An Iraq vet's thoughts on 100 dead Michigan troops.

... (4.00 / 5)

"Why is it when a Soldier dies the media is blamed and not the policy?"

I wonder about that all the time.  You really hit on a lot of what I feel about this war.  Thanks for your post, DJ.

Check out my mediocre blog.

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by: nirmal @ Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 04:56:18 AM CDT

Thank you for your service dj (4.00 / 5)

Very nice diary. You summed it up perfectly when you said-

"They care more about the bottom line than they do our Soldiers."

That goes for this administration, too. Plenty of Bush's "friends" are getting rich off of this war. The war stops, the feeding at the government trough stops.

Keep writing- you have a powerful voice to share.

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by: wizardkitten @ Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 04:59:16 AM CDT

Thoughts... (4.00 / 5)

Thank you.

I almost didn't write a comment because I wasn't even sure what to say. My dad's a vet from Vietnam, and you seem to echo a lot of his thoughts. I emailed him both Matt's post about the list of fallen soliders along with your post, because I think your writting is something that he can appreciate and agree with.
WK's right, you need to keep writing, show the pain, show the hurt, show the fear and disappointment. It's not only therapeutic for you, but it's therapeutic for those who have walked in your shoes and your raw pain that you unabashedly convey thru your writing is eye-opening for many of us who might otherwise go unaware.
It's not pretty, sexy or glamorous - it's everything that American media isn't - but at the end of the day, it's the truth, and if we can't keep talking about that, then we've surely given up.

I want to change the world, not help people adjust to it. - Millie Jeffrey, MI - National Women's labor and Democratic activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

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by: LiberalLucy @ Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 07:42:39 AM CDT

My guard unit is in Iraq... (4.00 / 6)

I have been an MP in the guard for about 4 years.  I was supposed to deploy with my unit to Iraq in July.  Due to a divorce and some legal issues coming out of it they kept me home. 

The unit I was attached to just hit country a couple of weeks ago.  I pray every day that I don't see someones name on that list that I know.  Even though I oppose the war, I hate the guilt I feel not being there...

Anyway, I agree that nobody cares.  It isn't like World War I and II, the country isn't behind the war effort, and why should they be?  The administration isn't committed to "winning", why should the people be?  I don't even understand it anymore, we aren't preventing civil war, we haven't made progress toward democracy... Who is benefiting now? 

Thanks for your service!  I appreciate it.

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by: BigBri78 @ Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 09:25:13 AM CDT

service (4.00 / 8)

Let me preface my comments with an observation - that many of the soldiers of our Republic, of which I was one, chose military service as a path to serve something greater than themselves. Others choose other paths, be it the Peace Corps, America Corp or political involvement. The children of the conservative political and economic elite pay no price, bear no burden - they are Freedom's Freeloaders. That is the decadence that Conservative's rail against - those who receive the all the benefits but pay none of the costs of civilized society.

Conservatism puts its Ideology ahead of citizens. The political leadership, and here is Bush's brilliance, serve their ideology first. If the facts do not fit their beliefs, they ignore the facts - whether on August 6, 2001 or in Iraq today. That is the great and continuing failing of Conservatism.

The disgrace of Iraq is the statements of the self proclaimed Christian values of conservatives' that War, and all the killing it involves, is justified not based on the complete evidence, the whole truth, but by 'slam dunk' evidence that matches the justification of conservative ideology. The soldiers of our republic were betrayed by the political elite who started this war. 

The lesson to learn is not to compromise our fundamental values in the name of bi-partisanship - whether in the run up to a war or the enactment of the evil of torture as an approved instrument of American public policy. (You should read the words of Lincoln, 'what they ask of us', in his speech at the Cooper Union {http://digbysblog.bl...} (http://members.aol.c...). The truths then are as self-evident now on the nature of conservatives and liberals today.

Our obligation as citizens, just as it was when I was on active duty, is to the Constitution of the Republic. My personal obligation  is to the core principle of our nation and the Democratic Party- that it is self evident that all men - and women - are created equal and are endowed by inalienable rights. I will not yield the rights the creator gave to me at birth to the politicians in Washington on the hope they can keep me safe; for I know that once yielded I will be left begging like a dog to use what the creator had freely given. (Care to line up like dogs in the 'free speech zone'? - It is a disgrace for Americans to be so treated). I will fulfill that obligation by active participation in the political process so as to transform the political leadership - to return government to the people, for the people, of the United States. Only when that leadership change occurs will we see the begging of the end of the tragedy in Iraq and the true battle at home to fully restore American justice at home.

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by: demvet @ Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 09:58:10 AM CDT

Excellent post... (0.00 / 0)

I have nothing to add.  It is said just perfectly.  However, I will say this.  Since I have read the Book Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin I have learned alot more about Lincoln (and how he thinks) then I ever learned in school.

I highly recommend that book.

Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." I WANT MY HABEAS CORPUS BACK!!

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by: Old Dood @ Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 08:15:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

More below!! (scroll) (0.00 / 0)

There's a piece about our legislators and their grades in terms of supporting our troops.

I see that my Republican homies have a lot of "Dazzling", "Excellent" and "Fantastic" ratings while many of the do-nothing, Osama-loving Dems seem to be "Awful".

The Disembodied Head of Dick Devos devos.wordpress.com

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by: devoshead @ Wed Oct 25, 2006 at 11:08:56 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Who Support Our Troops, IAVA ranked... (0.00 / 0)

... Michigan Congressional Delegation, and the results are out today on their web site. See a pattern here?