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Post by troutfarm on Oct 23, 2005 12:16:44 GMT -5
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Post by guesterro on Oct 23, 2005 18:10:31 GMT -5
The Failure of the War (Coverage)
War on Terror/Joe Stener
October 22, 2005 - The unending hostilities in Iraq have lost the public’s support. This crippling reality is sadly well known; however this reality has to be observed from the right (Right…) perspective.
For months, the Iraq war has been offered to the American people in a murky and discouraging manner. The most, or perhaps the solitary ongoing coverage we get out of Iraq is, that "another soldier has lost his life," or, "a series of ongoing bombs claimed the lives of a dozen Iraqis." To embellish the public’s support for the war, the media does not fail to summarize the number of troops we lost since the war began in ’03.
The disheartening reports of the Iraq conflict, has energized the Leftist anti-everything movement. Roughly four weeks ago, the Left finished a series of moaning against the war, and just recently the president gave a broadly covered speech to promote the war. Both of the above was a direct result of the public’s abandoned war support.
One key aspect in observing the war’s support is the unfaltering positive affirmation our troops have for this war. "The grieving mom" led protest in Washington did not get support from a large number of veterans or military families; the military persons were small in numbers and small in percentage. Moreover, the pro-war assembly that took place the following Sunday was supported by a large number of military families; large in number and large in percentage as well. To top it off, Bush won a vast majority of the GI’s votes in November ’04.
If the war is worthless, saggy, and disastrous, why did we not see a large number of war veterans and their relatives jubilating along side the grieving mom? Why are the troops so supportive of Bush? One can only conclude that the war is a brilliant success; however it is the media’s coverage of the war that is a failure. As a result, a soldier’s view of the war differs greatly from the general public.
Clarification: the death of American servicemen appears to be worthless, because it is presented to us in a dried up manner. The media will report that "An American soldier has been gunned down in center of Baghdad." The encouraging media will continue, "The death comes after the deaths of three servicemen that died when their hummer stepped over a road side bomb."
When we get shelled with these merciless coverages, our impression is that our servicemen are drinking Coke in the center of Baghdad and craving to be gunned down. Very similar are the deaths that occur from road side bombs. It appears that our great servicemen are cruising daily between Baghdad and Mosul and they are yearning to get blown away by a road side bomb, or a RPG.
Fortunately, the troops have a different visualization of the deaths of their fellow heroes. They witness the factual image: Their fellow soldier was gunned down while protecting Iraqi women and children. Their fellow serviceman gave up their life in a gun battle against terrorists that were determined to succeed in a sadistic cruel attack. Our men and women in Iraq know that all soldiers that died in Iraq gave their life to reduce the potentiality of another 9/11. Likewise, the servicemen know that the death of a GI brings closer the death of Islamic fanaticism; fanaticism which is the key foundation for international terrorism.
When Iraqi men, women, and children are blown to the wind as crumbs, they are also seen in the U.S. media different than it is seen by the troops in Iraq. The media presents an exploding bomb in a market place as a failure to the American peace efforts. It is all about "Bush’s failed war." On the ground though, the reality is quite different. The attackers are seen by our courage’s troops as real heartless, psychotic bloodless creatures. The troops do not see the death and destruction in the scope of Bush and Halliburton; they see an enemy that has to be defeated at all costs!
The difference in the support-rate between the troops in Iraq and us at home can only be explained by acknowledging that the U.S. deaths in Iraq are for a heroic and selfless cause. Furthermore, our troops observe masses of positive accomplishments in Iraq that we at home do not know. We only have the shameless media to thank for our distorted views of the war.
~I guess it is all how you look at things and if you look at things objectively, rather than just what slant you have politically!
Wishing all the brave forces safety!
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Post by starrlyte on Oct 24, 2005 11:12:40 GMT -5
I think the second article is just as biased, if not more so. I don't know a single person who has been to Iraq (and yes, I know a few), that feels that the war is a sucess. They support the troops, they do not support the war. There is a big difference. Yes, they are over there protecting people, but they are a people who do not want to be protected. They know this, but they give their lives anyway. Please do not confuse the issues. Lack of support for the war is not the same as lack of support for the troops (as it was in Vietnam). Our troops are brave and selfless people. This war is a crock of crap that the politicians in control are using to get rich. It's based on a lie, and no matter how much good we're doing, it still is not right that we are there. It's time to leave.......
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Post by guesterro on Oct 24, 2005 11:49:50 GMT -5
Yes! Both articles are biased. Generally opinions are biased and they support what we are trained to believe. That was my point!
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Post by troutfarm on Oct 24, 2005 13:32:08 GMT -5
"Wishing the brave forces safety!"
really does not do it either ~ time to stop wishing for the impossible when they will not all be coming home alive (that is obvious). It is really time to stop sending our young to be murdered so Bush and his rich friends can get richer not to mention the innocent people who are getting murdered in Iraq. This war is only helping a few who are already rich and the rest of the USA is going further in debt.
questerro if you believe this war is a good idea I would much rather hear in your own words why then someone elses.
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Post by guesterro on Oct 24, 2005 14:25:37 GMT -5
Well, I hadn’t really said I what I felt of the war one way or another, had I?
I do not feel that I have studied both sides of the issue enough to make a intelligent opinion that is not based on emotional hatred of a political party.
So, when presented with a negative view on the war, I seek to read a positive one. When presented with a positive view I research a negative one. In that way I am certain that for myself, I choose my words and opinions wisely.
How could anyone know that their views are 100% truth and not just an emotional response? For myself, I reserve my judgement until I can clearly see a path. Many times in life people look back and see that a course of action they did not agree with, turned out to be the proper course to allow other events happen.
A new poll (zogby?), one that came out today, said that people are quite pleased that the elections in Iraq went so well. Once again people are holding up purple victory fingers and proudly displaying their happiness.
Are you speaking of our troops being murdered? This I do not understand. There is not a draft and these women and men volunteered to become service members. If they joined in a time of peace then the political powers decided a war was needed, they were fully aware that could happen.
As for wishing them the best, I like to think wishing a positive thought has as much power as a prayer. Unless you know for a fact that it does not, I shall continue my positive thoughts.
It seems that you take too much of what I write personally. This I do not understand either. Should people get so angry when their views are not greeted enthusiastically or of the same temperament?
I do not wish to aggravate you. I ask questions to learn and read opinions to learn. My post was to share a different view. It has been so rare in my environment of learning that someone became angry at that style that I failed to realize it was not natural for everyone to openly seek variety in view. Yet, I do thank you. Your response to me has taught me much and helped me understand something I had never encountered.
Please have a happy evening, and though I can not make it so, I do wish this for you.
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Post by guesterro on Oct 24, 2005 15:57:25 GMT -5
Post Script to Trout person,
Since I value your heart's beat more than I value any opinion, I seek to withdraw any anxiety I create within you when I look into your posts.
I cease from this moment on, in the inteference of your reality, thoughts and opinions. That, I believe is worth it, because you are a human and you are worth it!
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Post by troutfarm on Oct 24, 2005 23:50:04 GMT -5
In all honesty questerro I do not enjoy your posts or communicating or engaging with you so I won't be reading any of your future posts. You may enjoy your many questions and stating other points of views (while stating they are not your opinions) but I am not buying it nor do I care to read it any longer. There is no law that says we have to enjoy everyone here.
trout
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Post by Kimberanne on Oct 25, 2005 10:38:58 GMT -5
War is hell and I don't think that anyone who has been in one, read of one, had loved ones in one, or even thought about it could disagree with that. If you do, I seriously think you need to educate yourself. People die. People get blown up. People lose limps. Blood is spattered on the innocent and the guilty alike. Children die. Criminals die. Soldiers die. Babies die. Their mothers die. It has been this way since the beginning of time.
What has also been the same since the beginning of time is that people disagree. They disagree concerning the "need", they disagree concerning the "morals", the justification, the motivation, and even the reality of what is happening.
Reporters are biased. They are human beings and what they see is colored by their view of the world and how they percieve things. Frankly, I don't trust any of them. I don't trust ANY politicians, Right or Left. None of them. They ALL have personal motivations for the things that they do.
The soldiers are pawns in a big "game". They had the choice of signing up. The ones that did, did so with the thought that they want to defend our country. An honorable thing in my eyes, but I'm not saying that what they are doing is actually defending us. I seriously don't know. All I know is that people are dying, families are losing loved ones, tax payers are paying billions of dollars to blow up things in another country that when we are done, we will end up paying to rebuild.
Just look at Japan. They cross the ocean and attack us unprovoked, destroying most of our Navy. So, all of a sudden, we decide that the war is immoral in Europe as well and we need to jump in and save England and France from the horrible Germans (who..suprisingly enough, also were allies with the Japanese). Not to mention fighting the Japanese. Well, we get out the "big guns" and bomb the crap out of Japan. THEN... after the war WE pay big bucks during the Japanese Occupation to rebuild it. not only that, but we tell Japan that they can't have their own military, but we will protect them. (and pay for it,... and continue to pay for it) So, look at Japan now. In many ways, it has prospered because WE went to war with them.
Europe was pretty much the same. We bombed and then built.
We will do the same in Iraq. Trust me on that one.
History repeats itself...over and over and over and over again.
Personally, I wish we would just get out of there. I don't know the best way to do that though. I want the killing and destruction to end. Period. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with humanity. War is hell.
From the beginning of time, men have fought for pretty much the same reasons. POWER. Power some times means land, sometimes money, sometimes controling another country of people. Every war boils down to either getting more power or protecting what you percieve to be your power.
In college I was president of the Speech and Debate team, and did rather well, going to the national championships 4 years in a row. Doing that taught me that I can disagree and debate with another person and not take it personally. If that person were to become nasty to me, on the other hand, and not just be stating an opinion (which we are all entitled to have), I would have had difficulty respecting them as a person. As long as my opinion is respected as being my right to have, I am ok with some one not agreeing.
My ex husband was a very difficult man to get along with. He had very strong opinions about every thing, which if he realized they were just opinions and not mandates from God, it would have been ok. He would get almost livid if I had a different opinion than he did. He wanted to argue to the death and he couldn't accept that we would disagree. the reason for this is that in his eyes, I was just plain wrong and he was right. Period. End of story. My opinion seemed to be flawed thinking and I was stupid or lacked character in his eyes, where his opinion was scientific fact. He was very closed minded about that. It was one of the huge reasons why I left him. I couldn't tolerate that.
I really can't tolerate it here either. Especially from people who are supposed to be open to differing thoughts and philosophies. Lets face it, some of the things we discuss here are not mainstream. We would be considered eccentric at best, down right crazy, evil, or immoral by others. This is a loving and accepting place. We may not always agree with each other, but when we do disagree we need to step back and remind ourselves that just as their opinion isn't FACT, neither is ours.
You don't have to like what another says and you don't even have to like them if you don't want to, but please keep in mind that we ALL have the basic right to have opinions. Even if they are "wrong" in our views or offensive. Again, we don't have to agree. We can debate even. Remember when you do however, that you do so in a way that you would be proud of how you reacted and you would be able to look back on it at the end of your life and be happy with the way you handled it. Don't leave your spirituality at the door. I believe that the truest test of a person and what they really live by and believe in is brought out in the toughest of times. How do they react when under pressure? It is easy to be loving, accepting, tolerant, and positive when everything is as we would like it to be. Not so easy when we feel like we are backed into a corner.
I love you all. Even when I don't agree with you all. It is nice when people agree with my thoughts and opinions, but in reality, the only thing that I ask is that they respect my right to have them. They don't have to agree. Just not feel the need to dictate mine to me or insult me in the process. Remember, we truly are all a part of the same essense. Maybe people that we disagree with are brought into our lives to test our beliefs or to test how we carry out what we say we believe. I really don't know. If I had all the answers... well... if I had all of the answers, life would probably be pretty boring!!!
may the One that is All bless this space with love, acceptance, learning, knowledge, self realization, and peace.
Namaste
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Post by illia on Oct 25, 2005 11:33:17 GMT -5
KIM, are you calling me crazy?!
Just kidding...
Well written, and just wanted to add in that I love you as well...and everyone else here!
xo
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Post by Kimberanne on Oct 25, 2005 12:28:27 GMT -5
You say Crazy like its a bad thing!
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