Is the average American afraid of the return of its troops?

by Gill 28 Replies latest social current

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  Tea4Two

  I hear on NPR that the veterns who are having the most problems handling memories that have been dregde up by the Iraqi war are WWII vets.

  The WWII vets did indeed have a hard time ajusting after they came home...My Father was in the front lines over there in Germany...and every time he had a little to much to drink, that is all he could talk about....The horrors of the war...., As a little girl I heard more than I should have. I believe humans were not mentally created for fighting wars against other humans and to see the carnage left behind. It changes the soul and damages the spirit of a person.
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  carla

  It's the Guilt and responsibility, even by association, for what is happening that starts to destroy a mind!---Guilt by association? ok, then you still have not answered the question of what you personally are doing to make amends by being associated with the jw's. They kill people everyday, the commit atrocities in the name of God, what are you doing to personally make amends for this? How many did you bring in? Have you gone to every door you ever knocked on and apologized? Have you gone to every marriage you helped wreck by bringing in one mate? Where is your accountability? How many minds did you help ruin?

  War is hell. Some have a difficult time adjusting some don't. Do you think your own government or people are innocent? The mental help available to returning vets is much better than the WW 2 vets, Korean, or Vietnam ever had.

  Looking back at your posts sounds like you are capable of some violence yourself. I will not post which incident I am talking about, but you know yourself.

  The recent events in the news (which has not been completely investigated by the way) pertains to a small handful of people who are being accused of war crimes. As a whole the troops whether they are US, British, or Australian do not behave in the way the way that the media portrays ALL troops of behaving. This is not an across the board behavior. You forget the 'enemy' uses children and women as shields and as human bombs, it is difficult to tell who is or is not a human weapon. If the men who are accused of the crime are guilty, as one Marine stated publicly on national tv, "we want them to punished as much as everybody else because they give us a bad name and do not live up to our standards'. If they are found guilty they should and will be held accountable, that's more than jw's can say.

  People like to bitch about how things should or should not be but when asked what they are personally doing to change the situation they claim, 'me? little ol'me? what can I do? I'm just one person', so were alot of peacemakers that made a change in the world, even small changes. What are YOU doing today to make a change? Who have you written? What group of people have YOU gotten together to brainstorm and make some kind of change in the world of the Iraqi people? What village have you helped to put water into? What school have you supplied with supplies? What orphans have YOU adopted? I know of a story of a military personal that adopted an orphan disabled boy and this man is a single father who fell in love with this unwanted child. He has taken tangible steps to improve at least one Iraqi childs life. What have you done?
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  Gill

  Carla! You got me there!!!! Me and my big machine gun!

  What am I doing? Me to know and you to slander me saying 'nothing'!

  I can defend myself. If you don't like it I don't care.

  But...I watched the report on how British troops jumped on the neck of an Iraqi man repeatedly, breaking it, and killing him in intolerable pain.

  I watched the report on the pregnant Iraqi woman yesterday, who had gone into labour. As her husband drove her to hospital, he got in the wrong lane. They were machine gunned to death by US troops!

  War is Hell. Saying that doesn't make it all right.

  If WE went to Iraq to save them from Sadam....why haven't we gone to Zimbabwe to save them from their evil leader. What about Ethiopia, the Congo etc. What ingredient do these countries lack......Oil for the UK and the USA by any chance?

  History will....in time be the judge of what this war was really about. Maybe in time, we'll learn that Mr Bush went to bed every night, before the war, crying about the atrocities committed against innocent Iraqis by Sadam. Or perhaps we'll find, he went to bed worried that there would be an interruption in oil supply from the middle east. Who knows. Time will tell.

  All we know for sure is that what destroys more than bodies, but minds. Should all these 'mistakes' by British and US troops continue, both Americans and British people will have a lot to say about it. But perhaps we should be even more concerned about what the Islamic people of the world think of what's happening.

  I know what I'd be more worried about.
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  carla

  I watched the report on the pregnant Iraqi woman yesterday, who had gone into labour. As her husband drove her to hospital, he got in the wrong lane. They were machine gunned to death by US troops!------Let's just look at this one example to begin with ok? There have been check points in Iraq (as well as many places in the middle east) for years now. (By the way I heard it reported it was the brother not the husband, just to show you how 'reports' are not always 100% accurate) I also heard it reported that they were not in any wrong lane but failed to stop at a check point. The brother or husband (which ever report you choose to believe) was not killed but the woman and baby (not yet born) were. Why did they not stop at a check point that has been in place for years? Have the insurgents ever used pregnant women before as human bombs? Did the soldiers react in a way contrary to what they were told to do? Or what the people of the region knew what would happen if they did not stop?

  Yes she was in labor and people panic in these situations even here in the safety of our respective countries. Now, if you were a soldier and had seen insurgents use pregnant women as human bombs to kill innocent Iraqi's as well as your buddies, what would you do? You have a split second to decide.
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  Gill

  Hi Carla!

  I don't know what I would have done. If I was under immense stress, pressure, fear, panic, etc I'd have probably machine gunned the lot of them....probably, possibly....I don't know. If I was cool and willing to take the risk that these were ordinary folk going somewhere, then they'd still be here. I hope and expect that I'll never find out. But...it's not a case that I'm saying or criticising these soldiers. I'm saying they're in a terrible situation, in an unlawful war, killing women and children....and for God's sake...let's have a little pity for them. They have to live with themselves and the consequences of their actions.

  Again...these soldiers are ONLY humans. They have to go home. They have to live with mental pictures I hope I never have to see.

  And the fact that this is an unlawful war is something that may come back to bite us all.

  When we count troops returning from Iraq and go 'aahhh! Isn't that nice! All back with their families again!" They look whole and well and happy. We can't see what goes on in the minds of these individuals. How many will break mentally, who knows. But consequences is something we all have to face.
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  roybatty

  If WE went to Iraq to save them from Sadam....why haven't we gone to Zimbabwe to save them from their evil leader. What about Ethiopia, the Congo etc. What ingredient do these countries lack......Oil for the UK and the USA by any chance?

  Duh. Has it really been any differnt? Every war is for control of resources (to a greater or lesser degree) - either keeping control of your own or taking control of youe neighbor's. Freedom from the British, preserving the Union, stopping Hitler's extermination of the Jews, etc. were all secondary. Hell, look at what the U.S. and Europe did when millions of Rwadians were wiped out - nothing. Look what the U.S. & Europe is doing to stop the genocide in Darfur, nothing. Even though 400,000 have been killed and millions chased from their homes.

  I can't believe that I'm about to say this but I almost wish we has Clinton in office because the public wouldn't have allowed him to get away with the mess we now have in Iraq. I don't understand why we have allowed Bush's poor planning and an even worse execution go without much critizisim. Smartest thing Clinton every did - never put ground troops in Serbia. Blew the hell out of them from the sky but never had the political fallout from seeing body bags of our young men and women coming home.

  The man was a genius.
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  mrsjones5

  When we count troops returning from Iraq and go 'aahhh! Isn't that nice! All back with their families again!" They look whole and well and happy. We can't see what goes on in the minds of these individuals. How many will break mentally, who knows. But consequences is something we all have to face

  Such concern you have about us poor americans waiting for our troops to come home. Almost feels like you're rubbing your hands in anticipation. Like I said before you're late and a dollar short.

  Josie
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  Gill

  Yes well! If YOU say so, Mrs Jones!
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  Forscher

  Lets get real here.
  War is traumatising for all invovled, period! That is why it should only be waged for damn good reasons! Personally, I'd be more worried about any soldiers who think war is a really great thing. Sadly enough though soldiers get the short end of the stick by just about every society. They get used up and then tossed aside like so much garbage.
  I was alway very disgusted at the way our soldiers were done when the came back from Vietnam. From WWII until Nam veterans had many great benefits to help them integrate back into society. After the Vietnam war, those benefits were slashed to the bone and they were given a time limit to use those few benefits which were left. In every way they were tread like sickos for fighting in that sad war as their country demanded. I've made a habit of thanking them when I meet them (even while I was a Dub), and if I can help one in some way, I do.
  Fortunately, as traumatising as war is, we don't have that many problems with returning vets. A few are problematic and I would like to see more done to help them before the problems become something to worry about. Most, though, do well. I am grateful that they volunteer to protect our freedoms. I am proud that most of them act like the professionals that they are when they go out in our name. Abu Ghraib, and the recent alledged massacre in Iraq are the exception, not the rule and we need to remember that. For that reason alone we don't have that much to worry about.
  Thanks to any soldiers who might come here and read this.
  Forscher