Withdrawal from Iraq
The first thing to understand is the USA is a free and democratic country. To talk about keeping our army of occupation in Iraq or not is not to speak out against our country or is not evidence that person hates his/her country. A patriot is one who loves their country and is willing to make sacrifices for it. Being for or against various policies of one’s country does not make or unmake one a patriot. To be for or against our occupation of Iraq has nothing to do whether you support the members of our armed forces or you don’t. If you support President Bush and his administration in their attempt to turn Iraq into a free and democratic country, that does not mean you support our troops, it means you support Bush in trying by the force of arms of our occupation army to make Iraq into a free and democratic country. It is not working. But it is the centerpiece of our war against Terror. Again, it is not working. If we withdraw then we loose our war against Terror. No we do not. We discard something that was tried and failed in our war against Terror. We will continue, as we must to defeat the terrorists. We are now worse off in our fight against Terror than we were before we invaded Iraq.
Cut and run is sailor talk. Sailors talk about a ship or a flotilla. Suppose on that dreadful morning of 7 Dec. 1941, the USS Arizona would have had most of her crew aboard and had steam up, her Captain would have cast off and made a run for open sea. Old salts would have said he ‘cut and run’. But it does not mean that anymore, it means to surrender and leave our troops at the mercy of the enemy. Cut and run is now an expression of the propagandist. To withdraw from Iraq is not to surrender and our troops are not being left to the mercy of Iraq insurgents. Our troops conquered the Iraq armed forces and occupied the country. That is what they were trained to do.
They were not trained in any way to create and enforce a social revolution in Iraq, to turn Iraq into a free and democratic county. Bush tells us that is their mission, but it is Bush and his administration who has betrayed the troops by
assigning them a mission they were never trained to accomplish and a mission that always has been completely outside the reason the USA has armed forces from the first days of the founding of our country.
The guilt for our war dead, their widows and orphans, and our wounded; the dead and wounded Iraq enemy armed forces and civilians, belongs to President Bush and his war supporters. Many of those supporters are having a change of heart. The political act of the war on Iraq, regardless of how or why it was sold to the American public, or how its aims were modified once the occupation got under way, is now seen as a political disaster and mission impossible. Still the Bush propaganda machine attempts to convince people that to withdrawn from Iraq is to sever a sacred bond of trust between our men and women in the armed forces and civilian citizens of our nation. Bush tells us that our troops believe in his mission to transform Iraq into a free and democratic country. I do not believe our troops in Iraq believe in this. There are certain groups of officers in our armed forces who may subscribe to such political beliefs that Bush propounds, and attempt to politicalize their troops, but the vast majority of our armed forces understand their mission is to locate the enemy, engage him, and kill or capture him. If we withdraw, then it must mean we do not believe in the basic reason we have an armed force to begin with. This is false, most Americans and the men and women in our armed forces know why we have armed forces. Because the President is the Commander in Chief of those armed forces, he has no right to politicalize those forces into his notions of turning the world into a paradise of democracy. And then when some citizens challenge the President’s political ideas on what to use the armed forces for, those same people are breaking faith with our Army and Marine Corps. This is false. The other false guilt is that our war dead and wounded; died and were maimed for life was all in vain. To withdraw from Iraq is to trash their deaths and suffering and dishonor their service to our country. That is an absolute lie. They died and were wounded carrying out the orders of their superiors. We Americans honor our war dead and the great majority of us, who support our troops, look to the care of their widows and orphans, and our wounded.
Go to the Vietnam War Memorial, stare at those names, and also think about the millions of dead Vietnamese. It is now time to fight it out in the American political arena about what we are about in Iraq and where do we go from here. Let’s stop the bull shit talk of ‘Stay the course’, and ‘Cut and run’, and calling honest Americans traitors; because its time to call a spade a spade, before another generation of Americans are staring at the thousands of names on some Iraq War Memorial, and also thinking about a couple of hundred thousand dead Iraqis. The idea if we withdraw is that we lose. Well lose what? You have to say what win means in specific political terms in order to say that we lose if we withdraw. Furthermore you have to agree we can actually win those specific political terms if we stay and you have to tell the truth about estimated costs. Unless President Bush can spell out what win means in specific political terms and he can convince you we can achieve those goals and gives an honest estimate of what that will cost and you agree with those conditions, you should demand withdrawal now.
The first thing to understand is the USA is a free and democratic country. To talk about keeping our army of occupation in Iraq or not is not to speak out against our country or is not evidence that person hates his/her country. A patriot is one who loves their country and is willing to make sacrifices for it. Being for or against various policies of one’s country does not make or unmake one a patriot. To be for or against our occupation of Iraq has nothing to do whether you support the members of our armed forces or you don’t. If you support President Bush and his administration in their attempt to turn Iraq into a free and democratic country, that does not mean you support our troops, it means you support Bush in trying by the force of arms of our occupation army to make Iraq into a free and democratic country. It is not working. But it is the centerpiece of our war against Terror. Again, it is not working. If we withdraw then we loose our war against Terror. No we do not. We discard something that was tried and failed in our war against Terror. We will continue, as we must to defeat the terrorists. We are now worse off in our fight against Terror than we were before we invaded Iraq.
Cut and run is sailor talk. Sailors talk about a ship or a flotilla. Suppose on that dreadful morning of 7 Dec. 1941, the USS Arizona would have had most of her crew aboard and had steam up, her Captain would have cast off and made a run for open sea. Old salts would have said he ‘cut and run’. But it does not mean that anymore, it means to surrender and leave our troops at the mercy of the enemy. Cut and run is now an expression of the propagandist. To withdraw from Iraq is not to surrender and our troops are not being left to the mercy of Iraq insurgents. Our troops conquered the Iraq armed forces and occupied the country. That is what they were trained to do.
They were not trained in any way to create and enforce a social revolution in Iraq, to turn Iraq into a free and democratic county. Bush tells us that is their mission, but it is Bush and his administration who has betrayed the troops by
assigning them a mission they were never trained to accomplish and a mission that always has been completely outside the reason the USA has armed forces from the first days of the founding of our country.
The guilt for our war dead, their widows and orphans, and our wounded; the dead and wounded Iraq enemy armed forces and civilians, belongs to President Bush and his war supporters. Many of those supporters are having a change of heart. The political act of the war on Iraq, regardless of how or why it was sold to the American public, or how its aims were modified once the occupation got under way, is now seen as a political disaster and mission impossible. Still the Bush propaganda machine attempts to convince people that to withdrawn from Iraq is to sever a sacred bond of trust between our men and women in the armed forces and civilian citizens of our nation. Bush tells us that our troops believe in his mission to transform Iraq into a free and democratic country. I do not believe our troops in Iraq believe in this. There are certain groups of officers in our armed forces who may subscribe to such political beliefs that Bush propounds, and attempt to politicalize their troops, but the vast majority of our armed forces understand their mission is to locate the enemy, engage him, and kill or capture him. If we withdraw, then it must mean we do not believe in the basic reason we have an armed force to begin with. This is false, most Americans and the men and women in our armed forces know why we have armed forces. Because the President is the Commander in Chief of those armed forces, he has no right to politicalize those forces into his notions of turning the world into a paradise of democracy. And then when some citizens challenge the President’s political ideas on what to use the armed forces for, those same people are breaking faith with our Army and Marine Corps. This is false. The other false guilt is that our war dead and wounded; died and were maimed for life was all in vain. To withdraw from Iraq is to trash their deaths and suffering and dishonor their service to our country. That is an absolute lie. They died and were wounded carrying out the orders of their superiors. We Americans honor our war dead and the great majority of us, who support our troops, look to the care of their widows and orphans, and our wounded.
Go to the Vietnam War Memorial, stare at those names, and also think about the millions of dead Vietnamese. It is now time to fight it out in the American political arena about what we are about in Iraq and where do we go from here. Let’s stop the bull shit talk of ‘Stay the course’, and ‘Cut and run’, and calling honest Americans traitors; because its time to call a spade a spade, before another generation of Americans are staring at the thousands of names on some Iraq War Memorial, and also thinking about a couple of hundred thousand dead Iraqis. The idea if we withdraw is that we lose. Well lose what? You have to say what win means in specific political terms in order to say that we lose if we withdraw. Furthermore you have to agree we can actually win those specific political terms if we stay and you have to tell the truth about estimated costs. Unless President Bush can spell out what win means in specific political terms and he can convince you we can achieve those goals and gives an honest estimate of what that will cost and you agree with those conditions, you should demand withdrawal now.
posted by Pat Crotty at 10:35 AM
2 Comments:
Withdrawal from Iraq :Pat's Reality
I am the niece of a soldier, who is a retired Colonel from the Vietnam War...who originally was sent over in the USAF SAC in the late fifties as a Navigator to set up the maps for Strategic Air Command, if I got that all straight. He is alive today and I am honored to know him, he is my mother's brother. What I, as a girl, in the Vietnam War era remember is what I saw on the news and what my parents explained at the dinner table and the copper bracelt I wore for the POW I prayer for every night along with those little prayers that my uncles would not be killed so my mother and our family would not cry... What I know about war is much to lengthly to get into right now, but I believe war itself is a defeat and ending war is a victory. War to me is such a human condition of the male mind, a concept I often like to understand from men, soldiers and imperticular from men in my family. My cousin, has just returned from his assignment in Iraq, he is a vetran, his name is Major James Otwell and he has h discussed to me the experiences he encountered in Iraq. War is real. Our involvement is not to be questioned while on duty, he is trained to take orders, he is trained to survive, and he is trained to kill. His assignment was to get water to the people of Iraq. Not an easy task. War is shit but not bullshit to a vetran. We are to be protected and as a woman I more than respect that. Withdrawal from Iraq is every sodliers dream to do that without a body bag with his or her name on it. Our political views are bullshit when compared to a soldiers. I am thankful for our armed services and President Bush did not get my vote from the get go. President Bush is a poor Commander in Chief, but my cousin informed me that he salutes his superiors in my best regards as well as everyother American alive or dead on a memorial wall or in the womb. I now have a refreshed outlook. My comments started from my first knowledge of a soldier the only two I knew, my uncles. I later in life, as a young woman, lived with a Vietnam Vetran who assisted myself and my children with the utmost honor in doing so responsibility to help me when I was in need a dear friend indeed. His stories and life experience in Nam and picking up dead bodies along the riverbeds, that felt like soagy soap are forever imbedded in mine and my children's minds. We are grateful to have stories to be told to us women and children form those who serve to protect us and our freedom as Americans. I honor them all and pray for them all. I do not understand it all. Like the book, Art Of War,states, Chinese generals knew that warfare was a defeat and strategic planning to the actual means to the end was victory. President Bush is a fool controlled by his father's cronies who believe that war is the shoe in for re- election. Why didn't anyone ever ask Madeline Albright about invasion until two years after Bush was in office? Oh, I remember because she had the correct answer all along but was voted out... she stated repeatedly,we the USA, don't need to invade anyone and if we did, it would be more than a grave mistake it would be a disaster because we are simply not prepared to invade any country and try to change anything, how ridiculous. She was at the helm and for eight years guarded our country from invasion of Iraq or any other middle eastern country. Smart. Remember this is only my opinion. Each office of the Presidency must examine the options and outcomes of war... in this century I find it archaic to be even having the discussion. "Withdrawal from Iraq", without a doubt, no excuses, no partial "trying to induce the notion of our principles"...we are not Iraqis and they are not democatic Americans, a simple equation not a simple notion. President Bush is a dangerous ignorant politican for one reason I can see...power. If the Saudi Arabian "King" and his twelth son where not related to his twelth son, a skyscraper engineer who's eleventh son was bin Ladin, and who was not associated with the Geo. Bush Administration, would the history of this present war be so undercover and such a profit for the Bush's? Oh, yeah what do you pay for fuel? President Bush is the biggest terrorist known to the American public... why is that not addressed... why terroize your own? I think greed and power may be a quotient here or maybe I am just another angry american about the Iraq war, a mother with a son at the draft age and a voter who consistently has gotten screwed at the gas pump?
So like I said, I salute our vetrans and serving soldiers, I criticize and remain a free voter in America and agree to withdrawal from Iraq asap, no questions asked.
Withdrawal from Iraq :Pat's Reality
I am the niece of a soldier, a Colonel in the Vietnam War, sent over iwth SAC in the late fifties as a Navigator to set up the maps for strategic air command. He is alive today and I am honored to know him, he is my mother's brother. What I as a girl in the Vietnam War remember is what I saw on the news and what my parents explained at the dinner table. What I know about war to lengthly to get into right now, but I believe war itself is a defeat and ending war is a victory. War to me is such a human condition of the male mind, a concept I often like to understand from men, soldiers and imperticular from men in my family. My cousin, has just returned from his assignment in Iraq, he is a vetran, his name is Major James Otwell and he has had discussed to me the experiences he encountered in Iraq. War is real. Our involvement is not to be questioned while on duty, he trained to take orders, he is trained to survive, and he is trained to kill. His assignment was to get water to the people of Iraq. Not an easy task. War is shit but not bullshit to a vetran. We are to be protected and as a woman I more than respect that. Withdrawal from Iraq is every sodliers dream to to do that without a body bag with his or her name on it. Our political views are bullshit when compared to a soldiers. I am thankful for our armed services and Bush did not get my vote from the get go. Bush is a poor Comander in Chief, but my cousin informed me that he salutes his superiors in my best regards as well as everyother American alive or dead on a memorial wall or in the womb. I now have a refreshed outlook. My coments started from my first knowledge of a soldier the only two I knew my uncles. I later in life ans a young woman lived with a Vietnam Vetran who assisted myself and my children with the utmost honor in doing so . His stories and life experience in Nam and picking up dead bodies along the riverbeds, that felt like soagy soap are forever imbedded in mine and my children's minds. We are grateful to have stories to be told to us women and children form those who serve to protect us and our fredom as Americans. I honor them all and pray for them all. I do not understand it all. Like the book Art Of War, Chinese generals knew that warfare was a defeat and strategic planing to the actual means to the end was victory. President Bush is a fool controlled by his father's cronies who believe that war is the shoe in for re- election. Why didn't anyone ever ask Madeline Albright about invasion until two years after Bush was in office? Oh, I remember because she had the corect answer...we don't ned to invade anyone and if we did then what we the USA is not prepared to invade any country and try to change anything, how ridiculous. She was at the helm and for eight years guarde our country from invasion of Iraq or any other midle eastern country. Smart. Remember this is only my opinion. Each office of the Presidency must examine the options and outcomes of war in this century I find it archaic to be even having the discussion. "Withdrawal from Iraq", without a doubt, no excuses, no partial "trying to induce the notuion of our principles"...we are not Iraqis and they are not democatic Americans a simple equation not a simple notion. President Bush is a dangerous ignorant politican for one reason I can see...power. If the Saudi Arabian "King" and his twelth son where not related to his twelth son, a skyscraper engineer who's elenth son was bin Ladin, and who was not associated with the Geo. Bush Administration, would the history of this present war be so undercover? Oh, yeah what do you pay for fuel? President Bush is the biggest terrorist known to the American public why is that not addressed why teroize your own? I think greed and power may be a quotient here or maybe I am just another angry american about the Iraq war, a mother with a son at the draft age and a voter who consistently has gotten screwed at the gas pump?
So like I said, I salute our vetrans and serving soldiers, I criticize and remain a free voter in America and agree withdrawal from Iraq asap no questions asked.
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