I've been against this bullshit war from the get go and let everyone around me know and why.
1)It's an illeagal invasion of a sovergn nation
2)The only weapons of mass destruction Saddam ever had we sold him(and he used against the Iranians and kurds..not us)
3)Al Quida had nothing to do with Iraq(until now)
4)You cannot occupy a country of 25 million with less than 200,000 troops..it's just not possible.You need at least half a million to a million.
5)I'm a Pagan and this Christian/Hebrew,Muslim holy war is Bullshit.They all follow the same God and if their not killing each other than their killing themselves.Their God must be extremely evil to inspire that.

>I feel like for some people who we are is not so something they like to justify as human. Maby we anger them, maby they just fear us because we are the manifestations of there fears.
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Who are these people you talk about? When you say who we are do you mean the protestors or the military? Because I know quite a few people who have no problem with the military. But they have a huge problem with the war.

>Everybody is against the war but nobody wants to hear why.
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Are you trying say that some people don't want to hear why some people are against the war?
I think there are people who have heard a little about it and don't want to hear anymore. Most of these people tend to only use conservative sources such as conservative talk radio, newspapers, and TV.
Their thoughts tend to be poisoned with lies and misleading but factually true statements.

>I have good reason to be, but nobody relay wants to hear me talk.
In this situation I'm guessing you mean conservatives?

Please don't take this negatively. I'm just trying to parse what you say so I can have a good discussion.

ya want the truth, you can't handle the truth.... Ok.... I just love that line....

seriously.... I was totally onboad the first time around.... but not so much so this time... seemed to me this time that our prez had a "wanna show my dad" kinda complex goin on

wanted to go play "shoot em up, cowboys and indians" and make daddy proud.... and I thought he went to war with all the wrong reasons in mind..... still do think that way.... no good reason so he picked one.... kinda like the bully pickin the fight just to get a reaction outta someone

BUT......

after I sat down with a Marine friend and asked him, after his 3rd tour over there, what he REALLY thought, and he said.....

"if we don't fight them there we WILL fight them here" and explained some of the stuff I wasnt aware of, I relented a little..... let me stress a "Little"

what he said has merit... and so I am trying to let go of my ideas in this and support those that are there whether they want to be or not.... as they say Freedom ain't Free...

sucks ass though.... I do see parallels with vietnam, though for much of nam I was really young... and when I became aware in 71' when Charly Joined we still had a draft and Nixon was REALLY screwin things up.....

I will never forget the day the war ended Jan, 1973, Charly was still overseas and they announced the war was over..... in my naievete I thought that meant he was on his way home.... Wrong!!

you are so right though... about the preconceived ideas... none of us truly know.... and I am betting that even those there go thrugh the motions because thats how we are trained..

we do our jobs, rarely questions why out loud, and curse the powers that be in control of us but yet will walk in step because that is what we do.... we donthave to like it... we just do it....

KUDOS to ALL of those still serving, and those that have been over and over... and blessings to those that are still waiting for orders....

but ya know.... the thing that makes me really proud.. is that we STILL have those that are willing to go serve if they are called.... from the Old farts that have already served.. Geeesh I hear they are takin em up to 42 years old... to the youngest at 17/18.... and it's still all volunteer...

I would love to hear of your experiences.. of all those that are serving..

things are different then they used to be.... and those of us that are out now or attached to a stateside duty dont really know what ya all go thru....

THANK YOU..... for doin what ya do.....

Bare

What incenses me most is how the electorate has been so easily duped by this administration. This present regime should have been kicked out last general election; by then the facts were there for all to see, that is if one cared to read/educate oneself or take a hard look at exactly what was going on instead of listening to Fox news (or its ilk), or blindly following the words of some charismatic leader (or talkshow faux pundit) from the conservative right. And, in all fairness, I feel the conservative right was (enter a new word here) ROVED and they never even knew it!

Early on, I saw this as being very similar to the Vietnam War and others (on a national level)brought this up, only to have such a theory systematically picked apart by the administration.

Another thing that upsets me to no end is how this fratboy, pseudo cowboy in charge dons the flight jacket, rubs elbows with the servicemen and servicewomen, and waxes tough when in fact the one time in his life when he could have been a true warrior/patriot... he ducked out (as did his cohort)!

As things are now, they are far, far worse than when Saddam was in power (despot that he was). And do the math (though the numbers carry far more gravity than simple math): The number of US Servicemen killed now numbers more that the number of people killed during 911, and the number of Iraqis killed (does anyone even know the number?) is on a par greater than that when under the iron hand of that tyrant, not to mention that the country has now been relegated to the stone age, and a neighboring, volatile country once kept at bay now has newfound power and influence.

But, more back to your original post, Alien... I do feel that the people of this country respect and are in support of the troops.