While 85% said the U.S. mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks,” 77% said they also believe the main or a major reason for the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq.”

Do the troops not have access to American news? Have they not seen the reports and heard the President say that Iraq was not involved in 9/11?

I know they've recently dumbed down the standards to serve, but surely the troops aren't this totally, breathtakingly misinformed.

Ann, Rush is on the AFR. That is why they did not want AAR on the arm forces radio.

There allowed access to what they can get their hands on. Most likely MSM and such. I'm sure a lot of FUAX News. Some will be able to get access to other outlets if they look for it. The military will try and keep them as busy as possible, like paint rocks at the motor pool or something. Most will just like to relax, listen to tunes, read books and magazines. It will be definitely be a controlled environment as possible.
Thier families will tell them what is happening at home. Remember for most of these guys it's their 3rd tour and they are on stop loss measures. They're not going to have sympathy for the assholes who sent them their.
If this had a clear objective to them then they wouldn't think this way.

goose1,

Several friends who have served in the military confirm that armed forces radio and television (they call it A-farts) is basically right wing propaganda on steroids. It's a wonder the poor troops can think straight enough to duck bullets! : (

The only channels the troops get (and I know this from nephew and son serving) is Fox and the Pentagon channel. National Guard types like my son know its all spin. Active duty types do not. These attitudes/understandings are the result of massive propaganda efforts.

I wonder what will happen when they get home, enter the normal life again, and realize that they fought for ....lies?
I feel sorry for them.

"Unpatriotic." What does that really mean, anyway? I'd wager not 5% of those respondents can define that workd as they understand it. It's just reflexive--the "other," the unclean, the unAmerican.



My level of disgust knows no bounds. So much of what we do we seem to be totally clueless on, just blindly groping in the dark.

Here is one soldier's perspective of what the Iraq war is doing to the military. It's not pretty.

Then read Major Bob Bateman's update on Altercation and see if there isn't some confirmation that things are just as bad as that soldier said.

Well, when I was in the Army and deployed to Kuwait a about six weeks before the invasion of Iraq this last time I didnt hear a damn thing. The Start and Stripes was the only news paper supplied in bulk, occassionally another brand of newspaper would circulate around if it came in a care package. Sometimes an officer would snag a non-Stars and Stripes paper when going for a breifing at the battallion or higher level HQ's.

Honestly most of the soldiers out there arent all that old. I was about 2 months past my 21'st birthday when we rolled into Iraq. We didnt really care much for newspapers or TV news shows, not entertaining.

Maybe that has changed some by now, wouldnt put much stock in that though.

"This "stay the course" bullshit has got to go."

That enlisted man has it right.

I had a Captain in the field pull a weapon on me once. In (of all places) the fields of Kansas. I told the 1st Sergeant (Vietnam Vet) what happened and he chewed that Captain's ass. It was sad to see. I asked what he said to him and he just said, "If he did that in a war zone I don't want to be around you".

Jolly Sapper, You have a point, when I was in not many of the younger guys even cared about the news. They were into music, pool, women, trucks, motorcycles and NASCAR.
It was only us older guys that cared about what was happening in politics around the world. I went in at a late age so I hung with the E-6's & E-7's, they were more my age.

I can only comment with regards to the pilots and ground crew I worked with in 1990 -1991. As an former Air Force captain, I may be biased in my opinion. The men and women that I worked with were the best, but I can tell you with no reservation, all we wanted to do was get Hell out of there, and come home.

I have no doubt that the current force serving in Iraq feel exactly the same way. How could you not?

tempus, I missed the Air Force cut off age. That's what I really wanted to go into.
I have no doubt that the people you served with were professional and the best of the best.
For the most part, I felt the same way, except the Army has some real lazy fuckers who always want someone else to do their job for them. That's the only part I could do without, because then you question their whole attitude and work ethic when the defecation hits the rotating device!

It's significant that so many soldiers think the situation is hopeless. Think about it; these are men and women who usually go along and hold their tongue no matter what they think for the reasons the war was started. They just do their duty. And now they can't deny the fact that the war is a complete, utter failure and they are hamstrung and helpless. Is Shillary and the rest of the Dem establishment listening?

So what we have here is the troops having convinced themselves (or having been corralled into believing) that they are there because Iraq had ties to 9/11 (and really, I can't fault them for wanting to believe that, even against all evidence, given the shitstorm in which they are embroiled...gives their misery some "meaning"); and YET, the vast majority still want to get the fuck out ASAP.

Which leads me to believe that they know its all a bunch of bullshit on a level that counts.

BTW, I would find it, well, hilarious if some disgruntled vet came back and whacked that cowardly fuck Limbaugh and some of Drugboy's chickenhawk neocon friends, pled PTSD insanity, got off, and went on to live a decent, happy life. That would be justice.

GOW:

Are you kidding? The first people they would line up against the wall are the vets. They know just how pissed off we are.

bbtb: I am sorry that you had to deal with assholes when you certainly did not need them.

I left the Air Force as a result of an absolute asshole of a base commander, who incidentally, never saw active service. He simply had a cluster instead of bars.

Check this out from Democratic Underground, it kind of shoots a hole in Condi's defense.

The thing that jumps out at me is: If many of these kids in Iraq have internet access (and they obviously do) then how can they still be in a Bush bubble? They can still read online newspapers, liberal blogs, any place that's not afraid to tell the truth.

So how could they still be so fucking ignorant?

Although this war is illegal, it is good for the interest of you American. Anyway, Saddam is bad.