U.S. military balks at promised Afghan drawdown
Military leaders and President Obama’s civilian advisers are girding for battle over the size and pace of the planned pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan this summer, with the military seeking to limit a reduction in combat forces and the White House pressing for a withdrawal substantial enough to placate a war-weary electorate.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top allied commander in Afghanistan, has not presented a recommendation on the withdrawal to his superiors at the Pentagon, but some senior officers and military planning documents have described the July pullout as small to insignificant, prompting deep concern within the White House.
At a meeting of his war cabinet this month, Obama expressed displeasure with such characterizations of the withdrawal, according to three senior officials with direct knowledge of the session. “The president made it clear that he wants a meaningful drawdown to start in July,” said one of the officials, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions….
Two senior military officials said one set of options being developed by staff officers in Kabul involves three choices: the removal of almost no forces; the withdrawal of a few thousand support personnel, including headquarters staff, engineers and logisticians; and the pullout of a brigade’s worth of troops — about 5,000 personnel— by culling a battalion of Marines in Helmand province that was added after the surge, a contingent of soldiers training Afghan security forces and an Army infantry battalion in either the country’s east or far west.
I don’t blame Petraeus and other military leaders for trying to keep as much manpower as possible in Afghanistan. They’ve fought hard and sacrificed a lot for whatever progress they’ve been able to make, and they naturally don’t want to see it all evaporate.
But in the end, it’s not their decision, and it shouldn’t be. I don’t know how much time is enough time, but I do know the tenth anniversary of our invasion of Afghanistan is coming up. I don’t know how much money is enough money, but at this point it’s costing us $120 billion a year. And I don’t know how many American lives this is all worth, especially given the dismal performance of the Afghan government that we’re trying to defend. But last year we lost 499 soldiers and Marines, in that cause, and another 73 have been killed so far this year, with the spring fighting season yet to begin.
It’s time to start drawing down. It’s time to start handing Afghanistan’s fate back to its people.
– Jay Bookman
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937 comments Add your comment
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
2:56 pm
Enter your comments here
getalife
March 31st, 2011
2:56 pm
@@,
So you spit in his face.
Apologize @@.
AmVet
March 31st, 2011
2:56 pm
And she uses endless b*llsh*t to justify her lying…
jt
March 31st, 2011
2:57 pm
Ya’ll go easy on AmVet…………………………………
It is often a traumatic time when one evolves into a neo-con.(Obama war supporter).
Although, this is a natural evolution(from lefty progressive lib to righty progressive neo-con to libertarian), some people are late bloomers and the change can be phycologically devestating.(not unlike getting chicken pox at a later age).
I suspect Jay Bookman is finding his new-found neo-conness a little distressing too.
I salute you AmVet………………………..next stop Libertarianism. We will be waiting with open arms.
You too Bookman.(don’t be ashamed of the late blooming).
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
2:57 pm
@AmVet
I thought it was liberal Dems who were spitting in the face of soldiers when they came home from Vietnam??
Dave R.
March 31st, 2011
2:57 pm
“You’re wired a whole lot differently than normal humans, getalife.”
And that was not meant in any positive way, either. Just sayin’.
U.S. military balks at promised Afghan drawdown | Jay Bookman | Slinking Toward Retirement
March 31st, 2011
2:58 pm
[...] U.S. military balks at promised Afghan drawdown | Jay Bookman. This entry was posted in Afghanistan, Opinion and tagged allied commander, army infantry, Battalion, combat forces, concern, electorate, headquarters staff, infantry battalion, internal discussions, Jay Bookman, Money, pace, Pentagon, Post, staff, staff engineers, staff officers, time, war cabinet, withdrawal. Bookmark the permalink. ← Onward to the Olympics: Last Piece of Turf Laid at London’s Olympic Stadium – TIME NewsFeed [...]
Kamchak
March 31st, 2011
2:58 pm
getalife…..cry cry cry cry…..time to change your diaper yet?
Tick…tick…tick….
You already have a yellow card.
getalife
March 31st, 2011
2:58 pm
AmVet,
I am sorry for these cons attacking your service.
They are sick.
There is no doubt.
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
“I salute you AmVet”
Now we are talking.
Step up cons.
Apologize.
Now.
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
@George W
Here is another site for you to look at the information concerning unwed mothers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/health/13mothers.html
John Birch
March 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
Viet vets areen’t typically heroes. Either they got drafted or they were stupid and immoral enough to volunteer for our worst war ver. The real heroes of that era, for the most part, were those that had the courage to compromise their lives by not serving or those that fought here and ended that nightmare.
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
Kam…..oooooo scared!
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
@getalife
Is it sick to picket the funeral of a dead soldier??
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
SoCo:
Your husband probably has immense knowledge from his renovations that he could impart to a young impressionable mind.
My husband works a full-time job in data processing. It’s taken 3 duplex owners, all capable but working full-time jobs of their own, to employ one out of work carpenter to help renovate their duplexes.
I, however, had the opportunity to show my neighbor’s godson how to use a table saw. Don’t know if my efforts catapulted him into carpentry or not.
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
Jackie….your point?
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
@Woodstock
Can you find documentation to show where that claim of someone spitting in the fact of Viet Nam vets occurred?
Only a well-worn mistruth.
Indiana sociologist report
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
Top news stories personally selected by the publishers for their relevance to the Black American community.
About 80% of black babies are born to unwed moms
About eight in 10 black children in Indiana are born to unwed parents — a start to life that sets them up for problems during adolescence and beyond, according to an Indiana Black Expo report.
Indiana’s black youths fare significantly worse than Hoosier youths in general across 18 indicators of well-being, such as graduation rates and poverty levels, and do worse than black youths in the U.S, according to the report being released Friday.
Tanasha Anders, acting president and chief executive of Indiana Black Expo, said the problem comes down to education — making sure young people finish school and understand the consequences of having a baby.
“Everything else is a domino effect,” she said.
The explosion of births to unwed parents is driving many of the state’s social problems, such as increases in poverty and child abuse and the growing cost of public aid, said Bill Stanczykiewicz, president and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute. He added that the problem is not exclusive to any one race.
Indiana’s out-of-wedlock birthrate is at an all-time high, with unwed mothers accounting for nearly 40 percent of all births, he said. Nationally, about 36 percent of all births are to unwed mothers.
Stanczykiewicz said the situation is among the toughest social issues to address.
“It is very difficult, even for well-meaning people, to get together and talk about how we talk to people about their sex lives and how to parent children,” he said.
Another complicating factor is that a growing number of the single-parent births are to young adults, instead of teens, and that requires a new and different kind of message. But finding a way to address the situation is critical, he said.
Child Trends, a nonpartisan national children’s research organization, reports children born to single mothers are more likely to:
• Live in poverty and experience social and emotional problems.
• Have low educational attainment, engage in sex at younger ages and have a premarital birth.
• Enter adulthood neither in school nor employed, or have lower occupational status and income, and more troubled marriages and divorces than those born to married parents.
The issues that spin out of struggling single-parent families show up throughout the new Black Expo report, including the teen birth rate of 81 per 1,000 for blacks. That is almost twice the state’s overall teen birth rate of 43.5 per 1,000.
About 35 percent of black children live in families headed by married parents, compared with 69 percent of all Indiana children, according to the report.
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:02 pm
@getalife
I salute AmVet and his service. How many of the keyboard warriors have a DD-214?
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:03 pm
jackie….you have DD’s? You must have back pains!
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:03 pm
So, we can say the cons here attack the troops and spit in their face.
Way to go cons.
Can you get any lower?
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:03 pm
@George W
If you will notice 66% of the women in Iceland are unwed. How many blacks live there?
Thulsa Doom
March 31st, 2011
3:04 pm
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:01 pm
@Woodstock
Can you find documentation to show where that claim of someone spitting in the fact of Viet Nam vets occurred?
Only a well-worn mistruth.-Jackie
Jackie,
If you don’t know how returning American soldiers from Vietnam were treated than you are in a state of denial the likes of which have never been seen. The left in this country called them baby killers, spat on them, all manner of hate. To deny this is to deny that the sky is blue.
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:04 pm
@George W
Yes, I have a DD-214, do you?
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:04 pm
Getalife:
So you spit in his face.
No! I put some words up on a screen. I said he was “mistaken”. He’s the one that prefers to toss out the word “liar”.
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
woodstick
That’s an urban myth, no one was spitting on soldiers returning from vietnam. The church that pickets funerals is neither repub or dem just sick…
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
Thanks Jackie.
stands for decibels
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
Late to the topic, but I figured long time ago that if the idea of pummeling Afghanistan with our Freedom Bombs was to avenge the 3,000 lives taken on 9/11, we passed that grisly mark ages ago.
I don’t see what our 10 billion-with-a-B every month really gets us at this point. I can’t see any good reason not to begin drawing down sooner rather than later, and letting the folks who are paid to howl about such things, howl about such things.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
@Jackie
George Bush has one, do you salute him?? And if you don’t think there are liberal Dems that hate American troops and everything they stand for you are a fool…
Real Scooter
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
John Birch
March 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
Please allow us Vets to thank you for your support.
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:05 pm
@Thulsa Doom
I am a Viet Nam vet and what you are saying as a lie.
Thulsa Doom
March 31st, 2011
3:06 pm
Jackie,
Probably most of us including myself have a dd-214.
Kamchak
March 31st, 2011
3:06 pm
Kam…..oooooo scared!
Your antics got you kicked out next door at CT’s and that’s saying something.
Your current host warned you yesterday.
You have only yourself to blame.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:06 pm
@Mick
Leader of Westboro Church, Democrat, look it up…
Fred
March 31st, 2011
3:06 pm
Thulsa and SoCo:
I believe strongly in the Black Community and the great strides forward it has made and is making now. More and more are seeing the race Ho’s like Jesse Jackson for what they really are and ignoring them. The election of Barak Obama proved that they (the Jesse Jacksons) were holding the black community back, not moving it forward. It proved that there truly IS equality in this Country. A black man CAN obtain the ultimate position of power in this Country. I heard the buzz from my friends and acquaintances who are Black. But it’s not the only thing. My friend Owen mentors several black male high-schoolers. It IS as SoCo says, a community effort that isn’t publicized and it strenghtens us all.
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:07 pm
Unbelievable.
Perhaps Jay should write this story about cons attacking AmVet.
Lets go national with it.
AmVet
March 31st, 2011
3:07 pm
Here’s a little primer for you mike.
This lib would slap the snot out of you for disrespecting the service of Del, Scout, popeye, Jackie, Normal, Midori, USMC dawg or any other veteran here. Regardless of whether we agree, disagree or have no opinions on all of this silly crap we talk about.
While cons like wow, thelma, rw and @@ denigrate the service of any and all of those they disagree with.
That’s your politically allied gang – repudiate them or own them.
1811/1801 - 0311/0317
March 31st, 2011
3:07 pm
“One of the iconic exchanges of Vietnam came, some years after the war, between Col. Harry Summers, a military historian, and a counterpart in the North Vietnamese Army. As Summers recalled it, he said, “You never defeated us in the field.” To which the NVA officer replied: “That may be true. It is also irrelevant.” Newsweek Magazine
This will also be said about Afghanistan.
We never learn.
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:08 pm
@Woodstock
I am a liberal Dem and I say to you, my actions have proven that I am supportive of my country.
Which gives you the right to be a foolish as you sound.
Thulsa Doom
March 31st, 2011
3:08 pm
Jackie,
Maybe in your particular experience you didn’t witness it but to say that you shared the same experience as hundreds of thousands of other soldiers who returned from Vietnam is ludicrous. I have a couple of uncles who fought with the Montegard Indians in Vietnam and their experiences were a little different.
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:08 pm
“@Thulsa Doom
I am a Viet Nam vet and what you are saying as a lie.”
All they do is lie.
stands for decibels
March 31st, 2011
3:08 pm
The church that pickets funerals is neither repub or dem just sick…
I think someone thinks they found out that Fred Phelps might’ve been registered as a Democrat at some point in his life (never mind that it’s hard to imagine him voting for any Democrat, even of the conservative Kansas variety, any time over the past twenty years), thus that gives that someone carte blanche to claim that Westboro Baptist is somehow affiliated with the DNC.
(See also: Straws, grasping at)
AmVet
March 31st, 2011
3:09 pm
Two others, I forgot – Real Scooter and Dave R.
And MIKE I also forgot to say thank you for your thank you.
1811/1801 - 0311/0317
March 31st, 2011
3:10 pm
“When you fight a war in which nothing is out of bounds, and the survival of your nation is in the balance, you acquire a persistent state of mind that finds limited or unconventional war a great discomfort. And yet, experience in World War II did not prevent an astounding anomaly: extremely high-ranking officers, those who advised the president on the conduct of the war in Vietnam, making inept decisions that produced an incremental commitment of forces and debilitating restrictions on the employment of the military instrument.”
Col. Jack Jacobs, U.S. Army (retired)
DITTO AFGHANISTAN
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:10 pm
“rw and @@ ”
Very disappointed in those two.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:10 pm
@Jackie
I did not say you and I did not mean to confuse. Are you saying that you don’t believe there are Democrats that hate American soldiers and what they stand for?
John Birch
March 31st, 2011
3:11 pm
Real Scooter – You were 19 or 20, you were drafrted and did what you were told. Or you were, perhaps stupid is too harsh, let’s just say naive, and volunteered to kill those little yellow men who never did a thing to us until we invaded their country. Please expalin the honor or the heroism to me.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 31st, 2011
3:11 pm
@@
As I said, sometimes the smallest things end up having the greatest dividends. If he had never been exposed to something like that, you might have lit the fuse for something. My love of classic cars came from watching my grandfather work on his cars. I haven’t reached the level of being able to fully break down and rebuild an engine. However, if I had to, I know I can locate a manual to help me with whatever I’m capable of doing.
md
March 31st, 2011
3:12 pm
Time to let the Afghans decide if THEY want to take up arms and protect their country……..just like the rebels in Libya, give them a hand but they have to want it……………
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:12 pm
I just love the way its always lib dems who hate the military, bogus stereotyping conviently leaving out repubs themselves, independents, and people with no party affiliation. Keep the lies growing if that what suits you…
1811/1801 - 0311/0317
March 31st, 2011
3:12 pm
Thulsa Doom:
Save this one ……… you may want to use it again.
Once a Warrior King by David Donovan:
“If there was immorality in the war in Vietnam, it was that a democratic nation called her citizens to war, had them killed by the tens of thousands, and then, like a faithless lover, turned and scorned the survivors. Oh, perfidious nation!”
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:13 pm
I will disagree with most everything you lie about cons but I will never attack your service for our country.
Never.
We have to draw this line and never cross it again.
Paul
March 31st, 2011
3:13 pm
getalife
From my quick read-through, it appears you challenged on a statement and said it would be appropriate to apologize. I didn’t see where anyone challenged your assertion or offered a counter – instead,it was diversion and namecalling.
The blog in a microcosm.
Thanks for standing up for vets.
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:13 pm
amvet
USCG count?
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:14 pm
@Woodstock
Sounds like you have not stepped up and raised your right hand?
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
@Stand for Decibels
Fred Phelps is a registered Democrat and ran for governor of Kansas 3 times, 1990, 1994, and 1998, all as a Dem…
Joe Cool
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
“Southern….you do when our taxes are going to fun their babies.”
-Sound the alarm, Lil Georgie you need to call MTV and tell them they have the “white community” looking bad on 16 and Pregnant.
“Joe…..great I guess we should start building more prisons.”
-? For what reason, all the business the “black communities” are starting?
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
@Thulsa
Ancedotal crap does not prove your point. Go to the web and find documentation for your claim.
1811/1801 - 0311/0317
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
Mick:
You better darn well believe it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_C7m_5aZXQ
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
Thanks Paul.
We have drawn the line.
Enough is enough.
They will not apologize so lets move on.
It is too ugly for this blog.
We are Americans here and most support our troops.
Dave R.
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
AmVet, I wasn’t in the military, I was in the Air Force!
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:16 pm
Okay!
Del, Scout, popeye, Jackie, Normal, Midori, USMC dawg
Not only do I commend you for your service, I’d also like to commend you for your math skills.
AmVet, however, has proven himself to be a man “outstanding in a field of something” of his own making.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 31st, 2011
3:16 pm
@Jackie
I respect AmVet and wasn’t a part of the conversation so let’s move on… AMVET, not sure what I said to you but I’m sorry…
Fred
March 31st, 2011
3:16 pm
Braves: 2 runs on 4 hits, no errors
Gnats: 0 runs on 5 hits, no errors
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:18 pm
@Woodstock
Oh my!
Dave R.
March 31st, 2011
3:18 pm
Mick: “USCG count?”
Only after you take the wheels off the bottoms of your boats!
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:18 pm
scout
Thanks for having my back…
Jackie
March 31st, 2011
3:18 pm
@AmVet
SALUTE!!!!
Thulsa Doom's conversation with AmVet
March 31st, 2011
3:19 pm
Sprechen sie deutche? Neine?
AmVet- blank look and then no.
Parlez vou francais?
AmVet- Um. No
Habla espanol?
AmVet- No
Thulsa- You speak liberal gobbledeegook?
AmVet- Why yes. I do. I also speak various dialects of BS also.
Thulsa, You speak quack?
AmVet- QUACK! QUACK! QUACKETEY QUACKETY QUACK QUACK!!!! QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACKETY QUACKETY QUACK!!!!!!!!
Thulsa-Ich michta heine beiera bitta!- Porque you quiero una cerveza? Yo necessito muchos cerverzas para entender AmVet . Es necessario ser borracho para entender AmVet.
Transalation- German I would like a beer please. Spanish translation- Why do I want a beer? I need many beers to understand AmVet. Its necessary to be drunk in order to understand AmVet.
What ya’ll gotta understand is the only time AmVet makes any sense to me is when I’m drunk.
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:20 pm
Getalife:
I can live with your disappointment.
That’s your politically allied gang – repudiate them or own them.
That ^^^ has been AmVet since day one. He wants everybody to choose sides. Like a child on a playground.
I’ve always found it weird.
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:20 pm
dave r
I’ve heard worse…..
stands for decibels
March 31st, 2011
3:21 pm
Fred Phelps is a registered Democrat and ran for governor of Kansas 3 times, 1990, 1994, and 1998, all as a Dem…
How many primary votes did this assclown get from actual Democratic caucus attendees?
Fred
March 31st, 2011
3:21 pm
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:13 pm
amvet
USCG count?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WTF Mick you lost your mind? OF COURSE it counts lol.
stands for decibels
March 31st, 2011
3:21 pm
And which Democratic candidates did Fred Phelps support? Someone in the last, oh, ten years would be nice. Was he backing Kerry? Obama?
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:21 pm
Joe….72- 80% brother….keep up the good work.
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:22 pm
So I guess david duke is the default repub standard bearer?
BMDPD
March 31st, 2011
3:23 pm
Also, just because someone is a Vet, doesn’t make them special. Heck, Vets can be theives, murderers, rapists, Pedos, or even……………………..
BMDPD
March 31st, 2011
3:24 pm
LIBERALS!!!!!
Fred
March 31st, 2011
3:24 pm
Dave R.
March 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
AmVet, I wasn’t in the military, I was in the Air Force!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
LOL i always use a variation of the line, especially to my dad who was a career pilot. Civilians in a blue suit I used to tell him. As a 130 pilot he always told me not to let anyone he knew know thta I jumped out of perfectly functional airplanes……..
Real Scooter
March 31st, 2011
3:24 pm
John Birch
March 31st, 2011
3:11 pm
I was not drafted,I must be stupid or naive if you say so.Neverclaimed to be a hero but I was honorably discharged. Thanks again for your support.
BMDPD
March 31st, 2011
3:25 pm
Chair Force?
getalife
March 31st, 2011
3:25 pm
@@,
You attacked his service and will not apologize.
That is a fact.
It is disappointing but to be expected when you are ill.
Have a great day @@/.
I am going to take a break from this blog.
Too much sickness for this American to stomach.
You got it bad.
stands for decibels
March 31st, 2011
3:25 pm
One last thing. Here’s the DNC platform from 2008:
http://www.workinglife.org/storage/users/4/4/images/111/2008%20democratic%20platform%20080808.pdf
Here’s what they say about DADT:
Allow All Americans to Serve
We will also put national security above divisive politics. More than 10,000 service men and women have been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation since the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was implemented, at a cost of over $360 million. Many of those forced out had special skills in high demand, such as translators, engineers and pilots. At a time when the military is having a tough time recruiting and retaining troops, it is wrong to deny our country the service of brave, qualified people. We support the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the implementation of policies to allow qualified men and women to serve openly regardless of sexual orientation.
You telling me the “God Hates F@gs” guy was on the DNC’s side?
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
Paul @ 3:13
Amen!! I didn’t catch the gist of that exchange, but getalife seemed to be handling things on his own pretty well. I don’t condone anybody trying to disparage any veterans at all.
Mick
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
** just because someone is a Vet, doesn’t make them special**
No, just someone who served their country, and you?
BMDPD
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
In other words, I am upset. I am going to pout now.
Dave R.
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
Fred, the worst day I spent in uniform was the day they only served cold cuts in the chow hall for lunch.
Imagine that! No hot food! I’ll tell ya’, the hardships I had to endure . . .
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
BMDPD:
Also, just because someone is a Vet, doesn’t make them special. Heck, Vets can be theives, murderers, rapists, Pedos, or even…
Funny you should mention that. Over the years here, those same accusations have been launched at our troops by whom?
The left-wingers.
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 31st, 2011
3:26 pm
In my opinion, Fred Phelps is a jackass. Doesn’t matter if he’s a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, a Fascist, a Communist, a Whig, or whatever. I can’t imagine any group with more than a dozen members, who’d want to claim him.
BMDPD = USN Retired
March 31st, 2011
3:27 pm
Only twenty years, dude!
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:27 pm
AmVet….political differences aside…..I DO appreciate your service.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 31st, 2011
3:27 pm
amvet
USCG count?
Count as service to country??? DAMN RIGHT it does!!!!!
Joe Cool
March 31st, 2011
3:28 pm
“Joe….72- 80% brother….keep up the good work.”
With what?
Pointing out facts you dont like. Yes i shall.
@@
March 31st, 2011
3:29 pm
Getalife:
Too much sickness for this American to stomach.
You got it bad.
Thanks, but I’m feeling fine. Hope you get to feeling better.
Thulsa Doom
March 31st, 2011
3:30 pm
For you Jackie.
There is something in the word myth, however, suggesting that the abusive treatment towards the veterans never existed. To hint that this harassment never happened, is an insult to the veterans who suffered through the experience. There are too many genuine first hand accounts shared by veterans suggesting that the incidents indeed happened. This was Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene’s motivation when he wrote his book titled Homecoming, sharing the firsthand accounts of Vietnam veterans, both good and bad. Greene has “no doubt that many returning veterans truly were spat upon-literally-as a part of their welcome home. There were simply too many letters, going into too fine a detail, to deny the fact. {He} was profoundly moved by how, all these years later, so many men remembered exactly where and when they were spat-upon, and how the pain has stayed with them”(Greene, 11).
BMDPD = USN Retired
March 31st, 2011
3:31 pm
The funny thing is that the Liberals in ole Hollywood try to glamourize the single mother. Don’t you just love it?
Fred
March 31st, 2011
3:31 pm
LOL Dave R. I’m sure you’ve seen the “this sucks” cartoon depicting a gunt, a sailor and a pilot and what they were doing as they each say “this sucks.”
The grunt is belly down in the mud with bullets flying over his head with explosions all around him. “This sucks”
The pilot is at 10,000 feet looking down at the grunt: “That looks like it sucks.”
The sailor is in the galley and there is no more milk. “This sucks”
George W
March 31st, 2011
3:32 pm
Joe….what facts would those be?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
March 31st, 2011
3:32 pm
BMPD… the fact that someone has served this country in time of war does not make them special or grant them special privileges. They have (or should have) the same rights to speech, vote and protection as any other citizen. They may indeed have personal problems. It should however be a matter of respect for their service to our country and each of us that we respect their service and thank them for that and do what we can to allievate any harm that may befall them because of their service.
Personally, I agree with little of the nonsense posted on these blogs by some of those who claim to be veterans. I dont share some of the same views or opinions as a number of them. Nonetheless as said by others, including getalife, I do respect the fact that they have served honorably and I thank them for putting their lives on the line the same as I do fire fighters, law enforcement and others.
BMDPD = USN Retired
March 31st, 2011
3:33 pm
The funniest Navy joke I know is:
Sailor: Hey Marine, you know you are Department of the Navy, right?
Marine: Yeah, the MENS department!