Be Proud Of Your Armed Forces

cozumel

As mentioned in another the thread the forces are getting a lot of bad press and negativity from the general public since the war in Iraq. Remember that these guys (and gals) are serving their country and carry out their duty with honor and dignity despite facing some dreadful situations. Do not blame these men and women if you do not believe in the politics but support them and the services to which they belong in every way you can. Most importantly, remember that they are giving up their lives, sometimes literally, to do what most people could not.

CDsDontBurn

always am, always will be.

OmegaRED

I'm against the "support our troops" campaigns because I think it's just a veiled attempt at defending an unpopular war. These people try to convince us that the troops are losing our support when that is universally untrue. British, American and Canadian citizens all support their respective armed forces. We know they are essential to protect us and do a job most of us would be too terrified to attempt.

What "support our troops" really means is "support the war in [Afghanistan or Iraq]". It's true that troop morale has suffered but this is what happens in unpopular wars where soldiers become disillusioned with their purpose.

Zelig

Agreed.

I recently attended a really informative discussion with a former commander of the Canadian troops in Afghanistan (still in the military, just shifted a different position now). One of the questions that came up was in regards to supporting the troops if you don't support the reasons for their deployment in a certain area, and his response was to make your voice heard by the politicians.

Also interesting, he mentioned that he gets FAR more people thanking him randomly (when he's in uniform) for his service, than he did 20 years ago.

cozumel

If you've read any of the my other posts regarding the war Im sure you know that politically I am vehemently opposed to an unjust and illegal war. But that does not make any difference to how I feel about the military. They should be treated like heroes when they come home. With flags waving and ordinary folk shaking their hands and welcoming them back to civilian life. This support is not apparent as ordinary citizens have allowed their view to be muddied by politicians and the media.

I wish to reiterate that I am no way making a veiled attempt to defend an unpopular and unjust war. This is purely about the ordinary people doing their jobs on the battlefields far from home. Nearly every service man and woman in Iraq or Afghanistan has either had a friend killed or crippled, in many cases the images permanently etched into their minds, but still they do their job.

OmegaRED

This just isn't realistic. The kind of support you envision hasn't happened since World War 2 and that's because every single citizen was affected by that war (from the economic boom to rationing) whereas these days you wouldn't even know a war was on unless you turned on the news. People are apathetic and impatient, they want the troops to return home safely and the war to end but they're not going to give them a heroes welcome since most people don't even know what is really being fought for.

drakesteakn

I can give you a real story that shows how some people think of our troops in my area.

A staff sergeant walked into a Publix to grab some quick things before heading home for dinner. He was standing in a check out line and a lady walked up to him and spit in his face. She then called him and his fellow soldiers baby killers. Mind you this was in public and he was in uniform. Thats just one of many things i have witnessed that really hurt my feelings. Does the media have this much affect on people? I just hope this view changes for the better.

I Landed in Ireland OMW back to the US from my deployment. Everyone in the airport stopped to shake our hands and thank us for what we do. These are people from a totally different country. When i made it to the US people just stared at us and went about their business. Americans just take us for granted and expect us just to do this because we have too.

cozumel

This what I am talking about Omega. Surely it cannot be right that the media have made people react in such an abhorent and reprehensible way. It is so sad that folk can behave in this manner and feel they are somehow 'justified'.

calidan

That lady is getting mad at the wrong people. The "baby killers" as she puts it are the men that oppress their own country and kill their people because they don't agree with them. It seems people are looking just at the "bad apples" in our military and assume that all of them are bad.

Falstaff

i dont give a damn what people think, I did my duty, did it honorably and did with time and moved on. I wave my flag in my heart, and honor those that served before me. Without the military in my country, we would not have the great nation we have now. That means men and women died for a country that they believed in. People only discredit themselves when they complain.

drakesteakn

I Think its more or less what people are seeing on TV. I have had people say "we still have troops in Kosovo?". Well of course we do and we do alot of civil operations to help the people. We do the same thing in Iraq and Afganistan. All you see in the news are about battles and casualties. There are alot of things not reported on becuase it doesn't sell. The news agencies are getting what grabs our attention and sells the most copies. Not what really matters, our accomplishments and good deeds toward another people.

OmegaRED

The bitch who spit in a soldiers face shouldn't represent any popular opinion or effect of media coverage. There will always be people crazy like that who live in a fantasy world or maybe she lost a family member in an American conflict and took it out on the only person she could - a soldier.

I'll admit there has been a noticeable change in the portrayal of American soldiers by the media. At first, the soldiers were hailed as heroes spreading democracy then as the war dragged on and the drumbeats faded people started to see that soldiers were mostly just scared kids trying to stay alive.

I haven't noticed any lack of respect towards soldiers but rather a shift to an image closer to the reality of their situation and how things can go wrong in a prolonged war (such as rape and murder of a family in Iraq).

drakesteakn

As i do not know why she did this. I would have to say your probably right. Not everyone in the Armed Forces are kids either. I'm sure you know. Many of the leaders the younger soldiers, sailors, or airmen are looking for guidance from are a lot older and are fighting along side them. Most of my family has served one way or another in the Armed Forces and i have seen a change in the reactions of people.

The unpopular wars are always the hardest. The economy is rougher in some areas than others. People losing businesses that just a month ago where in a strong market. There are too many possibilities to list as to why the views of people have changed. Could it be that because normal people feel they can't show their anger toward the government face to face they take it out on the next best thing? The men and women in uniform.

Falstaff

All wars are unpopular and the hardest battle is not fighting a war, it is fighting the peace. All nations were forged in war, and battles tha followed were the quickening for the strongest countries. The only lesson that is of any value here is that strength in peace time is based on the strongest military presence either within strong nations or amongst their allies. One day perhaps, conflicts will be decided on computers involved in financial exchange. Our lives reduced to our intrinsic value on a stock exchange, it isnt unplausible.

calidan

Check this out: Group Says NBC Refuses to Air Ads Thanking Troops Over Holidays

The reason why they won't because the ad has the group's web site address, FreedomsWatch > Home

A spokesman from NBC claims that "However, he said, the link to the website violates their policy on controversial issue advertising because it encourages political action and other activities. He said the policy is applied consistently across the board and this group was not targeted in any way."

Is this a new policy or are they lying? What about the ads they have played in the past that had links to their websites. i.e. MoveOn.org

And when did thanking the troops became a controversial issue?

Falstaff

probably driven by the sentiment of the righteous of San Francisco.
The captial of the hypocratic culture of California, but they are all over, even in Colorado.
America has a Smog problem and a Smug problem..

drakesteakn

This counrty is becomming so politicaly correct its actually ruining the whole foundation on which the constitution was based.

cozumel

A few years back, incertain Government offices in London, you were no loger permitted to ask for black or white coffee. It had to be with or without cream. So I think this PC Bull is the same the world over.

Falstaff

is that when they switched from manhole covers to person hole covers?

cozumel

You have to be very intellectually challenged to fall down a personhole. Unless you're blind in which case your dog is thick as ****.

Whoops - I'm helping to hijack my own thread.

Back on-topic do you reckon our governments are also stitching up the military with little leaks to the media here and there to deflect the political fallout of decisions made by the state?

OmegaRED

Falstaff

The media and the military have a tenous and volitale relationship. Searching for the truth in the media is a bit like trying to find a shiny coin at the bottom of a dung heap. I get feeds from official sources so I dont see much popular media.

drakesteakn

Looks like NBC has made a turn around with the "Thank You" add. here is a link to FOXnews article. It didn't take them long to change their minds.





NBC Reverses Course, Agrees to Air Troop 'Thank You' Ad