3 tours in Viet Nam, this is what I think

This was relegated to the “Writing Skills” forum. I think it still relevant to the present WAR On TERROR and I think it is still important to the American mindset of perpetual war. Give it a good read, if it is not again moved to an otherwise obscure and rarely accessed forum, and give me what you really think about it.

Psychoblues




I came back rather dissillusioned but still young, proud and able. I troubled with my own thoughts about my involvement in Viet Nam but about 11 years later I enlisted in the Air National Guard. During that enlistment I got some of the Grenada and Panama conflicts for which I am still proud. My last American Military Defense endeavor was Desert Storm in 1990 and the first half of 1991. I remain proud of that operation as well. During all of these conflicts I held my chin up, fortunately didn't get killed or seriously maimed and was convinced my actions were completely justified.

I'm an old man now. I continue to trouble myself about Viet Nam, justified or not. I don't worry at all about Grenada or Panama but there are those that do. Desert Storm and the subsequent Desert Shield operations were, although necessary in my view, the straws that broke this old camel's back. The present WAR ON IRAQ verifies all the troubles that I anticipated in 1991 but was happy to see at least foregone by the administration of that time. GWB brought it all back up again and is an idiot for having done so.

I have raised three college educated children, successfully retired from a job that I truly loved and have remained a faithful husband of my wife for more than 3 decades. I have worked very hard for my family, my country and myself. I have never and never intend to draw one cent from the VA Administration. But I will continue to fight for the recognition and rights of Veterans wherever and under whatever predicaments I find them. Lord knows they have earned their places around the American table of opportunity and deliverance.

I have a problem with those that would send now young, proud, able but significantly ignorant(like myself) Americans into a WAR that has no understanding of mission or trustworthy reliable expectations of success. In other words, GWB wouldn't know his ass friom a hole in the ground when it comes to military operations and his advisors and cohorts aren't helping him. Those that blindly follow or even encourage him with their calls for "Convert them or Kill them", "Turn the entire Middle East into a crystal by dropping an A-Bomb" and other equally ignorant and uneducated calls for all out war within a wordwide society that generally rejects the premise disturb me greatly.

I am doing what I can to prevent this genocide as perpetrated by the USA and trying to educate the ignorant as to the implications of their support for it. But I am just me.

I apologize if I upset you by the words I speak here. I just had to blow it off. I'm OK and I sincerely hope that you are as well.


Psychoblues
__________________
Americans Gotta Keep On Truckin'

 

Careful. You’ll be accused of ‘not supporting our troops’.

 

3 tours of vietnam, korea, iraq I....blah blah blah.....

 

blah, blah, blah that lets you sleep in comfort - every night.

 

Go ahead Psychoblues and support our enemy. A lot of our stupid leaders in Washington are, so one more isn't going to make a difference

 

that is pb's claimed tours of duty.....which means he saw active duty for 40 years....ya right.....

 

I do not support any enemy of the United States of America. The average Iraqi is not and has never been an enemy of the United States of America although we have made many enemies among them due to our occupation and destruction of their country. As we continue the occupation and subsequent destruction we make millions more enemies throughout the muslim world.

You misunderstand the ideologies of everyday muslims and nationalized countrymen as much as our imbecile president does.

Psychoblues

 

Yes, you provide aid and comfort. To deny that is to deny yourself.

 

Psychoblues, how on this GOD'S green earth did you get so ignorant of the facts??? We aren't destroying anything in Iraq except the insurgents that won't let the Iraq's live in peace. The Iraq's don't want us to leave. Did you watch the celebrations in the streets when Saddam's regime fell??? We don't go around blowing up markets with Innocent children and women The insurgents that want power to put it back like Saddam had it does that. If we would happen to leave Iraq now, MILLIONS of Innocent people would die under the new regime and the new regime would be worse than Saddam and one of the biggest enemies the USA has in the world today. Then you would have at least 3 countries to contend with immediately, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Then there would be 300,000 upward soldiers over there being targets. As it stands right now, most of the money spent on this war is being spent on rebuilding Iraq.
No, I don't misunderstand the ideologies of everyday Muslims. I don't think all Muslims understand that the so called religion they belong to is one of the largest hate group originations in the world and should be abolished in the United States.

Did you know that 47 countries' have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?
Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?
Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364schools are under rehabilitation,
263new schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq?
Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating?
Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January, 2005, for the re-established Fulbright program?
Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational?
They have 5 - 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?
Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?
Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?
Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?
Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?
Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October?
Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%?
Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?
Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?
Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a televised debate recently?

OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!
WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW?
OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US!

Instead of reflecting our love for our country, we get photos of flag burning incidents at Abu Ghraib
and people throwing snowballs at the presidential motorcades.

Tragically, the lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves two purposes:
It is intended to undermine the world's perception of the United States, thus minimizing consequent support, and it is intended to discourage American citizens.

---- Above facts are verifiable on the Department of Defense web site.
http://www.defenselink.mil/

 

Thank you Merlin, great post, and link.