tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post7632201363497060011..comments2023-03-25T07:41:40.166-04:00Comments on The Unknown Soldiers by Tom Sileo: More Than One DayTom Sileohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09597602184333457928noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-59388783851864584062012-05-14T05:28:16.508-04:002012-05-14T05:28:16.508-04:00'i dont support Wars For Banksters and A forei...'i dont support Wars For Banksters and A foreign nation{israel}'<br />I think that says it all. You don't fight and you should therefore shut up.Willard Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08423390588331279796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-15836833861065503512012-05-14T05:23:10.438-04:002012-05-14T05:23:10.438-04:00All that I can suggest to you, Elliot, is that you...All that I can suggest to you, Elliot, is that you read the history of the Battle of Bunker Hill to your father. It was at this point that we drove the commies back to the 38th. In other words, we won. Nobody was left behind. You seem to confuse casualties with abandonment and I can't help you there.Willard Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08423390588331279796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-66645959467245344312012-05-02T12:14:06.282-04:002012-05-02T12:14:06.282-04:00To postion myself, I served in the 82nd Airborne a...To postion myself, I served in the 82nd Airborne almost 40 years ago. My son in law served in the 82nd and is recovering from his wounds in Iraq. Every male in my family before me has served in one of our military services.<br /><br />With this in mind I would still urge caution about unquestioningly supporting the actions or our government. Our leaders are not always that smart and the interests of USA, Inc. as an institution do not alwalys coincide with the interests or liberties of its citizens. However, that does not conflict with supporting our young men and women who serve this great country. <br /><br />For those who question the "no win" strategy, all I can offer, is that sometimes achieving your objective does not require victory, per se. The best explanation I have read basically states that the USA's strategic interest is in assuring that no single power or combination of powers will be permitted to pose a serious threat to the USA. As such, our military actions are intended to be disruptive of the potential for such risks to form, such as a radical Sunni Islamic power in the Middle East and Central Asia. And, maintaining or shifting the balance of power between potential adversaries or challengers.<br /><br /> In the immediate case our potential threat is/was radical Islam in its Sunni Islamic form under Wahabism which has its roots in Saudi Arabia (our ally?) and also where most of the money to support Osama Bin Laden came from. If you look at the map today, whatever "power" Sunni Islam had has been degraded in its radical form (Osama) and its secular conventional military form (Saddam). Iraq was the balance to Iran from the perspective of Sunni Islam. Now, there is only one power, the USA, that can protect the Sunnis (Saudi Arabia) from the Shia (Iran). And, the USA is in a position to at least monitor and hopefully contain the other threat (Shia Iran). All this is very messy. And, we cannot pursue an objectively clean victory at the expense of forgetting the threats posed by China and Russia, Etc. Thus, we begin repositioning the great but still finite resources we have.<br /><br />Welcome to the burden of Empire.<br /><br />Justin McCarthyJustin McCarthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14140950709248493905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-56797994974674496682012-05-02T11:54:24.248-04:002012-05-02T11:54:24.248-04:00Thanks for this comment. I deeply appreciate your...Thanks for this comment. I deeply appreciate your son's service to our country.Tom Sileohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09597602184333457928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-91303324044077901442012-05-02T11:41:42.037-04:002012-05-02T11:41:42.037-04:00My son is deployed now and I recognize one of thos...My son is deployed now and I recognize one of those names because of that. These young men are doing a job whether they agree with it or not. That in my book deserves respect.Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16578026135993331652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-9775591630290668642012-05-02T00:14:35.134-04:002012-05-02T00:14:35.134-04:00Willard: "'troops who were left behind du...Willard: "'troops who were left behind during the Korean War, who suffered horrible torture' An outright lie."<br /><br />Osan Air Base, which was overrun at the outset of the war. Americans, South Koreans, and civilians were hung on meat hooks in a hangar.<br /><br />My dad was at Kimpo in the early 60s, about 50 miles away, and related this to me.<br /><br />"'Does it not disgust you to see how American veterans suffer losses and are often abandoned by their government when they return?' More lies."<br /><br />Read the news. Countless Afghanistan and Iraq veterans suffer with PTSD without adequate support.<br /><br />At least during the Vietnam war, they'd pull units out of the field every few months for R&R. With the military stretched so thin, there are troops stuck in country, with no relief, for full tours.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-42927875215989570852012-05-02T00:10:11.258-04:002012-05-02T00:10:11.258-04:00The comments here are scary. Many of you make a se...The comments here are scary. Many of you make a semantic error that reveals a deep underlying and very important misconception. <br /><br />American forces in Afghanistan are NOT fighting for the freedom of Americans. There is no conceivable possibility that any group of people in Afghanistan or Pakistan or even Iran could in any way threaten the Freedom of Americans. They could conceivably kill a few Americans, but that is not an attack on our freedom, it is a relatively small attack on our Security. Security is not Freedom. As a matter of fact, real freedom only flourishes in an environment where risks exist. Real freedom and tight security cannot co-exist. <br /><br />At the same time that American soldiers fight to put down the Afghan rebellion against the American occupation (that will not stop until Americans leave Afghanistan), the US government is making mincemeat of the Bill of Rights. This is to be expected if the government is striving for perfect security. It is anathema if the goal is the protection of our freedom. <br /><br />The truth is that the only group of people that can rescind Americans' freedom is the government of the United States of AmericaChris Ferrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10030106383333185967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-3099303755777968162012-05-01T22:14:21.830-04:002012-05-01T22:14:21.830-04:00Amen Won't be long and we can vote O out.Amen Won't be long and we can vote O out.USMC1969https://www.blogger.com/profile/14803965280694038540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-38395815149200094132012-05-01T21:40:22.075-04:002012-05-01T21:40:22.075-04:00JerEl: "Elliot, You do have a choice when you...JerEl: "Elliot, You do have a choice when you go in that voting booth and choose your congressman, senator, and president."<br /><br />I respect your rights too much to participate in any election. As an individual, I don't have the moral authority to dictate to you how to live your life, how your money should be spent, or whether deadly actions on the other side of the world can be said to be carried out in your name, without even asking you. Thus, I cannot grant to any "representative" such authority, which is exactly the presumption wrapped up in slipping a ballot into a box in November.<br /><br />I don't care about elections. We're never going to vote our way out of the mess we're in, or convince the leaders to stop trampling our rights.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-16265074252212664542012-05-01T21:31:44.873-04:002012-05-01T21:31:44.873-04:00Huldah, I can't untangle your disjointed argum...Huldah, I can't untangle your disjointed arguments.<br /><br />I have definite ideas on how to protect my rights, to stop thugs and terrorists. They don't include trying to force people in primitive countries to adopt American political values against their will, forcing Americans to pay for anything and everything the rotten political leaders decide is in the "national interest", or harassing handicapped little girls and veterans in wheelchairs at the airport.<br /><br />If you don't want to take my advice, to handle security according to my judgement, then why should I accept your notions?Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-13337367445351116392012-05-01T21:22:43.191-04:002012-05-01T21:22:43.191-04:00Unknown: "Those very soldiers that went over ...Unknown: "Those very soldiers that went over and risked their lives gave you the right to be even able to voice your opinions"<br /><br />No one GIVES another person rights. Rights are inherent and inalienable, a result of our nature as rational beings.<br /><br />People can PROTECT the rights of others, but I question how a pointless attempt to force American values onto a backwards culture protects the rights of people here.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-21439428103663566562012-05-01T21:17:49.105-04:002012-05-01T21:17:49.105-04:00Dogman: "Frankly I find your comments to be j...Dogman: "Frankly I find your comments to be just that, ungrateful and disrespectful."<br /><br />I can't control your inability to throughly read and comprehend what I wrote, or to have a mind sufficiently open to consider opinions outside rigid lines you've ignorantly drawn.<br /><br />"Without the efforts of our military we could be battling for our freedom right here in the good old USA."<br /><br />WHICH efforts?<br /><br />And against whom would we be doing battle?<br /><br />There are a number of wars waged by the US government which were a waste of life and treasure, or which were unethical in origin and/or execution, and so I reject completely that it's 100% or nothing.<br /><br />"Don't forget that your disrespect also falls on the heroes of WWII that fought to make it possible for you to be an idiot."<br /><br />You're compounding your libel, starting with the false accusation that there is disrespect and then projecting that onto veterans of a war I didn't even mention (including my father in law and a whole lot of relatives in my grandfather's generation). I know what they did and I know how that existential conflict is nothing like propping up a bunch of backwards savages in a country which never will adopt American values, but will keep depriving women of their rights and murdering homosexuals and apostates because an illiterate pedophile said so over a thousand years ago.<br /><br />If anyone is being an "idiot" it would be the person spouting mindless Jingoism, presenting US military actions as unquestionably 100% perfect.<br /><br />You explain how My Lai helped any American's freedoms. Once you've failed to do that, I'll explain to you how my ancestors actually did help our freedoms in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and how their honor and sacrifice did not excuse nation building or destroying the village to save it.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-64410612618533903902012-05-01T20:44:15.121-04:002012-05-01T20:44:15.121-04:00'troops who were left behind during the Korean...'troops who were left behind during the Korean War, who suffered horrible torture' An outright lie. 'Does it not disgust you to see how American veterans suffer losses and are often abandoned by their government when they return?' More lies. You wasted a lot of words to say nothing.Willard Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08423390588331279796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-52458672717937027222012-05-01T20:38:24.502-04:002012-05-01T20:38:24.502-04:00The troops that fought in Vietnam were fighting a ...The troops that fought in Vietnam were fighting a hot "Cold War". NV was just the proxy for the Russians and Chinese. As a result the Cold War was won. The longest, costliest, and most casualties of all wars put together. Whether Vietnam was the way to fight the Cold War I'll leave to the historians but we did win and won big. We got freedom from a nuclear cloud hanging over us and countless numbers of people got freedom from the USSR. Even the people of China benefited from our winning the Cold War.<br /><br />BTW I've been sitting in a wheelchair for 43 years and no way do I feel my Army time during Vietnam was for "nothing". I do however resent anyone who thinks it was for nothing.JerElhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819905635373161158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-6411713012165915442012-05-01T20:05:26.747-04:002012-05-01T20:05:26.747-04:00Elliot, You do have a choice when you go in that ...Elliot, You do have a choice when you go in that voting booth and choose your congressman, senator, and president. This is a republic type of government not a true democracy and that's the way we do things according to our Constitution. Don't like this form of government...Find another but there is no true democratic government on this Earth. It just wouldn't work in practice. Now, you could convince your congressman and senator to sponsor legislation letting people pick and choose what their tax money is used for (and what not) but I doubt that would work in the real world since the majority could wage a funding war against minorities.JerElhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819905635373161158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-22582866595442769812012-05-01T19:35:18.989-04:002012-05-01T19:35:18.989-04:00"That blood bought a reputation throughout th..."That blood bought a reputation throughout this world that no other nation has ever known. All countries know you don't mess with America - because we will kick your butts!"<br /><br />Except Vietnam. Even in Iraq and Afghanistan, dirt-scratching savages learned that with primitive means they can still do damage to the biggest super power, still engage in an asymmetric war of attrition, which even if they fail to get what they want, exacts a heavy cost to Americans as well as the locals.<br /><br />"The pure strength of our military is what keeps us free..."<br /><br />If that were the case, then the citizens of the USSR would have been free at the height of their military power.<br /><br />"Keeping the fight on their turf keeps my children safe here."<br /><br />Your children would most likely be just as safe without the invasion of Iraq and without the nation building in Afghanistan. And, they wouldn't be saddled with as much debt before they even get their first paycheck.<br /><br />"Elliot complained that he didn't get to choose where his tax dollars went and so therefore his freedoms were trampled on."<br /><br />Not exactly, but if you want to phrase it that way, fine. If you want to tell me that you are protecting my freedom, then you'd better have a reason other than you forced me to give money to pay for an invasion I didn't support because not paying that money would land me in prison.<br /><br />Like I said, I could have been PERSUADED to VOLUNTARILY contribute to attacking al Qaeda in 2001. Had it been handled that way, those who fought could honestly say, with my blessing, that they fought for me.<br /><br />"For him and those like him who probably voted Obama, that anti-war socialist was totally against all aggression in the Middle East."<br /><br />You have no clue, whatsoever. My political views are pretty much the opposite of Obama. I opposed his going to war against Libya and expanding the war in Afghanistan (which was the proximate reason my nephew was sent there).<br /><br />I despise Obama AND Bush, and all the other politicians and bureaucrats who lack the honor of the man on the ground who has to see his friends killed because stupid politicians can't let those backwards people sort out their own affairs.<br /><br />I've echoed the same criticism of Obama, Mr. Nobel Peace Prize, for being no different than Bush, and all the rotten peaceniks who marched in the streets in opposition to Bush's wars but who said nothing when it was Obama at the helm.<br /><br />My opposition isn't to damage any political side or promote another. It's to retain the ethical integrity of Americans and to ensure that those warriors who serve with honor are only used when absolutely necessary, their lives being more precious than the barbaric puppet leaders.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-68294200367227007232012-05-01T19:34:57.468-04:002012-05-01T19:34:57.468-04:00"You anti-war sympathizers disgust me!"
..."You anti-war sympathizers disgust me!"<br /><br />Why does opposition to war disgust you? Have you seen what happens in war? Does it not disgust you to see how American veterans suffer losses and are often abandoned by their government when they return? Does it not disgust you to see the heavy toll on civilians in war zones? Does it not break your heart to know that many of those innocent victims are a direct result of US leaders' choices, who presume to act in your and my name?<br /><br />For the record, I'm not a "sympathizer" for any group. I'm simply opposed to waging war without a very, very good reason. My opposition is for the sake of the young Americans sent into harm's way by leaders who often do so for political reasons, leaders who lack the honor of the warrior who knows what it is to fight and lose comrades.<br /><br />My father, who was a 26-year veteran, told me at a young age that war was not glorious or noble, but was like walking through a ditch full of filth. He was patriotic, instilled with the determination which arose from serving during the bulk of the Cold War. But he warned me that I should never allow myself to be made into cannon fodder and gave the example of troops who were left behind during the Korean War, who suffered horrible torture.<br /><br />"Those men who died - over the last 200+ years of our great countries history ALL had purpose."<br /><br />I wish that were so, but I'm afraid it isn't. Despite tens of thousand of American deaths, communists took over South Vietnam. Had Americans just stayed out of it, tens of thousands of them would have had lives to live out here, and hundreds of thousands would have been spared the horrors. We can only imagine what the civilians in South Vietnam would have suffered if the communists had invaded without the US being involved. But with up to two million dead in the conflict, the communists would have had to have been horribly ruthless to match that level of carnage.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180592837977576951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-5505505466909775482012-05-01T19:27:32.139-04:002012-05-01T19:27:32.139-04:00Yup..if Bush were President, these names would be ...Yup..if Bush were President, these names would be scrolling across the bottom of the news every day.. but not during OBAMA'S election year...ippyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09456757632427194418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-90861837334788589632012-05-01T19:15:30.889-04:002012-05-01T19:15:30.889-04:00Ben - you are one angry dude! Than again, I've...Ben - you are one angry dude! Than again, I've never met a liberal that wasn't angry, or for that matter a victim. Its amazing, people living under a communist regime like China can become millionaires, and billionaires. Yet, Americans born in America - the land of opportunity, find the time to walk around bitchin and moaning, "I'm a victim of this, and that, whaaa, whaaa, whaaaa. Move your sorry ass to a place like Somalia and get a real perspective on life douche bag!HeyNowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08630885620496214245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-18654571741466628562012-05-01T19:07:57.425-04:002012-05-01T19:07:57.425-04:00Mandy, thank you for the sacrifices that you, your...Mandy, thank you for the sacrifices that you, your husband, and your entire family are making for our country. I will be praying for the safe return of his entire unit and hope everyone leaving comments on this page, regardless of their political beliefs, will do the same.Tom Sileohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09597602184333457928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-63407279711525742192012-05-01T18:52:06.539-04:002012-05-01T18:52:06.539-04:00Your president is an a-hole and your media is corr...Your president is an a-hole and your media is corrupt. Good luck with that.potvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08255896639587694496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-52758541922802041012012-05-01T18:47:37.461-04:002012-05-01T18:47:37.461-04:00My husband is currently deployed so I am hyperawar...My husband is currently deployed so I am hyperaware right now of these deaths. But even when he is not deployed there is not a day that goes by that I don't pray for them and their families. I cannot imagine losing my husband. He is my very best friend and our kids superhero.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-84160806129601399642012-05-01T18:39:10.261-04:002012-05-01T18:39:10.261-04:00or perhaps you truly are the lunatic fringe and th...or perhaps you truly are the lunatic fringe and that's why you are so outnumbered - thought of that? When all else fails try logicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-41274053716673754102012-05-01T18:37:10.064-04:002012-05-01T18:37:10.064-04:00The media couldn't wait with the death totals ...The media couldn't wait with the death totals when it was Bush in office, and I seem to recall the count to 1000 dead, or 2000 dead as if it were a milestone.<br /><br />But the lame stream lap dog media knows that giving the death count harms the man in the Oval Office and that is why there is no reporting.<br /><br />I bet if Leno did a jaywalking segment, most of the people wouldn't even know that we were fighting in that countrybarry1817https://www.blogger.com/profile/08212657600110909652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1341302372172784674.post-30940715923726865412012-05-01T18:34:36.140-04:002012-05-01T18:34:36.140-04:00I hope you are aware that the link to this page ha...I hope you are aware that the link to this page has just shown up on the front page of Drudge.MadDogBVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12483826136149491131noreply@blogger.com