Afghanistan: An Individual Soldiers' Perspective-Part 1

Star and flag just for the service you render to our country and to all of us. Thank you very much.

I don't know what it is like to be out there with little support from back home but I pray and wish you and every other US soldier safety. Don't ever let a bunch of fault-finding pessimistic complainers who sit at their computer all day judge you for what you do for this country.

God be with you, sir.

The United States of America is a Superpower.
We have and will continue to project power throughout the world.
For once we have a soldier here who actually wants to relay his perspective on what's going on and somehow people come on here and start attacking the OP about how America is evil and illegal wars and the like.
GUESS WHAT? THIS IS THE CURRENT EVENTS OF LIFE.
People continue to come on here and oppress the US for its actions yet, how long have we been here? a little more then 200 years. WOW, 200 PLUS YEARS. Earth has been riddled with inhumane atrocities, vast numbers killed off for the most meaningless ideals and YOU PEOPLE HAVE THE GALL TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE US??? Do you guys even read history? How dare you.
Know this, the worlds greatest Superpower will not sit idly by as its powers wane.
We will project, we will fight, we will save, we will expand.
The US will eventually solve its own internal problems and maybe you people will get your wish and the will revert to isolationist.
But to continue to attack the US and its citizens an soldiers over things we have no control of is ignorant.
I love the military, yes I have no problem putting a bullet in the head of America's enemies.
People tend to think that their own perspectives reflect a whole of a group, sadly not the case.
There is glory in all we do.
Does this post make you naysayers mad? good. I'm my own man, free to do what I want, I've had NO problems with society. I love my brothers an sisters in arms and mentor my soldiers to the best of my ability.
I fight wars, I raise my daughter, I mentor my soldiers, I play videogames, I learn tactics, I love Ufology and cryptozoology, I'm a double edged sword, why? because Ill heed the call to arms, but when I'm at peace, Ill sit in an endless field of green grass, puffy clouds and a beautiful blue sky.
Shocker.
DragonFire, CBRN soldier - we battle the elements.

reply to post by Arnie123


The problem is mate, most of us grew up and got over the the whole, "looks how powerful we are, do as we say or we will murder you all" a few years ago mate. But America is still right there.

Yes the church murdered millions probably. Burned thousands of women as witches. Its a while back now. US is still at it. Going strong. The US government (NOT THE US CITIZENS) are tyrants and dictators with brilliant PR and marketing people behind them.

Just because Hitler murdered a ton of Jewish people some years ago, does not give me the right to go murder a whole people and go: "Well Hitler did it, so why do you hate me? wah wah"

Get a grip dude.

This thread is a plea for help from OP. He's really just looking to debate people like NEO, so that eventually his subconscious gets the better of his conscious thoughts. Op will regret his actions in the war. OP will need to sort through this in time.




Join team Liberty OP. Throw off the chains of the ruling class.

Originally posted by Arnie123
The United States of America is a Superpower.
We have and will continue to project power throughout the world.
For once we have a soldier here who actually wants to relay his perspective on what's going on and somehow people come on here and start attacking the OP about how America is evil and illegal wars and the like.
GUESS WHAT? THIS IS THE CURRENT EVENTS OF LIFE.
People continue to come on here and oppress the US for its actions yet, how long have we been here? a little more then 200 years. WOW, 200 PLUS YEARS. Earth has been riddled with inhumane atrocities, vast numbers killed off for the most meaningless ideals and YOU PEOPLE HAVE THE GALL TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE US??? Do you guys even read history? How dare you.
Know this, the worlds greatest Superpower will not sit idly by as its powers wane.
We will project, we will fight, we will save, we will expand.
The US will eventually solve its own internal problems and maybe you people will get your wish and the will revert to isolationist.
But to continue to attack the US and its citizens an soldiers over things we have no control of is ignorant.
I love the military, yes I have no problem putting a bullet in the head of America's enemies.
People tend to think that their own perspectives reflect a whole of a group, sadly not the case.
There is glory in all we do.
Does this post make you naysayers mad? good. I'm my own man, free to do what I want, I've had NO problems with society. I love my brothers an sisters in arms and mentor my soldiers to the best of my ability.
I fight wars, I raise my daughter, I mentor my soldiers, I play videogames, I learn tactics, I love Ufology and cryptozoology, I'm a double edged sword, why? because Ill heed the call to arms, but when I'm at peace, Ill sit in an endless field of green grass, puffy clouds and a beautiful blue sky.
Shocker.
DragonFire, CBRN soldier - we battle the elements.

Star for you
Well said

Cody

MyHappyDogShiner
Well Alrightythen, I suppose if one finds one's self in it one must find some way to justify what they are doing...

I was ordered to kill anyone not wearing the same uniform as me, that's a pretty broad range of targets, and I followed orders until I got back to Bragg.

And promptly got myself the hell out of the military any way I could.

There is no honor in military service, just ignorant people who find themselves in a bad situation through bad decisions and limited options, it has not a damned thing to do with defending a goddamned thing honorable or resembling anything honorable.

I'm sorry, I mean no offense, but no matter how wrong you think someone else may be, you are still not right...T

WHATEVER, # like this just pisses me off.

Well all I can say is good riddance momas boy. If you were military which I doubt, sounds to me like you got wet pants and ran home. First off no commander gonna brief like that, you my friend are an idiot. The enemy does not wear a uniform, you showed your ass right from the start.

This the wrong place to come try and smear our brave men and women. You would be that one bad apple who would get scared and actually shoot an innocent. Glad to be rid of you.

And the poor soul trying to defend the taliban you have to be kidding. There is no defence for people who treat their own people the way they do in the name of religion. Such hypocrites, they always used opium to fund their operations but would kill anyone using it. What a joke. There is no defence for slaughtering women and children.

And ya war is hell and sometimes the innocent get killed, especially when you hide behind them.

Don't listen to the negative crap my young brother in arms, just come home safe.

The Bot

projectvxn
That said, unlike the Taliban, we don't celebrate our crimes.

LOL What difference does that make?

reply to post by projectvxn


you know how when the USA launches missles to get one guy and then there is collateral damage?? Before that drone is launched or bombs dropped.. i am pretty sure the calculate the collateral damage... and then figure if it is worth the risk.

kinda the same thing here.


I think both methods are effed up.. there are no good guys in war just points of view..

in the end the methods used by both side regardless of their reasons are pretty #ed up..

Be safe.

ah who am I kidding they are bad.. give em hell

Originally posted by NeoParadigm
reply to post by projectvxn

 

I am sure that there are a few 10.000 people that have a similar story to tell about US forces.

Where is the honour?

edit on 29-8-2013 by NeoParadigm because: (no reason given)

Are you serious right now?

You do realize this is a gang of talibans. By killing those "innocent civilians" they just saved many Americans. Those guys work for the other 2 big bosses that were present. Children also are part of suicide bombs and killings with weapons.

If you are in the battlefield it is either you or the kid with the bomb strapped to kill you. Your choice.

The camera does not capture the actual incident at hand. Why else do you think a van of guys would come right away and attempt to take a body of their leader? It just doesn't make sense.

Thanks for proving nothing. I was also in Afghanistan. You don't know anything until you actually join the military or work for big brother. All your sources come from the media otherwise. Please educate yourself before stomping on us.

well if the USA didnt create the mujahidin then abandon 100,000 mulsim soldiers when they weren't needed anymore


there would be no proper terrorists as 90% of the groups over there have split off from the American owned, funded and trained mercinary group the mujahidin


you guys are fighting terrorists that the USA created in the first place ... i thought this was common knowledge ...


Step 1. take 100,000 young Muslims and turn them into mercenary soldiers to fight Russia ...
Step 2. Abandon them all when you realise your plan isn't working and leave them with no leadership or structure
Step3. These Muslim soldiers get pissed off and split into smaller factions all over the place
Step 4. Now America has an enemy to fight because there are now radical Muslim groups everywhere (which they created).
Step 4. Use the groups that you created as a justification to go and kill them and all the civilians in the area and take over all their natural resources.


not to mention the World Banks role in all of this

Originally posted by gentledissident

projectvxn
That said, unlike the Taliban, we don't celebrate our crimes.

LOL What difference does that make?

--
LMAO, a whole lot of difference.

The Taliban may be monsters, but I believe the soldiers sent in after 9/11 to be equally so. Sure, the soldiers have done a fair bit of good, but at what cost? Iraq and Afghanistan have been utterly decimated. Yep, some women are getting educated, but many more have been killed in these futile wars that have only been waged on behalf of the military-industrial complex. At least under Saddam, there was law and order in Iraq, with anyone wishing to do otherwise being executed or tortured. I don't agree with it, but who are we to judge? Leaders rise up in response to the mood of the people. I'm of the belief that different regions need different rules and laws for the indigenous population, hence why Gaddafi and Saddam lasted as long as they did. They did what they did successfully in terms of their respective nations, but pushed the West a bit too far. Now, Assad is next. It's funny that, with all kinds of knowledge available to them, Western governments still epically fail in understanding a lot of things.

Originally posted by NeoParadigm
reply to post by MDDoxs

 

Instead, you have presented an unrelated video, questioning honor? An instance the OP was not involved with as far as we know.

He was talking about his enemy killing children and how they have no honor.

I posted an example of American forces doing the same.

Is the point that hard to understand for you?

edit on 29-8-2013 by NeoParadigm because: (no reason given)

and as much as I support our troops, you were being kind...

since you boys have liberated that country it has become a massive producer of heroin. think that is a coincidence? make enough enemies and some of them will be evil, but that does not make this war a "good" one.

"fight by the sword, die by the sword"

there are truly courageous people standing up against evil with the only proven method to fight it: prayer.

youtu.be...

Wow this is turning into a disgusting thread.

Dont blame OP for his views, since hes in a situation where he cant have an unbiased view at the war.

That said, basically stating that the enemy is evil and youre the good guys is just some ignorant bs. And posting a thread like this, is just provoking people, especially on this site. That probably wasnt your purpose but i kind of fail to see the real reason behind this thread.

Theres dozens of videos of allied soldiers cheering after they kill and you said only the taliban celibrates their crimes?
Who do you really think has killed the most civillians in this war?

Ow and for all the vets here that think this war is about freedom or protecting america; please turn off your tellies and ignore the news for the next 20 years thank you very much.

Originally posted by NeoParadigm
reply to post by MDDoxs

 

I don't think it is my place to comment beyond that I think it is important for the world to see a perspective such as this.

The perspective of a biased soldier that thinks his side has the moral high ground over his enemy?

Or a perspective of someone that volunteered to go to war and now is complaining about how much it sucks over there and how much he doesn't like his enemy, on an internet forum?

I am sorry, I mean no disrespect but this makes me mad. I respect you for being a militairy man but I find the fact that you would post this, while being deployed, a bit aggrevating.

Just do your job and stay safe.

So your saying that a Soldier be it He or She has no right to say what they feel in a forum such as this ?
Sounds pretty much as if you are a Know-it -All of a sort.
Also not very nice in my opinion for comments such as this.
I suppose you will say that i have no right to post what i just did being that i am a former VET.
Also if it werent for VETS you more than likely wouldnt be able to post anything at all.
Because there would be no Freedom to do so what so ever.
Just my opinion.

Originally posted by thesaneone
reply to post by MrWendal

 

Then why do they target afgani police with the same ied's?

Fair question. Let me counter by asking, who has trained the Afghan Police force?As the US draws down in Afghanistan, who is left secure the Country? How many reports have we seen that there are those within the Afghan Police force whom are rogue?

As the US leaves Afghanistan do you really expect the Taliban to simply not attempt to fill the power vacuum left behind?

You have to have a thought in your head.



Take all the sand in the world and make a great big pile with it. Every grain.



So doing that... you will basically take the whole earth. OK:

Now take the perspective of the earth, the size of it: already understanding the so called solar system, space you know of.

We are just one grain of sand in that pile. Undoubting, it is more.


I cannot wrap my head around the constant thought process of a human being. The process im talking about is the superiority.

How can we seriously think, we are so great!!!???


Like we are the only thing to exist. Nothing else is important, nothing else matters.



And we then, treat ourselves with a good end.

We treat ourselves as good at birth, good at the struggle of managing a complicated life, good at succeeding by our "intelligent" self worthiness. We then overcome life, and treat our selves as good, the end: WHEN!



The only thing that is The' Most important Question, where we come from? Its not there! We don't care, once again.


People should extract the self conscious and take in the conscious.

reply to post by whatsup86

Wow this is turning into a disgusting thread.

Dont blame OP for his views, since hes in a situation where he cant have an unbiased view at the war.

It sure is. And that was not my intention.

You're absolutely right. I can't have an unbiased view. But neither can anyone else. Everyone has their position. The idea that we should all be objective in life is absurd to me.

That said, basically stating that the enemy is evil and youre the good guys is just some ignorant bs.

How so? I happen to believe that intentionally severely wounding a baby and killing the parents is an abhorrent act of evil. I'm surprised you would question this position at all.

And posting a thread like this, is just provoking people, especially on this site. That probably wasnt your purpose but i kind of fail to see the real reason behind this thread.

I've been a member on ATS for a very long time. I know the value of information on ATS no matter how "provoking" it may seem. I fully expected a backlash against me on this thread. I also expected arguments to erupt. It's the nature of the beast. I've been on ATS long enough to know these things are unavoidable. It is unfortunate, indeed, certainly not the purpose of this thread. I gave my reasons for posting on page 1. That is all the reason I need to give.

Theres dozens of videos of allied soldiers cheering after they kill and you said only the taliban celibrates their crimes?

Infantrymen are an interesting bunch. I can't speak for them as I am not Infantry. All I can say is that legitimate combat is one thing, and slaughtering innocents is another.

I am against torture, I am against imposing needless suffering on the local population. Regardless of whether they fly the flags of the Coalition or that of the Taliban/Haqqani Network.

Who do you really think has killed the most civillians in this war?

Personally? I believe we have. And that has set us back in what we've been trying to do here politically and socially for some time. The rules have changed. You have no idea how tied the hands of coalition forces are. You have to understand that fighting a counter insurgency and counter terrorism war with a conventional military is incompatible. It has taken us a long time to learn the lessons. Unfortunately I believe it is too late to effectively implement all the lessons learned in the short time we have left in Afghanistan. But that doesn't mean we're not going to try.

In Iraq most of the deaths were blamed on the coalition there too. But as it turned out most of the deaths in Iraq were the results of sectarian violence and terrorism. It's all on how you slice the numbers. It is not honest to say that the US and UK were responsible for all the deaths in Iraq when we weren't the only ones fighting.

Ow and for all the vets here that think this war is about freedom or protecting america; please turn off your tellies and ignore the news for the next 20 years thank you very much.

I don't think I'm fighting for US freedom. We got bin Laden and that should have been it.
But while I'm here, and while the coalition is here, I am hoping we can do a fair bit of good.

Originally posted by gentledissident

projectvxn
That said, unlike the Taliban, we don't celebrate our crimes.

LOL What difference does that make?

It makes a great deal of difference.

Punishing this type of behavior is what sets us apart from many as fighting forces go. It is imperative that we do punish criminals in our ranks. Otherwise the force can never be trusted to do the right thing.