I'm just posting to vent some frustration about the state of affairs over there..Got a call from my son today. On tuesday, the convoy he was riding in was attacked by insurgents with an IED. The vehicle directly in front of his was destroyed. Two of the three inside were killed. My son's best friend died in his arms. The vehicles? "armored" Suburbans..Yea, soccer mom rigs. Well the armor didn't do much to help those inside. My son is physically ok, but will be forever traumatized by the sight of his friends mangled and broken bodies. I'm hoping that he will be ok enough to continue his mission, if not, that they will send him home. Iknow we are at war with a religion in their own back yard, but I don't agree with our being there. I say pull all of our sons, daughters, fathers, brothers etc. out of that shithole and let the radical Islamists kill each other off. When he was first deployed, I felt dismayed, but not afraid. However, in light of the fact that it could have been his vehicle, I am now terrified at the prospect of never seeing him alive again, or that he may come home a maimed and broken shell of his former self. This madness must end! Pray for our troops... We all know Bush and Co aren't..

Thank God your son is ok I pray for all of them every single day. I hate seeing our future die in front of our eyes everyday for others that don't seem to care. The bravery and committment of the men and women in the services is a statement to their dedication and up-bringing. I want them home and yet I don't have anything at stake. God bless your son, his comrades and all their families.

RVW

ND,

I'm sorry that anyone is in Iraq who doesn't want to be there. It rankles my ass that anyone but the war cheerleaders are over there. If I had my way, those who think the American casualties are a small price to pay for the "war on terra'" would be the ones on the front lines daily. Not that I think there's any justification whatever for the US invasion in the first place, but the cheerleaders are the cretins that oughta' be there defending this illusion of liberty.

Sg

My son was telling me about what had happened. About how his best friends intestines were splattered all over his body armor.. [censored]! Noone should ever have to see that ... I can't say enough about our brave troops over there..I feel impotent..... [censored] THE RAGHEADS!!!!!

Please forgive me for my previous post...I cannot express how I am feeling right now.... OK Merg, I mean you no harm.. I'm just an angry old man..Like I said: Ahh!, youth!!!! You're ok, if not a little bit annoying.. It's cool. I am writing this now because I have ranted on this forum many times, and have gotten sage advice and jeers equally. I am gratefull for the opportunity to be able to post here.

Merg, you should have seen the b.s. i wrote previously that somehow magically vanished.

Here's to your son!

Your fear and pride are obvious. You have every reason for both. Tell him, "Thanks" from me.

What's his name and rank? I'd like to get it right in my prayers.

OK for the record, My son is a Staff Sgt. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. His friends were Tech Sgt. Ryan Balmer, 33 , from Mishawaka, Indiana, and Staff Sgt. 25. Canton Ohio..
Ryan was the one who breathed his last breath on my son. I intend to write the families of both of these guys, and tell them how brave their sons, husbands were. Also to tell them that my son was with them till the end. What a fucked up situation...

I'm with you N.D. My son-in-law is in northern Baghdad and every morning I read in the newspaper about that area having one or more U.S. soldiers killed. When I get a phone call from my daughter, I wonder if she is calling me to tell me that her husband is gone.

We've got to get out..........now. It's not a war, just a stupid "police action" involvement. I guess we didn't learn anything from Vietnam. Slow, steady U.S. deaths. As Barry Goldwater said about Vietnam, "pave it, make it a parking lot". End of story, end of us losing our young men and women.

What we learned from Veitnam is that Contractors such as Cheney's Halliburton and Bush's Carlysle Group, et al., stand to make Billions of no-bid contracts involving endless, pointless war.
Anyone know enough Geography to notice that we know hold military positions on Iran's Eastern and Western borders?

Police action,war on terror,pointless war, BS , Iraq is sitting on 27 trillion dollars worth of oil. I can't imagine how I would feel if my son was over there. I'm absolutely sickened by it all.

Irie, are you and I the only ones who see the bigger picture on this whole scenario? Iran is next on "W"'s hit list, but then we are at war with islam... It;s not gonna end anytime soon.

I'm glad to see that our country is finally opposed to the war. Years ago, I couldn't even look at this board because of all of the cheerleading and misdirected testosterone towards "killin' ragheads". Those of us that opposed the war were basically ridiculed and called pussies. At this point, I barely even care anymore. You can lead a horse to water...

Until servicemen and their families step up to blatently and loudly oppose the war and publicly call out the non-fighting, millionaire war pig politicians, nothing will change. Nookie, what your son witnessed is terrible and has unfortunately been repeated thousands of times by our soldies (and hundreds of thousands of times to Iraq civilians). Your (and I'm sure your son's) anger and "f the raghead" sentiments are normal but everyone should at least try to think of how we, as Americans, would act if a country invaded us, removed our leader, changed all the rules, put a government in place, and then didn't leave. I'd guess we'd be doing some shooting and labeled as "insurgents" ourselves. I know we were told they "wanted us to come" but I hope everyone now realized that was propaganda.

I wish your son the best but it isn't a stretch to say he'll never be the same. The whole thing is incredibly sad. The long-term mental costs of this war are just starting to surface. You'll see the "Vietnam Vet syndrome" on our streets 20 and 40 years from now.

For those that look back and wish they would have done something to stop this thing from happening to begin with, you have your chance right now in regards to Iran. And if you want the real story on Iraq, turn off your TV and start searching for servicemen blogs, diaries, and videos on the Internet.

Having been in the Army myself I somewhat perplexed by the range of emotions in the service today. We have an "all volunteer armed forces".. Don't read this wrong. Just concider it.

I think alot of young kids got duped into joining the armed forces because of the " shock and awe " method of combat that had been used in Iraq. In the first Gulf war, there was little or no ground combat at all. large numbers of Army and Marine forces were sent over and never saw a shot fired. Instead of sticking around and becoming nothing more than targets, they pulled out and left. It was a candy cruise.

I don't think the kids who are in the service now, thought for a second they would be placed in the situation they are in. Its a lot different than the others before them. In the Nam era, the armed forces involved were vastly kids who got jerked out of their lives by the draft.. fight or jail, was the decision they had to make. That war was fought on the backs of the poor and middle class without their consent or willingness to participate. The current armed forces are 100 % people who asked to be in the service, and all that it implys.

I really wonder how history is going to treat this whole deal. These guys there now should not be, they know it, we know it, yet its a oath they took right up front. I feel bad for them. I just am hoping our politicians can pull their heads out of their asses and get out of there and let them do each other like they always have. Problem is, top military brass are pushing hard for more troops.. not the American public.

Well said KD!

Excellent Post!

I'm not so sure this is true. There have been plenty of "top military brass" that have suggested alternatives from before this war even started (more troops initially, not dissolving the Iraqi Army, etc). The problem is that the administration keeps removing people that present ideas they don't like. The net effect is that it always LOOKS like the military wants more troops and escalation.

Just as the administration leaked/planted stories in the press (NY Times specifically) about WMD and then used those stories as "evidence" that WMD's existed, they are doing the same thing with military planning. They put someone in that will say what they want to hear and then use that statement as rational for action... completely circular arguments.

Kaiser, there were a handful of us out here sticking it to the neo cons from well before the appointment of the anti christ. Notice those wacky neocons are no where to be found now? IMO, the ultimate goal was to cut a swath through the mideast from Israel to India while siphoning off our tax dollars and oil profits into the hands of a few. One out of three ain't bad when the main objective of getting rich was accomplished. At this point, if we aren't going to pull out, I'd like a draft based upon how you voted. If you voted for this Admin or didn't vote at all you and/or your children are at the top of the list next to congressmen's and senator's sons. Where are all those flag waving street corner pro war idiots now? Did they all run out and enlist? I remember the likes of John Carlson leading groups to go out and flag wave. If you didn't honk then you were a traitor. We were literally on the very edge of a dictatorship in this country. It's sad to say, but our men and women really are fighing and dying for our freedom. If it had been the piece of cake the neo cons had expected this country would be a terrible place to live.

I wish I could believe that they are fighting and dying for my freedom because I'd certainly feel better about the war. To me, the Iraq war has nothing to do with "freedom". How has someone from Iraq tried to take my freedom? Even the 9/11 attack itself wasn't an attack on "freedom". It was clearly an attack, but the attack itself didn't impair freedom. Our government's own actions after the attack certainly attacked at least some of our freedoms (if illegal spying on Americans doesn't indicate a loss of freedom, I don't know what does?).

It makes me sick to see politicians with a cowboy complex or short man's syndrome state that "if you change how you live, the terrorists have won", while simulaneously flipping this country's constitution and basic principles on their heads.

ND - I feel for you and your son. I hope and pray that he and his mates get out of this mess safely and soon. If it is at all possible, I have less confidence in my leaders now than I did when we went into this ill-advised, poorly planned war. However..... one lesson that we should have learned from Vietnam is that if we leave we set the people left behind up for disaster. We have set this forest (Iraq) on fire and we have a moral obligation to try and put it out. I am so pissed at our leadership that they have brought us to this point of virtually no options. And Kaiser is right, back in late 2002 and early 2003 if you spoke out about the mistakes that were about to be made, you were labeled an unAmerican pussy. But, I will never forget who got us to this point and who supported the headlong rush to disaster.

What we must do now is figure out how to exit as quickly as possible while leaving behind a viable country. I certainly do not have the answers, but it is beginning to look like the surge is not working. I think the solution is diplomatic at this point if we can get the Decider in Chief to swallow his pride and explore other alternatives. I am not holding my breath however.