sgtdmski

The American public is so quick to embrace the American soldier when we are engaged in a war. The same was true during the First Gulf War. But after that what happened???? Everybody got back to their life and forgot about us, until the next time we were put in harms way. As far as your select few, were they not the ones hailed as heroes of a new revolution, the young radicals who challenged the status quo. The whole reason most people who join the Army do so is out of pride about their country and its people. Yet once we do, we see how we are treated by civilians. The disdain that people hold, the news stories that always try judge us off the actions of a few. Where was the American public when the President was trying to balance a budget and not wanting to cut domestic spending decided to cut military spending and we didn't have enough bullets to go to the range, enough money to perform our required one jump a month, enough money to deploy on field problems. We are supported in war, and forgotten in peace.

Come now, why must you support your argument with blatant lies????

The 9/11 Commission Report (pp. 329-330):

"First, we found no evidence that any flights of Saudi nationals, domestic or international, took place before the reopenning of national airspace on the morning of September 13, 2001. To the contrary, every flight we have identified occurred after national airspace reopened.

Second, we found no evidence of any political intervention. (Discussion of how decision was made by Richard Clarke in coordination with the FBI).

Third, we believe that the FBI conducted a satisfactory screening of Saudi nationals who left the United States on charter flights. (discussion of the screening). The FBI interviewed all persons of interest on these flights prior to their departures. They concluded that none of the passengers was connected to the 9/11 attacks and have since found no evidence to change that conclusion."

You really shouldn't rely on Michael Moore for the truth!!!!

Then you attack the President for not acting immediately. Remember the last time a President acted immediately the result was a $2 million missile blowing up a $10 tent and a camel. The President offered the government of Afghanistan the opportunity to turn over members of al-Qaeda, when they failed only then did we attack.

Mistakes were made by the administration and the generals in waging the war in Afghanistan, and yes Bin Laden escaped.

But your contention that we defied the world is another stretch of reality. We had 35 other countries that supported our actions. It was the UN who we defied, the very same organization that Hussein had been defying since 1991. Perhaps they were too busy trying to protect their own cash cow (Oil-for-Food).

Do we once again have to pull out all the quotes from all the different people regarding Iraq and Hussein. When others said it, their statements were mistaken because of the faulty intelligence, but because Bush said it, it must be lies. Cut the crap. This is what happens when our intelligence community is forced to rely upon technology rather than human intelligence.

Of course we wish to have military bases in the Middle East, right now it is the major supplier of oil to the world, and we have a vested interest in oil, it fuels our society. And yes we protected to oil fields in Iraq, only an idiot would leave them unprotected and a target for the insurgents.

The oil companies made record profits thanks to record sales and the fact that OPEC refused to increase oil production, thus driving the cost of oil to $70 a barrel.

Come now hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians??? The estimates are between 28000 and 38000.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/database/

Even Al Jazeera puts the count at only 37000
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...4C323A777F.htm

Bush was the one person who actually believed that the Muslim world was ready for democracy. France and the UN prefered that a new dictatorship be established in both countries to better facilitate the transition. Bush actually had the courage to allow the people of both countries to elect its leadership.

This decision was made over 25 years ago, its water under the bridge. Past Presidents over the decades have mishandled foreign policy, supporting pro-American dictators. This President has actually had the courage to establish a new policy, demanding democracy.

dmk

__________________
Conservatism, I repeat is not an ideology. It does not breed fanatics....But if you want men who seek, reasonably and prudently, to reconcile the best in wisdom of our ancestors with the change which is essential to a vigorous civil social existence, then you will do well to turn to conservative principles
-Russell Kirk-

alfred e bush

liberating someone to weak or stupid to do on their own.....makes this just another social program

Dylan

The Iraqis aren't any weaker or dumber than Americans. They just lack infrastructure, stability, and amenities, since we destroyed theirs.

Sarge... Take a look at the news. Does the "liberation" look like its going well?

The fact of the matter is, that there are plenty of organizations that do all of the good things you described without fucking everything up in the first place.

The Army is not a force of good. It is just a force. I know that since you have military experience, you want to think that what you were doing was some sort of amazingly good thing, but really, it's not. I'm not saying the army is evil or anything. The armed forces are just a tool of the executive to achieve objectives. They are only as bad or as good as the executive. Bush has been doing a pissy job with our foreign policy. Whether it's leaving finding Osama bin Laden up to the Pakistanis, or involving us in a useless, expensive quagmire in Iraq, Bush has not been doing a good job.

On another note, the army is only as good as its soldiers. On one hand, you have people like my friends (or at least I like to think so) who are doing their best, and trying to do good things. On the other hand, you have Lindy England (you know, the chick the Abu Grahib pictures). It's not the army that is good or evil. It's the people, and not even as a collective.