Our Deployed Troops

I read an article this morning that i guess was in the news yesterday about the war over in Iraq. It mentioned how we needed more troops overseas because since 2001, things have begun to get much worse.

what was the point of sending them over there in the last 6 years then if people feel things have gotten worse? i don't understand?

what about the stress and heartache that the troops and their poor families have been going through?

i want to know what other people think. please tell me.

All about oil. That is what I think this is mostly about. I don't like it at all either. I have 2 or 3 cousins in this right now thankfully they are safe. your right it doesn't make sense but then again the people of the U.S. did vote Bush in. This is just my opinion everyone else can be against me whatever.

You know I feel that the people are actually scared of actually moving from the spot they are in right now, because it may seem that they would be indentified as weak if doing so....

Thus bringing about the next 9/11 catstrophe...But I believe that they should bring those troops back, because it's firstly a waste of time, and secondly you cannot force democracy, you can only inspire it.

Little lesson in warfare, Germany managed to control europe and Saddam Hussian managed to control Iraq with much less in the way of technology and in a sense manpower.

America has to play by international rules. And some of the things it does are right on the edge of those rules. If you could round up hundreds of innocent civilians and shoot them everytime their fraction step out of line they would be less keen to fight the Americans. But fortunately America doesn't has a Baath or Nazi party ruling it.

Just and Idiot from Texas who hasn't learn't from history in the region.........let the oil flow.

Either way Bush is a dumb#%.

I disagree with you bob, i think Afghanistan was an introduction. it was an easy way to get things moving. i believe bush had plans to go to iraq for longer than anyone realizes. he had/has is own agenda and doesn't care about anything else.

carrotgirl- the US is SUPPOSED to play by international rules. unfortunately bush said screw it and did his own thing anyway. 60 years of work thrown out the window because of one moron.

we have actually made things worse there. in the piece treaty of WWII (it might have been WWI, not sure) a lot of new countries were established. unfortunately, the borders were not drawn with ethnic groups in mind. iraq should have been split into 2 or three other countries. as a result of 3 ethinicities who each want their own country, there are extreme ethnic tensions. as evil as saddam was his brutal methods prevented a civil war. if the borders were drawn like they should have been, there wouldn't be as big of a problem.

as to the we're fighting for freedom and all that its just B.S. if our government actually cared that there was genocide and human rights violations they wouldn't be in iraq. Saddam killed something like 200,000. in Sudan, there have been MILLIONS of deaths. if ending the killing was our goal, we would have gone to Sudan first.

Here is a good quote that describes things fairly well.

"I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty, bloody, dollar soaked fingers out of the business of these (Third World) nations so full of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own. And if unfortunately their revolution must be of the violent type because the "haves" refuse to share with the "have-nots" by any peaceful method, at least what they get will be their own, and not the American style, which they don't want and above all don't want crammed down their throats by Americans."
-General David Sharp, former USMC Commandant, 1966

There is a very good chance you are right bob. i just think the whole thing is much more involved than we realize and that it is not just oil. was oil a contributing factor, definitely. i'm not denying that. i do know that there was a rather high ranking government official who revealed that bush constantly talked about iraq before 9/11 even happened. maybe a little bit of a hidden agenda? maybe a desire to finish what daddy bush started? i think there is a very good chance. but as i said, i don't think there was any single factor, i believe there were many different ones.

so what exactly did you love bob? the quote?

I'm in the military and deployed right now. i just can't put my finger on it. i try to keep a positive thought on why im over here but i really dont know anymore. i have no morale, no drive. i feel like our presence over here is a waste of time. so many of our inocent troops are either dying or be wounded. and for what?

i get so depressed over here. things aren't getting better, they are only getting worse. :(

i want to come home

My answer is to the original poster. It is a soldiers job to kill and be killed. Without war they have no job, correct? So, they know the consequences of being in the Military.

Wow... you really think so. i think you need to go learn a little more about the military. that is NOT the JOB i signed up for. it's just part of the job description. i sure as **** aint out here killing anyone or getting any close enough to get killed.

What is the military for?

Well for defense purposes, to boose the morale and security of the people and sometimes to invade and destroy another country because according to the country...They know what is better? Which in itself brings back the word "colonialism" back from history...

Mister Ryan is a Private in the Canadian military. He knows what it's like to be in it. So, dear. Find a better rebuttal. I signed up to blow stuff up. And death is part of the job description. And if you don't like it just get a desk job. Also, you can rip up your contract with the military at any time. So do it, if you dislike it.

Ya'll aint in the military so don't tell me what its like. i love my job. i really do. i just don't like the fact that so many military members are dying. there is no point for it. i never said i didnt like being in it.

and no, my main job is not to kill people. i don't carry a gun. i'm only supporting those who fly the planes. i cant just rip up a contract. i don't know where you got that idea. i rip that up and i could spend some major time in jail.

i'm starting to feel sorry for starting this post. i just wanted peoples opinions on what we are doing over here. not to be criticized and told that my job is to kill people. grow up

No offense jennifer but you signed up. for one reasson or another you are there. i will not presume to tell you what you should do but if you don't go, if nobody goes then what then?

theodore roosevelt's plan for our government was to speak softly and carry a big stick. gearge bush speaks very loudly and carries missles. i personally am not a supporter of bush's way of government.

but he's running our country, and it isn't an easy job to listen to 200 and something million people who each have a different say.

in closing it was the end of world war I that the ottoman empire was split up into the areas of iraq, syria, and palestine. the slicing up was done by great britain and france so they are the ones to blame

Once again, i love my job... and i'm not in the army... i really truely love my job. i just dont understand why our people are over here dying. thats all i'm saying. im not crying about it.

i want someone to give me a reason as to why bush sent our men and women over here to die. what is the purpose? if it's seriously for oil thats pretty pathetic.

It's not as bad of a war as the media portrays it. The death toll isn't that bad compared to any previous American war (or 'police action'). And people, those guys over there are professionals. They took the job and they knew the risks associated with it. It's part of the damn job. All of you kiddos who are screaming 'bring home the troops' ask your self one question. If they are brought home and the Iraqi government collapses then wouldn't it mean that the KIA (Killed In Action) troops' lives were wasted? Yes, because we'd be back to square one. You cannot rush these kind of things. Give it some damn time and it'll get resolved by the brave men and women of the Armed Forces of the coalition.

The root of the problem is that everyone sees how fast wars like the spanish american war, granada, and desert storm get ended so quickly and with minimal bloodshed so they just think everything's all hunky dory until their perfect little world's are shattered.
when that happens they'll blame anyone and anything why their lives are not picture perfect. a great man once said that all good things take time.

I cannot say anything to ease your pain but i have a book about theodore roosevelt and it states how willing he was to leave his family for war not thinking about it. but then years later when one of his sons died in world war I he was heartbroken and ashamed of himself.
but the book states how he knew it was for the greater good. that, if his son was to die for so many others then that was his sacrifice. that was his mission.

It is not entirely the length of this war. People would tolerate this war even though it is longer if there was a good reason for being there. But in my opinion, and the opinion of an increasingly large number of people, there is not a good reason for being there. In WWII we had a good reason to be there, the people of American's supported the war.

This war is very similar to vietnam. My father lived through vietnam and my uncle was a soldier in the war as well. Listening to them talk about it, the number of similarities is astounding. We pulled out of vietnam, i believe we will pull out of Iraq. Why? because there is not a just reason for being there, we are and were not ever WANTED there, this is not a war of black and white (them vs us) its all shades of gray. And many, many other reasons.

David, Theodore Roosevelt was also very supportive of the Spanish American War, a war of questionable motives.

Alex, which is worse. pulling out now and having those people have died in vain, or losing even more lives in a country we never should have invaded.

Icarus

1. the reason we are there is to make a stable government which has atleast been partially successful because they meet, make laws, and even executed saddam

2. who says the iraqis don't want us there? i don't know what you have been reading but the history channel and several news broadcats have shown how troops are fixing up towns as in repairing water towers sending in books for education etc etc....

3. the spanish american war freed the people of cuba from spain with their concentration camps and the slavery that was crippling that country, gaum, and the philipines.

4. dying for one's country is not dying in vain, most soldiers say that and before you judge me, my family has taken part in every single american war besides mexican american and war of 1812. we've faught on the front lines, lead armies into battle, commanded ships, and even gaurded the pentagon.

The war over here really is just as bad as the media portrays it in certain areas. where my boyfriend is, they are running every day for their life. there are always mortars going off and they carry their weapons around and DO actually use them.

i think it's getting out of hand.

have any of you seen the thousands upon thousands of children over here and their families screaming, "allah... allah... kill the americans."
it's even worse than that, i don't know how to discribe it.

this war, like any other war, is based on religion. that's why i strongly believe we shouldn't be over here. granted, they want to kill the americans and we can't stand for it, but it's time to leave these people alone. are big threats that we had coming into this war are no longer threats so why do we insist on trying to "fix" things that are none of our business?

It is the duty of all members of the Armed Forces to fight. It doesn't matter if you guys see a 'good reason' for the war. If we pull out then it'll all be a waste of lives. At least if we fight on, and yes this is a winable war, we can achieve something with the blood that was shed. You all are so quick to draw parallels between Iraq and Vietnam. Iraq has capable military strategists and well trained troops. Vietnam was led by politicians who didn't know shit all about warfare and the troops who fought were conscripts. Hell, Vietnam was winnable if they had used the correct tactics. They should have used guerrila tactics like the Sir Charlie (VC). The Koreans and the Australians in particular did well against the Vietnamese.
Besides there WAS a good reason for the invasion of Iraq. That reason was Saddam Hussein. He was a dictator and was building up a large and powerful military force. He invaded Kuweit and we slapped him on his wrist, he should have been deposed then instead of letting him consolidate his hold on Iraq even more. The Iraqi people are GLAD we're there. A small minority do resent us but for the most part they do want us there. Don't believe everything the liberal media shoves down your throat. Draw your own conclusion.

Well.. point blank period. i don't see us making anything better and i just want them all to come home. i don't see why it is taking 6 years for us to "keep things under control" for people who are just rebuilding to hit us again.

i'm frusterated and want to see improvement. i've lost all morale here. just want to go home. (i'm in a safe place, but i hate seeing those out there coming here searching medical help. makes me wonder if they believe they are dying for a good cause.)

See! that's what i'm talking about, everyone wants it NOW! i'm sorry our little war is interfering with your life, maybe i should call up george w. and tell him to knock it off.
jennifer i'll be as nice as i can when i say that in war believe it or not people use guns. i know that's a big shocker but personally if i watch a news report about someone repairing a broken watermaine i like to see construction workers working, not sitting there chatting about how everything has been going along

Oh, and jennifer, i know a lot of soldiers that have been out there and not one of them has said one word in protest. i know that may be hard for some people who glue themselves to cnn to understand.
oh, and that whole "no one dies in vain" statement that you tried to bulldoze has been a spirit of our armed forces. death before dishonor is the marines motto.
i hate it when people look at one side (usually the wrong side) and then make their outlandish opinions.

the only way to sufficiently learn about a topic is to experience it, a history book, or a t.v. can't give you the full experience

First of all, david, i have so many things i could respond to your comments with but i believe it is safe to say that neither of us will change their opinions. so to prevent a useless battle i say we just agree to respect the other's views. at least that is what i'm going to do.

Secondly, i have talked with many soldiers who have been over there. A large number don't believe we should be there. Now as someone else said it IS the job of the military to go fight. However, when the people who are obviously patriots and willing to fight for their country say that, it makes you wonder.

I agree with jennifer on several things. our country gets involved militarily in things that are not our business. also, there is a civil/religious war going on that we are attempting to hold in check. i posted a quote farther up that describes this situation well.

and liberal media? anyone ever heard of Fox? lol.
although i do agree, formulate your own opinions. americans often need to learn to THINK! Also, it was said "don't believe everything the liberal media tells you". in turn don't believe everything the government tells you.

and as to winning the war: did anyone know that in an interview, when asked if we could win the war bush responded saying he didn't think it was the kind of war we could actually win. wow... says a lot.

I think we should just nuke the damn place and get it over with.

Might as well nuke ourselves, Cheshire. I'd be willing to bet that most civilians in Iraq appreciate this war much less than we do.

I agree with David. You can't expect progress to occur in a heartbeats time. Progress takes time and effort. If America hadn't taken the time and effort in 1776 to fight the Brits then where would we be now? Probably be alot like Canada. And NOBODY wants that.
And someone said, I do not recall who, that it is not America's business to be in Iraq. Great Britain used to be the 'Policeman' of the world so to speak. After World War Two they were to weakened to carry on that duty and so they passed the torch onto the United States. Being as it is it is America's duty to stick it's nose into other people business in order to try to best keep peace. If not then negligence would led to genocide (which is where Hussein would have eventually gotten in regard with the Kurds). Happened in Rwanda and nobody did shit all about it. It might not get America cool points with the world but it will at least stem the tide of injustice.

Thanks alex, thanks william

icarus,

you cannot say you will not comment on my opinions out of compromise then say something about my opinions. stick to one thought. i will respect your ideas and not comment about them

Just taking down the pillars of popular thinking, sticking it to the man, biting the disgruntled mailman in the rear, sticking the gum to the principle's shoe, but i digress

I think the picture helps, good old theodore roosevelt