The Troops Also Need to Support the American People - Page 3 - Big Big Forums

Jolie Rouge · 03-12-2007, 06:02 PM

Kudso to country singer Chely Wright, who performed in Iraq last week:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?op...551&Itemid=128

Chely Wright performs at Al Asad
Monday, 12 March 2007
Sgt. Anthony Guas
Marine Aircraft Group 29

County singer Chely Wright, sings one of her songs during a concert held at the Al Asad theater, March. 3. Wright, who has participated in multiple overseas tours with Stars for Stripes, believes it is necessary to pay tribute to the deployed service members. Official USMC photo.AL ASAD — Since World War II, American celebrities have been raising the morale of service members overseas with different forms of entertainment ranging from concerts to stand-up shows.

In an effort to keep that tradition alive, country singer Chely Wright, visited Al Asad, Iraq, to entertain and lift the spirits of service members, March 3.

“I’m thankful and really appreciative that (the band members) and I get to fly around the world on airplanes, ride in tour buses and get on stage and do what we love to do, and people clap for us when we do our jobs,” said Wright. “People don’t often clap for you folks, so we are here to say, ‘thank you. ’”

This was Wright’s last stop on her tour, which was sponsored by Stars for Stripes, before returning to her hometown of Nashville, Tenn. Stars for Stripes is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality entertainment to internationally deployed U.S. military forces, according to www.starsforstripes.com.

During her overseas tour, Wright visited service members throughout Iraq, Kuwait and Germany.

Wright, who is no stranger to the military, feels that it is her duty to participate in overseas tours.

“My grandfather served in the Army during World War II, my father was in the Navy during Vietnam and my brother is currently an active duty U.S. Marine,” said Wright. “Aside from the fact that I have a military history with my family, I am just one of those Americans who is thankful for what (service members) do.”

In her visit to Al Asad, Wright performed various songs from her albums, in addition to talking to the crowd about her experiences throughout her tour.

The night was capped off with the song that made her famous with service members and their families, “Bumper of My SUV.” But before starting, Wright explained the meaning behind the song; it was written after a woman pointed to Wrights’ Marine Corps bumper sticker, which was sent by her Marine brother, and shouted, “Your war is wrong.”

“I wanted to talk to her and tell her who I am,” said Wright of her experience. “I didn’t get to talk to her so I got home and I did what any good country singer would do, I wrote a song about it.”

The song was followed by a standing ovation from the crowd.

“The song was very inspiring and it is nice to know that there is a song specifically for Marines,” said Cpl. Lacey Hines, a maintenance specialist clerk for Marine Aircraft Group 29. “It made me want to cry. It makes you really appreciate what you do and instills pride back into your soul.”

After the concert, Wright stayed to sign autographs and take photos with the service members.

“I think Chely Wright is an awesome person. Coming out here for a fourth time to play for the troops says a lot and reminds us here that some individuals that are in a celebrity status do care about what goes on over here and the troops welfare,” said Hines. “It is refreshing to know that not only our family members are looking out for us, but other individuals in society. Sometimes military members need a little pick me up and it was a great experience.”

Here's one of her early performances of the song via YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mtVU_IcL8M&eurl=

Lyrics if you want to sing along:

I've got a bright red sticker on the back of my car,
Says: "United States Marines."
An' yesterday a lady in a mini-van,
Held up her middle finger at me.
Does she think she knows what I stand for,
Or the things that I believe?
Just by looking at a sticker for the US Marines,
On the bumper of my S.U.V.

See, my brother Chris, he's been in,
For more than 14 years now.
Our Dad was in the Navy during Vietnam,
Did his duty, then he got out.
And my Grandpa earned his Purple Heart,
On the beach of Normandy.
That's why I've got a sticker for the US Marines,
On the bumper of my S.U.V.

But that doesn't mean that I want war:
I'm not Republican or Democrat.
But I've gone all around this crazy world,
Just to try to better understand.
An' yes, I do have questions:
I get to ask them because I'm free.
That's why I've got a sticker for the US Marines,
On the bumper of my S.U.V.

'Cause I've been to Hiroshima,
An' I've been to the DMZ.
I've walked on the sand in Baghdad,
Still don't have all of the answers I need.
But I guess I wanna know where she's been,
Before she judges and gestures to me,
'Cause she don't like my sticker for the US Marines,
On the bumper of my S.U.V.

So I hope that lady in her mini-van,
Turns on her radio and hears this from me.
As she picks up her kids,
From their private school,
An' drives home safely on our city streets.
Or to the building where her church group meets:
Yeah, that's why I've got a sticker for the US Marines,
On the bumper of my S.U.V.

Jolie Rouge · 03-17-2007, 01:06 AM

Had enough yet?

http://www.gatheringofeagles.org/?page_id=83

I just love the way they "Support the Troops, Not The War"

This equates to, "You are killing babies, innocent Iraqis, fighting for oil, being a Neo-Con Bush stooge, creating more terrorists, making them hate us, dying for nothing, supporting lies, and all the other Leftie Liberal B.S. Dem Underground and Kos chants and slogans...but hey...we are behind you and support you all the way".

Yeah, that makes sense, I buy that. The other thing I love is when you say you support the troops and their mission, they tell you that if you do then you should go and sign up..otherwise you are a coward and a chicken hawk. I still have yet to figure out that argument or where it came from. After all, doesn't the same apply to them? Can they really be against it if they aren't there fighting it? If they really want to be against it, then shouldn't THEY sign up so that they know what they are against? Maybe actually go there and see and feel the war for themselves to at least give them a little insight? I know, if they really are against this "War for Oil", and all the killing, then why aren't they there protesting the Al Qaeda and insurgents who are blowing up kids and women in the markets? Are they cowards? Or just blatant hypocrites. After all...aren't the majority of killings being done by their "Freedom Fighters"? Isn't their silence actually an endorsement of their violence? Why is only the killing done by our troops of the insurgents bad? Shouldn't they be there, protesting or "vigiling" at an Iraqi hospital for all the "freedom fighters" that are hurt or wounded?

Oooooohhhhhh....I forgot...that would be counter productive. Besides....I like football and root for my favorite team, yet do not play myself. I also enjoy movies, but really have no right to say whether one is good or bad since I am not in the movie myself. I can;t tell if I figured it out...or am even more confused by their idiocy and hypocrisy than I was before.

stephanyb · 03-17-2007, 11:51 AM

I don't have to "like" the reason why my husband is over there. He believes in why he is there. He sees the good things that happen. He sends me pics of the children waiting in line when him and the other guys pass out something simple like a writing pen. He hears the thank yous from the people over there. He also knows that by shooting that insurgent he just saved his buddies life. He has a million reasons why he thinks he should be there. And a million more for why he should go back. Those reasons are good enough for me. I don't care what anyone else says. As long as he believes in why he should be there, I believe in why he should be there. If he doesn't come home to me, I know that at least it's because he was doing what he thought was right, not what other people think is right. So to all of you out there that wanna say these men are dying for nothing, why don't take the time to first ask them what they think they are dying for? I'm willing to bet they can also give you their own reasons. So know that when you say something like that 1) It's a lie, there is a reason 2) you're talking without first understanding what your talking about 3) you should be thanking these men and women, if it comes down to it these are the men and women that will fight for your freedom to be able to say such ignorant things and finally 4) know that you are making the lives of the families of these men and women more difficult, you are hurting the children of these soldiers in way that the insurgents could not so what does that say about you?

Jolie Rouge · 03-21-2007, 12:41 AM

Death to America
By Michelle Malkin http://michellemalkin.com/
March 20, 2007 03:39 PM

A college undergrad in Iran?

Nope, try the University of Toledo.

Brian Boos and Frederick Cooper of the University of Toledo College Republicans e-mailed me about the photo yesterday:

Quote:

[O]ur student group decided to hold a fundraiser that would raise money and toiletries in order to provide care packages to UT students fighting overseas. We were not taking a position for or against the war, simply supporting the troops.

Unfortunately an anti-war protest was taking place today as well. These protestors who were set up outside of the Student Union decided to come inside the Union where we were stationed to harass our group and attempted to stand in front of us. As opposed to having an intelligent discussion, the protestors simply called us derogatory names. The inability of these leftists to engage in any kind of intelligent discussion and their attempt to suppress an opposing point of view are neither new nor surprising.

What was extremely troubling about the protest was that one protestor wore a ski mask and held a sign that read “Death to America.” The fact that these anti-war protestors who supposedly want peace would allow this student to join them shows how truly dangerous and radical their beliefs really are. The cowardly student wore a ski mask, which illustrates his lack of confidence in his own beliefs. We have attached a photo of this student. Other protestors held signs reading “9/11 was an Inside Job..."

See http://www.indoctrinate-u.com/cgi-local/welcome.cgi

File this one under Indoctrinuate U.

Jolie Rouge · 04-24-2007, 01:10 AM

Soldier: Honor troops like Va. Tech dead
By ALISA TANG, Associated Press Writer
Mon Apr 23, 11:16 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in
Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq.

In the article issued Monday by the public affairs office at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Sgt. Jim Wilt lamented that his comrades' deaths have become a mere blip on the TV screen, lacking the "shock factor" to be honored by the Stars and Stripes as the deaths at Virginia Tech were. "I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Wilt wrote.

He noted that Bagram obeyed President Bush's order last week that all U.S. flags at federal locations be flown at half-staff through April 22 to honor 32 people killed at Virginia Tech by a 23-year-old student gunman who then killed himself. "I think it is sad that we do not raise the bases' flag to half-staff when a member of our own task force dies," Wilt said.

According to the Defense Department, 315 U.S. service members have died in and around Afghanistan since the U.S.-led offensive that toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001, 198 of them in combat. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that the flags of all its troop-contributing nations are flown at half-staff for about 72 hours after the service member's death "as a mark of respect when there is an ISAF fatality."

Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, who works with Wilt at the U.S.-led coalition public affairs office, said the essay is a "soldier's commentary, not the view of the coalition and not the view of the U.S. forces."

Welch added that such outspoken opinion pieces are rare.

Wilt suggested that flags should fly at half-staff on the base where the fallen service member was working and in the states where they hail from. He said some states do this, but not all of them.

He wrote that the death of a U.S. service member is just as violent as those at the university last week, but it lacks the "shock factor of the Virginia massacre."

"It is a daily occurrence these days to see X number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan scrolling across the ticker at the bottom of the TV screen. People have come to expect casualty counts in the nightly news; they don't expect to see 32 students killed," he wrote.

"If the flags on our (operating bases) were lowered for just one day after the death of a service member, it would show the people who knew the person that society cared, the American people care."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070423/...HITt5H2aGs0NUE

___

On the Net: U.S. military in Afghanistan: http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/

Jolie Rouge · 05-14-2007, 03:36 PM

A Letter to Our Soldiers in Iraq
By Dennis Prager
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Dear American Soldier in Iraq:

There are a few things you should know about how tens of millions of us back home feel about you and the fight you are waging. These things need to be said, especially now, given the fact that the head of one of America's two major political parties has announced that the war in Iraq is lost.

This war has not been lost. What has happened is that many Americans, for all sorts of reasons -- some out of simple fatigue, some because they do not believe that war solves anything, some out of deep loathing for the present administration -- do not believe that what you are doing is worth doing.

You know that what you are doing is worth continuing. You see on an almost daily basis the faces of people who count on you to help them make a freer society than they have ever known. You know that your presence in Iraq is all that stands between numberless men, women and children and a horrible death. But, for whatever reasons, the fate of these people and their country do not matter to those who feel you are wasting your time and our nation's resources in Iraq.

You know that the fight you wage is worth waging. You know that you are not, by and large, fighting Iraqis who do not want you there but fighting people from other countries who come into Iraq in order to blow up and maim as many innocent Iraqis as possible.

You know that you are fighting the most vicious and primitive ideology in the world today. It is the belief that one's God wants his followers to maim, torture and murder in order to spread a system of laws that sends societies back to a moral and intellectual state that is pre-civilization.

You know that the war you wage against these people and their totalitarian ideology is also necessary because a society unwilling to fight for its values does not have values worth sustaining. And for that reason, you in Iraq and many of us back home are worried about America.

You know that there is real good and real evil in the world. You have seen both more than any of us at home will probably see in a lifetime. Why so many in America and the West generally no longer believe that there is good and evil, let alone in the importance of having good vanquish evil, is a subject for a book. But that is the problem here. So when, God willing, you return healthy and victorious, you will have another battle to wage -- on behalf of moral clarity. In that regard we are losing our way. Millions of our fellow Americans -- often the best educated -- do not understand that those who send young people to blow up weddings, kindergartens, market places and college libraries in the promise of a paradise filled with young women are the Nazis of our time.

You know all these things. And tens of millions of us back home also know these things.

We see you as the best and brightest of our society. Even The New York Times, one of the mainstream media publications that do not understand the epic battle you are waging, acknowledged in an article by one of its embedded correspondents that few Americans of your age can come close to you in maturity, wisdom or leadership abilities.

It is unfortunate that the battle for moral clarity and moral courage in America is as divisive as the battle for freedom is in Iraq. But that is the nature of the world we live in. And it has ever been so. "Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil," wrote the Prophet Isaiah about 2,500 years ago. Not much has changed in two and a half millennia.

So Isaiah would be proud of you. Indeed, as a religious person, I believe with all my heart and soul that your work to uproot the greatest evil of our time and enable a people to build the first free Arab Muslim country is as holy, if not holier, as almost anything a minister, priest or rabbi does back home.

You probably knew all this. But you need to hear it anyway.

That, and thank you. Thank you very much.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/c...&comments=true

Jolie Rouge · 07-23-2007, 05:28 PM

Via LGF, which had to go all the way back to this morning to find a troop-hating post in the dKos archives as filthy as “Killitary” — which, for the record, was a pro-troop troop-hating post. This one would be a career killer if there was a career left to kill; as it is, although it’s clearly not a joke, it’ll magically become one once it starts making the rounds and the requisite outrage is mustered. I guess the new, not-at-all-O’Reilly-inspired pre-electoral housecleaning operation hasn’t gotten going in earnest yet.
Imagine how many episodes of SNL he could have brought to a screeching halt in the 16 years since he’s been gone if only Lorne had kept him around. For of all sad words of tongue or pen…

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/23/114037/956

I Support The Troops
by AWhitneyBrown
Mon Jul 23, 2007 at 08:59:25 AM PDT

There! I finally said it. It's something that needs to be said, it seems that no one in American politics is willing to say it, so let the chips fall where they may, I'm taking a stand.

For those of you who have a hard time reading, I enclose a video of my statement of support, and for all those who read faster than they listen, I also provide the text of my full statement below. I ask you to read it before you criticize me for my courageous stand in support of our brave troops.

Thank you.

A WhitneyBrown's diary :: ::

Because no one else in American politics seems to be willing to support our troops, I will take my stand, no matter the cost! My statement of support for our brave troops fighting in Iraq and elsewhere:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg76Df0oSbM&eurl=

An accurate transcript follows:

Quote:

Hello, I’m A. Whitney Brown, and I support our brave troops overseas. We all do and we all should. But what about those troops who are not so brave? Perhaps they just signed up hoping for some extra money for college, for the medical insurance, or even some hot gay military sex.

Suddenly they find themselves in Iraq for the fourth or fifth time and they’re not so brave. In fact they're crapping in their pants. Shouldn’t we support them just as much? I think we should. In fact we should support them more, because a brave man does but once, whereas a coward dies a thousand deaths.

And we should say we support them, because, frankly, it just doesn’t get said often enough.

Imagine, for example, if anytime any politician mentions any aspect of the war they prefaced their statement by saying ‘I support our troops’, or ‘I support our brave troops’ or even ‘I support our brave troops, even though some of them are gay or scared ****less’.

And not just politicians, but religious leaders, news people, commercial businesses, beverage makers, car companies, defense lobbyists - they should all say they support our troops whenever they’re trying to sell their products or pimp their talking points. Because it’s the right thing to say.
Now, I can’t make people say they support our troops. But if I’m the only one who’s willing to stand up and say ‘I support our troops’, then I’ll say it; I support our troops - cowards, queers, and all.

Now I know there are some cynics out there thinking, sure you say you support our troops but what do you actually mean by ‘support’? That’s a fair question and all I can say in response is that any one asking that question is a traitorous ******* and probably should be hung for treason.

But to answer the question, what I mean when I say I support our troops is that I actually pay for their food, their ammo, their upkeep, transport, everything. I pay for all of it.

And I do that not only because I’m a patriotic American, although I am, but also because they take 35% out of my check every week and if I don’t pay it I will end up in jail.

That is what I mean by ‘I support our troops’. I mean I am involuntarily, under threat of prison, forced to pay for their support. Now do I resent that?

You’re damn right I do. Because it is stupid as hell. Other countries pay taxes, but they get something for it, like health care. What do I get? I get to kill a bunch of Iraqis. Whoopdeedoo.

What am I going to do with a bunch of dead Iraqis? Plus I don’t even get to keep them. I mean, I might like to have a skull or something to use as a paperweight, on my desk. I’m not saying I would, but it might be a nice gesture to send out a few skulls out to those of us who are paying the cost.
You know you can adopt a kid for 15 dollars a month in Brazil or somewhere and you get pictures of them living their miserable lives. But I have paid hundreds of dollars in taxes over my lifetime, hundreds of dollars, and I don’t have so much as a single picture of an Iraqi child that I paid to have killed. It would be nice to just have something, you know, to remember them by.... a picture, a lock of hair, perhaps a necklace of ears...

So yes, I resent my support for the killing of Iraqis for which I get not even a memento or trophy. But do I still support the individual men and women who have given so much to serve their country?

No. I think they’re a bunch of idiots. I also think they’re morally retarded. Because they sign a contract that says they will kill whoever you tell me to kill. And that is morally retarded.

Friends, the most important moral decision a man makes in the course of a day is "Who am I going to kill today?"

That’s a decision you should agonize over, dream about, rehearse in your mind for hours, not just leave up to some hare-brained President you didn’t even vote for.

A man’s killing list is a very personal matter. It should be between him and those persistent voices in his head.

So to sum up, I don’t like our troops, I don’t like what they’re doing, I don’t like their fat, whining families, and yet, I support them. Thank God I live in a free country.

Thank You.

Jolie Rouge · 07-23-2007, 05:31 PM

this was Brown's reply to a Gold Star mother who had posted :

Quote:

I apologize if you are offended in any way.

It is not my intent to make any one feel badly about the people who are being killed by the troops who are going over to any foreign country to kill people or to help prevent those who have been sent to kill them from being killed by the ones they are trying to kill, and most especially it is not my intent to denigrate or offend those who have had a loved one killed, whether he or she was killed by the people they were sent to kill and didn’t kill in time, or accidentally by one of the people who was sent there to help them kill them, or even by some other person who had a loved one killed and decided to kill someone else in revenge, or even those who were killed by one of the good killers by mistake. They are all heroes.

Jolie Rouge · 07-23-2007, 05:40 PM

Kos: 'My Patience is Wearing Thin'
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/webl...26358&only&rss

Markos “Screw Them” Moulitsas appeals for civility: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/webl...crew_Them&only

Daily Kos: ‘With us or against us’. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/7/23/131549/579

As I wrote yesterday, “Just doesn’t look right to be dissing the military when Kos is trying so hard to be the voice of the Democratic Party.”

Quote:

There has lately been an alarming rise in diaries and comments that seek to impugn (without evidence) the motives of those they disagree with on various issues.

Yes, there’s the impeachment stuff, but this nasty rhetoric is also rampant in the primary war diaries.

This points to a serious breakdown not just on civility, but in the ability of people to properly debate various issues. As such, it presents a serious threat to the integrity of this site.

I much prefer it when the community moderates itself, and for the most part it does a good job of this. The libertarian in me prefers it that way. But sometimes, self-moderation isn’t enough. I’ll act swiftly and mercilessly when I’m pushed into defending the effectiveness of this site. And at this moment, my patience is wearing thin.

Reasonable people, including progressives, can disagree on many of the big issues we face today — from which candidate to support in the primary, to whether impeachment is the best way to hold this administration accountable, to the merit of gun control or free trade agreements, to how to handle immigration, to whatever else faces our nation. As a site, we strive to provide a safe haven for debate on these matters without it getting — as has happened of late — so damn ugly.

This is my one and only warning on the matter. I’ll try to be an optimist and hope that this is the last time I’ll have to address it. I won’t let this site become as nasty as your typical usenet forum, and those who encourage that sort of environment should consider themselves duly warned.

Remember, this is the guy who watched four American contractors burned to death and torn apart in Fallujah, then, while the bodies were still hanging from a bridge, wrote: “I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries. They are there to wage war for profits, screw them.”

Also see: Daily Kos Founder Issues Warning Concerning ‘Nasty Rhetoric’ at His Website http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sh...ric-his-websit