why dont they ask the soldiers?

Question

why does the media only ask the military leadership about what the soldiers think about being in iraq? i know from experience, iraq 2004-2005, that if they would ask the soldiers if the occupation is worth the loss of lives they would get a different answer. if they had asked the guys in my unit i can honestly say that the majority would have said, being over there is a joke! and that there is no justification for being there. we went there because we lost 2000 plus lives in the 911 attacks, this is true, but we have lost a great deal more while being there, is it worth it? and why? and please no crap about fighting for our freedom, because i wasnt fighting for the freedom of the american people when i was there.

Answer 1

Sounds familiar to me. Back in the late 1960s early 1970s the same sentiment could have been expressed by me or any other guy in Vietnam. I did two tours there and went to South Korea five times in my 28 year Navy career.

I was and am as patriotic as they come yet I was never under any illusion that I was fighting for American freedom in either Vietnam or South Korea.

Having said that I should point out that I did a lot of stuff in those 28 years in the Cold War that was fighting for American freedom. Unfortunately that gets little attention and will probably remain unknown and unappreciated. But we did win that one and the world is a better place for it.

My feeling at this point in life......age 65.......is that the Defense Department should be for the Defense of the USA and it's interest only. We owe nothing to the rest of the world. I am just one retired warrior.....perhaps an insignificant one......but those are my thoughts.

I appreciate your service to us. I really do. And I have some advise for you if you are willing to heed it. Get over your hostile feelings soon. Get some help doing that if you need it. If you dwell on those feelings it will eat you alive and you will never get a life. Take a look around you at the guys with signs saying "homeless Vietnam Vet" and then look at people like Senator McCain who was POW for seven years and you will see what I mean. Just a passing thought.

Answer 2

Iraq had NOTHING to do with the 9/11 attacks
they were all Saudi's........
raq was NEVER about weapons of mass destruction, most countries have them, Iraq actually lacked it and we knew it.

Its not about protecting our freedom from terrorism, any forward thinking individual knew you can't convert a thousand years of sectarian hatred to capitalism, lol-

AND IRAQ IS THE BREEDING GROUND FOR TERRORIZM BECAUSE WE INVADED AND STARTED A WAR PRE-EMPTIVELY!

We are there to have a permanent military presence in the richest oil region in the world, as the world's oil reserves decline..........

Our soldiers are bearing the brunt of the suffering and if you spoke with families, love-ones or the troops about the suffering, you would find alot of despair and heartache, soldiers are wary to speak openly though for fear of reprisals or being marked a traitor for expressing any opposition.

Answer 3

Wow. Really? I have a number of Marine neighbors that might disagree. I might additionally disagree that September eleven had something to do with Iraq. I might be extra apt to think that it has extra to do with the tried assassination of Daddy Bush. You and I each recognize irrespective of what the media say it's certainly not soldier and Marines certainly not combat for freedom. We combat for the our men and women we serve with, we combat for each and every different. I feel that's the reality.

Answer 4

Actually, you were. You were fighting to keep the scum causing all the problems in Iraq from coming and causing the same kinds of problems here on American soil. Part of the reason the media doesn't always pick average soldiers to talk to--which isn't necessarily true, because they do--is because the average soldier is neither privy to all the information about an operation or what his own unit is even doing, nor is he qualified nor allowed to speak on matters he doesn't directly know about--and even on matters he DOES know about, for OPSEC's sake. A PFC talking smack on TV about how much he hates his CO and that his 1SG smoked him for stealing toilet paper out of portajohns not only looks bad for him but makes everyone else look bad too... that, and your average PFC simply doesn't know what's going on. Sure, he sees dirty neighborhoods, gets involved in attacks, shoots and kills guys that he sees setting up IED's during patrols; but he doesn't necessarily even know what's going on in his unit's entire AO, much less what's going on in the AO of the brigade, division, or even Iraq as a whole. Would you talk to an EMT about your surgery, or the surgeon?

I was in Iraq, too, and I would never make presumptions or judgments of an entire operation based only on what I, myself, saw. That would be foolish.

Answer 5

All the guys in my unit volunteered to go, a good group of SeaBees. We want to stay until the job is done and that's the word I got when I was there. Maybe you, your unit and big mofo can think about someone other than themselves. This war is NOT just about us... it is the future of Iraq, it's people and ours... sounds like your unit needs an enema!

And rorya... OMG shutup remf!

Answer 6

You sound like the kind of person that the military would reject, so I seriously doubt that you served any time in the service. Educated people understand what is going on in the world. Instead of showing your butt to the public, why don't you go back to school?

Answer 7

I agree w/ you 100% I think Iraq is a total waste of time, effort & life. It's not worth one drop of American blood. I don't know how I would respond if I mic was placed in front of me. I have nothing good to say so I probably wouldn't say anything. My words would not be P/C & there's possible backlash. Those who do speak, "for all of us". Are usually yes men & brown nosers. A lot of staged B.S like when those 5 soldiers got a "Q & A" with George W. a couple of years ago.

Answer 8

Funny, the vast majority of the troops I knew over there felt differently.

Answer 9

Maybe the Iraqi thing should be volunteer duty now, like the Flying Tigers before the U.S. entered WWII and the U.S. pilots that went to England before the U.S. entered WWI.

Answer 10

why don't we ask our politicians why they keep wanting to tie the hands of our soldiers? We can't attack them unless then are shooting at them first? What sort of **** is that? Nuke the country, take the oil, and go home.