Leythos said:
I think you've missed the people that have been "detained" by foreign
countries/governments in non-US countries for decades, but I don't
expect you to speak out against foreign countries.
Okay, I have watched this thread as it has unfolded. I spent nearly 30
years in the military. I served in Vietnam (2 tours), got out, and then
re-entered. I also fought in the "first" Gulf war in 1991. I have a little
bit of background and knowledge that will allow me to speak to some of the
issues being discussed here.
First and foremost, the persons being detained in Gitmo, in Afghanistan, and
in other detainee camps are *NOT* U. S. citizens, and therefore are not
directly entitled to any of the rights that come with a birthright in the
United States. The persons being held (for the most part) are enemy
combatants, and while not technically prisoners of war, they are due only
the legal protection that the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the
Geneva Convention afford them. We do not owe them air conditioned
condominiums grade quarters. We owe them nothing more than what they are
being given. Get over it. Those that are determined to be not enemy
combatants will be released. Until then, they are treated as enemy
combatants. Get over it.
Those individuals that we have detained will not be beheaded. Those
individuals that we detain will not be taken into the streets and shot.
Those individuals that we detain will not wind up having their remains
tossed into a garbage dump or a schoolyard. They will be fed. They will
get better medical treatment than they received prior to their capture.
Many will get the first dental treatment of their lives. Many will get
treatment for diseased and conditions that would have gone untreated had
they not been detained. They are de-loused (and trust me, they need it).
They are kept in better conditions than they were probably living in before
their capture...I have seen how the "average" Iraqi and Afghani lives, and
trust me you would not believe it.
Many, and I dare say most, of those being detained are fanatics who are
being manipulated. Most would take any and every opportunity to kill anyone
not aligned with their sect/jihad/etc. Most are uneducated, unhappy, and do
not see the b*llsh*t being fed to them by their religious and political
leaders. Most are uneducated enough to believe that being martyred will
lead to the land of Milk and honey with servants and virgin girls...
Most are dirt poor and willing to sacrifice their lives for the few measly
dollars that the jihad promises to their families. Many do not care if they
live or die...many believe that if they die and kill Americans or Sunnies or
Shi'ites or whatever, they will be rewarded.
Meanwhile, the f*ucked up liberal press attacks the military for
everything it does. Here you have Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who
risk their lives to do what their government has asked them to do...yet we
hold them to an antiquated system, unrealistic rules of engagement , and the
glaring spolight of a hostile press. They are up against an enemy that
knows no rules, and has no limits. Perhaps the Israelis have it right...but
the liberal pukes in the U.S. will never allow our military to effectively
deal with the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will cause the efforts
to fail. Then the liberal a**holes will claim that it failed because the
military was weak and wrong and mismanaged, when it is the actions of the
liberals in the press and in the government that will cause the failure of
the programs in those countries.
You are not required to believe that we have a reason to be there. You
have the right to question what the motives of our government are. You have
the right to criticize openly, in a forum just such as this, the actions of
the government and the military. Yet it is those same Soldiers, Sailors,
Airmen and Marines who are giving their lives, their limbs, their freedoms,
to ensure that you can sit on your fat a** back at home and make pig noises
about it.
Criticize the government. Criticize the press. Criticize the fact that we
have not accomplished our goals in either Afghanistan or Iraq. But never
criticize the troops that are there. Unless you have been there, you have
no clue what it is like. Unless you have been through what they are going
through, you have no clue. No clue at all. You can't sit back an "imagine"
what it's like. You can't sit back and "speculate" on what it is like.
Therefore, you have no reasonable perspective.
There are many fine men and women who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Sadly, there will be many more before the job it through. Instead of
sitting at your keyboard discussing it in a forum like this, send e-mails to
your congressman..your state senator...the legislators on Capitol Hill.
Make your views known. Use the rights that have been granted to you by the
Constitution and the blood of those that have died in the name of freedom.
But never attack or belittle those souls brave enough to take up the
gauntlet and serve in this time of need. They deserve no less. They are
just doing their "job"; they are just doing what they are "told to do".
They have volunteered to put themselves in harms way. They are doing a job
that most of those reading this post do not have the courage or the
conviction to do. Honor them.
Bobby
