Aren't our soldiers in Iraq just traveling back and forth like exposed targets in a shooting gallery?

Question

Whenever our troops move about in Iraq, they do so in convoys along predictable roadways.

Since we don't have enough troops to watch these roads continuously, the bombs get planted along the way and it is only a matter of time before our troops will pass by.

These roads are just like the LINEAR TRACKS of a SHOOTING GALLERY that convey the designated targets back and forth until safety is reached at either end of the trip.

It is so sad to see our troops having to suffer the same fate as that of a shooting gallery target that travels back and forth along a specific linear path.

There is something so patently absurd and unfair about this scenario.

Are you trying to say that 15 American lumberjacks are killed every day in the American lumber industry?!!!

When it comes to American deaths in Iraq, we must not overlook the number of injured soldiers as well !!

These deaths represent just the tip of the ice berg!

And these injuries are often times so severe that physical and mental functions are permanently lost.

Many of those injured, would not have survived these injuries had it not been for the state-of-the-art medical attention they received so close to the battle field.

These survivors are often permanently impaired for the rest of their lives.

And the National Guard troops in Iraq have left their usual civilian jobs to make LESS money than what they would be making at home. Some of them are losing their businesses and suffering serious economic setbacks as a result of this long-term deployment.

Your comparison to the U.S. lumber industry loses its merit and relevance in light of the whole picture !

Journalists have no reason to exaggerate the extreme dangers in Iraq! If you will check the figures of journalists that have been killed during this 4-year occupation of Iraq, you will soon see that they have suffered the highest number of deaths ever for journalists covering a war.

As for the statistics dealing with the anticipated mortality rate associated with different occupations, the people going into those occupations are fully aware of the risks they are going to encounter in those occupations.

I used to work in the canneries in Kodiak, Alaska and there is nothing more dangerous than the fishing industry in the Bering Sea. The crab fishing is the most dangerous of all and the people who go out in those crabbers in the middle of winter, know full well what their chances of survival are.

People who are serving in the National Guard know full well the terms of their service and in what context and for what duration their services are potentially going to be asked for.

The problem lies with our government significantly changing the terms of their service after the fact.

Regular career military personnel don't have the right to pick and choose what war or armed conflict they want to participate in.

When they are told to deploy somewhere, they must follow orders!

But they should reasonably expect for there to be a responsible civilian government in place that looks out for their best interests and would not deploy them so wrecklessly and with so little thought as if they were toy figures on a game board or cartoon figures in a video game!

Military service is not an industry like coal mining, deep sea fishing, iron working, ship building, or even lumberjacking.

I can't think of a more respectable career than that of a law enforcement officer.

I can't think of a more successful career than that of a law enforcement officer who has completed a 30-year career in law enforcement WITHOUT EVER HAVING TO DRAW HIS OR HER WEAPON EVEN ONCE !!!

The institutional DETERRENCE embodied in a well-trained and sufficiently large professional law enforcement agency, is a comfortable reassurance for any community to value and cherish.

The least shots fired, the better.

The lesser the number of instances that force needs to be exerted, the more successful the strategy and objective of DETERRENCE have been.

This objective holds just as true with our military.

A career military person who retires after 30 years of service without seeing any "action", is just as much a success as a military person who retires after 30 years of military service where they have engaged the enemy in combat.

Simply the luck of the draw.

It is imperative that we keep our powder dry and our military personnel and equipment in top condition and ready to deploy in those instances that diplomacy fails to work.

People who enlist in the military during peacetime, have a right to expect no less than this high standard of institutional restraint.

If we don't treat our military personnel with the utmost respect by exercising prudent restraint in putting them in harm's way, the national pool of recruits will dry up overnight.

This is something I can't emphasize enough.

This is something that all voters should have uppermost in their minds when they scrutinize candidates for political office.

Answer 1

There is another team that goes threw and sweeps for IEDs I BELIEVE they are called EOD??? maybe ? but they are pretty safe and yes they watch out for them from the truck too and call em out to get them blown up and removed. I may be completely wrong but I dont think so this is what my hubbie does convoys those roads.... Damn I miss him

Answer 2

Don't act as if the U.S is ignoring it and doing nothing. The U.S Military is currently developing an armoured vehicle to possibly replace the HUMVEE, I've seen some of them.

There are concepts that are capable to with stand an IED, M1 Abrams aren't even capable of doing such, with bigger IEDs.

Some of the concepts I have seen have unmanned machine guns on the top of the vehicle.

Several dozen armoured vehicles have already been sent to Iraq which are far better then the humvees, they're better armoured and have air conditioning aswell!

And don't be stupid. You're also acting as if the draft was reinstated. These men and women knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed those papers.

When I become a U.S Marine, and there is a war going on, im not going to assume that I'll never be deployed.

Answer 3

Right now the American trees are more dangerous than the Iraqis. 5 American lumberjacks die for every one U.S. trooper in Iraq each year. Either the Iraqis insergents are horrible shots or it's just not as bad as the news says it is. Much of the stuff is flown in via helicopter or plane to prevent those kinds of ambushes.

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added notes:
Yes, that's what I'm saying. Around 5,600 lumberjacks died last year in the United States. It's one of the 10 most hazardous jobs in the United States and it has been so since at least the start of the Second Gulf War. Being in the military didn't make the list.

Answer 4

to better perfect comprehend your question / perspective... at the same time as became the perfect time that you've been in a wrestle Zone ?? The Koran isn't Holy. i'm sorry even though it truly is a e book. The meaning interior is Holy to those who trust. The Bible is a e book no longer some thing better no longer some thing a lot less. The meaning contained in the e book is holy. Shoot on the Koran, Shoot on the Bible Who Cares ??? Now what might want to the fallout were had that SSG instead of utilising a e book used stay bodies ??? Used lifeless ones ?? i imagine it would want to be better perfect in case you may want to instead of attempting to sensationalize some thing out of no longer some thing to instead flow an hug a Tree or a Root !!!

Answer 5

ok so its not that they are going normal speed down these roads they go no faster then 15 and they have the whole road to themselves. they also send people out everyday to find the ieds and blow them up.that was my moms job while so was over there she also was a medic and she went out on convoys everyday they would leave early and get back late they had a saying when you left the fence you died but when you got back you were reborn.unfortunately my moms platoon lost 4 people while she was over there due to ieds.you see the one thing you don't hear about is that everyday they get bomb right where they sleep she said it was her wake up call she said it was like alarm clock. she also said that she got used to the bombing like once she was able to go into and do some shopping and where they were had a suicide attack while she was shopping she said that everyone dropped to the floor except her and the other soldiers she was with its because they get used to it. i think thats what is wrong no one should have to get used to hearing and seeing bombs go off and when they do not even flinch.

Answer 6

well how else would you expect us to get around? i am currently over here as we speak and ive been here for 9 months already. what you see on cnn and read in yahoo news, and what actually goes on over here are 2 way differnet things. we travel along the routes that we know are somewhat safe and if we go down one that we know isnt safe, we go at 10 mph and look for the bombs on the side of the road. th news never tells you about when we find roadsid bombs and disarm them, or blow them in place. which happens more frequently than you might think. in 9 month ive been hit with roadside bombs 3 times and ive been on around 200 different missions. we dont jus drive and wait to be hit, we look for the fight and take it to them as much as possible. theres no other way to get around than doing what we do. you can fly place to place, but that would defeat the whole purpose of us being here. do urself a favor a quit watchin CNN because all they do is convey the bad part of the war.

Answer 7

You need to spend more time listening to people who have been in Iraq and less time listening to 'journalists' who have never been there.

The 'journalists' are trying to increase ratings by exaggerating how bad it is over there.

Answer 8

Very absurd isn't it?