Donutboy 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Military families grow angry with state of Iraq war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Al 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I JUST finished having a very interesting conversation with a patient of mine about this very subject. She was telling me that her son, a Marine reservist, returned from Iraq four weeks ago. I think one of the most fascinating things she told me was that in the few phone conversations she had with him, he would always ask how the military was doing over there. I've never been in combat, so this may be the norm, but it just seemed strange that they would have no idea how the effort was going outside of their little 'box.' He also told her that the Iraqi's would spit on and throw rocks at the Army, but not the Marines. Respect...fear...I don't know. She said, and I could sense her honesty, that she was really angry at Bush, et al, because of his (their) total mishandling of Iraq. She also said, "I helped to put him in there and I'm going to help to get him out!" She then asked me about Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. (She saw the Dean sticker on my bumper) I'm sure she isn't indicative of all veteran's family members, but it appears to be a real and growing movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channonc 466 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Tiger Al, Did you tell her to vote Clark????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I JUST finished having a very interesting conversation with a patient of mine about this very subject. She was telling me that her son, a Marine reservist, returned from Iraq four weeks ago. I think one of the most fascinating things she told me was that in the few phone conversations she had with him, he would always ask how the military was doing over there. I've never been in combat, so this may be the norm, but it just seemed strange that they would have no idea how the effort was going outside of their little 'box.' He also told her that the Iraqi's would spit on and throw rocks at the Army, but not the Marines. Respect...fear...I don't know. She said, and I could sense her honesty, that she was really angry at Bush, et al, because of his (their) total mishandling of Iraq. She also said, "I helped to put him in there and I'm going to help to get him out!" She then asked me about Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. (She saw the Dean sticker on my bumper) I'm sure she isn't indicative of all veteran's family members, but it appears to be a real and growing movement. I would like to know how the heck Iraqis tell the difference between a Marine and a Army soldier, because when they are all geared up and wear basically the same uniforms, except for the few marines that are wearing the new BDUs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucorner 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 WE are becoming a nation of left wing crybabies and p*&&^%$! They knew what they were getting into when they joined the military. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Al 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I would like to know how the heck Iraqis tell the difference between a Marine and a Army soldier when there are all geared up and where basically the same uniforms, except for the few marines that are wearing the new BDUs Maybe they know that the Army wears unit patches and all other kinds of adornments like airborne wings, EIB's, EFMB's, etc. on their uni's and the Marines don't. Maybe they know which units are in their areas and which aren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Al 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Tiger Al, Did you tell her to vote Clark????? I told her I liked both and that either will be a great choice. But, you know I tried to lean her toward Howard!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channonc 466 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Good as long as you pumped up Clark a bit. He needs all the help he can get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I would like to know how the heck Iraqis tell the difference between a Marine and a Army soldier when there are all geared up and where basically the same uniforms, except for the few marines that are wearing the new BDUs Maybe they know that the Army wears unit patches and all other kinds of adornments like airborne wings, EIB's, EFMB's, etc. on their uni's and the Marines don't. Maybe they know which units are in their areas and which aren't. I seriously doubt that they are picking they type of soldiers they harass with respect to branch. That really does not lend credibility to the story your patient told you. Again, there are a few that are not supportive, but the majority believe we are doing the right thing. However, like most soldiers would be, they are ready to come home to their families, but that is expected of anybody being away from the families. Look, all military personnel in the army volunteered and were not drafted. They knew that they might have to serve in this capacity. Actually, nowadays, they are even told that any combat time they see will more then likely be in a third world country or the middle east. I guess some people would still have rather waited for Saddam to do something tragic and keep letting terrorists train in his country until another 9/11 happened and then everybody would be all "lets go kick their a$$" again. The "wait and see" approach is what gets alot of innocent people killed. As a former soldier, I hate it every day when I hear more soldiers have died. I will admit that the situation in Iraq seems to be getting FUBAR, but the liberals are as much to blame as Bush is. There rantings cause indecision and division which then follows into the strategy and tactics given to military and civilian personnel in Iraq. Problem is, this is not the first time that has happend and liberals are not innocent. I served in the military when Clinton was in office, and some of the operations I was involved in did not end in a glorious manner either. As a soldier, I accepted it as my duty and realize that if I died, I died for my country, regardless of who the president was and if I agreed with him or voted for me. Soldiers getting killed is something that none of us likes to read about and it is a tragedy for their families. However, they are combatants and they should have accepted that possibility when the enlisted. It is better that soldiers are dying to protect us rather then we "wait and see" as a country and non-combatants are murdered right down the street from where we all live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Al 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I had the same belief as you, Ranger. But, my loyalty was always contigent on the honesty of my chain of command and the belief that I would be used as a weapon only if necessary. These soldiers, however many or few there are, aren't complaining simply because they've been deployed. It's because they're beginning to believe that they've been had. Lookit, when I was in Germany in 83-86, my unit had a life expectancy of about 49 minutes. That meant WE had a chance when the s**t hit the fan. There were guys who had 49 seconds! The thing is, I knew that and for all of Reagan's domestic faults, being in the military, he was my PAPA!!! I had faith in him and I knew that he wasn't going to send me somewhere without full justification. Bush acts like the military and its' members are his little playtoys and he's Napolean. Ranger, I know that all of the people we have sent over there decided one day that they wanted to join the military. Many of them joined on September 12th, 2001. No one made them join, they volunteered. But, don't you think that that relationship must be predicated on honesty? The soldier says, "I promise to be there if you need me." And the government says, "And I'll only use you as a last resort." If one party is dishonest, the whole thing gets...FUBAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.