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Coming home - disillusioned
seattletimes.nwsource.com ^
| April 12, 2006
| Christopher H. Sheppard
Posted on 04/17/2006 1:38:38 PM PDT by bad company
Three years ago, I was a Marine Corps captain on the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border, participating in the invasion of Iraq. Awestruck, I heard our howitzers thunder and watched artillery rockets rise into the night sky and streak toward Iraq their light bathing the desert moonscape like giant arc welders. As I watched the Iraq war begin, I completely trusted the Bush administration. I thought we were going to prove all of the left-wing antiwar protesters and dissenters wrong. I thought we were going to make America safer. Regrettably, I acknowledge that it was I who was wrong. I believed the Bush administration when it said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. I believed its assertion that Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Africa and refine it into weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb. I believed its claim Iraq had vast quantities of biological and chemical agents. After years of thorough inspections, all of these claims have been disproved. I believed the administration when it claimed there was overwhelming evidence Iraq was in cahoots with al-Qaida. In January 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted that there was no concrete evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. I believed the administration when it grandly proclaimed we were going to bring a stable, Western-style liberal democracy to Iraq, complete with religious tolerance and the rule of law. We never had enough troops in Iraq to restore civil order and the rule of law. The Iraqi elections have produced a ruling majority of Shiite fundamentalists and marginalized the seething Sunni minority. Iraq dangerously teeters on the brink of civil war. We have emboldened Iran and destabilized the entire Middle East.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS:
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To: divine_moment_of_facts
Liberals should not be allowed to join the Military for their own good and ours. They see everything through Emotion. Logic and Fact elude them. They have mental health issues before, during and certainly after their service. I don't know how hot an idea that is. I was pretty liberal when I joined the military. Exposure to (a) real life and (b) how nanny-state organizations really work has opened my eyes to how things really work. If anything, we should encourage more to join. I think that military service makes you deal with hard facts, a process which generally destroys liberal thought.
I've known some people who were great soldiers and strong liberals, and somehow keep it all separate in their heads, but they tend to be a rare breed.
21
posted on
04/17/2006 2:37:33 PM PDT
by
Steel Wolf
(- Islam will never survive being laughed at. -)
To: Dead Dog
This dude doesn't sound like an Officer of Marines. Something aint right, mainly the carefully addressed DNC talking points, including the falacies Honestly, it does smell funny to me. That's why I posted it here.
22
posted on
04/17/2006 2:38:59 PM PDT
by
bad company
(Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius)
To: bad company
Captain Sheppard sounds like a fine officer candidate for the French army. He's got the surrender instinct down solid. Which, however, also qualifies him to hold office as a Democrat.
23
posted on
04/17/2006 2:50:03 PM PDT
by
Stultis
(I don't worry about the war turning into "Vietnam" in Iraq; I worry about it doing so in Congress.)
To: bad company
It reads oddly because he says he is writing as a disillushioned Marine officer, but then he simply lists the MSM talking points.
I could have written this, there is nothing unique in the article, he doesn't personalize it, so it lacks credibility.
24
posted on
04/17/2006 2:52:44 PM PDT
by
ansel12
To: bad company
Awestruck, I heard Awestruck ? The word Awestruck is in the Marine dictionary?
My son is a Marine. He might use some words to describe fighter power, most not printable here, but "awestruck" is not one of them.
25
posted on
04/17/2006 2:54:58 PM PDT
by
Raycpa
To: bad company
Why do I keep reading BS like this?
I guess that my parents didn't spank me enough.
26
posted on
04/17/2006 2:55:44 PM PDT
by
Radix
(If you don't like my opinion, go get your own.)
To: bad company; All
Sounds like another Paul Hackett.
To: bad company
Awestruck, I heard our howitzers
thunder and watched artillery rockets rise into the night sky and streak toward Iraq their light
bathing the desert moonscape
like giant arc welders.
Marine translation- The MF'ers never knew what hit'em.
28
posted on
04/17/2006 2:57:42 PM PDT
by
Raycpa
To: Dead Dog
This dude doesn't sound like an Officer of Marines. Something aint right, mainly the carefully addressed DNC talking points, including the falacies
A reservist who is completing his masters in mass communication.
Mass communication? Aspiring journalist, perhaps?
Just polishing up his street cred for when he goes looking for a job with the MSM?
29
posted on
04/17/2006 3:03:41 PM PDT
by
A Balrog of Morgoth
(With fire, sword, and stinging whip I drive the RINOs in terror before me.)
To: bad company
I respect that he has a right to his opinion and thank him for his service. I do not agree with him, but he has earned the right to feel that way no matter how misguided I think it is. He earned the right because he stepped up, regardless of his reasons (John Kerry did likewise albeit in the face of a potential draft and needing a core prior-criteria for public election).
This guy is surrounded by like-minded people (Seattle) and I'd expect nothing less from someone running for office there. That said, there were hundreds of thousands that came home from Vietnam. Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. that didn't/will not get the airplay this man will.
30
posted on
04/17/2006 3:04:03 PM PDT
by
Gaffer
To: bad company
I am so wicked annoyed at this lying crap.
I even E-mailed you about it.
This is such a load of lying BS that I am having trouble curtailing my rage.
31
posted on
04/17/2006 3:04:22 PM PDT
by
Radix
(If you don't like my opinion, go get your own.)
To: jazusamo
ATTENTION! The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer are PURE leftist propaganda organs. I live near Seattle and have been reading these rags for years. Believe me, fellow freepers: these rags have no value whatsoever, except as leftist propaganda. You can take that to the bank.
32
posted on
04/17/2006 3:11:59 PM PDT
by
matt1234
To: matt1234
You don't have to convince me, I check out the Times every morning online to stay close to the enemy. :-)
33
posted on
04/17/2006 3:17:06 PM PDT
by
jazusamo
(-- Married a WAC in '65 and I'm still reenlisting. :-)
To: bad company
Damned Officers.
I know this will encourage a slashing, but I do believe the Officer corps of all military branches has a fairly large percentage of left wing anti-american jerk-offs in it.
When I was in the Navy, it seems all our officers were bigtime Clintonites, and they were also pleanty mouthy about how stupid Bush "is" and how surprised they were that he got elected.
I'd look around in the parking lot at our base, and all the blue stickers were forgien cars, almost to the man. Even the ones with pick-up trucks baought Toyota only. No pride at all. (Not that buying Foreign products is proof of anything, it was just too prevalent)
I can only Thank God for the two good Officers that I worked for over my 20 year career!
34
posted on
04/17/2006 3:21:41 PM PDT
by
Greenpees
(Coulda Shoulda Woulda)
To: bad company
Damned Officers.
I know this will encourage a slashing, but I do believe the Officer corps of all military branches has a fairly large percentage of left wing anti-american jerk-offs in it.
When I was in the Navy, it seems all our officers were bigtime Clintonites, and they were also plenty mouthy about how stupid Bush "is" and how surprised they were that he got elected.
I'd look around in the parking lot at our base, and all the blue stickers were foriegn cars, almost to the man. Even the ones with pick-up trucks bought Toyota only. No pride at all. (Not that buying Foreign products is proof of anything, it was just too prevalent)
I can only Thank God for the two good Officers that I worked for over my 20 year career!
35
posted on
04/17/2006 3:24:15 PM PDT
by
Greenpees
(Coulda Shoulda Woulda)
To: bad company
Great. Hollywood will be making a movie about this guy very soon - "Jarhead II: the Quickening".
36
posted on
04/17/2006 3:26:28 PM PDT
by
fr_freak
To: A Balrog of Morgoth
Let me guess, he's also a lifelong Republican who voted for Bush twice.Rush might call him a seminar writer.
37
posted on
04/17/2006 3:46:33 PM PDT
by
Mark17
To: bad company
I thought the government had gone wrong somewhere when I left Viet Nam. I got home and heard and saw a Viet Nam on the news media and was confused for a long time. I then found out that the news media was lying about Vite Nam which is the same tactic they are using for Iraq. John Kerry lied when he said I was a baby killer along with all Viet Nam vets. Now PBS is also lying because that showed the training camps that had trained terrorists.
Depressing
38
posted on
04/17/2006 3:49:22 PM PDT
by
mountainlyons
(Hard core conservative)
To: bad company
Christopher H. Sheppard
39
posted on
04/17/2006 3:59:24 PM PDT
by
Plutarch
To: Steel Wolf
"I don't know how hot an idea that is. I was pretty liberal when I joined the military. Exposure to (a) real life and (b) how nanny-state organizations really work has opened my eyes to how things really work. If anything, we should encourage more to join. I think that military service makes you deal with hard facts, a process which generally destroys liberal thought.
I've known some people who were great soldiers and strong liberals, and somehow keep it all separate in their heads, but they tend to be a rare breed."
Rare breed indeed.
Thank you for your incite on people you serve with.
I suspect they are actually democrats who are liberal on certain issues, and not of the die-hard socialist/quasi-commie breed. In all honestly, I cannot imagine a true liberal joining the military, however when a democrat with latent liberal tendencies does. Disaster. And, there is no way of knowing beforehand who those people are. So, I know we can't ban anyone from the military. It was just a thought.
40
posted on
04/17/2006 4:01:01 PM PDT
by
divine_moment_of_facts
("Liberals see what they believe... Conservatives believe what they see")
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