A Dem. proposes an Iraq plan

[Guest LadyC]

by the way, tell your cousin that i'm sorry he lost his right leg, but that i thank him from the bottom of my heart for putting his life on the line in service to our country. i admire and respect every soldier who ever volunteered to serve.

[Guest LadyC]

katyann, we see things very differently. so i'll agree to disagree with you. but i will answer your question. it's one i thought about many, many times while my daughter was overseas.

if my daughter had lost a leg, or even a life, i would feel the same as i do now. i was well aware of the risk she was taking. and so was she. let me tell you a little about her choice.

rana was SEVENTEEN when she enlisted in the marine corp. she just turned 20 this august. the war in iraq was already underway when she volunteered to serve, and because she was still a minor, she had to have parental consent to even go to boot camp. she knew she was likely going to have to go to iraq or afghanistan. she was willing to give her life for those who needed defending.

she gave up her 18th birthday to train in our marine corp. she gave up the celebration of her first wedding anniversary, and the celebration of her husband's 21st birthday, AND her own 20th birthday, to serve in iraq. she was fortunate to return to the states in one piece four days after she turned 20.... and had already requested to go back. that's how much she believes in what she's doing.

if she'd come back missing a limb, or if she hadn't come back at all, i'd have still felt the same. i would have been just as proud to have had a daughter so willing to sacrifice everything for someone else. she would have served and died for her country with honor and dignity.

besides, if she'd died, i'd know i would see her again in heaven some day, because my prayer for her has been that God will spare her life until she accepts Christ as her savior. and God has given me His promise on that matter.

i would not begrudge my country, or our president, or anyone else had she died. and death was a constant risk over there. even though she was out of the combat zones, she told me that during the last six weeks she was there, the base she was on was bombed every day, sometimes several times per day. but the fact is, she was willing to take that risk, and i would not hold anyone else accountable had she been killed. i would have tearfully but proudly accepted the flag honoring her life and death at her funeral, and would still have supported this war and the right of every soldier who volunteered their service.

[Guest LadyC]

i gotta add something else. my dad didn't enjoy fighting in WWII, but he did so willingly because he'd chosen to serve in the military. rana didn't enjoy dodging bombs in iraq, but she did so willingly because she'd chosen to serve in the military. my brother never had to see a combat zone, and i'm sure he's grateful for that, but he still feels very strongly about the commitment he made to serve our country, so much so that he tried to get reinstated to active duty during the gulf war.

i hear people say constantly i support our troops but not the war. i don't believe that it shows ANY support to our troops when you rage against the commander in chief.

[Arthur Durnan]

Only ONE THING stands between a world of peace & liberty, and a world in which all speak Arabic, dress in 7th-century garb and worship a pre-Muhammad moon-god called Allah - The United States of America!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

[Guest LadyC]

(and i mean "you" as a general term encompassing all those who rage against the war on terror.)

[Guest LadyC]

ya know, the war in iraq IS part of the war on terror. i do agree with you that our country needs to take border control more seriously though.

but you're dead wrong that we are creating "more" terrorists in iraq. sorry, but no amount of propaganda is going to change the fact that you're wrong on that point.

here's some food for thought. john 15:13 says that there is no greater love than that of one who would lay down his life for the sake of another. so with that in mind, it doesn't matter a bit what the political reasons for the war were, or how much we disagree about whether or not they were valid reasons. every soldier, every marine, every member of our armed forces who serves in iraq is there for ONE REASON... to protect someone else's life with their own.

my daughter, the marine, she could care less about politics. she doesn't vote, she doesn't care who is in office, she doesn't care what motivates our government to go to war. now personally i think that's an irresponsible attitude to have, BUT, that same attitude serves as a reminder of what this is all about. it's about defending those who are defenseless. she sees her job through a very narrow tunnel. to her, it doesn't matter what the ulterior motives behind her orders to deploy were. it only matters that her job is to protect someone else with her own life if necessary.

i may have made a lot of mistakes as a parent, but when i look at my kid, so willing to sacrifice everything for someone she doesn't even know, even if she doesn't care or agree with why she was sent, i gotta say WOW, i must have done SOMETHING right.

[nebula]

A good point it is....If those who support this war are really for it, they should be willing to sacrifice their own family members as much as they are willing to sacrifice my family members and all the others who are serving.

OK . . . so the point of reinstating the draft is to prove a point and nothing whatoever to do with actually winning the war?

Ooo-kay....

[JustinM]

quote nebula: "OK . . . so the point of reinstating the draft is to prove a point and nothing whatoever to do with actually winning the war?

Ooo-kay.... "

I feel the same way.

Most people are familiar with the "Oath of Enlistment." It's an oath that every person that joins the military must make. It's a vow of unconditional enlistment. It means, you enlist and agree to enlist based on what the Oath of Enlistment says, there's no guarantees or conditions regarding your enlistment. You are volunteering your life for the country.

In today's society we have seen how an Oath is no longer taken seriously in a court of law. But, I guarantee that the military takes that oath very seriously and will not compromise on it. In a life or death situation, you cannot risk a "change of heart." The US government depends on us to fulfill our promise fully and uncompromisingly, because it cannot afford anything else.

You don't want to serve, fine, don't serve. But, do not criticize those that choose to. It's like voting. If you don't vote, you really have no reason for complaint.

Let our men and women serve honorably and when they come home embrace them and thank them for their service and for those that made the ultimate sacrifice, honor them with a heroes funeral and acknowledge the debt they paid so that you didn't have to.

This is what scares me: The dems vote in the draft, then cut DoD funding. That would be a typical maneuver on their part. Our military was adequately supplied with armor, ammo and supplies for the invasion of Iraq. They weren't adequately supplied with armor for the ensuing terrorist attacks. They weren't prepared for the lack of will of the Iraqis to reestablish their country. That is definitely a problem and I hope the new SoD will fix it. But, let's be clear about one thing. We are not leaving until the job is finished and if you got that impression from the demoncrats, and voted for them because of that, then you were duped. They had no intention of "cutting and running." Now, the question should be, will the democrats vote in a draft and will they continue to fund the military, or will they cut and run?

[Guest LadyC]

of course you've earned your right to speak freely. and the service of all military personnel now and in the past have given us ALL the right to speak freely. but i'll say this again. it's worth repeating.

here's some food for thought. john 15:13 says that there is no greater love than that of one who would lay down his life for the sake of another. so with that in mind, it doesn't matter a bit what the political reasons for the war were, or how much we disagree about whether or not they were valid reasons. every soldier, every marine, every member of our armed forces who serves in iraq is there for ONE REASON... to protect someone else's life with their own.

[JustinM]

quote KA: "Being a Veteran myself, the mother of a veteran, the wife of a veteran and the daughter of a veteran, the cousin of a veteran, the Aunt of a soldier now serving in Iraq, I feel I have earned the right to have my say."

Thanks for serving, I am currently active duty Air Force and have been serving for nearly 7 years now.

As a prior service member you are familiar with OPSEC, correct? Dissent is a wonderful thing for a thriving Democracy, undermining the CC is another thing and that is what I oppose more than anything. Many people that are against the war in Iraq, do not dissent, they undermine, leak secrets, (that are in place to protect our lives) call for inapropriate litigation against our leadership, tie the hands of our military are a clear and present danger to me and I don't appreciate it one bit.

My service is being exploited for 1 underhanded purpose and that is power. I am glad our Democracy works and that if the Americans want change they have the right to make it happen. What I completely disagree with is the way the campaigns were carried out. Marines display more civility to their enemies than the politicians do to theirs and quite frankly I am embarassed to be an American because of that behavior.

"Culture of Corruption" "I Have a Plan" "Time for a Change" "A New Direction" etc. Simple, short, concise and easily remembered catch-phrases for the parrots amongst us. But, what are they really saying? Are Republicans the only ones that are corrupt, what is their plan, what changes are you going to make, what direction are we now going to go?

I don't get it. Everyday we are told that the politicians think we are stupid and can't think for ourselves and everyday there are thousands of us ready to prove them right.