There's a soldier in Iraq. It's late at night and he's hunkered down with his platoon and most of the other men are sleeping. He's not alone but he's lonely. He's been in Iraq for over almost a year now and he's tired. He's tired of the living conditions, he's tired of the food, he thinks about all of the holidays that he's spent here instead of at home, he's tired of the roadside bombs going off in the middle of the night and the bullets wizzing past his head during the day, and he's scared that he might die here. He wishes he could just leave and go home. He misses his home and his wife, he misses his children and parents. He tries hard to not let the doubt creep into his mind but it's there and he knows all of the other men feel it to and the questions keep coming back to him.....
Can we win?Why are we here? Can we win? Why haven't we been able to secure this city? Can we win? How long will we be here? Can we win? What are we fighting for? Can we win? How many more men will we lose today? Can we win?
This soldier is lost so he decides to look for inspiration and gets online to check out the news from around the world. He's looking for inspiration (and porn) so he goes to the major U.S. websites and TV news channels.
He checks the websites of the NY Slimes, ABC news, NBC news, CBS news, (cbs still has news right?) he goes to CNN, the evil FOX news website, and he's one of the three people who tune in to keith overbites countdown to no ratings (props to the great one). He checks out Newsweek and Time.
The theme song is from Styxx: "The headlines read these are the worst of times"
"He (Bush) has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this ... It's a historic blunder" Nancy Pelosi
"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," Murtha said in a Capitol news conference that left him in tears. Islamic insurgents "are united against U.S. forces, and we have become a catalyst for violence," he said. ". . . It's time to bring them home." John Murtha
"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," Kerry said Sunday. "Whether you like it or not ... Iraqis should be doing that." John Kerry
"The idea that we are going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong," Howard Dean
"There was no reason for us to become involved in Iraq recently. That was a war based on lies and misinterpretations from London and from Washington" Jimmy Carter
"Iraq is a quagmire like vietnam" (Pick any democrat in congress)
"Time Table" (pick any democrat again)
"You've got to be able to pay for the war, don't you?" Charlie Rangel
There's more, but that's all it takes. He's found what he was looking for. (inspiration not porn) The al qaeda soldier can go to sleep now, his doubts erased for one more night, he is reinspired. He may not have won any battles but he knows that if he just holds out, if he just kills a few more of the enemy, the political leadership will abandon them and he can win this war.
35 comments:
Spot on!
Rhino, I know a different guy.
He grew up with a military father, went into an officer training program at West Point, had great grades and worked hard, and loved history and believed deeply in the freedom in America. He married a woman, adopted her kid, and took care of his family. She had another baby, and he ended up going to Iraq to work on training. Deep down he had doubts about the war, and if this was really about terror. But he did not question, and he had no choice.
When he was killed, his wife spoke at a memorial and a scholarship was created in his name. His children spent months waking up, crying for Daddy. His wife lost her best friend, the father of her kids.
When her friend posted her poem, a blogger named Rhino came by and said"So???Oh well, he chose to go!!" For some odd reason this same blogger has suddenly made "morale" his concern.
Rhino, many people joined the military long before this war, and never in a million years thought their government would send them with little preparation, inadequate equipment, and logistic failures to go die in Iraq. Or come back without even decent healthcare.
I'm sure in your head, the world would be a better place if nobody questioned anything, if the sheep just towed the line. But I dont really think America is great because we never question, I think its great because we test ourselves and push ourselves, and dissent is part of that.
A phased withdrawal is assisting the enemy? Isn't it important that the Iraqis transition?
Rhino I dont think you have any idea what military families are going through right now, but it is easy to diminish a sacrifice when it doesn't hurt you personally. And its easy to throw in thousands more lives, even if you dont know if it will work, when its not your own.
You take the soldiers for granted, is what you do. Fodder, without value. Volunteers, who knew what they were getting into, so who feels bad?
Your attitude sucks.If the soldiers were given respect, perhaps our leadership would actually make "victory" however you define it- a priority.
Lily you have no idea if i have any personal stake in this war, if i have any friends or family over there right now or if i've lost anyone close to me. You don't know me, and you don't know how i feel about our soldiers.
Now if you want to tell sob stories all day that's ok by me but the fact is that war is a tough business and in war soldiers die.
If the soldiers were given respect we would be asking them what they think, and this post was inspired by a soldier who just got back from Iraq recently and told anyone who would listen that he and his men are sick of the pussies in washington who make their lives harder and inspire their enemy.
So tell me all about the guy who's kids don't have a daddy and i'll tell you that guy probably could have been home alive if the enemy wasn't being inspired by the murtha/kerry rhetoric for years already.
It's YOUR attitude that sucks not mine. My feeling is the same as those soldiers who you claim to respect, your's is the same as hillary clinton who despises the military and doesn't care that they don't want to lose and doesn't care that they will have to win now or go back to an even worse mess later and just wants to be the first female president.
Ask yourself the tough questions like what happens if we leave? what happens if the entire country goes to shit? this isn't vietnam, we NEED this region. So we can either win this thing now or we can go back at some time in the future to an even worse mess! I know this, YOU know this, and hillary knows this. I'm a realist, i guess you're a dreamer, and i don't think hillary and co. give a shit.
brava, eb!
but why even take this post so seriously? it's another obvious attempt at baiting you, anita, gary, and anyone else who believes that free expression of one's convictions is one's patriotic duty.
and we've seen it 100 times already.
how about some actual substantive content, guys?
rhino-itall: baiter-in-chief
on another subject (sorry) ... looks like miss carnivorousness' website is down. clearly, the 'miss' and i have had our differences in the past, but i hope she's ok.
Donsky, i couldn't agree more. So which convictions will hillary and co. be going with this week? whichever ones are leading in the polls is my guess.
Donsk are saying is that EBs opinion is valid but Rhinos is not? Whenever y'all disagree with the message you attack the messengers without addressing the point, which I happen to think was Rhino was dead balls right about.
My hope would be that a reasonable person whether they support this war or not would agree that the tone and choice of wordage from some on the anti-war side is hurtful to the moral of our troops and certainly emboldens our enemies and perhaps a change in dialogue would be in order or at the very least to stop calling this an unwinnable war while were still fighting it and calling our troops terrorists.
The recent surge debate is yet another example how for dem leadership their argument has very little to do with the actual war, but rather how they can oppose and be critical of Bush.
Oh and donsky, i noticed you didn't have shit to say when i put up the sivestre reyes quotes in "what the left stands for"? what happened? cat got your tongue? EARL got your tongue?
These people say what they think will get them elected or what will hurt Bush!
If you think it's anything else then you're a fool.
Hows that for substance?
Rhino is right about one thing (there had to be one) this area is vital to US interests. We need some sort of plan to salvage what we can, make the best of a bad situation. We need to negotiate with the neighboring countries, Iran and Syria. Instead we have a plan, the surge, that is almost guaranteed not to work.And if the surge fails, as I believe it will, then what?
See I dont think you can wrap your minds around the fact that you just lump everyone together as "the left". Even if I was a registered republican that simply took issue with this war and a few things like subsidies- I would be the left and every jackass with every sign no matter what their view is- would be speaking for me.
And if I try to say that I try to speak for myself on an issue by issue basis, you'd pull out the "you think you're so enlightened" crap.
Indeed if I even defend myself at all, then I think the post is all about me. And then its about how self centered I am. Its a waste of damn time.
Do you actually talk about issues anymore? Or just about crotches, banging snot, hating hippies, and Oprah's hole?
If you have an issue with a position stated by Hillary, then address it. If your issue is with a slogan at some rally, address it.
But this lazy habit of ranting like a bad South park episode seems pretty beneath you guys.
Fact is Rhino your attitude seems to be that because the soldiers volunteer, they get what they get. I think we can and should do better by them. Your personal stake doesn't concern me but your attitude of disrespect does.
lily i will remove you from the post. i put you in there as a little joke, i thought it would be funny but you can't get past it.
I TOLD YOU what my attitude is, so you don't have to say it "seems" to be anything.
The soldiers who i've spoken to personally, and most that i've heard from want to win, not quit. My attitude is lets listen to the soldiers not the hippies in san francisco, and not the politicians who change their minds depending on which way zogby is leaning on that day.
Your attitude "seems" to be that you know better than the president because you know a family who has suffered. Your attitude seems to be that this is the only war that hasn't been executed perfectly so lets pretend we're french and just surrender.
I don't know for sure about you, but i do know that murtha, and kerry, and obama, and edwards, and foolsgold, and now hillary have all called for surrender.
So my personal stake doesn't concern you now, but it did in your last comment. And my attitude concerns you now, but maybe it won't when you change your mind again in your next comment. Wait, have you been checking the polls too?
I understand its a joke I just think its time you stopped speaking for "the troops" like they are thrilled and the enemy is Pelosizilla. Pelosi isnt the one keeping them from proper equipment, Rhino. How can you talk about winning and then excuse MAJOR problems that have contributed to death?
Because you are so damned partisan about everything that you cant see how inconsistent it is to leave guys out there without ammo and talk about pussy Democrats and "morale". The soldiers I am close to say fuck the politics and SEND US OUR SHIT already. This aint the war on Christmas, Rhino. If you want to "WIN" then stop excusing incompetence and demand that at the very minimum we have supplies. And translators. We dont even have translators. But we're supposed to be training security people? Give me a freakin break.
I dont want to discuss my personal involvement in this issue but I cannot believe you think one person is more qualified to speak for our troops. Now you dont even think they can have some diverse opinions? Thats respect. Nice credit.
You can talk about people that want to "win" and I can talk about people that think, from their view, that they were not treated like people sent to win. Or they would have been prepared for their friends exploding instead of being told they would be hugged. My issues revolve around things like training, equipment, etc. Not about which Democrat had which talking point on some Sunday talk show.
You dont know what winning looks like practically speaking, what it will take, what the logistic concerns are, or much else. But you sure know you hate "defeatist Democrats" so thats all you want to get into. Why Democrats suck and why I suck and Anita sucks and Gary sucks. A little less Hillary and a little more Bin Laden ass kicking would have gone a long way.
Since noone seems to be addressing Rhino's post and are arguing about other things...I take it that its safe to say that everyone is in agreement that some of the dialogue from dem leadership and the medias coverage of this war are emboldening the enemy.
Donkey **suppose** we agree that the enemy is "terror". Islamic extremist fundies. Check.
Suppose we also agree that the media has been consistently undermining the US and emboldening the enemy. Check.
Suppose we attribute this with our magic fucking wand to the Democrats who just got in. And not on the leadership we've had for years who have done little wrong but are just victims of liberal distortions. Check!!
Suppose you are "spot on". What is your solution? How are more troops going to solve that problem? If the problem is not with the enemy but with America, why send more troops?
Why not some "example" ass kicking in Afghanistan? Some shock and awe as a strategy to scare the enemy versus embolden? ? My question is why you think the "surge" is a superior plan for:
1. Stopping the "emboldening" of enemies
2.Addressing the evil obstructionists?
Why don't YOU address the points, Donkey?
Go to town, cupcake.
Lily, let me break down your bullshit point by point.
1. i'm not speaking for the troops any more than you are. You relate personal stories, i relate personal stories. I don't think anyone is "thrilled" about being in the middle of a war, but i don't think there are too many who want to surrender either.
2. I haven't excused any problems. Please cite me an example of where i did so. I merely stated that this war, like every war that has ever been fought hasn't been executed perfectly. That to me is not a reason to surrender.
3. You DO want to discuss your personal involvement. I know this because you have done so multiple times already today. And i don't think ONE person is more qualified to speak for our troops, i think the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is more qualified than lily of tbr. Maybe i'm wrong, but it would be the first time EVER.
4.Your issues revolve around your inability to put logic ahead of emotion, howeve i too have an issue with the way this war has been executed which is why i've argued repeatedly that the troop increase isn't nearly as important as the changes in the rules of engagement. Which i hope will be the key to a huge turning point.
5. I know what winning looks like as much as you do, and as much as you like to try to distract from the issue here the fact remains that the enemy is encouraged by defeatists. ALL OF THEM. there are some republicans who fall into that category but that doesn't fit my agenda so i don't talk about them.
6. the democrats do suck, and gary sucks a little too, but i didn't say that about you or anita. And even though gary kind of sucks i still like him and read almost all of his comments except the really long ones.
So when you do your next post you can tell me all about what your issues revolve around but don't tell me what I know, or what MY issues are, or what YOU think we should be talking about. This is one post, on one particular issue and i am 100% convinced that i am correct. If you're foolish enough to NOT believe that our enemies read our newspapers then you don't know as much as you think, and if you believe, like i do, that they DO read our newspapers then you must also realize that they love to hear howard dean say that we can't win, and john murtha say that we should surrender.
That's my issue. Deal with it.
So you agree.
...then whats your frickin problem?
Lily, they just got the majority but they didn't just learn about where the microphones were. Get a grip.
And by the way, i didn't even quote the commies at the ny slimes or newsweek etc. because they are opinon writers and not policy makers. As much as i believe they are scum, i don't take them to task as much as i do the people who are in a position to actually effect the war.
Rhino I do appreciate that you responded with your attention instead of a one line brush off remark or a "but you know you dig me" remark. I am not trying to get personal except to say that it is important to me that you understand that I am not against the soldiers.
I am just trying to make the distinction.
I am thinking about what you said though.
Well you DO dig me, and i never said that YOU don't care about the soldiers, and in fact i believe that a lot of the anti-war (i'm not lumping you in with them)lefties have good intentions. I don't however believe that the kerry/clinton/rangel et.al. assholes give a shit about anyone but themselves.
I dont like Kerry, Rangel, or Clinton either. Some reasons are probably the same, some are probably very different.
The draft remarks were stupid, and unlike most people I guess I think Kerry's infamous remark did nail his coffin. Exit stage left. See ya.
I have more respect for a guy like Kucinich who has been consistent, as opposed to Clinton when I read that "she cant wait to vote down the funding to essentially get a 'do-over" on her original support for the war." WTF? I think that THAT statement, like its all about her damn campaign, made me taste bile. So I do hear what you are saying about them, but I still support a phased withdrawal plan.
I was hoping that a break in election pandering might help them focus on the actual war. But no- the R's are worried about their '08 seats, both fixated on the white house run.
I'm disgusted by damned everybody to be honest. I think the whole damn bunch are concerned about themselves.
I'm disgusted by the supporters, disgusted by the critics. Im disgusted by both sides but I think my issue can be distilled down into one thing- there are victims in all this. And I want somebody to step up that we can respect who acts like they at least remotely get that.
busy day, but i'd like to respond:
1) donkey, i should have been clear, but i commend EB for responding to rhino's ridiculous hypothetical with a real, concrete example that refutes him.
and while i agree that some of what's said by critics of the war unfairly villainizes our troops, anyone who disagrees with their right to say those things is being more unamerican than they ever will.
2) rhino, i didn't respond to your "what the left stands for" because i agree with your point in that case--too many Dems are simply anti-bush and fail to analyze his policies critically, or they're hypocrites like reyes.
3) who is earl?
Donsky I agree and think freedom to criticize is part of freedom of speech, and I understand people make it a morale issue but the right to dissent is a big part of this.
I think there are idiots on both sides, partisan parrots that dont know what they are talking about. Thats why I mostly hate everybody, when I really think about it. And sometimes Im an idiot too.
I think we could all do better.
Just because you have the right doesnt mean that it is right and The Aurora will continue to call out the treasonous bullshit as we see fit..it is afterall what we do.
We do not deny that we are partisans and as Rhino said...we do have an agenda. If you want to read how Bush is Hitler goto the Kos or TBR for anti-GOP rhetoric.
If you want anti-hippie rhetoric (and the occasional gratuitous crotch shot. mascot of the week, and glorious Oprah hole conspiracy theories)...then youre in the right place.
EE-motherfuckin-Aw!!!
Sadly, your rhetoric makes us pissed as shit. But...
The gratuitous crotch shots keep us coming back.
Well, maybe thats not true for Donksy because he seems pretty...unmoved. I think Oprah's hole might be working on him though.
it's more like i worked on oprah's hole.
ba-dum-ching!
I think if you're an elected rep. and you have troops in the field, you shouldn't come out and say
"we can't win"
Even if that's what you believe.
Do you have the right to say it?
Of course! Just like i have the right to say you're a scumbag for saying it.
Great site, I am bookmarking it!Keep it up!
With the best regards!
David
but really, who is earl and why would he have my tongue? is that your cat's name?
and it just occurred to me that we can solve this whole iraq problem with minimal pain--because we already won!
seriously, we beat the hell out of saddam much faster than anyone thought we would, and that right there was winning the war, just like bush declared on the aircraft carrier.
what we're witnessing now is a protracted post-game show. terry bradshaw gone wild, if you will.
Earl is from one of those cell phone commercials. kind of funny but you have to see it.
I agree that we could have been done or basically done already and the donkey made that point a long time ago. His theory was that we kicked ass and took names but that the PERCEPTION was that since everything wasn't perfect the job wasn't done. Since then we've been trying to rebuild while the enemy has been retooling. we need to start killing people again and not worry about the politics of it.
That was my plan but obviously things have changed although we are still significantly closer to exiting than most think. But it must be on our terms and THAT is what some of the anti-war crowd dont get and are making extremely difficult to achieve. The media will Conkrite Iraq no matter what.
We should NEVER leave Iraq but we should abstain from involvement in the daily goings on. We need to complete the training of the Iraqi forces and either give Maliki full support or force him to step down and have another election and prop up a new dude...then we can redeploy to a newly created DMZ along the Iraq Kuwaiti border.
If they kill each other they kill each other its out of our hands but we will still be close enough for strategic tactical strikes on the terrorist camps that will surface.
We can always reserve the right to re-enter as needed and since the dems seem to love US involvement in civil wars (see:Bosnia, Somalia and the cries to save Darfur) there will be no problem....right?
Reserve the right? This is your vision for a sovereign democratic nation?
Interesting.
Interesting how?
I thought that was pretty much standard procedure. The form of government they have is unimportant to me.
We still have a base in Cuba for example and be rest assured if Fidel pointed any more missiles at us...Bubba would have had to accost the fat chick with a Dominican cigar instead.
Am I going to have to give you another history lesson?
Um, no. No thanks Donkeyhue.
Wouldn't want to trouble the "big dogs". I'm not worthy.
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