July 27th, 2006. Just a somewhat normal day from when I stepped out of bed until the afternoon. Nothing seriously stimulating going on until the news I received from my brother-in-law that he was extended for yet, another six months in Iraq.
With this six months, it will now make four and half years of service when he only signed up for three. The feeling in the pit of my stomach is clearly the lost hope I have on our government. They are now resorting to feeble psychological games and mockery of our soldiers. Did I forget to mention this young man was days away from coming back home to his family?
Does that scare you? I mean, shouldn't our sophisticated government know well ahead of time if additional forces will be needed in Iraq? Are we on such a short limb, that soldiers who are stepping on a plane to head back home have to be yanked off by their shirts for additional service time?
Frankly speaking, this frightens me. It is beyond comprehension that our leaders must handle our troops with such brash, disheartening, and morale sinking actions. I cannot fathom being in the shoes of my brother-in-law who was days away from re-joining civilization only to be slapped in the face. This isn't a slacker that we're speaking of either; this guy earned a Bronze Star for his stupendous service. What a way to repay him.
I am the first to say that I love this country and support it well. I'm not a tree hugging, war hater either. But there comes a point on how to treat people with dignity and respect and this just doesn't cut it in my book.
There are plenty of alternatives for staffing our under-staffed military other than grinding the life out of those who so diligently serve. Maybe it's time for us citizens or civilians if you will, to stand-up for some change.
I know a lot of people who are serviceable, maybe not willing, to assist with the issue. Maybe the time has come that we, as a society, have a cost to live in freedom.
It might be time to payback our debt, rather than let others carry us on their back. Especially, when they can't carry anymore.
DP
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4 comments:
It is unfair to extend their stay, but necessary.
necessary? Thats very comical. Give me a second to stop laughing. I think its time for people like yourself to open your eyes and look at the big picture of why EXACTLY our troops are in the middle east. Necessary...take a look at the real agenda that is being pushed by this conflict. Lets put a finger on whose profit margin is going up. A good idea would be to get a list of all the major contributors to the last presidential campaign then take those names and see how many of them profit form this conflict. Or we can sit in our familyrooms and arbitrarily say that its necessary.
Interesting perspective with the 'conspiracy theory'. I believe the much more pertinent view is how this is being handled and the long-term morale of our troops.
Somebody just depositted millions of dollars into a bank account for an over inflated goevernment contract While you and I ponder the morale of troops. Everytime there is a budget issue or a need for more of anything bythe government, something is thrown into the limelight to push that "need" forward. Review the last few influxes of personel into the middle eastern theatre and see if they coinside with monetary issues. We don't "need" more troops in the middle east. The fact is we are dealing with a country whose moral fabric is held together by a governent whose religion and state are intertwined with a socio-economic system that perpetuates nepatism and downright class bias. As for the morale of troops it is a shame that ther trust is violated in such a manner and that the general public would rather flip the chanel on the TV then to look and see what is going on let alone stop to actually partake in this thing we are calling "democracy". Who won the popular vote in the election??? God bless democracy....
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