Young Marine dies in Iraq - not just another casualty

This is a story about a young Marine killed in Iraq. He didn't vote for GWB either time and probably never would have. His dad is a Democrat. They both seem to have not been supporters of the war.

I'm posting it, not as a pronouncement of support for or objection to, the war. I'm doing it because I think there's a lesson here. From a young guy caught up in something not of his doing. But he made a decision and it cost him. Guys like this, IMO, are an example of why this country can always be, if we work at it, the greatest on the planet.


LA Times

[whiskeytown]

that's honorable - sent off to die in a phony war for oil by a draft-dodging commander in chief, but still willing to uphold his vow to protect the country.

More honor then this commander-in-chief deservers, that's for damn sure. -

RB

good story about a good marine

[ QUOTE ]
And when he gets to heaven,
St. Peter he will tell.
One more Marine reporting Sir,
I've served my time in hell.



[/ QUOTE ]

whiskey, you realize you disgrace his memory by running your mouth like that?

Why don't you just write your Congressman once a week and keep your mouth and typing fingers from disgracing fallen Marines?

[zipo]

>>that's honorable - sent off to die in a phony war for oil by a draft-dodging commander in chief, but still willing to uphold his vow to protect the country.<<

Whiskey, whether one agrees with the war or not, it wasn't a "phoney" war. The blood being spilled is real.

And the ideal - to depose sadaam and to transform Iraq into a working democracy that would serve as an example to other countries in the region was a noble one - and a big gamble.

The fact that the execution of the postwar plan was horribly botched by the civilians running the war is not the fault of the troops, who persevere under the most difficult conditions.

Yes, there have been scandals - prisoner abuse, massive theft and corruption by Bush administration connected contractors, diplomatic blunders, and unconscionable pollyanish spin by the administration attempting to whitewash and excuse their screw-ups.

But if you know anything about the culture of our military, the vast majority of those men and women serving and their military leadership are deserving of our respect and support.

Let's not confuse them with the civilian leadership who saddled them with this difficult and thankless job.

[ACPlayer]

Interesting story.

Not sure what to make of the difference, if any, between a marine choosing to "take a bullet" for his country in a cause he does not believe ine and a Jihadi dying for a cause he passionately believes in. In both cases of course, the supporters of the respective cause promise great respect for their warrior and the leaders of the respective side use the death to further their political agendas.

In considering this point, try to set aside -- if possible -- the question of military justice vs terrorist justice. My point is about the cause and willingness to die.

[whiskeytown]

surprisingly, one of the freedoms that Marine died for is my freedom of speech. I'm allowed to disagree with said Commander in Chief - and I'm allowed to say that while I totally honor his sacrifice and protecting of those freedoms, I am ashamed that this president would use his service in what is essentially an attempt by the US Govt. to ensure ready access to oil reserves and reap great financial windfalls for his Texas and Halliburton contacts.

I'm not a pacifist, BTW - someday I'd like to see us actually do some good in Afghanistan and capture the guy who actually DID attack America. But of course, they don't have as much oil there....

of course, the young man is right - now that we've started a clusterfuck in Iraq we have to sacrifice more men to fix the problem we started....Lovely.

Taking our talking points from the Bill O'Reilly again, have we? When in doubt, just keep saying "shut up, shut up, shut up" -

such patriotism....

RB

[whiskeytown]

some people misunderstood my recent post - and I've clairified it, but I'll clairify it for you.

Yes, I fully support the men and women in the armed forces. I fully support their sacrifice and appreciate that they have taken a vow to protect the country.

Having said that, there is an implicit and yet unwritten vow that says we will not waste their lives in battles that are geared primarily to improving the financial status of Republicans.

We, as Americans, told him we wouldn't squander his life on petty personal squabbles or for anything less then the safety and protection of the United States, and I feel that we, both the Doofus in Chief, and we as Americans who elected him, failed to honor our part of the bargain.

I hope next time the security of this country is REALLY threatened, (not just the profit line) that we'll be able to ask those men and women to stand up there again and they won't have to have any doubts about the cause or reasoning behind that sacrifice.

Cause after all we've screwed them on with, from misleading them on intentions to screwing them post-war with Veteran's benefits, they have every right to tell us to go to hell on that one.

RB

[Myrtle]

[ QUOTE ]

But if you know anything about the culture of our military, the vast majority of those men and women serving and their military leadership are deserving of our respect and support.


[/ QUOTE ]

.....please expand on the above thought.

[ QUOTE ]
And the ideal - to depose sadaam and to transform Iraq into a working democracy that would serve as an example to other countries in the region was a noble one - and a big gamble.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I'm so stupid. I could've sworn we went there to disarm him because he had soooooooooo many weapons of mass destruction and biological weapons. I had a dream that Colin Powell swore before the U.N. that Saddam had these things and even used a small vial of white powder to simulate anthrax. My memory must be failing me because I don't remember George Bush ever saying anything other than the need to disarm this dangerous rogue man. Remember, he was trying to by uranium from Niger.