"These young military personnel volunteered to fight in Iraq."

[Cleita]

Okay, I am paraphrasing, but I heard this phrase three times in the last hour. Apparently, this is the new, "if you repeat enough times it becomes the truth mantra". What is wrong with this?

I thought they volunteered to join the military. I don't think very many volunteered to go to Iraq. But if you say over and over again that they volunteered to go fight in Iraq then it becomes their fault they are killed, not the fault of the people who sent them there.

Oh damn, how do we counter this now with all the freeper relatives and neighbors who will faithfully parrot this phrase as if it's true?

[shoelace414]

1. so they deserve to die?

[Cleita]

10. It would seem that is what the pentagon, Rummy

and a Republican politician all said.:shrug:

[rocktivity]

2. Meaning what? That they shouldn't complain about getting killed?

Or about not having enough to eat? Or about not having enough body armor? Or about their families having to apply for food stamps? Or about earning one tenth of what the mercenaries do? War IS hard work, I guess!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Corgigal]

3. If they all die or become lame

what next?

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. Well, there's always

These kids joined the military because it was the only way they'd be able to go to college in this bleak economy and this is what their parents urged them to do. They did not ask to be sent into a hostile environment, they expected a weekend here and there.

[madinmaryland]

7. Wasn't the National Guard set up to be

an internal militia setup to protect and serve within our country?

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. Yeah, they're supposed to protect us here at home

[prolesunited]

5. The rhetoric used during the run-up to the invasion

and ever since then has been truly Orwellian.

[Hello_Kitty]

6. Many of them volunteered post 9-11

They wanted to go hunt Osama down. No one is signing up for this Iraq shit. Not even the supposedly uber-patriotic freepers.

[TexasChick]

8. I keep telling them this:

You know just like your precious Chimp does the same, just because you keep repeating it over and over and over doesn't mean it's going to magically come true. 'Mmkay? Smirking Chimp declared war on Iraq. These people were already in the military. Yes, there are some who did sign up later after the invasion, but most were already in the military and HAD TO GO because the Chimp sent them there. Pull your head out of your ass and stop making excuses for that pitiful Chimp!

[Career Prole]

9. Ten to one even the ones who joined the ANG after 9/11 in a fit of

patriotic fervor expected to be doing nothing more than guarding airports and bridges here in the States.
Wars are supposed to be fought with regulars who are properly trained and equipped.
* is a total failure as a leader.

[LWolf]

11. Some of them may have.

Those who volunteered since the war began, anyway. They would have known that they would end up in Iraq. I wonder how many have volunteered since the war began? I wonder how many of those went into the military with their eyes wide open?

My son's best friend is in Mosul. He didn't volunteer to fight in Iraq; he volunteered to serve his country. Before we went to war. The headlines about soldiers killed and injured over there come way faster than the contacts to his family to let them, and us, know he is still ok. We haven't heard from him since the bombing/rocket attack on the dining tent yesterday. And I don't want to think about what sort of things he may have been exposed to over there. I keep seeing him sitting in my living room last summer, on leave, right before he shipped out. Assuring me that he would be ok, that he is "good at his job." I know he is. But his job is not to sacrifice himself for PNAC. That's not serving his country; that's serving the right-wing corporate agenda.

They are so young. How many really comprehended the reality of what they were going into when they listened to the recruiters telling them about all the great benefits....for survivors?