Wouldn't it be something if the troops would just "leave" Iraq-

[Oleladylib]

en-masse, on their own..make the arrangements..officers and enlisted ..just do it...!! That would be a topic for the politicians to contemplate.."Abandon the ship" so to speak..we wouldn't have any more egg on our faces-internationally- than we do now..maybe even less..

[snot]

1. Tyrants have no power apart from what we give them.

[havocmom]

2. Nice pipe dream. Just how are they gonna get anywhere, or survive?

Corporations are in charge of transportation, food, water. In other words, our troops have been kidnapped by the junta and are held for continued ransom payments by the corporations that brought us the junta.

Yes, it would be grand if they could just lay down their arms and go to planting corn and potatoes. But they are hostages in a strange land, surrounded by a population made hostile by the invasion and occupation.

Wishing they would just stop is a nice thought. Reality is only a policy change in the corridors of power will get them home.

Work for DEMS running for the House and the Senate. Write LTTE. Volunteer to register voters, work in precincts, work on election day as poll judge to make sure things are on the up and up.

Only way the troops can just stop is if we offer them protection.

Work to change the people setting policy. Troops in the field cannot just stop. They are prisoners of the corporations making billions off the war. They can't even get food and water on their own.

[Sherman A1]

3. Might be tough to make travel arrangements, but

I recall that units of several nations "mutinied" in WWI and just stood down, refusing to continue (I don't think the consequences were too good for those that did). I would think that in this illegal war, that would be an appropriate response, if it became a wide spread thing, it might work. Trouble of course is that would never be allowed to happen.

[Horse with no Name]

4. That was in the days before everything was privatized

I guarantee if there was any talk of this, there would be a cutoff of food and water, and most likely they would be surrounded by Blackwater troops.

[babylonsister]

5. And more than likely their families stateside would suffer. nt

[Sherman A1]

6. I agree

and it would never be allowed to happen, as I said.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Retired AF Dem]

8. Hopefully

your stay will be short.

[peacebaby3]

12. Agreed. And to think this loser actually quotes Clarence Darrow. n/t

[rzemanfl]

9. Whoa! If you want to have a post count here, you are going to

have to tone it down. Your post will likely be deleted.

[rzemanfl]

10. Self delete. n/t

[metamorph]

15. Actually, I'm not worried about a post count.

I just call 'em as I see 'em. And these are an all-volunteer armed forces, not conscripts forced into the military. After Gulf War I and certainly after Afghanistan they knew what they were getting into. That was the time to protest and refuse orders. Not 3 years later, when the insurgents are using them for target practice.

[peacebaby3]

17. My husband happens to be in the military and has been for 20 years.

He is retiring in 6 weeks.

There are also a lot of other people on this board that are members of the military, family members of people in the military, and vets and you have insulted all of them.

You've shown your true colors and won't last long.

I noticed your hobby is "baiting trolls." Interesting...

[Poppyseedman]

14. Nice fifth post

Either up your meds or go back under your troll bridge

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. Welcome to DU. Now go away.

A good friend of mine is over there on his second tour. He's part of the bridgade out of Ft. Wainwright that just had his tour extended as he was due to come home. He's a liberal and has always been against this fucking war. BTW, he's also college educated and a brilliant photographer.

Most of our troops are good people (many college-educated) stuck in a shitty situation. Some are commiting attrocities, but not all of them, and personally I find your statement to be utterly disgusting.

[metamorph]

19. Sorry, but I have no sympathy at all

for anyone serving in Iraq. It was established at Nuremberg that the "I was just following orders" defense doesn't excuse anybody for following blatantly illegal orders. And there is no legal justification for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. There were no WMDs, Saddam Hussein was not an imminent threat to us or working with Al Qaeda and if he was brutalizing the Iraqi people, how is that any of our business? It sure didn't bother that senile old fool Reagan when he was arming Hussein in the 1980s.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

20. I know there is no legal justification for Iraq and so does my friend.

However, he is not commiting any attrocities and I find it offensive that you would compare him to a Nazi soldier. Many of our troops are against this war.

Are you saying you don't have any sympathy for our dead soldiers? If so, you are a FUCKED UP INDIVDUAL. I have sympathy both for our dead troops and for the Iraqis who have needlessly died during this war. If you can't muster sympathy for both, then you have no heart.

[metamorph]

21. I have plenty of sympathy

for the Iraqis that Chimpy and his English poodle have put through the meat grinder. And I'm not saying that every soldier over there is committing atrocities. But the war is illegal. And every soldier over there had not only the right but the duty to refuse orders to engage in it. They didn't. So they're responsible for whatever fate befalls them. And that's why I have as much sympathy for them as I did for the soldiers coming home from Vietnam 35 years ago. Less actually, since those were conscripts.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rzemanfl]

11. My fear is that our troops will have to execute a fighting

withdrawal from Iraq at some future date. Things are too chaotic there for a "safe conduct" to be enforced. The Christian Science Monitor had an article a couple of weeks back about how vulnerable the supply convoys (which are not military) are.

[jimshoes]

13. If the US troops have to fight

their way out of Iraq, I hope we can all agree that Bushco, including rummy, big (deadeye) dick, all the PNAC'ers, have managed to lose a war and break a once proud and strong army. I'm hoping that even the 30%'ers will finally have to admit that bushco was and is a wretched and grievous mistake and one that must not, for the good of the country and humanity in general, ever be allowed to repeat itself in any form or manifestation. The true intentions of this junta are becoming quite clear and the warning signs are certainly there. They clearly intend to make the executive the final arbiter in all law and that is a dictatorship. It has come upon us and we must resist. At the ballot box, in the streets, on the airwaves, in print, on our vehicles. Say no to bushco.

[Tulum_Moon]

16. When they leave and lay down their arms

who will be there to pick them up?