Posted: 4/22/2008 10:33:55 PM EDT
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Fromm Eugene, OR, of all places! I first saw it on Blackfive, BTW. Blogged about it myself, too, but I figured, hey, my parents are the only ones looking at the blog, and this is worth sharing... 
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She gets it.  Imagine how the 3000 families who lost loved ones on 9/11 must feel to see defeatists calling for surrender. Fallen and injured soldiers are heros who, imo, offered their all to stamp out these criminal clerics. I honor their sacrifice and want us to win, in their name, for freedom. |
I believe that pretty much sums up the majority of Americans opinions on the subject. I think it must difficult for this lady to have to continually justify to herself the war in Iraq and the sacrifices her family has endured because of it. The ugly comments from some protestors are unconscionable. Few if any question the legitimacy of our presence in Afghanistan. But we're involved in a clusterfuck in Iraq we should have never gotten into in the first place. We can't just walk away as we have a responsibility to patch things up as best we can before leaving. That means that more sacrifices are going to be made, and, sadly, probably for an end result that will not be worth the overall cost to us. Not sure if I should end that with a  or a  .
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I didn't hear anyone calling for surrender....and could you reference the law the clerics are breaking? |
 Don't you have a military funeral to protest somewhere?
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My friends names are on the wall, the difference is there are fifty thousand names there compared to over 4000 from the recent business transaction. Do want an equal amount of names on the wall or is it worth offending some people to save lives ? |
| How is pissing in a thread like this saving lives? Like I said, I respect your (obviously heartfelt) convictions, I would urge you to take your protestations somewhere more apropo. Had you read the blog, you'd most likely be able to comprehend the thrust of it. The spirit of the post appears to be directed at support and concern for the .milspouse and her situation. You, OTOH, seem to be posing as one of the abovementioned "support-the-troops-hate-the-war" people she obviously disdains. The object of war is to win a battle, not to catch the first troop train home. |
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It's clear that the lady is upset, and she has a right to be, but unfortunatly, in the greater scheme of things, she is wrong. I feel horrible for what she, her family, and all the other thousands upon thousands of families have to suffer through because of this war, but the fact that her husband and all of his compatriots are over there fighting dosn't provide justification for being there. She is letting her emotions over-ride logic. If this womans husband and all the other soldiers had made the decision to go to Iraq, then she would have more of a point. But they didn't. That decision was made by a person who has never been shot at, never been over there with anything less then a full court press of security, and has not seen the things that the soldiers on the ground have. It always strikes me as funny that nearly every OIF vet will bust on a civvie's opinion because the civvie has never "been there, done that", dosn't know what it's like to be on the ground doing the job, and has never been shot at. Yet these same soldiers are willing to march back into hell on the command of a guy who's in the exact same shoes as the civvie with the one exception being that he once won a nationwide popularity contest....  And for clarity of my position, I could care less about the Iraqis. They have made their own bed. I don't care how many of them have to die to make sure that every one of our soldiers makes it home alive and in one piece. I am one of those that does fully and firmly believe that you can support the troops and be opposed to the war. |
You make a good point but aren't all of the top military guys advising to stay there? Haven't they 'been there, done that'? Of course they could just be agreeing with Bush because they have to. |
They, like that ladys husband, have been given orders to complete a mission. Strictly militarily, they are tyring to complete their mission as best as they can given the circumstances they have to deal with. Given that they have been given a mission and told to complete it, they HAVE to believe that they can achieve victory, or else they will be incapable of completing the mission. No soldier wants to ever think that they are incapable of completing a mission. They have been trained to believe that they are in fact capable of completing every task, every mission given to them, and that they would not be asked to try somthing that they cannot do. Given any military mission of "destroy this, or build that, kill that enemy, or rescue those hostages." they can and will find a way to succeed. But when the real change that needs to take place is in the hearts and minds of an entire people who don't want to change, there is no military strategy on this planet that can succeed. No matter what good is done, no matter how much it is shown that our soldiers are there to help, the simple fact that these people don't like us, our help, or our best intentions guarantee that this is an un-achievable objective. In essence, they are ignoring the fact, or seriously trying to cover up and hide the fact that nothing we do militarily can or will change the national mindset of the people involved. Unless those people sincerely change their worldview and how they interact with eachother and the world at large, there is not way in hell that we will ever be successfull. Unfortunatly, no matter how many schools we build, no matter how many people get power to their homes, no matter how many bad guys we kill or how many places we make it safe to walk the streets at night, the moment we are gone, all that we accomplished will go with us. These people are not ready to grow beyond what they are now, and feeling sorry for the women, children, and whoever isn't going to make us magically able to fix things. They have to WANT it enough to fight for it. Having a bunch of iraquis joining their police forces means nothing. They had it before we got there and they will have some version of it after we are gone...the ones that survive or don't turn corrupt that is. Simply having a bunch of iraquis who are willing to be cops dosn't make the entire country willing to start off on the right foot and suddenly become a big happy country willing and ready to head into the 21st century and grow as a nation. That place is fucked ten ways from sunday and no amount of US service members lost, material used, or dollars spent will change it. If we fail now or if we fail in the future, we will most certianly fail at the objectives that we currently have set, no matter how much hard work our soldiers put into it. Would it really make any family of a lost soldier feel that much better if we failed later as compared to now? The question is though, how many more US lives are we willing to sacrifice before we finally realize that we chose an impossible objective? Yes, I understand the soldiers wanting to put everything they have into accomplishing their objective. That is the sign of a good soldier and a good person. Do it right, and do it now. Not half-assed and when you get around to it. But the reality is that we can only change the situation while we are there, but no matter how hard we try, we can't change the people. The people must change themselves. And for us to assume that they really do want the same things as we do is absurd. Sure everybody wants "peace", but if you ask, them, their idea of "peace" is a whole hell of a lot different then our idea of peace. Like that one guy in the movie 'Blackhawk Down' said, "There can be no peace until there is victory." So long as any side or group of people over there disagree, there will never be peace for them because they are all willing to fight and die to prove that they are "right", and to make everybody else live the same way or believe the same things they do. They are not like us where they can simply accept others. They have to be "right" and if you're considered "wrong", then you will either change, or die. I would love to have a situation where our troops could return home under the banner of victory, earned by their hard work, effort, and time. A victory that stands as is and has a lasting effect on the objective and is held as a shining example of doing the right thing for our country, and for humanity. But the sad fact is that they (the folks in the middle east) won't let that happen. As soon as we pull out, regardless of all the good we have done, it will all crumble. Our victory will be a hollow victory that will soon be forgotten and lost in the chaos and destruction that soon follows. Those same soldiers who felt like they accomplished somthing will watch the news as Iraq commits national suicide and feel cheated. They will experience the doubt of knowing that every buddy lost, every full measure of effort given, meant nothing in the greater scheme of things. So, do you want to wait for another 5 years before going through this process and loose countless more American lives, or do you want to just get it over and done with now, keep more good soldiers allive and instead put all this effort, material, and lives towards a better purpose of securing our country and dealing with our domestic needs rather then the needs of millions of people who don't even like us? I know what I would choose. |