Nice. (*very sarcastic*)

Ok, brace yourselves...here's another wonderful "comment from anonymous." (Keep 'em coming people, gotta love open dialogue between two total strangers...)

It's VIETRAQISTAN. Let's see some more little girls (and boys, for that matter) going to school HERE! I wonder why the US never sent the military in to destroy Apartheid in South Africa. If you're gonna be the world policeman, you've got to go after ALL the criminals. But noooooooooo---- . Re 9/11? I doubt seriously if we the people will ever get the truth. TOO MANY THINGS IN THAT SCENARIO JUST DO NOT ADD UP FOR MY LIKING. 110 years ago, there was the USS Maine, the 9/11 of its day, which was used to get the US into another war of empire: the Spanish-American War. We STILL don't know the real reason for the Maine's demise and never will. I see no military victory in the region (hell, there are really no winners in a war anyhow, only a lot of dead, messed up minds and bodies), only a long, drawn out genocide. We could easily call out the nukes and nuke the whole Muslim world, but do you want to live in nuclear winter? This country is running out of $$, our own infrastructure is slowly crumbling, yet the right-wing neo-con-hijacked gov't, which in MY opinion is a CHRISTIAN TALIBAN, is MISUSING the military in wars of choice/empire. The MIC doesn't even want to properly outfit the troops! Hell, Afghanistan was Russia's Vietnam, so I see no "victory" (Vietnam, for the US, was a stupid unwinnable WASTE)-- also, guess who stupidly taught the Muslim crew in Af'stan how to fvck up a superpower. The best way to eradicate terrorism is to find out why we're hated around the world and do something about THAT. The whole thing is a bad situation that's going to suck us down the tubes. And I DO help others (as an aside).

Wed Apr 09, 07:54:00 PM CDT

Awesome...completely missed the point of my statement, but that doesn't surprise me at all. I guess I should've also clarified that I have never been deployed to South Africa, or anywhere in Africa for that matter, nor was I involved in the Spanish-American War, so I will not speak to those. I was, however, sitting in my uniform at the office one sunny day in September 2001 when some assholes decided to attack us and kill thousands of innocent people. I'm not sure if you remember that day, but I do, very vividly in fact.

But hey, thanks for the history lesson. Seriously, don't bitch to me about why we're in this war or how much the world hates us. I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm just a simple person, just a poor college student, not someone that's in any position to make decisions about international policy, nor do I want to make decisions about international policy.

Maybe if you hate us so much you could just go live somewhere else. Yeah, I know, not a very original retort, tough shit, it's all I've got right now. But let me guess you will continue to live here and bitch about how The Man is bringing us all down because you're too afraid to move anywhere else where you might not have the cushy American life you have today.

First, are you just trying to piss me off with your 9/11 ignorance? "Re 9/11? I doubt seriously if we the people will ever get the truth. TOO MANY THINGS IN THAT SCENARIO JUST DO NOT ADD UP FOR MY LIKING." I'm willing to bet that if the assassin that shot JFK came up to tomorrow and admitted doing it, gave you the gun, showed you pictures/video of him actually pulling the trigger and killing the President from the 6th story window of the book depository , you'd probably tell him he was lying because of course, as we all know, JFK was shot by the second gunman on the grassy knoll.

I guess I didn't realize (as you felt it so necessary to point out) that little boys and girls in the United States can't go to school because the U.S. Government forbids the education of children. Is that the analogy you're trying to make? Are you really trying to compare the oppression of women and children under the Taliban government to the state of education in the U.S.? Wow, what a stretch! Nice.

I also fail to see any logic or rationale in your referring to the U.S. Government as a "CHRISTIAN TALIBAN." That is a just plain scary analogy, really. Have you read about the Taliban? Do you know anything about them? Because I fail to see how two governments are even comparable, other than the fact that they are occupied by people. That's about the only similarity I can come up with on that matter. Maybe it's because I was out of the country for 12-15 months, or maybe because I either have my head shoved in a book in school, or better yet, maybe it's because I was out enjoying a beer and watching college hockey, but I completely missed the last time the U.S. Government stoned someone to death in the middle of a soccer stadium for violating Islamic Law (oh wait, I guess it would be for violating Christian Law, whatever that is). Geez, I guess I should pay more attention to this hellatious government we have...I can't believe I missed something like that, it didn't even make the news. Wait, I suppose that's because all the media outlets must be controlled by the CHRISTIAN TALIBAN.

Look, here's the deal...I'll be perfectly honest with you. There is nothing in the world that will ever happen, nothing that will ever come to light, nothing that will ever be found that will convince me otherwise, I will never change my mind and believe that my friends (yes, literal friends) and comrades who gave their lives in Afghanistan or Iraq or anywhere else for that matter, gave the ultimate sacrifice for nothing. Call me naive, ignorant, stupid, even Republican, call me whatever the hell you want - nothing will ever change my mind. You know why? Because I've been there, I've seen, I've heard it, I've smelled it and I've lived it and I refuse to let it make me a bitter person, for any reason. I remember and respect my friends, I'm sorry you never knew them.

Like I said earlier, thanks for your enlightening comment/personal perception of U.S. history. Hey though, good to see that you help people! Classy! Maybe you could help some little kids go to school...but be careful, the government may try to have you killed if they find out what you're doing.

Comments

Wow. I just have to say that I'm actually surprised every time someone leaves a comment on this page. This is for a few reasons.

First, I rarely post here anymore...my deployment is over and I'm back to my civilian life. In that life, I enjoy spending time with my husband, my family, my friends and colleagues. I'm nearing the end of school, finally. After being educated for nearly 19 years of my life, I have to admit that while I do not look forward to making student loan payments, I do look forward to no longer writing papers and doing homework.

Second, I just laugh a little to myself each time someone comments and completely bashes me, the military, our mission or they just feel the need to say something rude. That's all fine if that's how you feel, but the part that cracks me up is that all of these people must think they are so brave and strong to post there extremely ignorant opinions here, yet they never seem to provide a name, or even a simple email address, to actually engage me in a real discussion about my posts, opinion or experience in "the war" (that's what I like to call it). I suppose maybe that's okay though, I'd probably just getting angry trying to have a discussion with the majority of those that I'm referring to above.

Third, why do people seem to completely overlook that fact that I was not in Iraq...I was in AFGHANISTAN. It's really a completely different country. Seriously, look at a map, I'm not lying. Here's the deal, don't come here and debate the Iraq war with me, I wasn't there, I have no personal experience to tell me what is happening in that war. I say again, I was in Afghanistan...for most of us, I would hope that we would still be able to remember why we went to Afghanistan. Let me refresh your memory....a little, old man named Bin Laden did a really bad thing to us back in 2001 and some of us, well we prefer to fight back rather than just lie down and just take it.

Now don't go and turn my no comment on Iraq into some stupid distortion where you might actually think that I don't support the Iraq war or its mission. I do support it, I support it very much. Some of the closest members of my family have served multiple tours in Iraq. I have plenty of personal experience when it comes to supporting the soldiers there, I just don't have the military experience of actually being there myself.

Also, don't bust out your stupid conspiracy theories on me about Afghanistan, Bin Laden or 9/11. Please, just keep that crap to yourself. I don't care if you believe that President Bush himself piloted all four of the planes that day. You can just continue to smoke in your mom's basement, try to solve the world's problems and don't forget to always blame the man for everything that happens to you or anyone around you.

Finally, to the last "anonymous" commenter to bash me by claiming the world may have changed, but it's not for the better. Well, well, well...those are some brave words. Not for the better, really? Please, do tell the last time you gave a year of your cushy little, American lifestyle to actually do something that helped others? I'm going to guess that outside of helping your family and maybe a few close friends, you don't do shit for anyone else. Let me tell you something...I saw little girls go to school for the first time in their lives, in a country where the Taliban government completely forbid the education of women, because of something I, alongside countless other soldiers, did.

If you think that's not changing the world for the better....well, then maybe you should just keep your blinders on because it's actually quite a rough and tumble world out there. I'd hate for you to get hurt by reality when it punches you square in the face.