!)
So...do we have them all surrounded and identified? No, we certainly do not. That does not mean, however, that we can afford to ignore even one front in this war when the going gets rough and we lose troops and citizens.
Do you think john kerry will do a better job? He was in Vietnam, you know? Maybe what we need are more of those social programs he wants to increase. That'll surely make us stronger. //sarcasm//
Seldom do I ever put my faith in any man. I do not agree with every single thing President Bush says and does. However, I do understand that even the intelligence which I can access pales in comparison to his.
The average American cannot even fathom intelligence on that scope. We're right where we need to be - as painful as it is.
Any life lost in a war is a tragedy, but it's important to keep things in Perspective.
There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January.....
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January.
That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.
When some claims President Bush shouldn't have started this war, remember the following:
FDR... led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.
Truman... finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us.
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.
John F. Kennedy...started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.
Johnson... turned Vietnam into a quagmire. Vietnam never attacked us.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.
Clinton... went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us.
Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing.
Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
In the two years since terrorists attacked US..
President Bush has ..
liberated two countries,
crushed the Taliban,
crippled al-Qaida,
put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot,
and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but...
It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51 day operation.
We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find her Rose Law Firm billing records.
It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick, drowning Mary Jo.
It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!
Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! The Military moral is high! The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.
PASS IT ON. If you can read this thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.
May God bless you and your family.
Thank you both for your support, and may God bless your loved ones who have served/are serving.
Would it surprise you that in peaceloving, anti-violence, morally superior and pacifist Germany, the Murder rate is higher than our casualties in Iraq?
In Germany, they don't even allow guns, in Iraq guns a a staple.
nope, anything about Germany never surprises me, but I thank you for the info....thats so telling!! :)
PING
Every soldier has the right to bitch. Read my post, it said if I'm called to go I'll do my duty and soldier on. I don't have to like who I'm fighting for...(liberated Iraqis)
Shouldn't have said "Nobody" you're correct. I just get pretty tired of wives crying in my office. Look, I know what needs to be done. I'm of the opinion that we're using the Guard and Reserves too much for this shit. I was active duty for 8 years. I didn't bitch about deploying because I was in a "tip of the spear" unit. I'm all for expanding the active side. We need to. Just venting a little bit.
You have no clue as to what kind of commander I am. Jeez. I spent 8 years on active duty, most of it forward-deployed. I'm speaking from the perspective of National Guard Soldiers. Yes, it is true that some soldiers want to deploy. I should not have said "Nobody". But hey, I'm seeing the effects of guys having to leave civilian jobs, leave wives and children for a pretty long time. I think 1 year is reasonable. But as a nation, we are using the Guard too much for this crap. Expand the active side. We need more combat units, especially M.P.s. By the way, after I left active duty (staying 2 years longer than my 6 years required), I joined the Guard because of 9/11. I was raring to go to Afghanistan man. If my unit get's called up I hope that's where we go. Again, I'll do my duty and I would never bitch in front of my troops. Now bitching to my battallion commander is a different story....
And that is the thing isn't it? To have such a command of intelligence, to see the big picture and yet not be able to share the most important parts of it for fear of what our adversaries would do with the knowledge would be enough to drive most men to their knees....as I hear it does to Bush ...in prayer!
I wonder if Bush ever takes a look at the little vicious shark fish of the MSM, circling around him accusing him of having a narrow view and lying to people....and says to himself.."You want the whole truth....you people couldn't handle the whole truth if you knew it! You would never get a decent night's sleep ever again!"
I amplify my posting with a parallel drawn from history. The ancient Israelites had built their Tabernacle and God was so anxious to come down to be among his people. His glory was so overwhelming that the people were afraid to come near to him so the urged Moses to go instead by-himself to be their go between(as he had on Sinai). When the fullness of God's truth was apparent...even to their very souls, they drew back from God and were afraid!
Our republican form of government mandates that we choose out from among our-selves, folks who will handle the larger questions and do the dirty work that most men don't want to know about and to sometimes sit on the larger truths that folk aren't ready or willing enough to handle.
A president needs to be measured in his responses but also clear in himself concerning his own convictions...he needs to know who he truly is for to be true to ones self is the only power any man can truly have. Such folks can never be shaken for self honesty is really true humility before God.
We don't really want to know the whole truth even if we individually could grasp it, regarding the crap our politicians have to put up with. Historically our presidents have been our various re-incarnations of Moses. We expect them to lead us thru the wilderness but then we are ready to doubt them when ever the situation looks threatening , much like Moses in dealing with the fickle Hebrews. Our presidents are our Mosaic Go Betweens, having a greater knowledge of the political and military truth's of the world(by means of their position) yet needing to carry the burden of much of that truth in secret. For most common folk really don't want to and really would regret if they did know the "real" truth of things.*
*(on a humorous note, Mark Twain wrote of Tom Sawyer as being disapointed that a visiting senator to his town was not 9 foot tall as he had imagined....I do know how he felt! Knowledge of course doesn't always equate with wisdom!)
I don't consider the opinions of the citizens of Massachusetts as relevant, especially with military concerns. In theory the mission is worthwhile. It just seems like no matter what we do, or who we help, those same people end up shitting all over us. That's why I said F*** em'.
Amen.
I appreciate your clarity of thought....and our President's as well.
I took the oath, like I said if I get the order I'll go and do my duty. If you've been on active for 17 years then you know by now that you fight for the guy next to you, for the rest of your unit, your buddies...not the Iraqis. That's what I meant by f*** em'. Same deal as Somalia. What's your MOS?
God bless you and thank you for your service.
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