Does a politicians open disdain for Bush and the Iraq war demoralize the morality of our brave soldiers?

Question

Amongst us all, i'm sure we agree that the men and woman in harm's way are heroes and deserve at the very least to have the full support of their nation behind them while they are in harm's way. I know this is America, and we are lucky enough to live in a democracy where people can say what they want to say. However, that does not give them the right to expect they will not be held accountable for their statements. So with that being said, do any of them stop to think just for a second that some of their redderick is poison that the soldiers do not want to hear? I'm pretty sure the soldiers do not want to hear that they are in Iraq because they are not smart enouigh to have done anything else with their lives, or that they have been compared to Nazi's. Pro or anti war, it is the duty of our great nation to seperate thoughts of the president from negative comments towards the military, who protect the rights of ALL loudmouth political figures to say these types of things.

Answer 1

No they continue to get paid. They have the support of all the George Bush supporters. It is in their name for which they fight. Feel proud. You are doing a good job of letting them know you appreciate them blowing women and children to pieces. They feel more at ease with themselves knowing they have some supporters in this unjust war. Clap clap clap. Good for you. Your President cries himself to sleep at night. He was given the impression when he was told of the job he must undertake that he would be a national hero. The best loved President ever. That there was no way the public would believe that the US government had any involvement in the 9/11. You will be hailed as the saviour of the world George we promise you his employers said. They were wrong and so are people like you.

Answer 2

I SO don't agree - I know it is the American way of thinking, but in my opinion the soldiers who are fighting in Iraq (or anywhere in the world) are not heroes - they are people DOING THEIR JOB...
Whether or not they are influenced by what politicians and the media says: A professional soldier must know that there are different opinions about any military action taken against a country and hence just get on with it and follow orders.
I also don't agree that the soldiers "protect the rights of all loudmouth political figures" as you write - the constitution does. Furthermore I believe that there has been made a mistake in Iraq, you know - no weapons of mass destruction, no plan to conquer the world and turn it in to an Islamic state but a world society who got together and broke the international law and fought a war without the support from UN where the declared goal was to "remove Saddam from power" - that is illegal: it is not allowed to specifically target a country's head of state.

Answer 3

I don't have a clue how you come to a baseless conclusion.

They are no heroes, they are soldiers doing their job as outlined by the people they work for, unfortunately their CINC is Bush!

Poison, you just want more body bags without ever having to mention them. You act like the soldiers don’t know what is going on. This is what they think:


By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

August 25, 2007

YOUSIFIYA, IRAQ -- In the dining hall of a U.S. Army post south of Baghdad, President Bush was on the wide-screen TV, giving a speech about the war in Iraq. The soldiers didn't look up from their chicken and mashed potatoes.

As military and political leaders prepare to deliver a progress report on the conflict to Congress next month, many soldiers are increasingly disdainful of the happy talk that they say commanders on the ground and White House officials are using in their discussions about the war.

And they're becoming vocal about their frustration over longer deployments and a taxing mission that keeps many living in dangerous and uncomfortably austere conditions. Some say two wars are being fought here: the one the enlisted men see, and the one that senior officers and politicians want the world to see.

"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Morale problems come as the Bush administration faces increasing pressure to begin a drawdown of troops."

More than 50% of active duty troops say now Iraq should not have been invaded and an equal number are opposed to the war!

I don't care what they want to hear as they are caught in a political issue. All wars are political.

You think that the military don't know that there are over 4,032 brought home in body bags since 2003, over 5 years?

You don't think the military knows that their own comrades had to SUE the government to get medical care at the VA Hospitals, an agency that Bush cut their funds.

If you hear anything about "smart enough" it is from your side as I don't know any person intimate that. I have heard Republicans say that, along with, "They joined, they have no excuse"! Well they do have an excuse! Many are being held in the military after their contract is up and being sent back to Iraq. Some are on their 3RD tour, and if this war continues the US is going to have a mutiny. You can only send them back so many times. I imagine that most sent back already have PTSD!

Bush spouts rhetoric, and spends a lot of money doing it.

They finished their job, now it is time to get them out. They are not Exxon's army!!!

You are the one that doesn't give them any recognition that they are smart. They know what is happening, and to be told LIES is much worse than trying to bring them home before more die in a senseless war!

Answer 4

You know what demoralizes the troops?

Knowing that is they are injured in the war for nothing, they will have to fight the Army and the VA to get the medical care they deserve. It is demoralizing to know that the Republicans who sent them to war are going to nickle and dime them to death while their families are on food stamps.

It is demoralizing for the troops to know that they are being forced to execute the same failed plans over and over again because the civilian leadership is incapable of admitting they screwed it all up and as a result can't change course for fear of political fall out.

It is demoralizing to the troops to know that the Republicans who claim to support them, sent them to battle with unarmored humvees and not nearly enough troops. And when the Generals on the ground asked for more troops, the republicans who claim to listen to what the Generals on the ground say, show those same Generals to an early retirement.

That's was demoralized the troops, not anything Keith Olbermann might be saying on MSNBC.

Get a clue on reality!!!

Answer 5

There is no morality in war. Regarding "morale", however,
in my humble opinion, the troops over in Iraq are too busy trying to keep themselves in one piece to worry about what some windbag politician back home is saying. I'm sure the real bombs are much more demoralizing then word bombs.

Answer 6

It does demoralize the healthy, natural affection we feel for our gloriously masculine Commander in Chief, George W. Bush.

Guys, let's Stand By Our Man.

Answer 7

I am sure it gets to some of them. But I believe that most of our boys and girls over seas are smarter and stronger than these ignorant, treasonous politicians and politically driven media types give them credit for.

Answer 8

No they don't think about what they say, they like watching themselves on the news......while they drink their Kool-aid

Answer 9

You want to lie to the troops because you think they can't handle it?

Answer 10

some liberal democrats would punch them in the gut if the rest of us would let that happen.