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Where is the outrage?
June 26, 2007
Remember this?
Or this?
Or this?
One week ago today, I woke to these pictures, just as the rest of us did. As always when I witness any kind of cruelty to children, my broken heart shattered into even more tiny pieces.
One week! One week - and CBS reported on this horrific scene that our troops almost missed. Almost missed, but didn’t; I can only guess that was by the grace of God that they did NOT walk by unknowing what horrors lurked behind the wall.
| On a daytime patrol in central Baghdad just over than a week ago, a U.S. military advisory team and Iraqi soldiers happened to look over a wall and found something horrific….”They saw multiple bodies laying on the floor of the facility,” Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson of the 82nd Airborne Division told CBS News … “They thought they were all dead, so they threw a basketball (to) try and get some attention, and actually one of the kids lifted up their head, tilted it over and just looked and then went back down. And they said, ‘oh, they’re alive’ and so they went into the building.” [source] |
One week ago, msm like CBS gave this story front page status. One week on? Nothing. Zip. Zero. NADA. You might be forgiven if you think it was all a bad dream, now that the media has gone on to the next big ’scoop’. They might have moved on, but I will not - and I will not allow self-righteous, self-serving politicians of the world to move on.
Yes, these are ugly pictures showing, for all to see, the basest of human nature, and we ALL want to turn away. The msm has, but I will not.
In the course of my life, I have worked with many abused and neglected children. Because of what I do, complete strangers still email me regularly with a never-ending litany of horror stories of neglected children. Children treated as so much garbage by the ‘adults’ supposed to nurture them and care for them. Every time I hear (or see with my own eyes in some cases) the neglect and mistreatment of kids, it just makes me stronger in my mission to work on behalf of the children. It outrages me all over again - even when I am so heart-sick of the never-ending stories, that I swear I can no longer be outraged. And then - and then. THIS shows up with my morning coffee, and I want to do unspeakable things to the adults who would do such things.
People like this:
Or this:
Or THIS:
The caption on THIS picture?
A woman working at an orphanage smiles for pictures in front of the naked boys as if there was nothing wrong.
“Nothing wrong”????????? There is just sooooooooo much wrong with this story on so many levels, is hard to know where to begin. But begin we must, and never stop looking at pictures like this. Yes, it stinks to see these over morning coffee. Hell, it hurts any time of the day to see these pictures. But look we must. And we must act. To quote an old song “Tears are not enough”. Treating this story, and the many so far untold stories like this, as one day wonders, as various media outlets have done, and then moving on, is most certainly not enough. As I looked at these the first time, I immediately had to wonder how many OTHER - thus far unknown - children will bear witness to the horrors of the state-sanctioned evil that our troops are fighting against. Our troops. I dont need to imagine the reactions of our soldiers as they deal with this day in, day out. I don’t need to imagine. I know. For me, pictures like this are EXACTLY why our troops are in Iraq. And I want to go to some politicians’ offices and get in their faces and DEMAND they support the mission with every cell in their bodies.
In the past, ChrisG has posted pictures here of a little girl in Iraq. This little girl, wrote ChrisG (and I am paraphrasing now Chris - forgive me) reminded Chris WHY he does what he does, why he went to Iraq, why he serves in the military.
As a member of Soldiers’ Angels, and with the contacts I now have, I often see requests for shoes for children in Iraq who have no shoes. Our soldiers in Afghanistan write and ask for school supplies, teddy bears, footballs (okay, okay “soccer balls. lol). All well and good, and I am happy to report that every single request for those things IS met, by generous and loving folks - strangers to these children. Compassionate strangers a world away from the deprivation of kids they may never meet, open their hearts and their wallets so that others’ children may know the simple joys of chasing a ball, swinging carelessly on a swing in a newly rebuilt playground. You know - every day simple joys that we who do not live in places like Iraq take for granted every single day.
So I have a mission for every single compassionate person. THIS mission has nothing to do with opening your wallet. It has EVERYTHING to do with opening your heart. It has EVERYTHING to do with taking the outrage that any of us feel when we witness recurring scenes like these (remember Romania? We’ve come a long way baby. NOT!) and demanding, DEMANDING that your politicians give our soliders every single dime they need to complete their mission. We ‘cut and run’ as so many of the politicians insist is the only plausable, acceptable end to this war, and I dread to think how many more of children - JUST LIKE THESE - will go unfound.
In the immediate days following the breaking of this story, a few media outlets had this - you can go here, or here, or
I don’t care where you get the pictures from, or the facts from, but this mission must not fail. I have noticed how quiet all the politicians have been on this horror story. Why is that, do you think? That was a rhetorical question! I know, oh how I know, it would be s0 easy to ‘turn the page’ and just get back to business as usual. You know the line: WE have no business being in Iraq. We went there for oil. No weapons of mass destruction. Blah blah blah. Well, I for one have always supported our troops and their mission - whole-heartedly. For me, it is and has always been about the children. Children are MY business, and damn it - I am going to do all in my power to make sure that not another politican can turn their heads away from this story. Not another politician is going to be allowed to play bs games with the lives of our troops, or the children. The children, the thousands of children just like these, don’t have the luxury of turning away. They live - and they die - in the time it is taking you to read this and drink your morning coffee. It is ONLY because our troops are there that maybe, just maybe if the politicians get their heads out of their arses, that children just like these, and you know - kids used a suicide bomb decoys (and if that doesn’t outrage you, you are NOT fit to be part of the HUMAN race) - will be allowed to grow up, go to school, swing in the playground, and scream in delight. Our troops, and these children, deserve our support. Every soldier - and every CHILD, no matter where, IS one of our own.
Capt. Benjamin Morales carries one of the special needs boys from a Baghdad orphanage after finding the children suffering in horrific conditions, in this photo given to CBS News.
|
“We’ll leave here and he’ll remember us ’til the day he dies.” Lt. Jason Smith [source] |
Every one of these children and yes, every Iraqi child touched on a daily basis by our troops, (you know, the stories you will never see in msm) WILL remember the kind soldiers who rescued them, saved them. These children will remember that not everyone in the world treats them as so much garbage.
Please: I don’t care what your politics are. I don’t care of you are brainwashed by the anti-war rhetoric. That is your choice. I am telling you, in the matter of children, none of us has a choice. Really, we don’t. It is said that every society is judged by how it treats the weakest among them. How willl YOU be judged? Where is the outrage? Who will join me on this mission to ensure that NEVER AGAIN will any politician be allowed to play their political games. NEVER again will they be allowed - by the stroke of a pen in their cushy, air-conditioned offices, enjoying their fat paycheques (which YOU pay), to send the message to ANY child that they don’t matter. I swear that I will not sit quietly by and give the politicians the luxury of turning their head away from scenes such as these, and decide that their own games of one-upmanship matter more than any child. Enough!
This is MY mission.
Brat
Comments
91 Responses to “Where is the outrage?”
I continue to get angered, each time I see this. Of course, the fact that our soldiers have done and CONTINUE to do good things, isn’t good press, so as usual, the media tends to gloss it over and delegate it to the middle of their reports, so that instead, they can focus on things like suicide bombers, etc in an attempt to make our troops look bad. This should remain front and center in the news for a long time. Unfortunately the media tends to not agree with us.
Apparently, the MSM doesn’t report enough about the bad things happening in Iraq as much as they don’t report enough about the good things happening. I hardly call their stories news anymore because that’s the last thing that it is. This sucks, Iraq has gotten a whole lot worse in recent times and people keep blaming it on our troops’ presence there. Yet they have no proof to back that claim, and they have no reliable sources to find the information needed to hold a decent discussion on what should be done to finally set Iraq free and bring our troops home.
Let’s hope Brat never treks to Rwanda or countries thereabouts. Brat would soon forget Iraq and shift this kind of rage to much more fertile ground.
Sharon there are a lot of places where outrageous treatment of children takes place. We should be outraged about such treatment anywhere in the world.
Some countries force children to join the military, unlike we do.
Yes they do. There are many countries, many of them located in the Middle East that do just that.
VT yet again you display your total ignorance as well as your inability to read.
I am not going to get into your bs.. Maybe learn to read before you start shooting your mouth off… Don’t bother answering this - focus instead on what YOU can do to make the world a better place for the kids….
Brat,
Your being from Canada, I gather the last paragraph in your post refers primarily to Bush, Cheney, Rummy and Wolfowitz, among other war criminals in the executive branch.
I guess we can find common ground for agreement after all!
There you go again Sharon, making ASSumptions…..
Bush and his administration are war criminals? Where were you to say something like that when Saddam tried to commit genocide on two seperate occasions? Where is your undeniable proof that Iraq has decended into chaos due because of our troops’ presence in the Iraq and because they removed Saddam? Where is your proof that we rushed into war based on evidence that was tampered with? I saw all your sources and everything that you claim as evidence to support your theories, and they hardly constitute as evidence or anything of the sort. Anything somebody in Congress says for their politics doesn’t constitute as evidence given that these are the people who micromanage the military’s actions from the ground up and the fact that if they really wanted those troops out then they could pull the troops out now with little effort in the process.
Also if we’re counting people as “war criminals” then I guess that should include every single congressman/woman who voted to go into Iraq to begin with. You’re banging your head against the wall trying to “reason” with Sharon, Ryan. ChrisG has provided tons and tons of information and he/she just ignores it.
There are many congress-persons complicit in BushCo’s run-up to war in Iraq. There are, however, many who were wrongfully deceived with the spin the administration put on the intel used to support the war.
“I guess we can find common ground for agreement after all!”
Not in this lifetime VT. Do not EVER presume to speak for me.
Regardless of any politics, the point of this story is that the well-being of kids SHOULD be above politics..
And yes - I thank God that OUR troops found this specific group of children.
Anything else I will not discuss in the comments for THIS post.
Fess up Brat. If you are a true Canadian, you hate Bush right along with most of the United States and certainly the rest of the world! If not, you haven’t been paying attention.
Brat is probably the most American Canadian/Brit that I know.
Sharon, only a person so wrapped in ignorance and leftist propaganda could turn one of the many stories where we rescue children into a bash Bush fest.
Odd you bring up Rwanda. Bush was not President then.
War Criminals? Tampered evidence? What planet is this true VT? Not Earth! I have shown, from various sources, evidence. I have seen that evidence with MY OWN EYES. I have seen more than I can or will tell you.
I am in too good a mood with the birth of my sin to say more as others have already stated facts (something you never have and refuse to listen to VT).
Enjoy your fantasy world VT. I just hope the left’s idiotic antics you subscribe to do not get us all killed in the end.
“Birth of my son.”
Sorry. Little sleep in the past week.
I doubt it will get through to you VT, BUT for me when it comes to the well-being of children - what nationality I am is irrelevant. I DO believe that we are all responsible for the well-being of all the children…and I know personally that OUR troops treasure children as the precious blessings they are. This post is about the children and our troops. Not that it is any of your business VT - but you better believe I have been paying attention. Far more than you ever do apparently.
Congrats to you and the family Chris…How blessed you are…
Can anyone say “yellowcake”? Traitor and war criminal - BushCo is nothing less and should be treated as such!
Yellowcake… You mean the intel the UK still stands by? Intel corroborated by more than a few sources.
You want to throw the “treason” charge around VT? Go ahead, live you lies.
Congratulations on the new little one Chris! I hope he and mom are doing well. As usual Chris, we’re all just banging our heads against the proverbial brick wall, when it comes to Sharon. She/he tends to ignore any evidence to have provided.
I wish I could show this useful idiot the whole toxic and radioactive pile of evidence. I wish I could say openly all I have seen and know of. I wish the President would stop trying to get along with the left and rub their noses in that evidence. I wish I could point to the hundreds of failed terror operations against the US and our allies but all I can say is this:
The terrorist hate us no matter what we do or do not do. They hated us long before 9-11 and invading Iraq did not suddenly “cause” them to hate us. They hate us because we are the last superpower and they thought that after the USSR fell that they would regain their Caliphate and crush the “infidel” West. They thought the USSR, being genocidal and ruthless, was the most powerful adversary and were perplexed that we stood up to them thus far (though like Gen Giap in Vietnam, they know our weakness is our left-wing and are using it). The fascist Islamics (or islamofascists or Harabist Islamists) do NOT care that we support Israel nor do they care that we send billions in aid to Islamic countries and their people. They hated us long before there WAS and Israel. They still attack Europe even though the EU has long ago abandoned Israel. We are “infidels” (Kuffer) so they WILL do all they can to forcefully convert or crush us. The islamofascists state this EVERY DAY in their media and in their speeches and fatwas.
They ARE trying to follow us home and have been trying to attack us for decades. Very few of these attacks succeed. When they do, they are usually spectacular or hushed up (we cannot “profile” or we might hurt someone’s feelings). However, most Americans are blind and deaf when smaller attacks do occur. Most of these are now by “lone wolf” harabists who use cars to run down people, shoot up malls, hide in vans with rifles, and other “small”, “isolated” incidents. These incidents form a disturbing pattern that openly worries Law Enforcement. The larger cells are vulnerable as many have been caught planning attacks and move to the execution phase. This is when terrorists are most vulnerable and the evidence is solid enough to move against them (the Ft Dix 6, the cells planning to attack bridges and tunnels in NYC are just two examples).
In addition, there are multiple tests of security systems daily, hacking attempts on computers (both from “cyber jihadists” and the Chinese), and forced sharia law in parts of the US and Europe (the sharia “law courts” in the UK, the ZUS in France, the Minneapolis taxi drivers not taking single women or guide dogs, “honor” killings in the UK, Canada, and USA, etc).
I understand your frustration Chris and fully understand why you can’t provide all the information that you’d like to, just so that people like Phil and Sharon fully realize what we’re up against. Thank you as always for the valuable information that you are able to provide.
And Chris, I wish BushCo apologists could recognize that compelling evidence existed to discredit the yellowcake theory before those 16 fateful words were ill-advisedly added to the 2003 SOTU Address. We were hoodwinked, my friend, and near 4,000 of your comrades have lost their lives as a result!
Those 16 words weren’t spin on any intel just for your information. To say that Saddam sought fissile material that was illegal for him to acquire isn’t spin when Saddam did physically try to acquire it. Which is in fact going a step farther than only seeking the material. Besides, the deaths of those soldiers weren’t a result of the 2003 SOTU. They were the result of terrorists carrying out their agendas, which has no ties to the military’s presence in the region.
Okay, may I also remind people to stay on topic! More than half of these comments on this thread are irrelevant not only to what’s happening in Iraq and to our troops but to the story that was posted to start the thread as well.
That’s pretty normal for Sharon and Phil. They have a tendency to try to change the topic midstream and steer it away from what the post is about.
Disagree SP. The “mushroom cloud” scenario is the final fear-factor that pushed folks over the edge - and the mushroom cloud was linked directly to Saddam ostensibly seeking yellowcake uranium from Niger, an assertion that BushCo had every reason to suspect was false.
And today, while the morons like VT are spewing ignorance, more children in iraq are able to BE children as OUR troops interact with them.
THAT is the topic of this post.
Step away from the keyboard VT and go and do something useful for the CHILDREN!
Thank YOU Chris, and all the troops working tirelessly for the children of the world.
Amen Brat Amen! Instead of arguing whether we should or should not be in Iraq, in this thread, we should be thankful that our Troops ARE in Iraq and saving the lives of children such as these.
And I am - God knows I am!
Back to the ad hominem, Brat? I would expect better from Canadians!
The only one spouting ad hominem around here is YOU Sharon. As Brat said, the topic of this post was the starving and severely neglected children who were saved by OUR TROOPS and nothing about Bush, if we should be there, evidence or anything else. But as usual, you ignore the story at hand and attempt to change to topic to suit yourself. Sorry, pal but we’re here in this thread talking about the children.
And I expect comments on THIS thread to deal only with the issues addressed within the thread..
So VT whatever/whoever - I guess we are both SOL.
Again - you are making gross ASSumptions about me, yet another topic you prove you know less than ZERO about.
I’m hoping that through the military channels, that we’ll continue to hear more about how these children are progressing. Lord knows, we’d be waiting forever to hear about it from the media.
I too thank God that our troops are over in Iraq and that they found these children in time! God bless ‘em!
Disagree as well, VT. You don’t take some topic that was discussed before a military decision is made and claim it is sole deciding factor in that decision when it took up less than 45 minutes of a 14 month debate we had on what decision fits best. Especially when people were screaming war crimes over anything else when that debate took place. Besides, nobody claimed that it was for sure Saddam had WMD’s, those 16 words from the SOTU proves that clearly without a shadow of a doubt. Nobody also claimed to know where the WMD’s were and the most they said was they believe he was seeking them despite overwhelming evidence that Saddam was (They should’ve just said he was). Yellowcake anybody? I’m sure Saddam would be raising his hand before anybody else to that question, afterall he was denied that by about 10 other countries before asking Niger, and getting turned down again. He’s (Hussein) pretty damn persistant, afterall he actually asked Al Qeada to help him with his genocidal fantasies. That’s just scary enough alone, nut then again Jihads always are. Oh everyone! Let’s keep this on the low key, I don’t think anyone who defends their ideas is spitting Ad Hominem or slander (well, libel since we’re typewriting) or anything of the sort. Defence of a position is something this country was founded on, just like Iraq will be so long as our troops stand in the way of those who want the opposite result.
My what a great lot of moonbats here on this site. Argue forever about everything but what is in the present and now.
Bottom line at this moment “Support the Troops And Their Mission”.
Children are being saved as we speak and type. Does anyone want to pull the troops back from saving the children? What say you VTSharon, speak from your heart on this one and not from the liberal talking points. What do you think should be done about “THESE CHILDREN”? Abandon them? Cut and Run on them? What’s your opinion.
(Thanks Soldiersmind for these moonbats, I was a getting a little hungry).
Eagles UP!
LOL! Thanks for stopping by and I totally agree. Just know that here at ASM, we’ll continue to report on the GOOD things our troops are doing. In fact I have another post planned for tomorrow morning that will show yet another great thing our troops are doing. Thank You for your service and…. EAGLES UP!!!
Amen mtngrandpa!!! I am with the kids - and our troops - ALWAYS!!!
“Argue forever about everything but what is in the present and now.”
Sure. Here’s something in the present and now; notwithstanding, however, the BushCo surge:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070628/iraq/
Twenty beheaded bodies were discovered Thursday on the banks of the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad and a car bomb killed another 20 people in one of the capital’s busy outdoor bus stations, police said.
Well, I feel sorry for those who past away in that tragedy, VTSharon. I feel just as sorry for the soldiers who work to prevent things like that from happening and get blamed for it whenever they can’t save every single one who has to suffer from those willing to execute bloody assault like these. However, I don’t think bad men triumph when good men do something in response. I am sure a soldier will either capture these people responsible for these nefarious crimes and put them behind bars where they can’t harm anybody again or a soldier will kill them in a battle. Besides, where was everyone when conflicts across the world were higher and more deadly in the last decade? Why weren’t they complaining then? According to the U.N. Human Security Report every country except Burma and India had only 40 percent violence today than they did in the last decade. That means every country no matter how violent has reduced violence within their borders by 60 percent even the ones that are at war. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff we see when you have conflict in a poor country is awfully tragic but the stuff in this report is pretty good stuff and is quite up to date and more informative than what we hear on the news outlets in this country. Besides, why is it that the deaths occurring in Iraq now matter so much more to you than the ones that occurred before Hussein’s government was removed from power despite accurate statistics that show a huge decrease in the number of deaths between the two times. According to Information Sphere, Iraq had about 12 deaths for for every group of 1000 people, and it shows each year since the removal Hussein has had a decrease in deaths for every 1000 people through a graph. It shows that the death rate today is about 5 for every group of 1000 people and another source (cia.gov) validates the accuracy by having the same death rate in their world factbook. seriously, I still feel sorry for those 5, but they didn’t die at the hands of our government or the presence of foreing troops. Please stop linking the deaths of the innocent to the wrong people. They don’t really score you any upsmanship when you talk with somebody who knows better than to be gullible to such tricks. Anyway, as far as the kids in the pictures up above are concerned. I hope they find new folks that are willing to make them happy again. It’s a tragedy to lose a parent and I can’t imagine losing both. These kids may be scarred for life but it’s nothing that care from a stranger can help ease. Hopefully they are getting the proper nutrition and medicine and that they have been evacuated to a safe zone, unless this incident happened outside of the red zone. Oh, the suffering of these kids has brought me to a thought. I remember bearing people complaining about our troops giving Iraqi kids toys. I think it was Cliff from OneUtah who said that: this was the best thing Americans could do and that it made no difference, about maybe 7 or 8 months ago. So, how about sending school supplies and necessities. I am sure parents in Iraq will appreciatte toiletries and I doubt the Dinar could afford them that because it’s more like wall paper than money. Toothbrush, toothpaste, tissue, and maybe a first aid kit would be the perfect combination for such a package, and I am sure there are more kids who need it than just the ones in the pictures above.
VT ~ Do you even consider how many will be slaughtered if we just “Pull Out”?
And please quit quoting your trash site for us. I seriously doubt that any of the ASM readers ever check your huffy links.
(of course I am just speaking for myself.)
You stop in here much more often than I. Yet, you always sing the same tune. Please offer a viable solution to accompany your rants and I might follow a few of your links.
CaveMom ~ Do you consider how many will be slaughtered if we do not just pull out?
Amen CavMom, Huffington Post is the last place I would consider a reliable source. Sharon a whole hell of a lot more will be slaughtered if we “pull out” than if we stay. But of course then, you’d just find some way to blame that on our troops. The thing with you is that it’s the same old song and dance, just a different verse, everytime you commen here.
Again, constantly debunking a falsehood is tiring. The slaughters that some Iraqis are willing inflict upon there fellow countrymen has nothing to do with the presence of coalition forces. Each and every murder whether it be by bombing, shooting, torture, or something gorey has it’s own motives and characteristics and each individual who carries the nefarious act out have no connection with the last one or the next one. Tell me how’s it that a person who kills his brother for land has connections with somebody who kills because they’re a megalomaniac? These are precisely the two situations my friend ran into while serving in Iraq: a man kills his brother for for the land that he owned then another person strapped on a bomb killing 20 people in a recreation area because he thought that is how you become a martyr. There is no connection between the two and a vast majority of killings in Iraq are like this, which is why it’s so hard to locate the ones commiting these crimes since there is not one central body where the violence originates from. Each case has it’s own origin making it hard and nearly impossible to prevent the next. However, this doesn’t change the fact that our troops do things like give medical aid to people who need it (Navy Corpsman, and Army Medics), food or water or both, fight bad guys when they cause problems, and teach the Iraqi troops how to fend for themselves and care for their communities to the point where they won’t need U.S. troops to monitor there performance or teach and help them anymore. Tell me how is it that having U.S. troops leave and quit doing these things would save a country that needs those services?
Back to the story posted above Please! Could somebody talk to me about the suggestions I made on what to send to a place like Iraq? Anybody know where I could send such care packages? I know I am not the administrator but I don’t like being seen through like a window so that’s why I keep pressing for people to go back on topic. I feel like the only one wh still remembers what the discussion is supposed to be about.
SealPatriot I remember VERY well what the original post is about - those images will haunt me for ever. I have been a child advocate for many years - and yet, and yet, still my heart breaks every single time I hear of yet more atrocities to ANY child anywhere.(and yes, that includes Rawanda and Darfur) But for this post we are talking about the children found by our troops in Iraq.
I do have a number of suggestions for you (Soldiers Angels springs to mind right off the bat) and would be happy to steer you in the direction to help.I also have a number of contacts in Iraq who can help.
Email me at : and let’s talk.
And - because I can: VT whatever..You say how many children will be slaughtered if we don’t pull out. You are kidding, right? Not even YOU could be that ignorant.
I have a photograph in my home of a HUGE mountain of bones of men women AND children that were slaughtered in Saddam’s time. Don’t you DARE even suggest that OUR troops would in any way contribute to something like that. Well yea - you dare, which to me shows exactly who and what you ARE!
It is precisely because our troops are in there that MORE mountains of childrens’ bones are not piling up.
Sealpatriot I also know of about 300 1st Cav soldiers who would welcome anything you’d care to send their way. There are several of us here who have address and information on Troop Support progams that can give you information. Just give one of us a shout and we’ll help you out.
VTSharon,
You need a rectal cranial inversion. Yes, it is a medical condition that was brought on by living in your pitiful Liberal state of Vermont. But don’t worry, it is easily cured by: Turning off your television to the main stream media, put soap in your mouth whenever you think “pulling out” our troops is really going to solve anything, and wipe your behind whenever you hear these two words “Liberal” “Democrat”. If your condition persists, which I’m assuming it will, I would suggest the next bext thing, close your teeth permanently and tie your hands over your ears. But then again, do us all a favor and do something Patriotic for us all, go play in traffic till you get hit. Geez I just love liberals, there such a cathartic experience for me…..lol
LMAO! Welcome Rob and I must say, I like the way you think! Thanks for stopping by and we hope you’ll visit again.
Thanks Rob! You took the words right out of my errrrrrr mouth.
Alright, I’ll shoot Brat an E-mail and I will see where I could get a few names of those Cavalry soldiers. I wonder if there are people in Iraq who’d adopt these kids in the post? They’d take better care of these kids more than the orphanage did, or do Iraqis only want to raise the children they bring into the earth? I Wonder if any of the kids would be lucky enough to get adopted by a family outside of Iraq or the Sunni Triangle at least. It would be for the best, but things don’t always turn out so rosey like that.
“The slaughters that some Iraqis are willing inflict upon there fellow countrymen has nothing to do with the presence of coalition forces.”
Precisely, SealPat! Such being the case, why do we remain?
Oh my gosh, VT.
Vt ~ It saddens me that you have no grasp as to the magnitude of the work of our men and women in Iraq.
Thankfully most who are clueless, in the beginning of their search for understanding, are able to grasp reality when it is shown to them. (repeatedly)
However, I fear there is little hope that you will ever understand… Such a waste.
VTSharon,
“we remain” because their is much more honest, hard working citizens of Iraq that only want peace and freedom then their is islamic fascists. Now I know a person with your stature could never conceive of such an idea. But it is true, and since our troops aren’t doing anything in Iraq “good” (according to you), then answer all of us this.
How could this be happening in Iraq?
-3,100 schools have been renovated
-364 schools have been rehabalitated
-38 New schools completed
-268 new schools are under construction
-96% of Iraqi children have received Polio vaccination
-4.3 Million Iraqi children are in school right now
-20 Colleges, 40 Universities are up and running
-There are 3500 New Iraqi police officers graduating every 8 weeks
-With the 158% increase of phone usage before we entered Iraq, It’s safe to say the “good” of what are troops are doing is getting out.
So answer the question, we all love how idiotic morons just take the facts and spin it, but hey, weren’t you suppose to go play hopscotch in the middle of the highway anyways for us…lol
Good Lord Sharon, the things that come from you sometimes, just blows my mind. If we leave, then things will only get worse. I guess people like you don’t care what will happen to children such as these, if our soldiers leave.
The whole thing is CavMom, that despite the tons of information we’ve provided here, despite the tons of information that is provided by CJ and CplM over at ASP and on all the other blogs, Sharon choses to ignore that information and continue to play in her/his fantasy world.
Never have I stated or otherwise insinuated that we are not accomplishing some good things in Iraq. That we are in fact accomplishing good things is clear from the many posts at ASM and ASP.
What I have, however, stated is that the cost of accomplishing these good things is too much - both in dollars and blood.
Further, I sense that the good things being accomplished have been transfixed into a rather twisted post hoc justification for an ill-advised (not to mention illegal) preemptive invasion of Iraq.
For example, the toll for the past three months - 329 dead and countless wounded or otherwise injured - makes this the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.
As I said previously, the cost of accomplishing these “good” things is too much - both in dollars and blood.
You have NEVER acknowledged that our Troops were accomplishing good things. Instead with each story that has been posted about progress being made, you consistently change the topic to your typical bashing of the current administration. Not once have you ever acknowledged the positive things going on there.
VT, I hate to assume, so, have you ever had to fight for anything?
I hereby officially acknowledge that the troops are accomplishing good things.
At the same time, however, I reiterate that the cost of accomplishing such good things is too great, both in dollars and blood. In case you have not noticed, things continue to spiral out of control in Iraq.
You can dress a sow to look however you like but, in the end, a sow is still a sow. Likewise, you can glorify the good things being accomplished in Iraq all you want but, in the end, the situation is still FUBAR!
Have you ever been willing to sacrifice anything, for someone else, or for things bigger than yourself?
And Sharon, as has been pointed out here time and time again, the conflict in Iraq, has MANY less casualties than ANY previous conflict that US Troops have ever been involved in. Cost can’t really be compared dollar for dollar due to changes in economy over the 200+ years the US has been in existence. This is also the very FIRST conflict that US forces have been involved in that the entire country has not been involved in, in some way, nor have they been asked. Quite honestly, I think a whole hell of a lot of them are too damn self-centered to contribute to something for the good of the Troops, the country or anyone other than themselves. Unfortunately in many ways, this country has become a bunch of self-centered people, who could give a damn less about anyone other than themselves.
VT~do you ever really stop and consider how is it that you get to sit at your keyboard and type away, and whatever else it is that you do??
Exactly Terri~ I second that!
The fact that this war has fewer “casualties” than previous wars is a classic red-herring. So what? The war is still a FUBAR. Indeed, had this nation understood going into the war that 5,000 or so dead Americans would result, we would not have invaded Iraq.
Further, this is not the first war that the entire nation has not been involved. Just look at, for example, the five deferments each by Dickus Cheney and Mitt Romney in Vietnam. This war is more like Vietnam than anyone would have imagined - the rich stay home and the poor shed blood, at least on the whole.
We do, however, agree that many who could contribute refuse. Indeed, had the majority of congresspersons had children who would fight this war, the war would never have commenced.
Bottom line: Iraq id FUBAR and there is nothing we can do to change that fact!
I hate to tell you this Sharon, but many, many of our Troops not only BELIEVE in the mission that they have been give, but they also know and don’t have a problem telling people, that things aren’t near as FUBAR, as the media would attempt to lead us to believe, in fact that things are much different than what the media and the anti-war crowd would like us to believe..
I doubt that this country would have changed it’s mind on whether we should’ve removed Saddam or not just by knowing what the cost would be in blood. As you’ve noticed throughout much of American history, almost every single war America has gotten into, the American people always stated whatever the cost is we’ll pay it. S
You’re right Ryan, except this time, the American people weren’t asked to “pay” for anything, we’re asking to take responsibility for helping out the war effort. My thought is that each and every one of us should be helping out in some way, shape or form. Unfortunately, nowdays too many of Americans are too damn selfish and “me” oriented, to do so. Too many are focused on how they can TAKE ADVANTAGE of their fellow man, instead of how they can HELP their fellow man. What’s sad, is many of the youngsters of this country are going to be, or already are, even worse.
That’s why I have so much pride in the young men and women serving in our Armed Forces today. They’ve overcome that self-centered, “me” above all others, attitude and realized how important the values and morals this country were founded on, really are. They’re willing to fight and yes even die for those values and morals.
You are waxing philosophical, Terri. As stated earlier, this past quarter in Iraq is the deadliest since March 2003. Yet you want me to believe that things are going better than ever in Iraq? Sorry, but I have trouble buying into that portrayal.
And as I said Sharon, you’re looking at only a small piece to the puzzle. We knew all along that as the surge took place, that more boots on the ground would equate to the possibility that there would be more casualties. Hell that only makes sense. Waxing philospihical…. no, just saying what I see with my own eyes.
-Sorry, I don’t know what I button I pressed that posted my comment before I was finished.
(continued) Same with this war, at the beginning people were saying whatever cost. There is no doubt that this country went into this war willing to sacrifice blood. Even if they were only half willing to support the people willing shed that blood.
“The slaughters that some Iraqis are willing inflict upon there fellow countrymen has nothing to do with the presence of coalition forces.â€
Precisely, SealPat! Such being the case, why do we remain?
I think three paragraphs and the citations from the 1997 Iraqi Liberation Act that are in the Joint Authorization Resolution for Military Action Against Saddam discussing the democratization of Iraq has something to do why were still there. Why not finish what we set out to do? We completed all objectives accept one, why half ass it? Because of Blood? Where were all the people that claim to hate spilling blood so much when Saddam was commiting Genocide, or when we left Somalia in ruins and no reconciliation between those fighting in the civil war (believe me, Clinton passed the buck to Bush and we’re still trying to clean the mess in that country because their troubles are not gone, but it is going away though), or when a genocide was attempted against Timorese? People weren’t complaining when these tragedies were happening, but they complain now that action is being taken against such events from occurring just because somebody may have to risk death in doing so? War is not a popularity contest and shouldn’t be treated as one as it has been in recent times. People don’t know what they want during times of war, probably because war is marked with times of uncertainty. Your right Sharon, fighting to accomplish good during a time of conflict is hard, tragic, and expensive in blood and dollars. I don’t see a discount with leaving things a mess and unattended. It wouldn’t have been cheaper in to have left Hussein in power, not cheaper in blood obviously, or in dollars given that one of the reasons we spend trillions of dollars on the U.N. is because we’d rather have less people like him around in the future.
Actually Sharon, I don’t know how many people I speak for in this blog, but I have numerous times before stated that the killing in Iraq isn’t good or getting better. At the same time, you definately can do a whole lot of good and make a place better despite the violence. I’d rather see troops fighting and risking lots or all, keeping as many terrorists from acheiving whatever plans or agendas they have in Iraq. Rather than see those terrorists accomplish the and watch worse things happen to a country that we had an oppurtunity to help.
Ryan the good majority of our troops will say the very same thing. While I hate it each time I read of another death of one of our Brave Troops, I also know that it’s a necessity.
Ironically, as a Police Officer, I knew that I might have to give my life protecting an innocent citizen, preventing a criminal from taking advantage of or victimizing an innocent person. Our troops and the job they are doing, is very much the same thing. Sometimes it̵