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Thread: close to home

  1. #1
    Loved By All [AK]Choozoo's Avatar
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    close to home

    http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/...asp?ArID=68879

    I knew this kid. We were in the same company, Co C 2/108thINF, and I missed going to Iraq by only a few months of enlistment time. Actually, I would've been the 2nd Platoon's Platoon Leader by this time, had everything gone according to my plans (and not my wife's). I trained with these guys often, shared jokes and taunts (different platoons and all). As I've said before, I'm glad I'm not there, but guilty that I'm not, and they are.

    I guess what really bothers me is that it was on the last page of the paper, buried in the sports section. Complete BS.
    I was hoping to get through this without attending funerals.
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  2. #2
    Token Commie [AK]Sonic Boom's Avatar
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    I've been pissed off for a long time about what an utter debacle Iraq has become. Words cannot describe how bad I feel about our boys dying every day over there.
    Hasta,
    Boom

  3. #3
    Accept no substitutes. [AK]Bribo's Avatar
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    I feel for you Choozoo and for all the friends and family of our soldiers.

    But wars happen and IMO this war is NOT a debacle. No where close.
    [AK]Bribo

    If you were a zombie and I had to kill you, I'd feel sad.

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by [AK]Sonic Boom
    I've been pissed off for a long time about what an utter debacle Iraq has become. Words cannot describe how bad I feel about our boys dying every day over there.
    So I see you've been getting your "information" from the mainstream media?

    Our troops are doing their jobs, doing them well, and the "debacle" in Iraq is a very small minority faction. The "job" in Iraq is getting done.

    Hating the solution.
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  5. #5
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    Debacle? Hardly. The newspapers are doing what they always do - only reporting the negative. Sounds like you've been reading the NYTimes and watching CNN.

    The deal is no-where near as inflamed as its been made to sound. We're systematically taking down the bad guys in Fallujah - something that was eventually going to have to happen - and Al-Sadr and his boys are now cornered in Najaf. He enjoys no widespread support amongst the Shia.

    I cannot believe minor bumps in the road can so sway public opinion. Yeah, we're at war. This is what war looks like. It's not all nose-cam video. The fact of the matter is we're WINNING in a huge way - and so long as we stick to it we'll win the whole damn thing.

    The only thing that can prevent that from happening is if our will is slackened.

    That's why little stunts like the bridge hangings in Fallujah were orchestrated for the media. It's also the motivation behind the (foreign subsidized) kidnappings. There are countries in the region that want to shake our (meaning the American people) will.

    Direct your anger at the media and the opposition in this country. You'll get more bang for your angst.

  6. #6
    Token Commie [AK]Sonic Boom's Avatar
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    Looks like I touched a nerve here.

    3466 coalition casualties in 378 days as reported by CENTCOM, with no end in sight, to me qualifies as a debacle.
    Hasta,
    Boom

  7. #7
    Loved By All [AK]Choozoo's Avatar
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    I wasn't looking for a political discussion, and I really don't want one.

    Face the facts, you can read and listen to every side of this story, but until you are actually there, you have no idea what it's like. you have no idea what those people want, think or believe.

    I am personally tired of the justifications. If everything is so great, why don't you run to Fallujah and grab me a sandwich. And don't forget to wear your blue jeans.

    I'm tired of everything being politicized, and there only being "one right side". If you believe so strongly, let me know, I'll give you directions to your local recruiter.
    **I just have nothing cool enough to put here**

  8. #8
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    Are they signing up 39 year old men with no military experience?

    You didn't want a political discussion, but you got one.

    We're at war - and it's an absolutely critical one - and casualties are a part of that.

    Prior to moving into Iraq, critics were predicting 3,000-10,000 American combat DEAD during the battle for Baghdad alone. Conservatively.

    It is a testament to our excellence and professionalism that our casualties are an order of magnitude lower than that. But regardless - yes our friends and countrymen are dying over there. They're giving our lives now to ensure that we won't have to give our lives here later, and for that I'll be forever grateful. When I see a member of the military, I go out of my way to thank them for their service (this often results in puzzled looks.)

    I'll happily go on at whatever length you wish on this issue. But I'll never budge from my position that what we're doing there is right, absolutely and completely necessary, and requires the courage and resolve that only very few nations in history have ever shown the ability to muster.

    It's time to drain the swamp of despotism in the middle east, or our children will be paying for our fear with their blood, here in the United States.



  9. #9
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    Originally posted by [AK]Squidly
    Are they signing up 39 year old men with no military experience?
    *Group Huggie*
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  10. #10
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    Originally posted by [AK]Hylander
    *Group Huggie*
    Lol...I was still adding stuff.

  11. #11
    Loved By All [AK]Choozoo's Avatar
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    ok, where's my sandwich?

    while you're there ask the locals about how they feel about us being there. I don't see them taking to the streets to protest the radicals. where are the liberation parades?

    Isn't it kind of audacious to feel that the rest of the world wants to live like we do? Don't you think that the poeple there are so instituionalized, that they don't want the freedom?

    39? who cares, lie. They'll take you until 32. go sign up. I'll check up on your family. Promise.
    Last edited by Choozoo; 04-14-2004 at 08:16 AM.
    **I just have nothing cool enough to put here**

  12. #12
    Loved By All [AK]Choozoo's Avatar
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    Hylander, I like Fortress America, except it needs teeth. Big teeth. Big, don't F with me teeth.
    **I just have nothing cool enough to put here**

  13. #13
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    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    ok, where's my sandwich?

    while you're there ask the locals about how they feel about us being there. I don't see them taking to the streets to protest the radicals. where are the liberation parades?


    Ask your mainstream media to answer that exact question. Why don't you ask them to show you all the children who now attend schools. Ask them to show you the vast percentage of Iraq that now has electricity and water that did not prior to the war. Why don't you ask the families of all the slaughtered people in the mass graves discovered or the families of those in the videos being pushed off the top of buildings.

    I do have a friend who just returned from serving South of Baghdad. He talks about the actual friendships he developed with IRAQIs. They love what the US military is doing for them, but none of them (very understandably), want US "occupation." They want things to "move on" as quickly as possible and it is just not possible when you have rogue warlords blowing up civilians and attacking the groundwork institutions needed for the turnover. You can't just walk away without a foundation of law, services, and government in place. June 30th is just the first step in that process.


    Isn't it kind of audacious to feel that the rest of the world wants to live like we do?

    So you are saying tha people do not want to CHOOSE their way of life? They would rather have it mandated by a ruthless Dictator? Nobody is forcing our way of life on them, except for liberty, freedom, freedom from religious oppression, and the ability to freely elect their government and rulers. Call me audacious if you want, but I think a vast majority of people around the globe will grasp at that opportunity.


    Don't you think that the poeple there are so instituionalized, that they don't want the freedom?

    Absolutely not.
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  14. #14
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    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    ok, where's my sandwich?
    I thought about this awhile, and I'm still not sure what your point is. Iraq isn't unraveling, it's not spinning into some chaotic country wide civil war. The vast majority of the country is acutally uneffected by the goings on of the last couple of weeks. My ability to walk into Fallujah and grab a sandwhich while it's still under the thumb of a cadre of Baathist thugs doesn't do much to change any of that.

    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    while you're there ask the locals about how they feel about us being there.
    The dead-enders and foreign nationals fighting us in Fallujah obviously have their own agenda, which is far different from those of the average Iraqi.

    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    I don't see them taking to the streets to protest the radicals. where are the liberation parades?
    The thugs are clearly in the minority, but the average Iraqi is still afraid and uncertain. Safer for them to "sit it out and see what happens". I'm also sure that many of them aren't particularly happy with being occupied - but that's not nearly the same thing as wanting us to go immediately.

    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    Isn't it kind of audacious to feel that the rest of the world wants to live like we do? Don't you think that the poeple there are so instituionalized, that they don't want the freedom?
    People don't want freedom? I think some may be so inexperienced with the concept that they don't know how to act (or are afraid to.) I certainly think they want it, deserve it, and with a little practice, will be able to handle it.

    And yeah, I think the overwhelming majority of the world wants to live like we do, even if they might outwardly deny it.

    Originally posted by [AK]Choozoo
    39? who cares, lie. They'll take you until 32. go sign up. I'll check up on your family. Promise.
    Whatever.

  15. #15
    Loved By All [AK]Choozoo's Avatar
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    Hylander:
    -------------------
    (abbreviated quotes)

    Ask your mainstream media
    It's not my media. Never said it was.

    I do have a friend....
    There are good things happening too, I'm not saying there isn't. But wouldn't you see Iraqis standing up to the radicals? Why aren't there any?

    So you are saying tha people do not want to CHOOSE their way of life?
    Nope, I'm saying do they want us to choose it for them? If roles were reversed, would you want France telling you how to live?

    Squidly:
    ---------------------
    again, abbreviated quotes

    I thought about this awhile, and I'm still not sure what your point is.
    Feel safe walking down that street? No? Why not? They do want us there right? There were problems there before this past month.

    The dead-enders and foreign nationals fighting us in Fallujah obviously have their own agenda, which is far different from those of the average Iraqi.
    Give me an example of the average Iraqis thinking.

    I certainly think they want it, deserve it, and with a little practice, will be able to handle it.
    That's the basis of instituitionalization. Not that they wouldn't ever want it, but are so unaccustomed to it that they wouldn't know what to do with it, right now. Future is different. So yes, I agree with you.

    And yeah, I think the overwhelming majority of the world wants to live like we do, even if they might outwardly deny it.
    So, if roles were reversed, it would be ok to be told how you should live? Because I said so?

    Last edited by Choozoo; 04-14-2004 at 09:01 AM.
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