Saturday, September 02, 2006

WHY A BLOG LIKE THIS?

I wish I could say it was divine inspiration,
but no, I was inspired by the all too familiar,
yet unspoken agenda of the mainstream media, in
this case TIME Magazine, once again demonstrating
a total disregard and lack of respect for our brave
servicemen and women in harms way.

Specifically, it was how TIME magazine had gone out
of its way to ensure how a triumphant story about
the troops would never be seen by the people who
most deserve to see it: The American public.

It came from Army Col. McMaster whose 3rd ACR unit
had destroyed the insurgents' hold of the important
Iraqi city of Tal Afar last September. This
resoundingly successful operation generated these
effusive words of praise from the Tal Afar mayor in
a public speech, where he said, "To the lion hearts
who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists
who were beheading men, women and children in the
streets...you (American soldiers) are not only
courageous men and women, but are avenging angels
sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of
terrorism."

TIME magazine had its own embedded reporter and
photographer at Tal Afar, who filed a long, glowing
story and nearly 100 photographs about this
military success. But when the issue came out, all
the guts had been ripped out of the reporter's story
and not one of the photographs submitted had been
used. When the reporter questioned why his story was
eviscerated, TIME editors responded, "We decided that
the story and pictures were "too heroic."

TOO HEROIC??

I suppose this is how the antiwar proponents spit in
the faces of the troops today. So much more politically
correct than spitting in their faces in person.

THE HEART OF AMERICA

From a Marine Gunnery Sergeant in Iraq.

On each patrol we take through the city, we
take as many toys as will fit in our pockets
and hand them out as we can. The kids take
the toys and run to show them off as if they
were worth a million bucks.

On one such patrol, our lead security vehicle
stopped in the middle of the street. This is
not normal and is very unsafe, so the following
vehicles began to inquire over the radio. The
lead vehicle reported a little girl sitting in
the road and said she just would not budge.
The command vehicle told the lead to simply
go around her.

As the vehicles went around her, I soon saw her
sitting there and in her arms she was clutching
a little bear that we had handed her a few
patrols back. Feeling an immediate connection
to the girl, I radioed that we were going to
stop. The rest of the convoy paused and I got
out to make sure she was OK. The little girl
looked scared and concerned, but there was a
warmth in her eyes toward me. As I knelt down
to talk to her, she moved over and pointed to
a mine in the road.

Immediately a cordon was set as the Marine
convoy assumed a defensive posture around the
site. The mine was destroyed in place.

It was the heart of an American that sent that
toy. It was the heart of an American that gave
that toy to that little girl. It was the heart
of a tiny Iraqi girl that protected that convoy
from that mine. It was a heart of acceptance,
of tolerance, of peace and grace, even through
the inconveniences of conflict that saved that
convoy from hitting that mine.

She may have no affiliation at all with the
United States, but she knows what it is to be
brave. And if we can continue to support her
and her new government, she will know what it
is to be free.



http://www.blackfive.net/main/2004/12/love_is_stronge.html

MORALE

T.F. Boggs
www.boredsoldier.blogspot.com


Morale

I have heard lots of talk about the morale of
the troops in the news lately. The anti-war crowd
often sites the troops as being unwilling and unable
to fight and win the war in Iraq. Senators like
Kerry, Kennedy, Murtha, and Biden think soldiers
just can’t do the job they were tasked to do. They
think soldiers just don’t have it in them to do what
the president has asked them to do.

The funny thing about their thoughts is that no
soldier cares what they say because they realize
those senators don’t have a clue what they are
talking about. If only those senators shut up for
a minute and actually talked to the military
leadership here in Iraq they would realize how wrong
they actually are, assuming they are capable of
listening to the truth.

As I see it the general morale of the troops is good.
We are out here to do a job and have fun doing it. We
don’t sit down and discuss the implications of what
we are doing and how it might affect the world or our
future. That is for non-military types to hash out all
they want. Soldiers have a job to do, if we do that
job right we stay alive and go home at the end of our
year. We don’t care about what the hell people like
Kerry and Biden say. That is until it starts affecting
how Americans view us and how the MSM portrays us to
the world.

Not to say that all soldiers support Bush or vote
Republican cause they certainly don’t. The thing about
99 percent of the soldiers here though, is that they
see a side of the war that Americans don’t. We see the
differences taking place everyday for the Iraqis. We see
the cities being rebuilt, kids going to school, the new
Iraqi army being trained, modern technology coming to the
everyday Iraqi, and the list goes on and on. These
differences allow soldiers of all political affiliations
to put aside their differences and work together to make
real tangible change in this country. If only democrat
senators could put aside their ambitions for their own
future and think about the future of the 25 million people
in Iraq, as well as the Middle East in general, just as
the soldiers do, then real progress could be made.

If I could cut off all news to Iraq I would so that I
don’t have to sit in the chow hall and listen to Anderson
Cooper or Chris Matthews open their mouths and show the
world how ignorant they are. I would love to see troops do
their job without having to worry how people back home
will view them. I would love to have the MSM leave their
hotels and actually come here and talk to us and find out
how we feel. I would love to talk to Kerry, Murtha, Biden,
and Kennedy and tell them how wrong they are about everything.

I would love to go before the Senate and tell them all to
strap on a pair and do the right thing and quit worrying
about what people will think of them and whether they will
have a job in a few years. If only senators cared more about
doing the right thing then what people think of them we would
be in a much better situation.

I don’t want to sit around and let Iraq become another
propaganda war like Vietnam. Iraq is nothing like Vietnam and
never will be unless we as Americans let it become that way,
which is exactly what the Axis of Evil senators want to happen
so they can finally be right about something.

Oh how I wish I could personally meet those senators. I would
tell them exactly how it is and exactly what the soldiers
think of them. I have a feeling those conversations would
contain a lot of four letter words.