Letter from a friend in Iraq (page 3)

Double Edge

I am pleased that so many patriotic people are just like me ; blind.

Geez Hamas, at first I thought some aliens took over your body .... you just weren't yourself until I read the last tongue-in-cheek word.

Simon

Yerusalyim

When you say "reporters" do you mean ... well, all of them? You think they are all in some kind of conspiracy? All "against the military"? Even news agencies competing with each other?

Now I can see the reason for the military to give misleading and biased reports that have little truth and please do not insult me by claiming they don't. If we look back at the briefings in Iraq and the reality we see that they hardly ever told the truth. Town's falling 9 times or more, dramatic rescues where a taxi would have done and so on.

But I don't really see how news agencies have an agenda to the same extent. They may have a persepective or an angle but it is not quite the same thing.

It's not quite the same thing being told something as seeing it live on TV.

Yet, somehow, you want me to believe the story of someone who is in the military telling me how great the military is? Well, that is very convincing.

'"We're doing a great job", says Army' doesn't quite carry as much weight as if someone else who is independant says it IMHO.

Sure, things may not be quite as bad as reports sometimes make out but you seem to be saying it's 180 degrees the other way. I don't buy it myself but I can understand why you want to.

Realist

LOL

yeru,

is the source of that letter the same as for the statistics about israel you posted a couple of weeks ago???

Jayson

Yeru,

Thank you for sharing your friends letter. And thank him for the service to not only his country but to those who will hopefully know freedom from tyranny.

closer2fine

I have a family member over in Iraq now. I hear from him every week - he is able to email me. It sounds really bad over there. I just want him home.

I live in a pretty hippy-lovin' town (I love it here), but I have been confronted several times in the parking lot of the grocery store about my "Support Our Troops" bumper sticker. As soon as I tell them that I have someone over there, they immediately back down & apologize. They tell me that they just can't stand the "blind" support of Bush - but wish for the best when it comes to our troops. Gag.

By the way, if anyone has a family member that is deployed, here is a link to a free service flag: http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=36952

Service flags with a blue star in the middle represent loved ones serving in the military. The star should be changed to a gold color if a family's military loved one dies in the line of duty. It dates back to WWI

alt alt

closer

Goshawk

Yeru,

Thank you for sharing that letter. I have friends over there as well and am hearing about the same from them (variations on the theme). These guys have my respect because they are in the thick of it. It is very easy for some to sit back and play armchair general getting their information second or third-hand. What is sent back in letters carries more weight with me than a reporter trying to sell news. These guys deserve our respect and support.

In my honest opinion if a person is going to accuse these citizen soldiers of spreading propaganda they should either go there and see first hand what is happening or swear the oath and serve. Otherwise it is just an informed guess like everyone elses sitting here out of harms way.

Regards,

Goshawk

Simon

Jayson

We are not "obsessed" with anything. We just don't think politicians should get away with deceit and deception that costs many lives and not have to answer for it. No doubt they and their supporters now want to conveniently forget about the whole thing. I don't think this shows much respect for the people who've died as a result of their decisions for which they should be accountable.

Do you? Or do you care more about your own discomfort at supporting something that turned out to be fabrications rather than the lives of soldiers and civilians.

talesin

i'm with hamas on this one

too much 'collateral damage' for me.

Yerusalyim

Talesin,

Too much collateral damage? You need to get over there and look around a bit then, it's all government buildings and Saddam's Palaces that are damaged. There is less collateral damage in this war than in any other the US has EVER fought.

You want collateral damage, you should see the collateral damage caused by a Nuke, or chem, or bio weapon. A lot of the collateral damage was caused by Iraqi Air Defense Artillery, they shot up these missiles and rockets and bullets, missing the aircraft, this stuff has to go somewhere.

The market taken out during the war...car bomb, not US bomb.

There's lots of collateral damage from terrorising civilians. We've found yet ANOTHER mass grave full of women and children that Saddam had killed, ain't that some cute collateral damage?

REM,

If we're there for the oil, why ain't we making a profit? Where's this highly touted US control of the Iraqi oil supply and money?

Jayson

Jayson
We are not "obsessed" with anything. We just don't think politicians should get away with deceit and deception that costs many lives and not have to answer for it. No doubt they and their supporters now want to conveniently forget about the whole thing. I don't think this shows much respect for the people who've died as a result of their decisions for which they should be accountable.
Do you? Or do you care more about your own discomfort at supporting something that turned out to be fabrications rather than the lives of soldiers and civilians.

Simon I see you as very obessive on this issue. Do you think that it is impossible for you to become obessive? (However I do not think you are the worst on the issue. Not even close.) You ignore the point I made that the "lie" as you people call it was made after the US Congress approved the war. The State of the Union is propaganda and little more. The case had been made voted on and approved where it mattered the year before. Troops were on the way. At best the intel "snafu" was a mistake and not a "lie." Saddam has had nuclear programs in the past. He had other wmd's in the past and he used them. He refused to publicly disarm. What scares me is not the Bush was given quesitonable intelligence, it is that our intelligence is so poor that this type of bad information and guessing is the best we had. Again Simon this makes the case for war stronger not weaker. You say that I don't think this shows much respect for the people who've died as a result of their decisions for which they should be accountable. What about Saddam? Why is he not accountable in your mind?

I care very much that people have died in recent conflict Simon. It's very rude of you to somehow suggest that you are the only ones who cares. It is truth and your words show that it is the politics that you care about and not any relief of suffering or saving of life; And that is petty, very apathetic. The problem that makes me and others so frustrated is that you think this is about Bush and Blair when it is not. If Gore was President I would support the removal of Saddam. I am a howk on this issue. The Leader is irrelevent. I haven't forgotten anything Simon. But the 16 words in the speech? That is not why I support the war in Iraq. Only for Iraqi wmd's? That is not why I support the war in Iraq. The minutia that is so important to you just isn't to me.

I am not uncomfortable about supporting the war at all Simon. I still do as much as I did before. I was with Congress in 2002 when the war was approved. You people are being accused of trying to rewrite history. This is one example. Congress approves war in 2002. In 2003 President Bush includes bad British intelligence in his State of the Union address. Media and political rivals then claim that the war was because of that one sentence, a total of 16 words, "a lie." You ignore all the attempts to head off the war like going to the UN before the war. You ignore all the evil that is Saddam. You ignore that this man is a major reason that there is a bulk of US forces in the Middle East. The war is just. Removing Saddam was a nessesary step in stablizing the Middle East into being a good little trading partner with the USA.

You say that you want to look at a bundle of sources to get an opinion of a situation. Did you look at any of the sources that I suggested? Even one? I spent quite a bit of time looking at the BBC after our talks. I also tried to include fore Fox news to try to understand why you think that is where I get my information. Did you ever bother to look at "The Threating Storm" by Pollak? These sources that I have produced on this thread go beyond the here and now of Bushie politics. To me he doesn't matter. In one to five years he will be gone. But the Iraqi issue and the whole Middle East will be with us for decades. This Arab war was always comming. We put it off for 30 years. But now it is time to pay the price. For the policy of the last century we the USA owe the Iraqi people a stable Nation. We owe it because of who we are. It's not going to be easy and it will be paid with blood as much as dollars it always is.

Edit to add:

Since I have responded to many of the futile war threads & posts knowing that this causes tension on this forum I have to accept that there is some obessive-ness on my part as well.

Letter from a friend in Iraq

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