Iraq

[apothanein kerdos]

Hi to All,

My Son is considering joining the Army Nat Guard.

The recruiter's came to the house the other day, A Fine Young Man from our church and his Sargent.

They both said if we the American people could only know the REAL TRUTH instead of the LIES we are blasted with everyday from bias news outlets.

We would be encouraged about how well we are doing and all the good we are doing there.

It is a very hard situation and our church is constantly prayed for those Heroic Men and Women Serving Our Great Country and the Families that have suffered such Terrible Losses.

May God Be With All Of Them That Are In Harms Way And Bring Them All Safely Home.

Dug

That's good.

If he's looking at National Guard, has he put any thought into going into the ROTC in college? That way he can go in an officer, have college paid for, get better money, and if he retires from the Army, he has a degree he can fall back on.

Either way, parents that let their children join the military have my utmost respect.

[dugmando]

apot,

Yes I agree and I do think he is weighting a lot of options, My main advice to him is to pray and seek God's Will any Military option though has a inherent risk in this day and time.

But I also have the utmost of respect for those who have chosen to serve our country in this manner>

God Bless Those Who Have.

Dug

[ted]

It's hard to believe that it is getting better in Iraq when civilian casualties are going up and this month has the largest

American death toll for the past 3 years.

http://maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=17353

The U.S. military said 10 soldiers were killed in Iraq on Monday, taking the total for May to 114, the deadliest month for U.S. troops since November 2004, when 137 soldiers were killed.

The casualty rate was fully expected to go up a bit over the recent months due to the increase in personnel and the more aggressive approach to hunting down terrorists. In other words, the "surge".

Does your statistics provider also provide stats for the numbers of schools, neighborhoods, power stations, water houses, etc, that have been built as well? How about the number of provinces which have been secured?

Is the problem confined to specific areas these days, or it is widespread across the country, as it was three years ago?

Thanks,

t.

[Guest]

I had a thought while reading this thread and I thought I'd share it.

Anyone know some people who are in Iraq now, and could give a truthful account (at least from their station) of how things are going. There's so much "horse manure" on the news and its all negative about the war. Maybe its time the Internet got some use for getting the truth out....

Also, anyone who is wanting to do this will need to be careful. The military can get nasty about posting on the net.

[MeCajunboy]

Does it feel like things are turning around in Iraq?

Turning around for the better that is.

Cajunboy::::

Depends on what you compare it to. If you compare it to the past year, perhaps not; perhaps so! You'd really have to speak with those who were under the control of their abusers in the time Bin Laden and his band of terrorist/armies were pulling their daughters and sons out of their households and raping them , then using the boys to be forced into his training camps in Northern Iran to fight against and terrorize their own cities/families. Then you'd have to go back and dig up the many mass graves that have been found in the past years to determine if these people had at least, a fighting chance to maintain their dignity and keep their families. But that's all behind them now. Now , they have new concerns. Will they be able to accept a change in culture and begin fighting for their own freedom that many have been able to live under while American remains there? Or will they resolve to their old mentallity and simply throw up their hands and go back to being a "door mat" for their enemies? Guess that depends on if America is willing to give up on them and "retreat" as well. After all, we're only talking about a Christian Nation having an opportunity to proove itself in the eyes of God or simply retreating to what a failing and frail nation once was! I took much pride in fighting for my nation and a nation that couldn't defend itself. And I know God is watching and waiting for us to see and react as well.

[MeCajunboy]

I honestly don't know what to think on this topic. I see serious bias on all the news I see (pro and con) and have no way of getting an unbiased account. I can't even do my normal routine of comparing the news and getting down to the least common denominator which I can be reasonably sure is true since the news sources all contradict each other.

Cajunboy::

That's o.k. ma'am, God knows our hearts, minds and intentions. And HE knows many American Soldiers are always ready to give even their lives for another's freedom. Perhaps through all this, someday we can begin telling them of the wonderful God we know and love and you can bet the Iraqi's already see that we are prepared to fight for the belief that our God tells us that All mankind should be free to believe in the HE who created us.

[forrestkc]

It's hard to believe that it is getting better in Iraq when civilian casualties are going up and this month has the largest

American death toll for the past 3 years.

http://maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=17353

The U.S. military said 10 soldiers were killed in Iraq on Monday, taking the total for May to 114, the deadliest month for U.S. troops since November 2004, when 137 soldiers were killed.

The casualty rate was fully expected to go up a bit over the recent months due to the increase in personnel and the more aggressive approach to hunting down terrorists. In other words, the "surge".

Does your statistics provider also provide stats for the numbers of schools, neighborhoods, power stations, water houses, etc, that have been built as well? How about the number of provinces which have been secured?

Is the problem confined to specific areas these days, or it is widespread across the country, as it was three years ago?

Thanks,

t.

Well now come on Ted. I bet during the American Civil War, the Oregon Territory was a pretty safe and secure place to be.

There has always been areas of Iraq with very little violence where we have had little trouble building up infrastructure. The problem is those areas where different ethnic groups meet. We have made very little progress in maintaining security and building any infrastructure in those areas. That is pretty much text book Civil War situation. Whether or not things improve or deteriorate in the months ahead is yet to be seen, but right now I think its impossible to call it either way. As to the schools and power stations and being built, the problem is that they seem to get blown up before we can get anyone down there with a camera to record the progress. (only kidding of course)

[Smalcald]

Well the military is obviosly doing a great job. But the military job was over in 2003 when we deposed Saddam Hussian, who was the threat.

Civil war is a part of Democracy, a bloody part that would be good to be avoided, but it is a part of it. Iraq is going to have to sort this out, not us and the civil war going on now is going to have to be settled with a winer and a loser, until that happens it does not really matter what we do.

[forrestkc]

Well the military is obviosly doing a great job. But the military job was over in 2003 when we deposed Saddam Hussian, who was the threat.

And Saddam posed a threat to the United States in 2003 how?

[Giaour]

Every single day we hear how the war is going badly. We are inundated with images and news of our soldiers being injured or killed, we here how many Iraq civilians are killed. Day after day, it