Anti-war Protests Anger U.S. Troops Inside Kuwait

The Detroit News | Tuesday, February 18, 2003 | M.E. Sprengelmeyer

[BOBTHENAILER]

Some see America’s patriotic mood waning.

Campujairi, Kuwait – The peace protesters might as well be marching right under the tank barrels.

U.S. troops amassed in the Kuwaiti desert couldn’t avoid news of anti-war protests that swept the globe over the weekend, and it is making some angry, defensive, fired-up and anxious.

They see scattered news reports of opposition to a possible war against Iraq, but the hardest-hitting bulletins come in phone calls home to worried wives and loved ones, said Sgt. 1st Class Victor Oravec, 41, of Fort Knox, Ky., of the U.S. Army’s 3-7 Cavalry.

“They’re saying, ‘Why are we over here when everyone’s over here saying we shouldn’t be?’” Oravec said.

“They hear it. They bring it up to me, and I squash it by keeping them busy, reminding them why they’re here,” Oravec said, just before leading his tank maintenance unit in an all-night training exercise across the Kuwaiti desert.

Many of the soldiers who might be called to fight against Iraq were too young to remember the emotional protests that marked the end of the Vietnam War. Many had not even been born.

Still, some say they take the anti-war protests personally – questioning the jobs they do and their boss, President Bush.

“They get down,” said Oravec, a veteran of the 1991 war against Iraq. “That’s when I come around, try to get them work to do. That’s the only thing I can think of to keep their minds off home and what their wives are telling them.”

Capt. John Turner, 26, of Colonial Heights, Va., whose father was a med-evac pilot for the Army in Vietnam, said soldiers are not decision-makers and can’t afford to get distracted from their training.

“I’m not in this line of work for political reasons. I didn’t come here to be a politician,” Turner said.

Still, he’s especially angry about opposition at the United Nations from France, a NATO ally.

“How would they feel if it was the Eiffel Tower that got hit into (on Sept. 11)?” he asked.

The troops see a possible war against Iraq as part of the ongoing war on terrorism, as the Bush administration targets alleged weapons of mass destruction that could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Protesters call that an unfounded or unproven claim being used to justify a war to control more of the Middle East’s vast oil reserves.

The “No blood for oil” slogan was used in opposition to the 1991 war, too. But back then, in the war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi invaders, the protests did not seem as widespread and the troops did not take them so personally, Gulf War veterans said.

“That’s their right to protest as long as they know that’s their opinion, not ours,” said 1st Sgt. Stephen Edgerton, 36, a Gulf War veteran from Blackshear, Ga.

“When you’re younger, you’re a little more eager to go out and pick a fight with somebody,” Edgerton said. “With age, you’re not as quick to jump into things without thinking them out first.”

But for soldiers, he said, the bottom line is simple: “I support my Commander in Chief. That’s my job.”

Pvt. Wesley Carr, 23, of Virginia Beach, Va., said soldiers are the last ones who want to rush into unnecessary wars.

“I can understand why they want to protest, because they don’t want any harm to come to us. But a lot of them don’t understand,” Carr said. “I hope, like everyone else, that it does end peacefully. But if it doesn’t and we have to go to war, we have to think of the safety of the United States and all these people here.”

Privately, some soldiers wonder if the patriotic mood and pro-military spirit in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks has evaporated.

With all its soldiers and high-tech war fighting machines, the U.S. military would not have had all its recent success if the soldiers didn’t get so much support from the public, Edgerton said.

“They don’t have to support what’s happening,” he said, “but at least support the soldiers”

Iraq Update
1st U-2 Mission: Iraq reported the first flight by an American U-2 surveillance plane Monday in support of the U.N. inspection mission, marking another concession by the Baghdad government in hopes of staving off a U.S. –led attack. The flight lasted four hours.

Turkey Delays:
Turkey’s prime minister on Monday ruled out a parliamentary vote to allow tens of thousands of U.S. combat troops on its territory until Turkish and U.S. officials agree on the conditions of the deployment.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Posted for wide-spread dissemination. Please support our troops.

[stuartcr]

Sounds like VietNam all over again.

[happygrl]

Support Our Troops BUMP!

[BOBTHENAILER]

Enough is enough. Please pass this little gem on to all your ping lists. Time to bury the anti-Americans once and for all.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The anti-war anarchists think Saddam Hussein is a rock star.

[Grampa Dave]

These renta maggots in the streets worked for their side in the Viet Nam Wat. It will not work here.

9/11 is the big difference and the potential of the Islamofacists/kazis to kill more innocent Americans has made this war personal.

Then we have a real president who insure that his military has the tools to do the job, and he will not get in the way re preparation and actual battle situations. That was not done in Nam.

[meow]

Privately, some soldiers wonder if the patriotic mood and pro-military spirit in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks has evaporated.

So do I. Or maybe it was a fluke. :(

Those protestors make me sick, really. As if they know something that Bush doesn't about Saddam. Whatever.

[Uncle Miltie]

I support our troops.

[cinFLA]

Sounds like VietNam all over again.

Sounds like WWI, WWII, etc. The same old socialist/communist organizations. International Agency Center/ANSWER, Not in Our Name, Worker's World Party, etc. They are all linked. Ramsey Clark, Brian Becker, Richard Becker Sam Marcy, etal.

[L`enn]

Thats what these peace maggots want, the want to recreate the peace love. sex and rock and roll of the VietNam era. They saw through the movies what a cool time it was and are bummed out they missed it. Hate to disappoint 'em but Morrison Garcia and Hendrix are dead. J-Lo and Madonna though better looking can't create the same atmosphere.Can't catch lightning in bottle twice.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Sounds like VietNam all over again.

That's what the organizers of the protests would like, but it ain't gonna happen.

[Grampa Dave]

Time for some more coffee: "These renta maggots in the streets worked for their side in the Viet Nam War" not Wat.

[MamaLucci]

“They don’t have to support what’s happening,” he said, “but at least support the soldiers”

Ooooh, it just makes my blood boil that this should ever even
have to be spelled out to some people.
God bless our troops.

[piasa]

Nah, sounds like a Detroit paper trying to exagerate the impact of some loonies in costumes toting signs with slogans they don't even understand.

The activists want it to be like Vietnam, but they don't have the numbers.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping.

[Alamo-Girl]

I recall that in the early stages of Afghanistan, the media and left-wingers were trying to sell it as a "quagmire" -another "Vietnam." IMHO, the anti-war protests had little to do with Iraq and everything to do with Bush. It is the same left wing political groups trying to undermine the center and center-right drift of international politics. An exceptional success in Iraq will damage left wing power for decades (and they know it.)

Just my two cents...

[BOBTHENAILER]

It will not work here. 9/11 is the big difference and the potential of the Islamofacists/kazis to kill more innocent Americans has made this war personal.

I'll do everything in my power to destroy these sob's that want to ruin all that is good in America.

A new day has dawned and they will be blinded by the light.

[BOBTHENAILER]

It is the same left wing political groups trying to undermine the center and center-right drift of international politics. An exceptional success in Iraq will damage left wing power for decades (and they know it.)

Bingo....your two cents is a gold mine.

This is a fight for their life for the left, and they are pulling out all the stops.

[SquirrelKing]

"...phone calls home to worried wives and loved ones..."

This is the REAL effect of Susan Scarandon and other snots around the world. For the sake of a stale career and some face time they are willing to sacrifce our best and bravest by seeking to distract and humiliate them. I'm proud of my friends in arms, those who have gone and those who are still at home. Support them! Work with your church, school, job or whatever to send notes and letters of encouragement. Remember '91? Let's do it again!