Yup, pretty much sums up the horror I feel. All of these people, wherever they stand on the war, American or Iraqi, they're all real people. For me, it's hard not to feel compassion for all of them, which is not the neat and tidy support-our-troops-ism or anti-war-ism I'm supposed to be feeling. When my husband was in Classifiedistan, I was in a state of terrible conflict. As much I didn't want him to be hurt or to suffer, I didn't want him to cause anyone else to suffer. And the cookies I made always got there too stale to eat.
I've gone the Trader Joe's cookie route. Sealed in a plastic tub.
Yeah. Ugh. Just...ugh.
This is really touching. You might want to visit this site: funwithhandgrenades@blogspot.com
Also, anger is understandable but unfortunately, such passion is massaged by the government in power to pursue disastrous policies. Whether it be anti-Japanese hatred in China, or anti-"Hadji" hatred amongst these troops' families, it serves no other purpose than to irrationalize a supposedly rational electorate and turn an Aristotlean polity into an Aristotlean democracy.
Thanks for stopping by, t_co.
I completely agree with you about how fear and hatred are used to manipulate the electorate. We've had six years of that shit. I only hope that people are getting tired of it and wising up.
You are a GREAT SOLDIERS ANGEL,
From my heart,'Thank you,
Patti
No, Patti, thank you, for everything that you do.
You have a new recruit - my sister just signed up!
Combat arms units are often far removed from base camps and supply lines. Believe me There are your hotel units that complain of boredom and then there are many that live only off of the adrenaline of the unknown and the fear of what is going to happen from one minute to the next. The worst part is that you really have no idea who to trust. MRE's are crap! Meals refusing to excrete. It is easy to be turned off and start looking for any creative alternative. The one thing you have to convince yourself is that you are not a politician you are there to do a job and that you keep trying to convince yourself you really are on the side of right, After a while, you just conclude your job everyday is only to keep your team and yourself alive to get back home. With many anxious and confused fatigued on both sides you fear the enemy that is already difficult to identify... then what is worse is being faced by friendly fire, idiotic bad choices by your team mates you have to face the consequences for, or... just being forgotten about out in the middle of the desert waiting for word to return to civilization.
and still no one remembers the paris treaty of 1919...
Anonymous, thank you for articulating what I might intuit but don't know from first-hand experience.
It's interesting. I had a sort of argument with a dear friend of mine tonight, who felt that by supporting a soldier I was supporting the war. I just can't see it that way. I want this one soldier to know that someone here cares about him and has not forgotten him. I will never say one word of praise for this war in my letters to him. I won't call him a hero who is fighting for my freedom. I don't believe that. The Iraq War does nothing to protect my freedom. In fact I think it threatens my freedom and our democracy.
But I think our soldiers are being badly used by this conflict. I want to show that "supporting the troops" come in many forms. I want to help this guy as one human being to another. Maybe that will help him pass it on. That's all any of us can do, right?
My friend asked why didn't I adopt an iraqi family, and you know what? I'd like to do that as well.
Oh, and p.s. I sent high-fiber crackers in the latest package.
ps,s - anon, I do believe what you are saying about the combat arms units. I know from the PO address that the guy I'm writing is in the vicinity of a large FOB, but I assumed this was just where he is getting his mail and so on. I just am a cautious person and never like to assert things that I'm not certain about, without a token disclaimer.
Send Kurt Vonnegut, Steinbeck, comic books and music. Oh.. and beef jerky
All mail is routed to large facilities to be sorted then dispersed to the units or it waits until they come close enough to a supply line . I went months without mail. Trust me, I know what I am talking about.
Heh, I sent lots of beef jerky. Did send paperbacks but no specific Vonnegut. I'll search some out.
Galapagos and Dead Eye Dick
I think it's great that you are supporting soldiers. Our Veterinary office also adopts and supports soldiers. Right now we are sponsoring a group of military dogs and their handlers. we get lots of freebies from our sales reps (frontline, heartgard, toys and shampoos, etc.) for the dogs and we also include toys for the Iraqi children and snacks and Dvds for the soldiers. Javier(our main contact) writes to us pretty often. He's on his fifth tour and his dog "Elra", a Belgian Malinois, is on her fourth tour. I am not in favor of this war either , but I think we should give as much as we can to the men and women over there who are giving their all for us. The site I recommend is USwardogs.org. Keep up the good work! Ann
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