Academic specialists in military sociology are interested? Man, this IS a pressing concern. Must be fifty people intensely thinking about this in academia.
I find it very, very difficult to believe that our brave soldiers are on duty and getting pissed off thinking "Why aren't my parents paying higher taxes, in addition to the burden of me not being there? Why are Americans going on with their lives as normally as they can--I want them to suffer!"
This is a liberal agenda puff piece hiding in the shadows of some angry individuals and pretending to show "concern" for our fighting forces. I am sure some feel as described in the article, but there are as many different emotions and reactions in the military as anywhere else in our society.
So when will the NYT write a piece about how many more Americans than these are concerned about the anti-American attitude of democrats? "Why are they calling our people Nazis? Why aren't they cutting their pork barrel projects to pay for the war?"
My brother is almost 44,married app twenty years,has a lovely wife and three lovely daughters,and is now in Iraq,having volunteered to return to full-time active duty in order to go. He's only one guy,but I can assure this wad of puss that my brother was NOT thinking "Damn it's so unfair that I'm going to that hot dangerous hell hole on behalf of my country,but my family gets to stay home and be comfortable and live it up while I do so".And I would think that he's fairly representative.I know he is of the guys in his unit.This POS writer chooses to ignore that we have a volunteer military,and that the right-minded section of America whole-heartedly supports them,and that their families ARE making sacrifices just by their being there,just for starters. What a hypocritical worthless waste of breath he is,as if he supports the troops and gives a hoot in hell about them.He'd like to sow dissension,as IF they're not smart enough to take with a grain of salt any phony "concern" coming from someone like him,who could care less about the welfare of our military.
You're 100% right.
The only ones who POed me when I was down range (15 months) were jerks like this reporter who is trying to sell some deranged perception of his personal reality.
If you go out from the premise that something is a certain way, you can find data, witnesses, or other pieces to prove nearly anything.
Here's reality for him. Reenlistment is not bad. Over 75% of the military voted for Bush. We made our recruiting goal again. After announcing to the world that we didn't make it for some time they won't report on the fact that we are back on track again and made the quota. I guess good news is no story for the NYTs? But sure, our young, inner-city minority soldiers, who all feel disenfranchised and smoke pot and have sex with local woman are fed up by a pointless war that is fought for some interests (oil) and led by incompetent officers and abusive NCOs. Did I miss a stereotype? I wasn’t able to stuff jungle, drafted, average age 19, and fragging in there (sorry). All he did was to dig for some new dirt that really isn’t new. The same old liberal slanted “force fed” crap.
Red6