Jan 31 2007
Three sad soldiers
NBC News recently did a “report” from Iraq in which they interviewed three of our soldiers. These three young men all expressed frustration that the folks back home weren’t supporting their mission. They didn’t think it was possible to support the troops and not support their mission.
The YouTube video is here.
This view was expressed by three of our soldiers in Iraq. There are now 130,000 American soldiers in Iraq, with 20,000 more on the way. Three out of 130,000 is 0.000023%. Hardly a majority.
Unlike the hateful and spiteful right wing bloggers who have chosen to use the opinions of these three men as proof that the majority of Americans hate our troops because they oppose the Republican war in Iraq, I choose to believe that the vast majority of our troops are appreciative of the support sent their way by the citizens of the United States.
Washington Post blogger William M. Arkin gave the wingnuts more to blab about with this blog entry. I do not agree with everything that Mr. Arkin wrote, though I can understand his frustration upon viewing that NBC report. I’m just thankful that most of our troops do not share the defeatist attitude displayed by the three soldiers interviewed by NBC or the right wing bloggers who have elevated them to hero status.
For the record, I support our troops. I want them out of Iraq as soon as possible. They deserve more than to serve as targets in the middle of a civil war. They deserve more than to serve as political pawns for dishonest and unpatriotic Republican politicians. They deserve our honor and our respect.
Their current civilian commanders do not.
I am truly sorry that three of our soldiers in Iraq do not feel that the citizens of their home country support them. They have my sympathy. It must be terrible to feel that way.
10 Responses to “Three sad soldiers”
Somehow I didn’t see what they said as defeatist, I saw it as them clearly speaking their opionion. How is it you and your ilk can voice your feelings, but when they do or a Republican does, it’s “dishonest and unpatriotic” or “defeatist”.
Nor, as many times as I watched it did I see where they mentioned that they felt, nor that any rightwingers felt, that a majority held those views, they didn’t claim to speak for everyone, they seemed to be speaking for themselves.
Nor did I see how you could read into their statements that they were somehow not responsive to the support they DO get. I think they clearly said that to support the troops you have to support their mission. It’s pretty straighforward.
I can guarantee they don’t need your condescending pity.
Jenn,
Your opinions might carry a bit more weight around these parts if you didn’t run website with the url screwliberals.com.
Thanks for you input, though… however misguided it may be.
Hey it’s all in good fun. I mean your slogan is “Dump the Republicans!”
No, it isn’t.
I forgot all about that. Honestly. America did dump the Republicans (thank the heavens), so I’ll take it off now. Are you going to change your url?
Hey genius, do you want a victory in Iraq that includes stopping jihadis from killing the 13 million Iraqis who voted TWICE?
Or do you want to run like a coward because it makes Bush look bad, so that AQ and Iran can then control the persian gulf?
Do you think you get a pass from jihadis because you support their running us out of Iraq? Heres a hot tip - the FIRST people jihadis are coming for are pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro leftists like you.
No. I like it. 99% of liberals out there turn my stomach. The other 1% I can chat with. Not worth getting a new domain name for just those few people.
: )
Three out of a 130,000??????? Len, do you work for CNN? It is comments like that, that the media today will actually report (and if we’re lucky, will be followed by a miniscule disclaimer that they actually DIDN’T talk to the other 127,997.)
Based on your assesment of the report, then I would suppose you don’t put much faith in the opinions of 9 out of ten dentists recommend CREST toothpaste.
You really believe that most of the troops are comfortable with the criticism of the war? You’re forgetting something in your equation Len. This ISN’T Viet Nam. Those kids are there because they believe in what they are doing.
Every interview I have ever seen with Iraq veterans has yielded an opinion that the good they are doing over there is under reported. Every conversation I have PERSONALLY had with Iraq veterans has brought out their disgust of the blame America first crowd.
There are two kinds of Guesses. The standard guess, and the educated guess. I would have to guess that based on the fact that our troops today volunteered for the job, they believe in the cause and find it insulting when people demean their sacrifice, the sacrifice of their families, and distortion of the truth for selfish political games.
What’s your guess based on?
Sacrifice, Billy? As you stated, our troops today volunteered for the job. I doubt that many of them view their jobs as a sacrifice, since they are doing jobs for which they volunteered. Those who were drafted into the service back when we had a draft and were forced to leave their homes and families… those were the people who sacrificed. And as for distortion of the truth for selfish political games… there is nobody better at that than the Republicans. Nobody.
Len,
I’d encourage you to ask them if they view it as a sacrifice. It’s part of the meaning of duty to one’s country. I’d encourage you to ask the moms, dads, wives husbands, brothers ,sisters, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends of those that serve so you may edge your driveway in peace if they consider it sacrifice. And I’d ask that same group connected to the ones that died or have been wounded if they have sacrificed anything. Once again, you’ve picked the wrong type of guess.
As for distortion, I think I have pretty much covered that with you before.
Billy,
#1 - I don’t guess.
#2 - I don’t need you to “cover” anything with me.
Thanks for the offer, though — as misguided and unsolicited as it was. And thanks for dropping by. Now tell me again - where is this going? Are you planning to convert me or something? (Hint: it’s not going to happen.)
Oh, and I don’t edge my driveway. We pay someone to do that. We’re liberals here, remember?