Sunday, January 06, 2008
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If you think you're too small to be effective, you've never been in the dark with a mosquito.
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."-- Albert Einstein
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8 comments:
Powerful video....That young man has his eyes open and he's right....the majority of Americans want US out of Iraq (this includes the majority of soldiers).
Buzz...Buzz...
Keep speaking Truth to Power, everyone. The wages of lies are death!
I applaud this soldier's bravery and patriotism. He is obviously very concerned about his country. However, I disagree with his interpretations of the facts. The majority of the soldiers that I talked with support Senator McCain's views. Most do not send money to candidates because most military members are actually very apolitical. They vote and care about issues, but do not send money, just like the majority of Americans. Ron Paul's campaign attracts a more dedicated voter of an activist mind set. Yes, the security contractors earn big money. Guess what, its a business. And Blackwater is very good at it. No State Dept personnel has been kidnapped or killed under their watch. And of course KBR stock has doubled. The company is very busy. They are the ONLY company in the US that can do what they can do. They have NO reasonable competition.
Most soldiers do not want to leave Iraq without the country being secure. Don't get me wrong. Personally they want to come home tomorrow. But they do not want the mission to end arbitrarily. They understand that such a surrender of the field to Al Qaeda and their allies would be a disaster. They believe that they liberated a country and are preventing Iraq from becoming a terror strong hold. And that the invasion prevented Saddam from acquiring nuclear weapons. The geo-strategic point is also that success in Iraq means that we have influence in the surrounding countries of Iran and Saudi Arabia that we did not before. And they are supporters of terrorism. This soldier feels wronged and that the Iraqis feel wronged. Well, he is both right and wrong. From his point of view, too many people are making too much money off of this war. And in defense of his naivete, he is right. But it is still the most effective way to fight this war. do we put MORE soldiers into the field in support positions? Do we increase our defense budget for that increase. Or do we allow KBR to hire overseas workers at pennies on the dollar? And the Iraqis? Most are happy we liberated them from Saddam. Some hate us. Most want us there until their enemies stop shooting at them, whichever enemy of theirs it is. Our enemies of the past, such as the Anbar tribes understand that Al Queda has turned Iraq into THEIR front lines. And that Al Q doesn't care about them. The Sunnis want us to protect them from Al Q and the Shias. The Shias want us to protect them from the Sunnis. We want Al Qaeda to be seen as a loser. And its working. Captured documents and tapes on Al Jazeera state that. This young man is disillusion. I respect that. But just because he supports your position is no reason to put his words into the mouths of 160,000 military members serving in Iraq. Or the thousands that have since returned home. He most certainly did not speak for me or most of the soldiers, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard that I served with.
Thank you for reading this long post.
Cargosquid,
The majority of the soldiers I have encountered want out of Iraq asap. But then most of the soldiers I have spoken to are Iraq veterans....
Iraq veterans have made (are making) sacrifices for this war and it's a shame so many of them have doubts about the motivations behind this war.
I also question your belief that the majority of the military supports this war and the Bush/Cheney regime's game plan. Never before, have so many top brass retiring...and then speaking out against the administration.
According to the latest poll taken by the Army times..."Just as telling, in this year’s poll only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent in 2003." source is http://www.militarycity.com/polls/2006_main.php
I find this surprising b/c psychologically, with the job our soldiers have to do, they are trained to not question their leaders decisions and orders. So, naturally, the military is more prone to support the military's policy, especially in war, than the average American citizen who's environment is not set up to prepare them to go be on the ready 24/7 to war.
It's a shame we have a president and vice president who have to make the majority of their speeches before soldiers, or an audience that is vetted to only allow in the few "faithful" who will defend the Bush/Cheney regime no matter what. This regime will go down in the history books as the most unpopular in the history of this nation. Makes sense since they constantly do what is good for them and the EILITE and bad for the citizens of this country. (Cargo Squid don't forget that videotape taken at one of those Elite fundraisers where Bush stated, "Some people call you the Elite. I call you my base."
In the meantime, we (and our troops) get none of the rewards and all of the consequences of this tragic, horrible war on Iraq.
I understand that you disagree with me. However, I object to the characterization that I am a brainwashed thug. I don't call you names. I come here to see an opposing viewpoint and provide mine. If you don't want me to visit, just say so.
I'm sorry that your time in the service was not gratifying. While your survey may state that, other surveys provide counter info. And no, I'm not finding them, because I know that you would not care. Surveys say one thing. But enlistments say another. And enlistments for combat positions have never missed quota. Only support positions. Second, EVERY enlistee today knows where they are going. And RE-ENLISTMENTS are up. And they know where they are going. There are no surprises. And if you don't want to be in a war zone, no bonus is worth it.
Well Cargosquid,
I don't mean to be disrespectful, just blunt. I don't mean to insult you, just jar your thinking some. You certainly know the military has its own "groupthink" on Iraq. After all, it is an appendage of the government and demands conformity to government policy.
You can comment all you want. In fact I have had long running arguments with individuals on other sites, the record of which extended some 60 comments once.
Regarding enlistments, where do you get your info from? Look at this random excerpt I just pulled off the Internet, from 2005:
Army Still Misses Recruiting Targets
Chicago Tribune
April 1, 2005
Cortnee Smith, a high school honors student, last year had her mind set on joining the National Guard. Her parents supported her. Friends in the Army told her what to expect. Smith took a military aptitude test and told school counselors and a recruiter she planned to join after graduation.
But last fall, her father quashed those plans. Michael Smith, himself a former National Guard recruiter, was called to duty last July and shipped to Iraq. What he saw there evidently persuaded him he didn't want his daughter going.
"He was like, 'No, no, don't go,'" said Smith, 17, now a senior at Shepard High School in southwest suburban Palos Heights. "'Tell [the recruiter] to stop contacting you.'"
Cortnee Smith is the face of an alarming problem for the military, as a sharp decline in recruitment has raised fears that the Pentagon could soon confront its biggest manpower crisis in two decades.
The Pentagon announced Wednesday that the active-duty Army achieved only about two-thirds of its recruiting goal for March, and the Army Reserve reached slightly more than halfway to its target. March figures for the National Guard were not yet available.
The military is now offering huge bonuses and perks, increasingly having to recruit foreigners with offers of citizenship, and on and on. This war is as popular as a scorpion in your bathtub to most Americans.
How do you know that most Americans don't vote or support candidates? This election is quite different, I believe. I know more people who are voting for the first time or after a long time of getting disgusted with the choices in Presidential Elections.
People around the country, soldiers and civilians, are waking up. HR 393, a draft for men and women ages 18-42 is in the House of Representatives right now. That is where they will get the soldiers they need to continue their Military/Industrial Complex. If we don't stop this now, it could get even more ugly.
Look it up in the Thomas-Library of Congress website. And while you are at it, look at what Ron Paul has been saying for so many years now. We are making a mistake to be there in the first place, since it was lies that took us to Iraq, and it is true that we can not continue making the same mistake of being there, ESPECIALLY if it is an UNDEFINED enemy, cost, timeline etc. but the President can still declare war (because the Patriot Act gives him that right despite the Constitution's insistence that it is the Congress that declares War). We were SCARED into giving up our rights and freedom to fight an unknown enemy for an unknown length of time at an unknown cost. Of course stocks and private profiteering companies would benefit from that, and at the taxpayer's expense. Hindsight is 20/20. What now? Keep digging the hole(s)? Or stop while we still have a chance to sober up, stop this addiction to war and violence and power?
Benjamin Franklin
1759 - Historical Review of Pennsylvania
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Reference: The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Sparks, ed., vol. 3 (107)
We need to return to the Constitution and the ideals that made us a great nation, a free nation. We are gambling with our freedom, and our very lives, the lives of our children and theirs. What right do we have to commit them to endless wars when they are so young or are even unborn? It should be a last resort to an act of obvious aggression towards us, not for the sake of profit and gain.
Thank you to the soldier for speaking out!! We need to hear more from the soldiers who are actually out there! Desperately.
Perseverance
I was off by a little. found at
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/07recruiting.htm
No break down btwn support and combat.
2006 fiscal year
Recruiting Statistics
Accessions Goal Percent
Army
80,635 80,000 101
Navy
36,679 36,656 100
Marine Corps
32,337 32,301 100
Air Force
30,889 30,750 100
Army Nat'l Guard 69,042 70,000 99
Army Reserve
34,379 36,032 95
Navy Reserve
9,722 11,180 87
Marine Corps Reserve
8,056 8,024 100
Air National Guard
9,138 9,380 97
Air Force Reserve
6,989 6,607 106
07 Recruiting Statistics
Accessions Goal Percent
Army
80,407 80,000 101
Navy
37,361 37,000 101
Marine Corps
35,603 35,576 100
Air Force
27,801 27,801 100
Army Nat'l Guard
66,652 70,000 95
Army Reserve
35,734 35,505 101
Navy Reserve
10,627 10,602 100
Marine Corps Reserve
7,959 7,256 110
Air National Guard
9,975 10,690 93
Air Force Reserve
7,110 6,834 104
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