When Are We Going To Get Out Of Here?
The soldiers want to know when they can get out of Iraq. That’s what they kept asking Sen. Joe Lieberman on his unannounced visit yesterday to the war torn country. Several soldiers said no progress is being made. They need more body armor. Their Humvees need armor, too.
What a prospect then to be one of the 110 National Guard soldiers about to leave Oregon for the war.
What does it mean to go to a place where what you do has no purpose? Where you are being watched, observed to see when it makes sense to set off that explosive you just walked by?
I support these guys. But what a world they will soon face.
The best way to support the troops is to bring them home to their families. Keeping them in Iraq on an ill-defined mission without a defined end-point (the Bush administration has yet to define “victory”) is homicide. Sending more troops to do more of the same, yet expecting different results, is the definition of insanity.
Keep in mind – you may feel it has no purpose but to others it does. And being in a military family, I can tell you it does to some of us. nad remember – not one of these troops was drafted. they are all there by choice. No one forced my father or husband to sign up – they did it willingly and gratefully.
I support our troups.
Keep in mind – you may feel it has no purpose but to others it does. And being in a military family, I can tell you it does to some of us. nad remember – not one of these troops was drafted. they are all there by choice. No one forced my father or husband to sign up – they did it willingly and gratefully.
I support our troups.
As a veteran of “Gulf I”…I continue to hope for a swift, smart withdrawal of our troops. Unfortunately, we have a leader who shirked his own call to duty, which clarifies that we won’t withdraw swiftly, nor will we do it with any semblance of intelligence.
One thing to remember about the National Guard–the original intent was to protect our own “nation”. I don’t recall that we annexed Iraq. I still don’t believe we should be sending our own defense to fight a war based on greed, based on lies.
And I DO support the troops 100%. Bring them home alive and unharmed!
Elizabeth, if there is a purpose, nobody has articulated it sufficiently to justify putting our soldiers in harms way. Can you articulate it? The Bush administration lied at the outset, and now they keep changing their story. They can’t define why our goals there, they can’t define “victory”, and they can’t even define what we’re supposed to be doing over there.
Do we really want our soldiers used to prop up a fundamentalist Islamic regime (allied with Iran), whose security forces are infiltrated with sectarian death squads? Is that the purpose you speak of? Because that’s what our troops are doing over there.
Nobody was “drafted”, but many, many soldiers have had their service extended against their will via “stop loss”, and nobody who signed up for the Guard before this war had any idea they’d be getting into this kind of quagmire. This is not weekend warrior stuff.
As Ursula points out, it is completely at odds with the mission of the National Guard to be pinned down half way around the globe in a conflict that has nothing to do with our domestic security.
I support our troops, and want them home and available to their families and for disaster response. I want the administration to stop using them as political pawns. I don’t want another soldier killed or maimed because Bush can’t admit he made a mistake.
I’m sick and tired of the BS that if you oppose the Bush administration’s illegal occupation, you don’t support the troops. This misadventure has severely weakened our military and significantly damaged our standing in the world. As a patriot, how can you support something that weakens our country?
Bring the troops home now.
I support the troops by hoping that they don’t die.
Same way I support small children in crosswalks, grandmothers with cancer, and old men shot by Dick Cheney.
Please let me know what other symbolic means I should undertake to show further support, outside of wishing that they aren’t killed and supporting politicians that will enact policies that decrease the chances that they die. I’ve noticed there aren’t that many yellow ribbons or misappropriated flags on people’s SUVs these days. Perhaps I post a yellow ribbon graphic on my MySpace page.