I was reading along over at John Shore’s place yesterday and I started wondering. So instead of jacking his blog to open up a huge can of worms I thought I would write about it myself and drag all of his readers over to my place open the discussion over here.
After reading John’s post about President Bush I was wondering what people really think about the Middle East, the military and our CinC. Do you think we should withdraw our troops? Are we helping by being there or causing more harm?
If withdrawing from the region is what you think we should do, then why? If we withdraw then how do we do it and how much do we leave behind? Do we leave anything behind?
I don’t believe withdrawal is the way to go. There has been some kind of warfare in the region for the last 4 to 6 thousand years. How do we teach a people to live together who are so clearly incapable of providing even the most basic of human rights to one another?
Bubba’s best friend’s daddy is in the army and deployed to the Middle East. These families give up a lot for the effort. The family memeber that is there misses out on so much of living life while there…birhtdays, holidays, milestones, babies being born…
I know that this is the life we choose and we make sacrifices. I’m just wondering if the people htese sacrifices are being made for really understand.
You are correct: there has been war somewhere in the middle east for 4000-6000 years. The question would be, is the US presence helping or hindering or making no impact in Iraq? If we are not part of that society, day in and day out, there is no way to know. I believe that ordinary citizens in this country are not qualified to make that call, nor are the military members stationed there, simply because we are NOT involved in that society. Are any of the citizens of Iraq asked? I haven’t heard anything from them.
If there were an army that invaded the US, how would we feel? Wouldn’t we want those “invaders” out at any cost? I would think the Iraqi citizens feel the same. I would think that the US would not occupy a country where they are not wanted. I think we should not be there.
I believe the guys that are there are, at the very least, qualified to comment on the impact that they are making on the society in the middle east. I have seen the photos of the Iraqi people whose lives are being positively impacted by the soldiers that are there. I also don’t think that the American soldiers that are there feel like invaders. I truly believe that the majority of the soldiers that are there believe they are there to help a wounded country and a wounded people become independent and free.
By: FreetoBe on July 17, 2008
at 12:12 pm
Wineymomma,
I’d love to lay out a withdrawal plan to bring home our soldiers from the Mideast but don’t think anyone would pay attention.
I served during peacetime, never had to deploy overseas and yet know it isn’t easy on families.
But why are we there, really?
I agree with the theory we should be sticking up for the oppressed, but how do we pick who those are? “Are we the world’s policeman? (to me, sounds a lot like ‘am I my brother’s keeper?’”
Even my son, at the time 9, was astute enough to ask “Dad, why aren’t we fighting in Darfur for those people?”
-Sam
If we had the resources to go into every country and stand up for the oppressed then by all means, yes we should. But the hard and real fact is that we can’t. I wish that we could. Maybe if we let the children guide us in those matters….
By: samwrites2 on July 17, 2008
at 2:06 pm
samwrites2,
I do my job/mission for several reasons..I love my family, I love freedom and want others to have the same, and I can’t stand anything that hurts/oppresses people. I really wish we could unclass some stuff…then you’d know why we are there. We are our brothers/sisters keeper…not to be a smart-you know what but who else is going to do the job? We lead the world, like it or not, and I’ll be damned if I let another nation lead the fight…just my nature…no body does it better than us. Does it hurt sometimes (B-days, holidays missed, knowing mates that have been killed), yes. Who those are is a difficult question…but that’s why we educate ourselves and make calculate/informed decisions. Not any easy task but worth it. TFD
Unfortunately not all of us are equipped with the info that you have at your disposal. I wish that everyone was able to make decisions based on the info that you have at your disposal. Then maybe everyone would understand! Love you…
By: taskforcedawg on July 17, 2008
at 3:36 pm
A can of worms indeed! LOL
I can’t help but immediately think why are we defending the basic rights of these people and not people in Darfur if this is what this war is about? Which I don’t believe it is.. but that’s not really answering your Q…
Once you start something like this its kind of hard to just pack up and leave so any kind of withdrawal has to be done in stages but yes I believe we should withdraw but don’t ask me to give you a concise and well planning out strategy for that! This mess is beyond me!
Thanks Ng! I wish that it could come down to a clear and concise withdrawal plan…
By: notgoth on July 17, 2008
at 5:27 pm
so I guess I am saying I agree with samwrites2.
By: notgoth on July 17, 2008
at 5:29 pm
National interest
It’s not about being the worlds policemen. It’s about keeping the enemies of this nation away from this nation. Darfur doesn’t represent a direct threat at this time. It may someday.
I worked directly with Iraqis. Many want the same thing we want. They are fighting for it themselves. Soon we will just be helping out.
We will draw down in time but hopefully will continue to have a presence where we need it.
We can of course just pull out, close our eyes and hope for the best. Maybe the bad guys will change.
Hope and change seem to be popular among some. But I’ve been told hope is not an operational term.
Thanks for the posting.
JB—Thanks for your comment. Let’s all pray for the day when all we are doing is just helping out! As I pointed out there has been some kind of warfare there for at least the last 4000 years so sitting back and hoping for the best doesn’t seem like a viable option to me!
By: JB on July 20, 2008
at 12:36 pm
Welcome back! Missed having your posts, but glad you are doing well!
Onto your questions….I don’t know enough to really make and educated answer. But my gut instinct says that we as christians and humans always have suffering and sacrafices. What and how we handle those is up to us. For many of the families and soldiers I am sure make the best of it, but teaches good lessons to others. The world will be a better place if everyone gave to others all the time. And sometimes that means giving outside of your immediate family.
Oh, Ms. S I have missed you terribly!!! I think you are right…It is about what we are willing to sacrifice for right now! Maybe not all the time but it seems like if we all gave a little then alot would be given!
By: Shannon H on July 20, 2008
at 1:25 pm
I would like nothing more than for our troops to come home, and I think that should happen when the situation is stable enough for it to happen.
Unfortunately war is sometimes necessary to protect the freedoms that we all hold so dear.
I agree.
By: Jenn on July 20, 2008
at 8:51 pm
S**t hot, WM! And JB, guess you are in my business I take it and we share the same view. “National interest”…great way to put it. One thing that hurt us in the 1920s was Woodrow Wilson…isolationism. World wide eutopia will not exist in our lifetime…probably never…but can we co-exist…for the most part, yes. Just the way it is. But some goobers want to “talk”…which does nothing: hum, let me see, Iran, N. Korea, Cuba, etc. TFD
I think the co-existance is the key. If we could all agree to disagree…
By: taskforcedawg on July 21, 2008
at 5:01 pm