Just my opinion

[Flying Dutchman]

I am starting this here because I did not want to change the topic in another thread. I have my soapbox with me and I will now stand on it and say the following. I apologize ahead of time if it seems long winded.

Many years ago, 1991 as a matter of fact, I was working for the Sheriff's Office. Our country had just declared war on Iraq and I felt the need to fly my flag from my house. The flag in question was the battle ensign (American flag) from my ship I was stationed on prior to my discharge. It was so big that it hung from my roof and barely cleared the ground. The Globe sent a reporter out, for some reason, to talk to me. For the next 3 days my picture was on the front page along with an article about my patriatism and such. Another officer at the dept. took offense to this because they had a family member going into battle over there and wrote negative comments about me and my views in our comments book at the station. I felt the same way then as I do now, If asked to serve I would drop everything and join without question.
People join the military for any number of reasons. Family tradition, wanting to learn a career, college money, lack of guidance and purely honor are some of them. For wahtever reason a person joins one thing is clear up front: You will be trained to fight and you may die in the process. This is not some hidden agreement written in small letters that you find out after, it is right there up front. You may die. You may be put in harms way. You may have to kill someone. If you do not understand this before you sign up, you are an idiot pure and simple. Your family and friends do not have to like it, nor should they like it, but they have to know it is a possability. They have to know that while you are serving your country YOU MAY BE COUNTED ON GOING TO WAR. It will be hard going but when you sign the dotted line you have committed yourself to that. Every service member, from the front line grunts to the paper pushers at the Pentagon, accepts this fate. The harsh reality is that no matter who you are, in the event of a war you are now a number. If your ship sinks you will be remembered and even honored but the reality is they will build another one and replace you with another person. That is the cold reality.
So, anyway, when asked if I would go serve again I did not hesitate when answering yes. I had a wife and two children at the time.........and I would leave them to go fight if asked to. That is what I was trained to do. I would have gladly taken the place of someone who did not want to be there so they could come home. Not because I am a blood and guts kind of guy but because until you have felt the feeling you get from working and living with a group of people who will work as one and die as one, you just can't explain it.
I think most of our politicians forget this or do not feel it. The military wants to get in, get it over with then get out. No muss, no fuss and no tolarence to those that wish to oppose it. The enemy is on the run, you don't stop and yell at them as they get away. You annialate (sic) them. You chase them down and dispose of them as a threat. The enemy hides in a building, you level the building to show there is no hiding place. It is not pretty, maybe even not fair or on a high moral level, but it ends the problem. You can discuss it later.
Bush wants to send in more troops. Should have been done a long time ago. We should have never turned the cheek to allow our enemy to slap us again, and again, and again..........kill one of ours and we will slaughter 100 of yours. The first threat made to us should be the last one made.

Ok, I am now off my soapbox.

[booger]

An excellent article, points out how soldiers feel, think and what needs to be done. As far as I am concerned, get on that soap box any time.

[jeezeweeze]

excellent post Dutch

Thanks for reminding us

Sometimes I forget ...and I feel ashamed that I whine about our troops being sent to war.... I don't like it at all ...however....your post brings the truth to light.... and thank God for dedicated men and women who risk everything
My hope now is....when they return .....they will be treated with the respect and honor they deserve...

GOD BLESS AMERICA .....

[Detector]

I agree Dutchman. We should have used the same tactic we used in Desert Storm. Overwhelm them with numbers and technology and make them realize they WILL die for their cause. Takes the fight out of them once they know if they resist they will die.

[TexKan]

Nobody wants to go to war - that is a cold hard fact. I'm tired of of folks thinkin that others want to go to war. Ya do what ya have to do and that's it. Politics and war don't belong together. Yet it's politics that often drag a war out, make it seem a hopeless worthless cause and sometimes eventually is a real mitigating factor in the outcome. Often for bad.

Politics should be used to defuse a conflict before it happens and should be used to be sure we end it fairly. Seems the person that actually signed the dotted line is rarely asked how they feel, the family is usually an emotional wreck but politics seems to suck the life blood from them in an effort to create havoc back here. I long for the days of the 40's when our country was at war - we spoke with one clear voice. Hell we got so many yappin now - it's no wonder no one pays anny attention.................. Hell of a story Dutchie!!!!

[Highwayman]

On the current Iraq business, consider the same circumstances with one difference. If the President had a (D) behind his name the whole reaction from the media would be totally different and likely supportive. We’d see more of the good, humanitarian things that our troops are doing in the news instead of the constant, nonstop negative stories like we see now. That’s politics at work.

Great job on the soapbox Dutch and thank you for your service.

[SGT T.]

It never fails to amaze me how some people act like the military is a pocket knife, able to cut out the rotten spots in the apple without slicing the entire thing up. In reality, the military is more of a huge Scottish claymore. We don't dig out the rotten spots in the apple, we make applesauce. The Army's primary mission is kill people and break stuff. Not just the people that are doing bad things, as they are doing them. What I am trying to say it that the Rules of Engagment need to be more broad in what Americans are and are not allowed to do over there, as well as flooding the country with troops. It seems that Bush has got the right idea, we go door to door and clear building by building, then HOLD what we clear. And no more catch and release. If you are a bad guy, then you can look forward to a 5.56mm entering your bloodstream. If you are lucky. As it stands now, all you have to do is empty a magazine at us, then drop your weapon and we have to take you prisioner, and treat you humanly, and you might slip through the cracks and be back out on the streets in a week or two.
BTW, I am preparing to leave Italy. My family and I are soon to return to the land of Ahhh's, at Ft. Riley. My sources there tell me that I probably won't be there long though, seems there is a plane ticket with a deploying unit that has my name on it.

[TexKan]

Sounds like the porosity of our own border to me! Except our agents have to go to jail if they treat them bad -------------- oh yeah......... so do our soldiers..........

[SGT T.]

I read this while I was in Afghanistan, very telling of what was going on at the time, and still is. It's a little long, but worth the reading.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine » Blog Archive » Gates of Fire

[TexKan]

Long but good read!