Iraq'd
By bluegal Wednesday Aug 15, 2007 5:20pmfrom Les Enrages.org:
I received word today that my nephew's helicopter "went down" in Al Anbar in the past day or two. He apparently emailed his father that he is "okay" but, as you all can imagine, I had a mini meltdown.
He also told his father - and let me emphasize that I'm getting this secondhand - that a friend of his (and others in his unit) rotated out for a two week leave with their families. When they arrived at the base on U.S. soil where they are attached, before they could even get off the bus, their CO came on the bus and told them they that would NOT be going home. Why? Because the soldiers who have been stationed at the base have been working HARDER THAN THEY and needed time off. So they would be filling in for them.
from Club Lefty:
An explosive formed device... bored in to my son's up-armored Humvee on his first mission and wounded him. The convoy forged ahead, abandoning the destroyed HUMVEE. He was bleeding and received no first aid for 90 minutes until a medivac helicopter arrived. Though he was bleeding (nobody had applied a tourniquet to his leg) his heart and respiration were normal and he was yelling in pain. His condition continued to be stable with good vitals during the medivac flight, but 30 seconds before touchdown at the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest. The doctors attempted heroic measures to save him, but were unsuccessful. His death certificate says he bled to death.
This is an armed forces stretched to the limit. The "Veteran problem" is being solved by constantly redeploying soldiers, even injured ones, until they're all dead. Bush is clinging by his fingernails so the next president has "no choice" but to institute a draft. Meanwhile, how are sales of those "Support the Troops" yellow car magnets going?
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They can't let them come home because they would start talking. If the democrats don't force defunding the war then it's time to clean house and vote all their sorry asses out.
Sad. This shouldn't happen. We must stop this war.
Soldiers being stretched to the limit? ...
I was in a motel lobby in a small town that serves up a continental breakfast this past week and overheard a man conversing with an elderly gent about his service. He spoke about one guy who was gung ho is first deployment. Not so much his second. By his third rotation he was so downright cautious the military told him he was no good to them anymore. But then he was called back. The soldier telling this story said he had was being redeployed in three weeks. He has to stay in because he has diabetes and the army pays for this care.
Grrrr
ckerst @ 1:
I thought the dems were the lesser of two evils? Who are you going to vote in instead?
Frankly, I think it's time to revise the two-party system.
McCain is receiving death threats. He claims it's because of his liberal ideas. WTF?
"When they arrived at the base on U.S. soil where they are attached, before they could even get off the bus, their CO came on the bus and told them they that would NOT be going home. Why? Because the soldiers who have been stationed at the base have been working HARDER THAN THEY and needed time off. So they would be filling in for them."
This is unforgivable. I want to know who made that decision and how he justifies it.
Support the troops! Yeah, right! Suicides are up over 30%.
Stan @ 4:
Time to start a progressive party!
Then it's time for treason trials.
The "Club Lefty" post is heart rendering and oh sooo sad and terrible. I did note,
however, that the incident apparently occurred in July, 2006, well over a year ago,
and yet is just now being posted.....
War? What war?
Fox News isn't telling me about any war.
I served in the military.
My best friend lost his nephew yesterday in Iraq...A green Beret.
It made me so happy to see Jenna bush is engaged today.
Fuck BUSH and his entire family.
Rich people prosper while less fortunate die serving their country.
Fuck the rich - fuck republicans.
all the junta cares about is their catch phrases. They don't care that the GIs have to be gone 15 months at a time or don't have the proper equipment
Sad. This shouldn’t happen. We must stop this war.
____________________________________________________
I've been hearing this for 36 month. A macabre joke!
fuck the lazy worthless democrats too.
If we don't get our people out now, this thing is going to turn into Black Hawk Down many times over.
We've killed a million people and revenge is part of their religion. What do you think they are going to do when we try to move a quarter of a million people and their luggage down the highway to Kuwait.
I'm so pissed at my fellow Americans . . . all walking around shopping . . . with their thumbs stuck up their asses while our republic is destroyed by these neocon morons.
Maybe we can send them yellow ribbons to use as tourniquets. The magnetic ones are probably made in China anyway.
Want out? No one but Kucinich will accomplish THAT mission. Not Hill, not Edwards, not Dodd. Grow some balls, people. Our kids are dying so that the Chenguin and the House of Saud can keep the flow of oil under control.
This is how President Fucktard "supports our troops".
Get our troops home. Get rid of Bush...or get a new congress
#1-ckerst says "They can't let them come home because they would start talking." Well said. Extremely well said. I have just been watching the 1974 Oscar-winning documentary Hearts and Minds which, among other things, features voices of those soldiers and what they had witnessed and /or participated in while being in Vietnam. At the Oscars ceremony in 1975, hawks like Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra and John Wayne were quick to condemn the film because it dared to reveal those truths which the U.S. government wished to keep hidden from the American public. One suspects that the same thing will eventually happen from this quagmire that the United States has again found itself in, when more returning soldiers decide to educate the American people about how they are, as in Vietnam, being sacrificed, not for their country, but for the lies that they were told by their government.
The Iraq War is the most disasterous "foreign entaglement" in the history of our Republic. Now the people who brought you this disaster want to biring you another one Gulf War 3.0. The problem is not is not Iraq, the problem is Iran. Just ask your Republican friends, if you still have any left: "Where do you suggest we get the troops?"
john @ 9:
Doggiebobo @ 7:
Rather offensive...You think making fun of wounded and dying soldiers is patriotic? How far right are you anyway? Would you call Hitler a leftist?
if you want to vote third party then you deserve the repuke you get, period.....
NavyDavy @ 20:
You are pretending we have any say in who gets into office. That illusion is over.
Good. Bring back the draft. Then the suburban and exurban Republican idiots can have their kids come back in body bags by the droves, and THEN you'll see the USA out of Iraq in a fortnight.
You want a free country, then you need a draft. It doesn't mean that EVERYONE has to put on an M16 and go murder people. It can also mean re-building New Orleans, or rebuilding bridges, i.e. - doing NATION BUILDING AT HOME. Lots of countries have that kind of a system in their draft. If not at war, then go do something useful.
A volunteer army ends up being a Praetorian Guard for the ruling class. A draft army can resist, often in subtle ways... "Oh, damn the Humvee got a flat / engine seized / starter blew - I guess we can't go out on patrol... I *wonder* how that happened..." If Iraq had a draft army, I doubt they would have invaded in the first place, and if they did, they'd have had one heckuva better plan, and if they didn't do that, then you KNOW we'd have seen MASSIVE protests in 2005 and an overwhelmingly active and Democratic congress in 06, not this mushy collection of spineless bluedog morons we have now.
You want a democracy? then DEFEND IT! Bring back the draft and re-org the military to do something other than bomb the crap out everyone. If it was compulsory and short (like 2 year) and universal with no school deferments, then I could guarantee you'd see things change RIGHT quick in the USA for the better.
Doggiebobo @ 7:
It's just being posted because Club Lefty got the comment this month, Doggibobo. Not surprising that the PARENT of a dead soldier might take a while to talk publicly about losing his child.
john @ 12:
and thatgoes double for you.
These ass hats are doing the same thing that the people were doing with their mortgages. Borrowing and reborrowing and reborowing again and I’m telling you pretty soon there wont be anything to borrow and they will be in foreclosure (so to speak). This is just stupid.
A volunteer army ends up being a Praetorian Guard for the ruling class.
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You hit it right on! I'm in in the middle of it! I see it evey day, every minute. It's a; about money, even if they have to die.
22 expat:
Bad idea. With a draft during Vietnam we lost 53,000, the war dragged on for years, the country was in turmoil and in the end when winning was not an option and we withdrew the people who opposed the war were blamed for losing the war while those who supported it walked away thinking they had no blame whatsoever. Throwing more people into a meat grinder makes no sense and has no connection with morality.
This is just heartbreaking.
All 3 of my nephews who are of age are in the military. One is in Afghanistan, Army, 82nd Airborne. He's had bouts with PTSD, yet they keep him over there. Another is a Marine, who has already done 2 stints in Afghanistan. The third, who just graduated last May Magna Cum Laude from the military part of Norwich University, went into the National Guard. It's only a matter of time before he's sent over there.
I worry so much for them, good lads, all three.
My son is nearly 15, and I fear that there will be a draft by the time he's 18. I pray that his learning disability will disqualify him.
And it's frickin' Jose Padilla who has to face charges? WTF!?! I think the bigger story, even bigger than the war, is how these criminals have given themselves exclusive control over the application of the justice system in America. From the stacking of the Supreme Court, to the Prosecutors' Purge (installing 'Loyal Bushies' instead of anyone with a shred of integrity), to signing statements, to NSA warrantless wiretapping, suspension of habeas corpus.
They just don't know right from wrong. Oh, yes, they do - it's just the polar opposite of what anyone else would think.
xoites defends Constitution @ 27:
It will make the fuckers who are so pro war think twice about their sons going into the meat grinder though. And it will make the moms rabid and it will make the dumbasses sitting on the fence lethal. That’s why the neocons won’t even mention the “D” word.
They can’t let them come home because they would start talking.
Yup, my nephew said he can't wait to get home because "boy does he have some stories to tell." Hopefully he will come home. My heart and prayers go out to Stephen and his family and all who loved his son.
How can the ignorant, brainwashed, Rethugs think the surge is going great and working?
#27-Xiotes
Well said, however, I must correct your figure; it was closer to 58,000 who were killed in Vietnam instead of the 53,000 that you mentioned. Having been there, I am cognizant of the accuracy of that number, a place where the chickenhawks did their best to successfully avoid serving while wearing a military uniform, though they are always so quick to advocate that the U.S. continue to fight in more unnecessary wars.
30 Captain Kangaroo:
Maybe so. Then again maybe we will have enough soldiers to invade Iran. Maybe the rich white Republicans can find a way to keep their children out of the military. (No! That would never happen! It never happened before!)
What i think will happen if we have a draft is a lot more people dying; Americans and those other people over there somewhere and we will have more heartbreak and the fabric of the nation may come apart. There must be a better solution than forcing people to go off to war and kill, flee the country or go to jail.
33 Erroll
Sorry, i stand corrected. Too many dashed dreams in those numbers.
xoites defends Constitution @ 27:
I disagree. We here in the insular US with our warlike culture have a couple generations of children raised on first person shooter and "Grand Theft Auto" games....they think that chaos, death, violence and mayhem are "cool".........I say let them discover just how "cool" it is getting sprayed with your buddy's blood as he is taken out with a sniper, or seeing firsthand the mangled innocent civilians. It would do a world of good to have our young discover that war is pain and blood and death and suffering, not an abstract fading blip with no consequences on a computer screen......or even to live under the fear of for their life at the thought of potentially being dragged out of their home and killed in one of those lands where they weren't particularly concerned about what the US was up to like installing brutal dictators, selling arms, etc.
I do highly encourage those of you with leftists propensities who have installed a sense of reality and consequence in your children to begin creating documentation of their suitability for conscientious objector status such as videotaping them at a peace demonstration. On a mass scale, a pushing away of the doves would press the hawks into the front...........hopefully with college republicans on point.
V V
Do note incidentally that
xoites defends Constitution @ 34:
I'm with you xoites.
36 Vitam Vas
I worked with homeless vets for twenty years. I saw nothing wonderful about them discovering war was not a game.
Traumatic injuries can be tough to treat in the field. The “Screamers” are most often doing better than those who are real “shocky” and quiet. Still it’s hard to say why he would bleed to death from a wound in this day in age. Was there internal bleeding? How much bleeding was there from the leg injury? I sorry to hear on his loss under any circumstance. Too many are being sent into harms way.
Fuck Bush!
#16 Erroll... "this quagmire that the United States has again found itself in"
Unfortunately the US didn't find itself here, it created this quagmire. Just like the Vietnam quagmire if I remember correctly... Definitely agree that it's time for the soldiers to share their stories and the truth with the people. It's time to go to war no more.
Rick Duncan @ 17:
A disaster for us but a wet dream for the neocon sadists
Just imagine when the next generation gets into government. How's that "no kid left behind" thing working out?
xoites defends Constitution @ 38:
Nobody said anything about "wonderful". There would definitely be a price paid, in some cases by people who don't deserve to pay it. But one of the biggest problems that the world has is that it's most powerful nation is in a geographically isolated fantasyland which causes pain, death and suffering caused in other lands to be an easily ignored abstract, not a reality. Bringing the reality of some of what we do and have done into the consciousness of the mainstream would be on balance a good thing.
V V
Vitam Vas @ 43:
I agree, but sending people off to war is not the answer.
Thank you Blue Gal. You rock.
To #7 Doggiebobo: As Blue Gal mentioned already, that post was actually a comment that the father left on another post of mine. I simply copied and pasted it as a main post the same day he made the comment.
Regarding the yellow ribbon car magnets, this is the bumper sticker currently on my rear window: http://www.pressforprogress.com/00i2013s.html.
That and my Flying Spaghetti Monster emblem.
all those troops sitting at their coushy desk jobs that were let go home instead of the brave troop who was in peril the ENTIRE TIME he was on the war front, should all be sent to the front line and let the brave troops on the front line come home to those desk jobs. fuck the insensitive assholes and fuck bush and cheney for a total lack of support for those whose lives ARE on the front line.
E Ryno @ 13:
What an ignorant thing to say. Revenge is a human knee jerk reaction. After 9/11 I saw and heard quiet a few people calling for the nuking of the entire middle east. There were hundreds of attacks here in the US on 'Arab looking' people and 'Middle Eastern' looking people.
The bible says 'eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth' and you have the nerve to say 'it's part of their religion'? You're a fool and an embarrassment to this website and to America.
xoites defends Constitution @ 44:
Given the situation we are in, it may not be "the" answer, but it is "an" answer. I don't say these things lightly, as I don't want anyone (well maybe just chickenhawkish college republicans-we refer to that as "justice") killed, traumatized or maimed unnecessarily.....but our apathetic and warlike class paying a price may dissuade a river of the blood of equally innocent residents of foreign lands in the future. On balance, a good thing.
A less destructive way to go about achieving the same effect would be to institute mandatory military service/peace corps service with a tour in a foreign land. Not only would this to cause us as a people to eventually become aware that those who are not like us are not any less human...but would also instill in the future George Bushes and Dick Cheyneys (provided they actually do their service) and understanding that the sons of poor men also live, breath, bleed and die....and that they aren't just again abstract figures on a casualty report.
V V
Why would the next pres instituted a draft? Seems the sensible thing is to pull out. No future president should be saddled with this albatross.
E Ryno @ 41:
yup yup. to think that i voted for him the first time too. i know plenty of people still in the USMC who will not vote for a republican again.
right on! @ 40:
Righton!
Of course the U.S. created that quagmire. When I stated that "the United States has again found itself in" what else is one to infer but that that situation was one of America's own making? Especially after I had earlier referenced the documentary Hearts and Minds and in the last sentence compared how soldiers today in Iraq "... are, as in Vietnam, being sacrificed, not for their country, but for their lies that they were told by their government." As a Vietnam veteran and a longtime advocate of the documentary Sir! No Sir!, the last thing that I would have been unaware of was that quagmire that the United States had become entangled had occurred because, like now in Iraq, America had foolishly tried to invade and occupy another country against its will thus causing the deaths of millions of innocent Vietnamese people.
I call shenanigans on both these stories. There's plenty on instances of units stretched to the limit but these aren't them. Everyone is pretty much "forced" to go on 14 days R and R back in the US. You can't take that from anyone The first story mayMAY have refering to a four day pass in Qatar which a unit only gets a few a month and is used as a reward for reinlistment for junior soldiers or just to give certain guys that gotten stressed out from working so hard. I've been to Iraq twice never gotten a 4 day pass but I've always gotten to go home on R and R.
As for the second story, I find it hard to believe that any soldier sat for 90 minutes without getting any first aid (unless she's confusing First Aid with the care given at a Combat Support Hospital). Everyone here gets CAT turniquets and knows how use them. Any sort of bleeding you apply it.
There's plenty of evidence of units overstretched. I don't think these are them.
So, when is the revolution going to begin? It is painfully obvious there is no other recourse.
speaking of car magnets...
yesterday, while driving our 19 year old camry down sunset blvd on our way to look for another apartment (our landlord just raised our rent $500 a month) we were stuck in traffic behind a big ol' pick up truck.
it had a big american flag on the window and a magnet on the tailgate that said "support farting"
i'm ready to get radical but i'm afraid i'll just end up self immolating.
As I read through all of these comments, it strikes me that there are so many complaints about the current adminstration, about the young men dying, and the things we should do about it. WELL, are you going to get up off of your butt and do something or just set in front of your computer and complain?
There will be a revolution in this country as soon as we all get off of our fat butts, turn off our televisions, and become active in our communities and government. Until you are willing to do that kind of stuff, just expect to keep getting what you have always gotten.
I am so sorry for the young men and women who are in Iraq due to the lies of this administration. Meanwhile Herr Dubya cracks jokes about not being able to find the weapons of mass destruction.
Old Billy @ 2:
I'm busy this week. Let me know how that goes.
Why aren't there protests in the streets over this war, over the assault on our Constitution, over the selling of America to China in order to pay for this war? What will it take? A draft, before we get some real protests?
Lets stay positive on your nephew, "mini-meltdowns" don't help.
I understand the anxiety. I continue to hope all our soldiers can come back. In one piece body and spirit. I know its not realistic, but it help till we get them out of harms way. And harms way for which of Bush's excuses to invade Iraq.?
Hang in there ..............................
Sad truth is....it will indeed take a draft to wake people up. Exactly why the Bushies so far have not called for it. We've been told to go shopping and by golly shopping it is!! UNTIL ...MY KID !! GETS DRAFTED!!...THEN IT'S ON!!
What I REALLY DON'T understand is why? why? why? there are still americans who believe in Bushco! The rest of the world sees, we Canadians see, Why is it when I turn on the news that all I see are republican mouth pieces! CNN NBC, ABC, CBS, and well you know the other one FOX Noise.
Stand up! Revolt! This man and all of his CRONIES are ruining your great country and taking the rest of the world with them!! SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!!!
Regards and God help us all,
Bill, A concerned Canadian
People believe in Bushco's crap because they have been programmed to for the last thirty years....and hundreds in the case of the religious fundies. They will actually fight you tooth and nail, against their own self interest over things like "Any person who works should be paid enough to live"
V V
I was talking with a soldier on leave recently. He told me a sure clue that an attack or an IED is about to happen is when all the civilians vacate the streets and normal foot traffic disappears. When a market area that should have bustling traffic suddenly goes silent and empty an attack is imminent.
What do you think that means?
I know what it means.
I hate this war!!!
This is downright WRONG!!
Suicides have gone up, and we cant do shit cause the president, the republicans, and the democrats are playin Patriotics, n Guns!
What happened to 'We the People?!'
What happened to 'For the People?!'
What happened to 'By the People?!'
My fellow Americans, what happened to our society? our country?
Were so freaken polluted with crap, we're seen as bad influence for other nations!!
SCREW THEM ALL!!
We need a PROGRESSIVE PARTY PPL!!
* bush n his "things"!
* republicans for bein down with the president!-and not being down with us!!
* democrats for being lazy and not stopping the war after they promised!!-i thought they were down with us middle n lower class!!!
* americans that we are for not doing nothing, n believing their asses for just name recognition, and good looks-yuck! have u seen bush's face!!
**If this wasn't for my school project, i would've cussed n stuff**
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