Do you think that every soldier who enlists in the armed services has pure motives, ie to protect our freedoms

Question

This video sadly tells a different story. It should not be watched if you are squemish but what it says to me very clearly is that it is time to get our troops out of Iraq before their morals goes further into the ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL5vtXuQrYY another version of this same incident can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY5rA1YuPd4

It is not my intention to judge the entire military by the actions of a few but I fear that what the film depicts is a lot more prevalent than you think and the longer the troops stay in this war the more common such incidents will become. For even further disturbing evidence of this read: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/12/1726251

Answer 1

Unfortunately our soldiers are encouraged to dehumanize the "enemy" and atrocities are sure to follow.

I don't believe that all or even most of our young men and women who enlist, do so purely to protect our freedoms.
The Armed services are predominantly made up of the poor who often have little or no prospects in our "winner takes all" society. slick advertising and the hard sell from recruiters combine to ensure that the video game generation has no clue of what they are letting themselves in for.

Whether it be for the excitement, the desperation, the money or to "protect our freedoms" the new recruits are entrapped by a contract ,and if only they knew that they would likely end up sitting ducks in an illegal, immoral war on the other side of the planet, they would surely think again.

Answer 2

Speaking of footage did you see the one where the pregnant lady pretended to be in labor and blew up a bunch of soldiers, or the one with the car jam packed with explosives that rammed the gate killing and wounding soldiers or how about the kids strapped with bombs because we all know most soldiers aren't looking at little kids as the walking bombs some of them are.
Did you know that the more soldiers a family can kill the higher the honor for that family?
Have you seen the footage that shows the enemy creeping up on the soldiers and explaining what they are about to do as they take a grenade launcher and use it to take out a target that is stopped at a military checkpoint?

I try to keep in mind that footage only shows half a story. I can't pretend to know what has occurred or been witnessed by our troops to lead them to act the way they do in a given situation.

The soldiers are doing a job they were told to do. We are at war and last tme I checked war isn't pretty.
When troops are identified as doing something wrong they are punished for that behavior just as gang bangers are.
over here.
Advertising footage that further demoralizes the troops is not the way to bring about an increase in moral. It spreads further hate.
My husband has served and is serving in Iraq right now. Every time he returns he to has footage from the crap that the soldiers have to deal with. You will never see that footage aired, ever. It is to graphic for the American public. Perhaps it is time to take the blinders off the public and allow all the footage to be released.
It is time for a reality check America. Where do you think these videos come from?

Answer 3

You cannot be serious!?

When our men and women choose to sacrifice their lives to serve and protect our country and to honor the Constitution of the United States and are sworn into the United States Military, that action itself is pure.

Now, I'm not saying what those 4 men did is excusable because it's not, but you cannot sit at your computer desk and judge the rest of us. You say you're not, but you are, and you absolutely cannot.

War has different effects on people. The view points and actions of these men were terribly misguided. We're not trained to be "killing machines". The Army should have taken instant responsibility when the first signs of a personality disorder were presented. But - just because 4 men made a HUGE mistake in their careers by doing what they did doesn't mean that the rest of us are evil and sadistic in nature, and will do it too.

All of us service men and women serve our country with the highest Honor and Dignity.

Answer 4

Generalizations such as this give the United States a bad reputation. Every country has it's down falls.

Our entire military can't be based off of three men (and yes, I am aware that things of this ilk have happened before).

Answer 5

You cannot condemn thousands and thousands of qualified, respectable military enlistees for the actions of 3 or 4 people. What happened to that little girl and her family was deplorable and the men involved should be held accountable for their actions. But many soldiers have been seen giving candy to children and playing a game or tossing a ball with them. I know for a fact that many cry over the things they have seen and experienced there...I have family serving in Iraq. Their lives have been changed forever. However...they can fight the war there...or HERE...what is YOUR preference???

Answer 6

i joined because i wanted my college loans paid off and some good job experience as a journalist and photographer. that was before 9/11 though. still, i knew that my number one job was to go to war when told. i did my job and know that my small contribution to the war effort helped someone.

as for morals...you give the military and the government too much credit. a person's morals are cemented in their formative years and it's very difficult to change them. those people who use the military as an excuse to rape and murder a child are disturb. they would be disturbed no matter where there are.

Answer 7

People join for many reasons. Recently our squadron had a discussion about this and we went around the room to ask why people had joined. There was hardly anyone that said they joined for the sole reason to protect the constitution. Answers were generally....to travel, to do something different, for the bonus money, and the biggest one 'to get a free education'. Now this doesn't mean they don't serve honorably. Just because they wanted something different doesn't mean they don't serve their country with honor and do their job well.

Answer 8

Of course not....people join the military for different reasons...usually not for "protecting freedoms."

Oh, and don't generalize....I spent a year in iraq and my "morals did not go into the ground". Obviously, you've never been there.

ON ANOTHER SUBJECT:

candleinthewind7579 said: However...they can fight the war there...or HERE...what is YOUR preference???


Please....how can you believe this garbage? They will fight each other for control of Iraq if we leave, and be less concerned with attacking us. Stop believing the propoganda you read and use some common sense. If you had ever served, you would know that this is complete crap.

Answer 9

I don't care to watch the video but i imagine I have seen it.

You cannot judge an entire organization on the actions of a very minor few of it's people.

When you ask questions like this you are disgracing the thousands of good soldiers, sailors, marines and, airman out there.

If you are not in the military you will not ever understand the things they go through to protect your freedoms.

Stop calling American military murders, terrorist, mercinaries, whatever other disgraceful terms you can come up with. 99.99% of them are the greatest men and women you would ever have the honor of being in the same room with.

Answer 10

I don't know what the hell you're trying to get across at, but I don't care. Of course some people who join the military have other reasons to joining besides saving our lives etc. I could give a few; money; new life; forced by mom or dad; wants to prove a point etc. Yeah, they're some shi t heads in the military, but this life is full of bad people, get over it!