posted on Jul, 10 2004 @ 02:09 PM
Smudge - by 'half assed operations' I wasn't referring to any operations going on now; I was referring to the initial invasion. That is, sending
them over there in the first place. Forgive my faulty wording.
I understand the nature of your average infantry soldier. Was married to one, have a family member who served in Vietnam and I worked with soldiers
(as a civilian) for several years.
Yes, many infantry guys are gung-ho. I attribute that more to their being young, though. We're all fearless (and a tad impressionable) in our youth.
I, for one, was not shocked by the torture photos released to the press.
War seldom brings out the warmth in people. What was more shocking
was people's reaction to them. Lets face it, though - most Americans
view war from a video game perspective. We're a yuppy nation which has grown fat, spoiled and dumb. I don't expect the US masses to have a reality
based take on the horrors of conflict. They are too stupid & pampered.
In short, I don't judge soldiers for doing "mean things" during wartime.
War is insane. Participants are just acting accordingly.
Thank you for your input & I hope it didn't sound as though I was implying you were dumb, fat and spoiled too. Haha. I wasn't!
To the next poster: many soldiers think the invasion was a huge mistake. Soldiers aren't stupid. They may start off gung ho but once they realize
they've been duped they no longer wish to participate in a no-win, endeavor. Of course the mainstream media is repressing their opinions. You can
learn more about this topic by looking into various veterans/veterans families organizations. You aren't going to get the true
story on the TV.
To the last poster - you've watched too many Rambo movies. Lots of people are against this war because our soldiers are getting the shaft, not
because we're all liberal peace-niks. As for Bush-bashing, if he didn't say lurid things like: BRING IT ON after a week of beheadings and suicide
attacks against our troops maybe the world wouldn't consider him to be a sadistic, witless coward.
Bush waited one month to go after Bin. Guess what? Bin's back and the 'ole NY Skyline has yet to be vindicated.
By the way - tons of Republicans are against this mess, too.
Thanks, all, for the exchange.