Anti-war Protests Anger U.S. Troops Inside Kuwait

The Detroit News | Tuesday, February 18, 2003 | M.E. Sprengelmeyer

[BOBTHENAILER]

Some see America’s patriotic mood waning.

Campujairi, Kuwait – The peace protesters might as well be marching right under the tank barrels.

U.S. troops amassed in the Kuwaiti desert couldn’t avoid news of anti-war protests that swept the globe over the weekend, and it is making some angry, defensive, fired-up and anxious.

They see scattered news reports of opposition to a possible war against Iraq, but the hardest-hitting bulletins come in phone calls home to worried wives and loved ones, said Sgt. 1st Class Victor Oravec, 41, of Fort Knox, Ky., of the U.S. Army’s 3-7 Cavalry.

“They’re saying, ‘Why are we over here when everyone’s over here saying we shouldn’t be?’” Oravec said.

“They hear it. They bring it up to me, and I squash it by keeping them busy, reminding them why they’re here,” Oravec said, just before leading his tank maintenance unit in an all-night training exercise across the Kuwaiti desert.

Many of the soldiers who might be called to fight against Iraq were too young to remember the emotional protests that marked the end of the Vietnam War. Many had not even been born.

Still, some say they take the anti-war protests personally – questioning the jobs they do and their boss, President Bush.

“They get down,” said Oravec, a veteran of the 1991 war against Iraq. “That’s when I come around, try to get them work to do. That’s the only thing I can think of to keep their minds off home and what their wives are telling them.”

Capt. John Turner, 26, of Colonial Heights, Va., whose father was a med-evac pilot for the Army in Vietnam, said soldiers are not decision-makers and can’t afford to get distracted from their training.

“I’m not in this line of work for political reasons. I didn’t come here to be a politician,” Turner said.

Still, he’s especially angry about opposition at the United Nations from France, a NATO ally.

“How would they feel if it was the Eiffel Tower that got hit into (on Sept. 11)?” he asked.

The troops see a possible war against Iraq as part of the ongoing war on terrorism, as the Bush administration targets alleged weapons of mass destruction that could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Protesters call that an unfounded or unproven claim being used to justify a war to control more of the Middle East’s vast oil reserves.

The “No blood for oil” slogan was used in opposition to the 1991 war, too. But back then, in the war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi invaders, the protests did not seem as widespread and the troops did not take them so personally, Gulf War veterans said.

“That’s their right to protest as long as they know that’s their opinion, not ours,” said 1st Sgt. Stephen Edgerton, 36, a Gulf War veteran from Blackshear, Ga.

“When you’re younger, you’re a little more eager to go out and pick a fight with somebody,” Edgerton said. “With age, you’re not as quick to jump into things without thinking them out first.”

But for soldiers, he said, the bottom line is simple: “I support my Commander in Chief. That’s my job.”

Pvt. Wesley Carr, 23, of Virginia Beach, Va., said soldiers are the last ones who want to rush into unnecessary wars.

“I can understand why they want to protest, because they don’t want any harm to come to us. But a lot of them don’t understand,” Carr said. “I hope, like everyone else, that it does end peacefully. But if it doesn’t and we have to go to war, we have to think of the safety of the United States and all these people here.”

Privately, some soldiers wonder if the patriotic mood and pro-military spirit in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks has evaporated.

With all its soldiers and high-tech war fighting machines, the U.S. military would not have had all its recent success if the soldiers didn’t get so much support from the public, Edgerton said.

“They don’t have to support what’s happening,” he said, “but at least support the soldiers”

Iraq Update
1st U-2 Mission: Iraq reported the first flight by an American U-2 surveillance plane Monday in support of the U.N. inspection mission, marking another concession by the Baghdad government in hopes of staving off a U.S. –led attack. The flight lasted four hours.

Turkey Delays:
Turkey’s prime minister on Monday ruled out a parliamentary vote to allow tens of thousands of U.S. combat troops on its territory until Turkish and U.S. officials agree on the conditions of the deployment.

[cgk]

Thank you for sharing that with us! I wish more stories like this made it on the news.

Mrs Kus

[Mo1]

You're welcome .. I've listen to these so-called Peace Rallies

And as someone on Fox News said yesterday .. Not one of them condemned Saddam .. only George Bush

And another guest that was on Fox News asked .. if these protesters were so concerned about the women and child in Iraq, then were have they been for the last 25 years

[cgk]

4,842,023 people have signed to date

That is how many people so far have signed on to THANK THEIR TROOPS via a Thank You note here:

Defend America: Send your Thanks to the Military

Keep the FAITH

Mrs Kus

[BOBTHENAILER]

I'd donate toward airfare.

You and me both, my FRiend.

[eyespysomething]

Thanks, my son has been wanting to do something, we can do this together!

[dfwgator]

Vietnam anti-war protesters have the blood of 2 million Cambodians on their hands. How much blood will the pro-Saddam demonstrators have?

[dixiechick2000]

"I recall that in the early stages of Afghanistan, the media and left-wingers were trying to sell it as a "quagmire" -another "Vietnam." IMHO, the anti-war protests had little to do with Iraq and everything to do with Bush. It is the same left wing political groups trying to undermine the center and center-right drift of international politics. An exceptional success in Iraq will damage left wing power for decades (and they know it.)

Just my two cents..."

Your "two cents" assesses the anti-war movement beautifully. President Bush is a threat to them and their movement. If President Bush wins, they are toast. Hopefully, we will win so swiftly and decisively that they will be relegated to the dustbin of history...forever

[cgk]

4,842,595 people have signed to date

And counting!!!!
:)

Mrs Kus

[JohnHuang2]

Had #32 pulled so I can send it to Billie and Dutchess as my essay of the week (just in case anybody wonders what happened..hehe :^)

[COBOL2Java]

A new day has dawned and they will be blinded by the light.

I agree. These rent-a-mob losers are getting their numbers magnified by the network media as a way to stir up controversy (translate: increase viewership to sell advertising), not disseminate news. The fact that it might give aid and comfort to the enemy and/or sow discouragement among troops just doesn't enter into their business model.

I'm hoping that once the fighting starts, those undecided about the war will get off the dime and back the president. Who knows, maybe the networks will grow up. (hey, I can dream, can't I?)...

BTW, I like your User ID. My grandson is a fan of "Bob the Builder" :-)

[ProudEagle]

The thing we need to do is keep it in perspective.

1) The media blows this all out of proportion. The numbers cited were nowhere near the actual numbers of meadow muffins at these gatherings. Which leads to...

2) Let's say for the sake of argument there were 500,000 unwashed human waste at these gatherings in the U.S. alone. That's 500,000 in a country of 265,000,000 people. What does that tell you? It tells me they are a tiny drop in the bucket of the population of this country who do support them and the President regardless of their trepidations. No one wants a war, but we know why we are there. Simple math will tell you that half a million against two hundred and sixty four million five hundred thousand ain't much of a voice. The media would like you to think otherwise but I'm not buying it so neither should you G.I.

3) So to the troops I say, ignore them. I am, and I do believe the normal folks of this country are too. And by normal I mean the true American population, not the media elite and the rest of the human garbage that do not have the honor and courage you do. I know you troops read this site, so God Bless and Godspeed. Kick ass and get home safe and soon.

Eagle

[BOBTHENAILER]

And some people say that the so called protests are not giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States. I say "like hell they aren't".

No kidding. This "reasoned debate" crap ain't gonna fly any longer. That's why I posted the article. These creeps need to be exposed, discredited and demolished.

[BOBTHENAILER]

I just sent this letter to EVERY news & views outlet in AMERICA...and a few across the seas!

Great work.

[dixiechick2000]

Awwww, JH2, I missed your #32. ;o(

I'll bump it, anyway, as I KNOW it was excellent!

[JohnHuang2]

hehe, thanks! :^)

[Dont Mention the War]

It would just be nice if the media didn't give these urineants so much coverage.

In the US at least, they got *far* less coverage than I was expecting, and most of that coverage was rather strongly anti-protesters. The news channels would do a few moments mentioning the particulars, then go into a 7-minute debate directly asking, "Okay, these people are against the war. What's *their* solution, then?"

And look at the front page of the next day's New York Post:

Not exactly glowing coverage. And look at the Daily News's cover:

It's not even the main story!

In short, these America-haters are so marginalized that they may as well not even exist.

[Squantos]

Thanks for the link !

Stay Safe !

[saxxa]

i love them guys!!!!!!!