On the Ground in Iraq (1 Viewer)

[oldreliable67]

A soldier's view from Iraq...

American Soldier says,

"I was interviewed by Fox News yesterday about the closed door sessions that transpired earlier this week. Certain questions asked were:

“Do I think that the troops feel bad that the senate now doubts the case for war?”

“Do I think the probe into the case for war is over due?”

“Do I think it’s owed to the family’s who have lost loved ones to have a probe?”

Well the call lasted for about 45 minutes. I told the reporter a lot of things that have affected me personally about this war, how I feel about it coming from a citizen-soldier. However I kept telling the reporter that really the troops on ground don’t give a flying leap about what the hell the senate is doing. In war, you are there to survive and you care for you brothers in arms. I said to her at one point that no soldier is going to run to the head shrink and cry because the senate can’t make up their mind about the war. Or even if they doubt the war, it doesn’t really affect the outcome of what we (soldiers) do on ground. The senate should focus on giving our military a higher pay raise then the measly 3% hike. They should ensure we have better equipment, no soldier should ever have to buy his/her stuff.

© 2005 soldierlife.com

Link to source

The manner in which the questions were asked seemed to invite the soldier to complain about the war. Has Fox News shifted its views?

 

[alienken]

American Soldier says,

"I was interviewed by Fox News yesterday about the closed door sessions that transpired earlier this week. Certain questions asked were:

“Do I think that the troops feel bad that the senate now doubts the case for war?”

“Do I think the probe into the case for war is over due?”

“Do I think it’s owed to the family’s who have lost loved ones to have a probe?”

Well the call lasted for about 45 minutes. I told the reporter a lot of things that have affected me personally about this war, how I feel about it coming from a citizen-soldier. However I kept telling the reporter that really the troops on ground don’t give a flying leap about what the hell the senate is doing. In war, you are there to survive and you care for you brothers in arms. I said to her at one point that no soldier is going to run to the head shrink and cry because the senate can’t make up their mind about the war. Or even if they doubt the war, it doesn’t really affect the outcome of what we (soldiers) do on ground. The senate should focus on giving our military a higher pay raise then the measly 3% hike. They should ensure we have better equipment, no soldier should ever have to buy his/her stuff.

© 2005 soldierlife.com

Link to source

From what I have heard(not much from our media) this is the additude of most of our military. I sometimes wonder if we deserve our good people of the U.S. Armed Forces...Don't worry about Fox News. The fact that the soldier did not complain might be part of the story.

 

[GarzaUK]

in a response about how I feel when a person asks me about why we are in Iraq, he said this. “Why are we in Iraq, they had nothing to do with 9/11″, my reply is: “Why did we fight Hitler in WW2? He had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor.”

Hmm, coz he declared war on you. The choices are pretty limited.

 

[oldreliable67]

Too few of the MSM media get on and 'on-the-ground' with our people in Iraq, consequently, too little of the good that they are accomplishing is reported in the MSM. Here is one guy, Noah Shactman, a blogger, who did get out there and on-the-ground. He had this to say...

The guerillas in Iraq have been brutal, killing way more innocent bystanders than American occupiers or Iraqi collaborators. While I was in Baghdad, a group of soldiers in a nearby neighborhood were handing out candy to bunch of kids. Until a suicide bomber stepped in, and killed 27.

“It boggles my mind, how someone can go into a crowd of kids, and kill them all. I’ll never understand it. But that’s why I’m here,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Palmer, with the 717th Ordnance Disposal Company, an Army bomb squad. “Yeah, it’s still fun to blow stuff up. But it’s not the core thing. Figuring out how this **** [the bomb] works. Stopping it from hurting people. That’s the main thing. [emphasis added]”
...
And make no mistake, soldiers are staying. I’d say three in four of the GIs I spoke with were planning to reenlist. The new, fat bonuses are one reason, of course. But another is the sense that there are real-life psychopaths out there that need to be stopped. It may sound corny. It may sound dumb. But that’s what I saw.

Source.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

It doesn't seem that the opinions etc of the GOP's loyal opposition are having all that much effect on this fella's morale.
Too bad for the pro-war folks who keep hoping that these opinions etc will hurt the moral of our troops.

 

[oldreliable67]

Too bad for the pro-war folks who keep hoping that these opinions etc will hurt the moral of our troops.

"hoping"? Thats quite an assertion. Is that just your opinion/impression, or do you wish to substantiate it and hold it out as fact?

 

[Simon W. Moon]

"hoping"? Thats quite an assertion. Is that just your opinion/impression, or do you wish to substantiate it and hold it out as fact?

I'm not sure well "hope" can be objectively established. However, the idea that these opinions etc does generate quite a lot of verbal activity from many of these folks. It doesn't seem to be that much of stretch to interpret the flurry of activity and verbioseness as an excitement of sorts re the idea.
W/o this meme, the excitement would be lost.
Since, as yet, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no objective verification or demonstration of harm being done to troopS' morale from the opinions etc voiced by various Dems, the idea that such harm occurs exists primarily as something that the particular pro-war folks who're under discussion have asserted exists. Since the idea give the crew excitement and creates a shield and a ready made bludgeon for political discourse it seems they would find it disappointing if it turned out not to be true. Perhaps not though. However, among some of these folks, there is often a demonstrable reluctance to even examine arguments that the idea that opinions etc are harmful to the US Armed Forces. This seems to indicate that these folks in particular have a vested interest in being able to continue believing that it's true.

So, maybe they don't 'hope' per se. But they sure seem to take joy in promoting the idea and seem like they'd be disturbed by the possibility that the meme was false.
But, 'hope' doesn't seem to be much of a stretch.

 

[oldreliable67]

This seems to indicate that these folks in particular have a vested interest in being able to continue believing that it's true.

I think you can turn that argument around and apply it to many liberals as well. There are vested interests, in the form of positions taken publicly which have to be defended, etc., on both sides of the aisle, so to speak. All too many (of either persuasion) are, IMO, too easily convinced of the figurative evil of anything that smacks of attacking a belief held dear.

So much of the discourse that we see now simply smacks of payback for Clinton impeachment perceived wrongdoings. Goes around, comes around. "Now its my turn" too often seems to be the attitude.

Perhaps myself included, no matter how hard I try to be pragmatic.