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I do want to apologize to those who I may have upset, bring this up once again. Don't read any further if I upset you please.
You see I've been upset since the tenth of June. My stepson was sent to Iraq June 10th. He is in the Navy 16 years, and has been loaned to the Army for 12 months in Iraq, as the Army is short on personnel. This is unimaginable to me how the Navy can send it's personnel to the Army to bolster their numbers, but that is what is going on. He was in the Persian Gulf War and came home with TB, luckily nothing else.
I do understand they own his body literally, but what about his family. He has three children under school age the youngest is 4 months old.
Of course this goes without saying that the National Guard, and personnel doing 2nd and 3rd tours haven't been hijacked also. A cardiologist here in No. Cal was recently sent over for his third tour.
One last thing, I hope my permit for my animals is soon approved so we can make the move. I want to get there before we hit Iran and the world as we knew it changes yet again.
Mahalo,
mella l
mella l
Art and Science
bytheSEA
Posts: 1,595
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Kahunascott; No disrespect, but you are wrong to think a soldier is bound to carry out orders without question. Some orders are illegal (Think Lt Calley). I'm a combat veteran and former army officer who served in Vietnam. I have nothing but respect for Lt. Watada, and wish him Godspeed. I do have a great deal of contempt, however for George W Bush, who did successfully avoid combat. It's painful for me to watch a pitifully inept leader squander one of the greatest resources our country has. I'm talking about sending our brave soldiers to protect the profits of large corporations. During other great conflicts of the past (WW2, for instance), natural resources were rationed to support and shorten the war effort (gas, rubber, and steel for instance). It seems like today's war is justified merely so we can continue to gorge ourselves on these same resources, and make a nifty profit on the side. Technology today is capable of breaking our addiction to oil and rendering the mideastern petro-nazis powerless. First we must get rid of our own little Oil Hitler.
He wanted all the freebies the service could offer - when it came for repayment thanks but no thanks. The man (and I use the term loosely) should be put in jail, then when his time is up forced to repay everything the gov gave him. I believe the draft or some variation of it should be reinstated for everyone - male and female.
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You're a good old thread, you're a high flying thread, you're the emblem of our land!
I believe Watada would have fulfilled his obligation had he been asked to go to a just and legal war. Iraq had nothing, nothing to do with 9/11, Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and posed less of a threat to us than China.....or even a Category Four Hurricane, as we all saw.
Some stood up to Hitler, too. Watada wasn't asked to go to Iraq by a Commander in Chief, but by a figurehead presiding over a corporate junta, with secret prisons, private armies, and a fully controlled media that wants you to think about missing white women, jailed heiresses, and steroidal murderers.
Of course, if you disagree, that doesn't mean we can't go fly kites together.
Kites. Made. In China.
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Watada did state he would be glad to serve in Afganistan where Al Quada is hiding. Meanwhile, he's standing up for honorable principals, and willing to take the consequences. That takes courage. The draft will never happen without massive and unified resistance. Most people will accept a war being fought so they can profit and indulge themselves, but not if they have to go themselves. Sheep.
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Aloha All,
I couldn't agree with you more, Greg, and Scott, too.
If you can, see a Frontline episode called "The Dark Side." It retells the story of going to war in Iraq from the beginning with an emphasis on Cheney's influence and actions. On PBS. You may have seen some of the footage previously, but seeing it again with new information about the dictator-like machinations of
Cheney is even more eye-opening. High recommend.
april
april
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Sorry, I meant to say Dave, not Scott. Sorry Scott.
Help: how do I edit my own posts?
april
april
Posts: 2,653
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Don't worry scott, I thought you were "right on".
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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quote:
Help: how do I edit my own posts?
april
April, if you are logged into the site, you should see a row of icons in the area at the top of your post. The one with the page and pencil is the edit button. The one with the page and curved red arrow is the quoting button, which I used to quote part of what you last posted. Only you and the admin should be able to edit your post. Hope this helps.
Edited by - Les C on 06/27/2007 12:20:30
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I was a bit too young to be very aware of the Vietnam war as it happened so...
The only opinion i can offer is that we (my SO's son) have a kid going into desert training next month and then headed to Iraq. Dumb kid - he was in Korea for 3 years, on a black hawk helio base (as good as tucking him in a bank vault my SO says) and could have stayed there but WAS SICK OF KOREAN FOOD! (the real reason!! ha ha ) and wanted to come back to the US.... and he did for all of one year in CO springs (and then re-enlisted because CO is fun!)... So whatever I believed or thought about the war becomes way more personal now, it isnt an abstract idea, or thread to argue in, or some slogan or flag to wave one way or the other just to egg one side or the other on (and believe me I am a "bleeding heart liberal" with two retired Marines in the family and one current Army soldier so the thoughts & arguments go back and forth!)
So is it possible to support our troops while not agreeing with the war? How do you reconcile the two opposite views? How can I worry about the kid and still voice an opinion against what our country is involved in? How could we even tell him to not do this (my first urge) when we have tried to instill a duty to follow through on committments? How can we say we are scared to death for him, when our country is asking him to be brave? How can I say this war is the right thing to do when I am not sure it is?
Just random thoughts because we just received the news a few days ago. There is not the idealistic feeling of patriotism that followed 9/11 for these kids. There is no "they may get killed", young people ARE getting killed almost daily.
Edited by - kapohocat on 06/27/2007 15:50:32
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