First, a little about myself. I have just returned from my 4th tour from Iraq due to being medical'd out. I dont feel like I fit into society. I came home and it seemed to me that the country doesnt seem as if there is a war going on. Some people came up to me in different places to shake my hand and thank me but all of them had the same view, we support you guys, not the war. Isnt that an oxymoron? Thats like supporting the milk and not the cow. To us, it makes us seem like what we do day to day and what we are fighting for are meaningless. It makes it seem like every drop of American blood spilled by our soldiers were in vein. Myself and the operators I work with all have the same mindset when it comes to this. If you don't support the war, don't support us. We don't want to made a mockery of. Let us do the job that needs to be done. The Iraqi people are GOOD people, I have many Iraqi friends whom I miss while I am stateside.
The originiator of this post made a good point. One I have said many times. We were attacked. Remember? When people hi-jacked OUR planes with OUR American citizens on it and flew them into buildings and fields killing even more American citizens. Does anyone remember how after 911 flags were on EVERY house and every car? Remember Pearl Harbour? We were attacked. We responded swiftly and justly and kicked their asses. Now we are mopping up. The Iraqi Army is stepping up, the Iraqi government is dispersing money to boost the economy. I just wanted to put this out there for thought.
I am a veteran of Somalia, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and about any other skirmish our country has been involved with. I was first told I had "combat shock" after Somalia. Now I am being told I have PTSD (which I agree with).
I expected to come home and have family issues. It's difficult to have any kind of constant communication in the field and over a period of time that takes it tolls on the home front.
I am experiencing non-stop nightmares, everynight. I intentionally stay awake because in my mind it seems as if there are little demons waiting to torment me. I have flashbacks daily. Vivid flashbacks. So vivid I find myself coming out of them trying to raise my assault rifle to kill. Alot of my flashbacks do revolve around people who I have killed. I see their faces. Its a double edged sword. If I kill an insurgent I may have saved an 18 year old American infantryman. But, I chose this. This is a what freedom costs. Sometimes death is a blessing, living with what you have done is the curse. But, I know what freedom costs. I have seen it. Felt it. Bled it. Smelled it.
Now, onto some of the replies in this thread. Weapons of mass destruction. Did I think I personally was going to find WMD's when going into Iraq? No, I knew, from a military strategic standpoint that if I was in Suddam's shoes, the first thing I would do would be to move them to Pakistan.
Will we invade Iran? Probably. Does Iran pose a threat to the United Nations? In my opinion it does. Do I look forward to attacking Iran? No, I thought I was going to die in Iraq. What will I do when given the order? I will attack as ordered.
It AMAZES me people think that Husseins regime didn't have WMD's. There is this thing called history. The thing about history, it repeats itself, then, repeats itself again.
Does the date March 16, 1988 ring a bell to anyone? Unless is is a birthdate or special occasion is doesn't mean thing to you. What did it mean to FIFTEEN THOUSAND men, woman, children and infants? It was a day of death.
It was on this day that the Kurdish town of Halabja in northern Iraq was attacked BY Saddam with a mix of mustard gas and nerve agents, killing 5,000 civilians, and maiming, disfiguring, or seriously debilitating 10,000 more.
Mustard gas is a strong blister-causing agent. It is an alkaline, similiar to battery acid. It is also strongly mutagenic (causing damage to the DNA of exposed cells) and carcinogenic (cancer causing). Within 4 to 24 hours the exposure develops into deep, itching or burning blisters wherever the mustard contacted the skin; if the eyes are exposed they become sore and the eyelids swell, possibly leading to conjunctivitis and blindness. According to the Medical Management of Chemical Casualties handbook, there have been experimental cases in humans where the patient has suffered miosis, or pinpointing of pupils, as a result of the cholinomimetic activity of mustard. At very high concentrations, if inhaled, it causes bleeding and blistering within the respiratory system, damaging the mucous membrane and causing pulmonary edema. Blister agent exposure over more than 50% body surface area is usually fatal.
Here is a picture of the aftermath
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...labja1.jpg
Yes, I did get the majority of this information from Wikimedia because I don't know if I am wasting my time here trying to explain this war. War is war. What is the answer? Who knows. It isn't political. Am I going to die on some unknown street in Iraq, probably. Do I fear my death? No. I am a part of American History. I have made a difference. Maybe not in your life, but I know I have in someone's life.
During one of the training modules I was going through one of the instructors made a point about the delicate balance of politics and war. Unfortunatly this line was used in a movie which makes it not as special to us. The line was, "When that first bullet goes flying by your head, all the politics and bullshit go flying out the window."