tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post2079311088886403078..comments2024-03-29T05:00:41.967-05:00Comments on driftglass: Tommy This, An' Tommy That...driftglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09379167083253389153noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-32863634588723189002014-11-11T23:03:56.580-06:002014-11-11T23:03:56.580-06:00Armistice Day, Armistice Day
That's all I real... Armistice Day, Armistice Day<br />That's all I really wanted to say.<br /><br /> -Paul Simon<br /><br /><br /> -Doug in Oaklanddinthebeasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12941071534250216503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-52832661496368492652014-11-11T22:27:40.818-06:002014-11-11T22:27:40.818-06:00@Grant
I'm not saying we should have done it,...@Grant<br /><br />I'm not saying we should have done it, or that it was the brightest idea in the world. I'm simply stating what was the prevailing political and military views on the situation... from my viewpoint of having been there.<br /><br />Was the entire "WMDs" bullshit, yeah. We had the receipts for what we sold him vs what he used and that didn't add up. On the other hand we'd been the ones blowing that stuff up. He was also engaged in keeping up the illusion that he had them to scare the shit out of everyone, mostly Iran... but there was little doubt the programs were anything more than jokes and that we could blow that up as well. Yet Bush lied about it, rather than stating the actual case.<br /><br />Was it run poorly, fuck it was poor from the planning stages. Firing all the generals who tell you "hey moron, you aren't going in there with the right amount of troops, supplies, or logistical backing" is a sure as fuck way to screw things up. So is appointing political cronies to run a government in a region they know nothing about... and the free market utopia was even more nuts.<br /><br />But this "fight" was going to happen one way or the other. There was no way out of that, and electing a D wouldn't have changed it. Now I'm sure Gore would not have lied about it, not have fucked it up so massively, and not have gone to full blown invasion... but we were going to escalate the conflict there. It had been a slow boil we were keeping the lid on since the end of Gulf War I, it never really ended.<br /><br />I spent the first two years of my professional life either over there or training to be over there. There's a lot of shit I'm pissed about and I want answers about. But I know why it fucking happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-7267133012249319622014-11-11T19:25:55.379-06:002014-11-11T19:25:55.379-06:00Spek Drago wrote:
"Vets is just another name...Spek Drago wrote:<br /><br />"Vets is just another name for a stooge.. a very pricy stooge who will be used up and thrown away once they're usefulness is over."<br /><br />And yet they still show up at the recruiter's office. Show up they do. Even after the substandard flak vests and rolling armor in Iraq, and Rumsfeld kissing it off. Even after Walter Reed, after Phoenix, after the pre-emptive discharges to get around dealing with the behavioral effects of neurological casualties, even after it's as clear as fucking day their government--and those who refuse to fund it--are ready to throw them right under the bus, over the curb, and into the landfill. Overwhelmingly, the new recruits come from families whose opinion of the government is that it could fuck up a wet dream, is not to be trusted to do anything worthwhile, wants their families' guns, etc. A nation of cretins, believing there is nothing but benevolence in the Army's sponsoring high school all-star football games, nothing but benevolence in sports plutocrats' outfitting their teams in camo to "honor the troops." <br /><br />Of course, if the economy is tilted so that non-military employment is nothing but a shit show with stagnant wages, limited advancement, and real wealth increasing year after year for only the oligarchs, maybe a couple years lugging a carbine isn't all that bad. Until it is.<br /><br />Because, after all, isn't it about defending "freedom?"milegrinderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07080871292023560660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-38826872614579710812014-11-11T18:11:15.462-06:002014-11-11T18:11:15.462-06:00Beautiful story..Beautiful story..Grant Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11944976348166120530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-74535421910597350262014-11-11T17:49:57.406-06:002014-11-11T17:49:57.406-06:00You want to know why? I can tell you why. I know...You want to know why? I can tell you why. I know, cause I was there. I was there in the gulf before 9/11 and I was there after. The why is fucking easy.<br /><br />Gulf War I never actually ended. Which is why I was there shooting, and bombing, launching TLAMs before 9/11 ever happened. I was part of something called "Operation Southern Watch", and while it was not a declared war, war sure did a lot of killing and many of us sure got killed.<br /><br />Now you could say that situation was working, and to an extent it was. But of course the Frenchies and the Russians were helping them smuggle oil out and undoing the work, Saddam was still killing his people, and the entire region was freaked out that he'd do it again. Plus we were freaked out, it was only a matter of time until this turned into a real shooting war, a ship got sunk, or a plane got shot down.<br /><br />So the prevailing wisdom, even under Clinton, and yes even for Gore, was that we were going to have to go back. We were going back, end of fucking story. It was only a matter of when, and what the fiasco would be that kicked it all off.<br /><br />Then 9/11 happened, and whelp that was as good an excuse to get it over with as any.<br /><br />The problem was the idiotic Bush administration deluded itself into thinking this would pay for itself, cut taxes, fired all the generals who knew how to fight this war, and so we went in with less troops then needed to create a free market utopia. Which was precisely the moment most of us knew this was going to turn to shit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-81217509736654278682014-11-11T17:36:51.774-06:002014-11-11T17:36:51.774-06:00I have always took veteran and memorial day as &qu...I have always took veteran and memorial day as "Happy lost limb day"<br /><br />We have these days as means to honor the sacrifices of our vets.. but in truth we don't really care about them. Of course due to the media.<br /><br />In truth, I don't even know what we as American owe our vets. I can think of Vietnam.. and for that much I think at least you're allow to vote at 18 due to that. But besides that I'm running on empty. Any conflict or war we had after doesn't seem to benefit this country besides our leaders playing politics with the world.<br /><br />So considering that our media isn't telling the truth of our wars, I'm going to assume our media is feeding us dogma on how we're suppose to feel about our military and we should look at it deeply... and after looking at it.. Vets is just another name for a stooge.. a very pricy stooge who will be used up and thrown away once they're usefulness is over.<br /><br />Our military is a political tool, and being used as such. I don't like it and i want that abuse to stop, but I don't feel we as a country owe them a thing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15994862204807962667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-6104179977621831482014-11-11T16:36:07.802-06:002014-11-11T16:36:07.802-06:00General Bolgernov seems to be Bolger at the Times,...General Bolgernov seems to be Bolger at the <i>Times</i>, by the way.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01347115855111060618noreply@blogger.com