Support the Troops

[techguy57]

Ed- If you won't run for president can we at least get you your own radio or TV show? I mean it, you say what I and so many others feel and with great eloquence. More people need to hear the words you say. You tell it how it is, truthfully, and our society has worried so much about being politically correct that many of us have forgotten to be honest and forthcoming. I will vote again in November and hopefully so will most of the people my age.

Jim-A excellent find. Truly a great presentation that reminds us that bad drivers and cell phones are petty things compared to what those brave members of the Armed Forces are dealing with. Thank you so much.

Mike

[edblysard]

Ok, so remind me why we went there?
Because if it wasnt to find and destroy the wepons of mass destruction, then it must have been because...?
Other than the WMDs, what did Saddam have that presented a threat to us?
Ok, I agree, that mustach was pretty ugly, but going to war over facial hair?

If we are now willing to wage war because we dont agree with a poitical system, or because some one might, at a future date, present a threat, then we might as well blow up France, Columbia, and Korea.

Our military should not be a political or economic tool, it should be a defensive force, to protect us from clear and present danger, not from murky, maybe threats made by despots, or possible future threats.

Was Saddam a evil man, who needed to be removed?
Sure, but so are many world leaders.
Is it now Americas job to decide who is, and isnt allowed to rule other countries?

We acted like a policeman who lies to get a search warrant, then kicks in the door, knowing full well what the warrant states is false, and then beats the stuffing out of the person behind the door, because the cop dosnt like them or their views.

If we are the worlds policemen, then we just screwed the pooch real bad.

So really, if we wernt looking for WMDs, then why did we do this?

And if having weapons of mass destruction qualifies you as a target for invaision by the worlds policemen, then France, England, Germany, Korea, China, and India better watch their backs.

We should just go ahead and nuke whats left of the Soviet Union, they have misplaced so much of this stuff they still dont know who has what.

Seriously, I am looking for the criteria that justifies being attacked by the United States of America.

Because the only real threat I ever saw from the Iraq goverment was about .03 cents at the pump.

Although, war is good for the economy, it does increase the GNP, and quite a lot of companies, you know, like Colt and Winchester, along with all the companies that supply the products needed to wage war, did and still are making a nice profit from all of this.

But I am still looking for a valid reason for invading another country, a reason that dosn't include the words might, maybe or could, but does include the words, "on this date, did declare war on, and did attack the United States of America".

Justify invading another country just because we dont like their politics,,
Please?

Ed

[tree68]

Hear, Hear, Ed. You have stated my sentiments exactly.

And what's more, we haven't touched terrorism. If anything, we live in more fear than when we got started in this whole mess.

The politics of war is a complex thing. There are those who believe, though, that virtually every war we've been involved with in this century has been our own doing. William Randolph Hearst famously took credit for starting the Spanish-American War. It is thought by some that people on this side of the pond had sufficient knowledge to prevent, or at least minimize, the events that got us into WWI & II. Someone's ideological hatred of "communism" (all of the folks we hated then were actually socialists) got us into Korea and Viet Nam. In 'Nam we were fighting a guy who was a staunch ally during WWII! We got out of 'Nam and thirty years later it's a vacation destination. We still hate Castro, but I heard a contest announcement on a Canadian radio station for a honeymoon in Cuba.

We may never convince those in the Arab world that we are not the great devils - any more than you will convince any missionary today that anyone not a Christian is not a heathen. But trying to beat them into submission will only prove their belief and make them mad. Far better to let them do their thing and look for ways to win their trust. Right now we have a long ways to go to reach that goal.

As long as Party A believes they are entitled to what Party B has, there will be a problem. Note that that is different from Party A wanting what Party B has...

My opinion. Standard disclaimers apply.

[Anonymous]

At first main reason we came to Iraq was to get Saddam. Finding the weapons was a secondary thing we did that turn into the primary reason.

Just wanted to remined people that we dfidn't go to Iraq just to find the weapons.

USA rules!!!

[JoeKoh]

Dad uncles cousins and brothers all served in the military.support our troops always.
stay safe
Joe

[edblysard]

My dad was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy for 33 years.
He saw duty in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

One of the things he stressed to us kids was the fact that the US Armed Services report to, and are commanded by a elected civilan President.

In fact, our constitution expressly forbids active military personal from holding the office, and for good reason.

The armed services are there to defend the population, and to follow and enforce the decisions of the civilans who lead our country.

They serve us, the John and Jane Does of America.

The framers of the constitution understood that having a serving military officer as president could lead to a military dictatorship, and they knew then, as we know now, what that can lead to.

Remember, its a goverment "of the people, for the people, by the people"

The constitution is full of safeguards, the president cant declare war, he, or she, must ask congress to do so.

That said, I stated in a post quite a while back that I doubted we would find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

I stated that, in my opinion, the American people had been sold a false bill of goods, and we were going to war for the wrong reason.

Iraq didnt directly attack the Unites States, and going to war with them because they might be a future threat, or migh have aided some radical group was wrong.

I still feel that way today.

If we, as a nation, can justify waging war because of supposistions, mights and maybes, if we are willing to attack and kill because we deem them to be a future threat, because they might, later on, become a danger to us, then we, as a nation and a people, have become as base and low as those we proclaim our enemies.

Whats the difference between the Nazi blitzkrieg in Poland, and the colalition forces deployment in Iraq?

We blitzed a country that hadent directly attacked us, and did so with tremendously superior military might, to gain control of a nation that furthers our political position in the middle east, and gives us, in essence, a "new territory" from which we can exert our influence with military threat and economic might.

Hitler overan Poland, to give the third riech a new territory from which to wage war on France, and the rest of Europe, and to give them a country and people to exploit and exert their military influnce from.

One of the major differences between this country and every other country on the face of the planet was, untill now, the fact that our armed services were intended to be tools of defense, to protect our nation and our allies when attacked, a wepon to be used only when all other options had been exhausted.

Our was a defensive military, designed and formed to protect us, not an offensive tool designed to expand our borders or effect political change in other countries.

From the rest of the worlds perspective, there wouldnt appear much difference between this war on terror, and the *** blitzkrieg, except for the flags flown by the winners.

I didnt agree, and to this date, still dont agree with why we are there, but in one matter I stand proud...

The service men and women of the American Armed Services are without equal.
They did exactly what they were supposed to do.
When the order arrived, they picked up their kits, got in line, and went.
No questions asked.

They did what one would expect a professional military to do, follow orders and do you duty, and they did it in the manner we expected them to, with pride, honor and duty and sacrifice.

The men and women of the United States Armed Services deserve our respect and our gratitude for their service, even if you dont agree with why the commander in chief sent them there.

One of the other things my dad taught me was, we, the American people, have something almost no other country in the world has, the ability to completly change our goverment every four years.

That power rest with us, the civilians, not with the military, and rightly so.

We, the citizens, get to decide who leads us, and if we dont like the current leaders, we can change them, without worry of military oppression or influence, because the military reports to us, the civilian citizen, through our civilian president, we dont report to them.

America posseses without doubt the finest military force in the world, because it is composed of volunteers, those few who willing give their life in defense of a concept written over 200 years ago, but which holds as true today as it did then.

The preamble to the Constitution says it all.

"We, the people of the United States of America, hold these truths to be self evident..."

We, the people...

Its your goverment, not theirs.

Its your Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, they work for, and serve you.

If all of this distrubes you as much as it has me, then excerise the one tool you, as an American citizen, have total control over, one which, so far, cant be taken away from you.

Next time, vote!

You, me, Kevin, Mookie, all of us live in a exceptionally unique country, with the mightiest military and economic forces in the world under the control of us, the citizen.

We, and we alone, can affect real change in the way our goverment acts and runs, and we should be very careful who we give what powers to, and why.

Should we be looking for payback for 9/11?
You bet.

But we should have gone after the people who did the crime, not their next door neighbors.

Those who served in the past had clear cut goals, to end oppression and agression, to defend those who couldnt defend themselves, to free people so they too, could make choices, even if we didnt agree with the choices they made afterwards.

Those who serve now should have the same goals, and have done their upmost in service to their country.

We should salute them, honor them, and welcome them home.

We should bury the fallen with all the honors they earned and deserve, but remind their boss they died as a result of political incompentence, not dereliction of duty or the might of a enemy.

We are at a perilous point in the history of our country, out of fear, or apathy, we are slowly handing control of it over to a select few, who dont always act in the interest of all of us, the citizens.

This country was created by rebellion, built by hard work and honest reguard for the rights of the indivdual, not the power of a king, or the power of a general.

The only reason it even exsist is because you, the American Citizen, says it does.

Its your country, its my country, my Dad spent 33 years defending the concepts it was created from, and we shouldnt sit by and let any one "party" run it for us.

Its ours, not "the goverments"

Remember,

"We, the people..."

Ed

[cherokee woman]

I am not FOR war, but I support our president and our troops, the Allied troups, everyone who is over there trying their hardest to win freedom and democracy for ALL individuals in the world.

My brother served in the Viet Nam war at the end of it. He was in the Air Force, and was in Thailand. He will not talk about it at all. No one but him (and the ones over there with him) knows what they saw and had to live with over there.

I pray daily (sometimes all day long) for everyone over there: our guys and the coalition
troops. I pray that God will end the mess soon and send them all home to their loved ones!

[daveklepper]

Of course I pray daily for the health and safety of USA and allied troops. I feel fortunate to have had the HONOR to serve in the US Army and to have had the LUCK to serve between Korea and Viet Nam under a great President EISENHOWER who managed to keep the country safe and at peace at the same time. True he started the ball rolling on the Interstate Highway System, but possibly today he would know that a strong America demands a strong railroad system and would do something CONSTRUCTIVE about it . Dave Klepper

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironhorseman

You can't support the troops unless you support the mission.

I have to say I don't entirely agree with that. You don't have to believe in or agree with the mission or war, but you can still support the troops. The troops are our sons and daughters, they don't get to pick the fight or the events leading up to it.

A prime example of this would be George McGovern. I whole heartedly suggest you read Stephen Ambrose's "Wild Blue" , writer of "Band of Brothers" among other great books. George McGovern was known primarily for his run against Nixon and trying to get the troops out of Vietnam. He was regarded as a dove and Anti-American by alot of people. In reality he was a B24 pilot in WWII......he saw the great pain and destruction that war brought about and didn't want to have our boys dying for a cause that didn't physically threaten the shores of the US. He supported the troops, not the mission.

Another example of this would be the thousands of spouses and children that watch their loved ones head out to go fight the Taliban or Saddam. Most of them could give a rats behind about the mission..they just want them home in one piece.

I don't want you to think this is negative. I,as one of the troops, just personally don't agree with that statement. I don't want everyone to agree that the emperors new clothes are beautiful....sometimes supporting the troops means going against the grain.

I do support the troops, ours and our allies.

[Anonymous]

My friends dad is in the mideast.


USA Rules!!!

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

QUOTE: Originally posted by valleytenderfoot

Wow Jim, AWESOME link.

The link is doubly meaningful because along with the American casualties in Iraq this week, Canada lost another soldier in Afganistan.

Jeff

I am always saddened to hear of the loss of a soldier fighting for freedom. God keep his soul. God comfort his family and friends as only He can.

Thank you, Jim, very much for posting this one. I just found out in today's paper that
I had lost a person (that I didn't know), but I know his family quite well, who died in
Afghanistan.

I only wi***hat I were younger and able to be there.

locomutt

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by valleytenderfoot

Wow Jim, AWESOME link.

The link is doubly meaningful because along with the American casualties in Iraq this week, Canada lost another soldier in Afganistan.

Jeff

I am always saddened to hear of the loss of a soldier fighting for freedom. God keep his soul. God comfort his family and friends as only He can.

[Anonymous]

Wow Jim, AWESOME link.

I'm always impressed by the patriotism and pride Americans show for their Country. In Canada we are more subdued. We are no less proud of our Country, but not always as vocal or expressive.

The link is doubly meaningful because along with the American casualties in Iraq this week, Canada lost another soldier in Afganistan.

Thanks for always having a positive attitude Jim.

Jeff

[ironhorseman]

You can't support the troops unless you support the mission.

[Anonymous]

Jim, I don't know how old you are but , by god, I wish you were in congress. I have no idea why such a great country such as ours gets saddled with the kind of clowns we do. Why is it that people who have never heard a shot fired in anger get to be President and get to put others in harms way. I wish we could pass a law that 'If you would lead, Then first you must serve'. Then maybe we would not get into a stupid war like Iraq because somebody tried to kill the President's father.

[Anonymous]

I received the following link from Walt and Paula (locomut & Cherokee Women)recently. It is a good link to check out.

Many of you know that I whole-heartedly support the troop. Each service serves an important role in helping to keep our country, and other countries, safe.

Our British and Canadians friends, many times, serve right along with our own troops. I am very thankful for their support in helping keep the world a better place to live. It takes everyone working together to keep the world a safe place.

Let us not forget their sacrifices. Remember our troops, and the nations who support our troops. Remember the British and Canadians serving their country and working with our nation for freedom.

GOD BLESS THE TROOPS

GOD BLESS THE TROOPS PROTECTING FREEDOM AROUND THE WORLD.


My sound is out, so I don't know if there is audio to the presentation or not. Please watch the presentation and remember the troops. It may take a few minutes to download, but it is worth it.



http://www.pressaprint.com/som/WeSupportU2.htm