Email from Iraq (from my friend)

When they are in harm's way, defending our nation in Iraq, it's not the best time to give aid and comfort to the enemy by calling American troops terrorists. It endangers the lives of our troops, that's what's wrong.

 

not only is the report the truth, the report is trying to help the troops do a better job of gaining Iraqi support. the troops don't need my support, I'm not the one shooting at them.

 

So now free speech only applies to "neutral third part[ies]?" Who gets to decide who is neutral?

Does this mean that we can invalidate every piece of "good" news out of Iraq if it is relayed by GOP officials or Faux News pundits?

Yep, it IS easy and somehow you still miss it. Neither one damaged morale nor put our troops in danger no matter how much you crow that they did. I have faith that our troops' morale is not caught up in a Red Cross report or Kerry reading that same report.

Apparently, it is YOU who doesn't have as much faith in the troops as the liberals. You really should support the troops, traitor_jorge.

Yep, the same honest, unvarnished reporting of factual information that has proven him to be as honest as he says he is, as opposed to GWB who at best misled the American public into supporting the war in Iraq.

BTW, at worst, GWB was duped into attacking Iraq by Iranian intelligence agents.

 

How funny is this? You bash liberals and accuse them of being in league with the terrorists and I am the one who needs to "develop some type of reasoning skills?"

You are so pathetic that you couldn't even answer any of my posts. No wonder you run away every time I challenge you to a structured debate.

 

Again, I can set you up with a remedial reading instructor is you truly did not understand FB's post.

 

and for the last time, what we discuss on this web site has no bearing on troop morale. I met a guy who was in Iraq at a wedding the weekend before last. do you think I brought up the thread on John Kerry. I told him good luck and hope they get to come home as soon as possible.

 

The report did not call our troops "terrorists," it said that they have engaged in behavior which terrorizes the Iraqis. Big difference that you would understand if you could comprehend the written word.

 

He reads what he wants to hear.

weird

 

In regards to the "no evidence of anyone rooting for bad news" claims:

When you only post negative stories and then respond to any good news with negative and snide remarks, how can you not understand how others see that as rooting for bad news?

I honestly think some people on this board root for bad news from Iraq. I don't believe they want harm caused to our soldiers (although some of them seem to be on the verge) but they see failure in Iraq as a way of making sure a Democrat gets elected into the White House in '08. They want the current party out of power so bad that anything that helps them accomplish that task isn't bad news.

I don't think these people are horrible people but I think that they're so blinded by their hatred for the current administration that they let emotion get the better of them. It's like the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

 

When the "others" you talk of make that assumption, they give up even trying to understand the viewpoint of the other side. By even entertaining the thought that others are "rooting for bad news" you do a grave disservice to both them and yourself. t_j even takes it a step further by accusing people of being in league with the terrorists, an opinion which is absolutely execrable.

You are welcome to make that assumption, but is is assumption and opinion, nothing more.

It is nice that you can admit that others don't want to see our troops in harm's way. It is a bit disturbing that you actually think that some are "on the verge" of it, but at least you don't actually believe that anti-war folks want our troops to be hurt.

The fact that you believe this makes me think that you need to stop listening to right-wing pundits so much. They are the only ones espousing this belief, not even moveon.org or Molly Ivans want to see us fail in Iraq and they are the most liberal people I know, save my father.

The way many of us see it, y'all are so blinded by affection for the administration that you are willing to put the opponents of the administration in the same category with Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. We all want the same things, we just disagree on the best way to achieve these goals. Many of us view the actions of the administration to be bordering on, if not outright, criminal. This does not put us in the same category as the terrorists, it just means that we think that GWB is not the right man to lead this fight.

For the record, I support the War on Terror fully. I want to see us hunt down the terrorists wherever they may be. However, they weren't in Iraq until we invaded and as such, this war is not the one we should be fighting.

 

I never said they were terrorists. I said that soldiers terrorized Iraqis. That is an accurate description of soldiers who break into homes in the middle of the night and use their rifles to beat elderly and handicapped people.

 

Do any of you ever wonder why you continue to b**** back and forth at each other?

Here is a newsflash:

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE EACH OTHERS MINDS!!!

 

Because Clutch paid good money for this bandwidth, it'd be a shame if we didn't use it.

 

I agree with the last part of your post. However, if one is not rooting for bad news, wouldn't one want to publish both good news and bad news? Some people accuse some on the right of only seeing the positive aspects but fail to see that they see only the negative aspects. I think some people have honestly gotten to the point that they have so much animosity towards both the administration and the people on the right that they want them to be proven wrong, much like those on the right. The only difference is that in order for the members of the right to be proven wrong there has to be bad news. This is how I see some people rooting for bad news.

I think everyone on this board can see that some people view our troops as instigators and some have defended rhetoric equating them with terrorists. It isn't too hard for me to make the jump to believe that some of them are beginning to have feelings that harm to our troops is both justified and right. I would like to state that I feel it is an extreme minority of the population (maybe 1 or 2 posters) who feel this way. For some of them, it's not even a problem with the troops themselves but with authority as a whole.

I'd have to disagree with you here as I read and watch news from both sides so I'm not merely repeating what I'm spoon-fed by talking heads. Judging from the rhetoric and actions of some of these groups I feel that they are willing to do anything to get the current administration out. Once again, I admit that it's a minority but it's a very sizeable minority. One only has to look at websites such as DailyKos and the DemocraticUnderground for viewpoints such as this. I know these are the fringe of the party but I see their views espoused by some on this board on a daily basis.

I can completely understand this point of view juding from the rhetoric and talking points of some of the right-leaning members of this board. However, not all of the supporters of the current action in Iraq feel this way. Many, myself included, have been disappointed with the way this war was planned and fought. However, simply complaining about it doesn't solve anything and equating Bush with war criminals of the past (others have done this, not you) serves no purpose.

I'm glad to see that the president has recently admitted making mistakes in the prosecution of the war. I also am glad that the use of extreme torture tactics is being outlawed. However, I don't think the administration has done anything outright criminal. Much of that is dependent on one's point-of-view, I understand. I also understand that I am more prone to give the administration the benefit of the doubt than other posters on here. Does that make me right? No. Does it make me wrong? No. It just means that my point-of-view is different than that of others on this board.

What bothers me is the knee-jerk reaction to any good news coming from Iraq from some of the posters here. If one takes a step back from their partisan leanings and analyzes the situation they'd be able to see where some of us may begin to feel that some here are rooting for bad news. If you look at the posts in many of the positive news from Iraq threads, you'll see the feelings I'm talking about. Much of it is directed at the administration but as I've stated before, I feel that's why many people want bad news. I'm the first to admit that most of the posters on this board are at least somewhat fair in their view of any actions. The vast majority are as fair as they can be and take the time to step back. It's the posters that seem to have an axe to grind with the administration that bother me and it's these posters who seem to be rooting for the bad news, not because of the harm to the troops, but because of the harm it will cause the administration.

 

Looks like a bunch of rah-rah bull**** to me.

Soldiers, understandably, are going to avoid admitting the fact that they've been suckered into fighting a war that does not benefit anyone except the men who started it.

 

only if they're middle eastern or muslim

 

Last I checked the media calls them insurgents... Wow, I didn't know that insurgents blew themselves up when they were surrounded by innocent women and children who just so happen to be muslim as well.