Anti-War Billboard Stirs Controversy in Military Town

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/120103_NW_billboard.html

Attacks on American troops in Iraq have some Americans stepping up their campaign to withdraw American soldiers from Iraq.

One of those campaigns to bring home the troops can be found in Spring Lake right next door to Fort Bragg. But the billboard doesn't represent everyone's view in Cumberland County.

If you travel along Bragg Boulevard, it's not unusual to see billboards along the side of the road. But there is one that has folks talking. It's one here that says..."bring them home now." It's put up by an organization that wants our troops brought back from the war on terror in Iraq."

The billboards have been put up by the Quaker House. The organization has always opposed the war. One of the billboards used to hang above George Smith's muffler shop on Bragg Boulevard. Smith's a Navy vet and says it's time to bring the troops home. "I believe there's other ways to resolve all that that's going on over there... with NATO and everything else. I believe they should be involved in it instead of all of our soldiers over there," Smith said.

<snip>

[shamanstar]

1. good for him!

we need more people like him to make a big stand and be brave and be loud- the mindless people will follow eventually.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. I always love it when

A news media outlet comments on a left-leaning opinion by saying, "but not everyone agrees with it..." as if that's some news or something. Believe it or not, everybody is entitled to their opinion and we are all free to express it. Hell, why don't they point out that "not everybody agrees" with the war in the first place....?

[bluestateguy]

3. Oh! I guess I forgot about their constitutional right to not be offended!

Those who want to keep the troops there are exposing them to far more harm than those who say they should be brought home.

[xchrom]

4. bravo! more!

what an excellent man! it's not easy these days to dissent like that -- that is so incredible -- i love it!

[hadrons]

5. "billboard doesn't represent everyone's view in Cumberland County"

then why aren't they in Iraq right now???

[0007]

6. A friend has a grandson in the Philippine Islands as fire fighter,

working for Raytheon. I sent him this five minute video.

http://www.angelfire.com/creep/gwbush/remindus.html

He wrote back and said he couldn't open it because it was Liberal propaganda. Which tells me they screen his e-mail as they do in Iraq.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Download it. Rename it. Zip it. Send.

Let them censor that.

[Noordam]

8. All that Army troops that do not agree with the sign

then sign up for a trip to Iraq to replace the troops that want to come home...

[mbperrin]

9. YES! Someone who actually supports the TROOPS

instead of the maniacs who would get them killed for nothing!

(Not everyone agrees? Well, I'm sure that every other billboard in town, including the one that says Eat at Denny's, is agreed upon by everyone, right?)

[Robb]

10. What a message.

"Bring them home now."

I mean, how can you really be against that?

You want to see controversy? How about redoing the billboard so it reads

"Keep the troops in Iraq until they're all dead."

[KansDem]

11. I really will never understand why this should be offensive to anyone???

Except a member of the Bush Junta…

The message simply reads “Bring them home now.” Why is this offensive? And why is it (supposedly) MORE offensive in a “military town?” Do professional soldiers REALLY want to lay their lives on the line for this war?

Let’s review the facts: This is a war based on lies and deceit to enrich the wealth of a few, from an AWOL “president” who lost the popular vote and squats in the White House only as a product of Supreme Court partisans.

Other than the Bushistas and the Corporate Media, why should this message offensive to anyone?
:shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug::shrug:

[gratuitous]

12. Kind of humorous on two counts

First, that the sentiment "Bring the troops home now" should put so many buzz-clicks* in a tizzy: How dare someone express a viewpoint at variance with my own?! Damn liberals!

Second, that it is just one billboard in the entire town. Apparently, everyone everywhere must at all times express nothing but the highest admiration for every person in a U.S. uniform or risk being called a traitor, unamerican, or unpatriotic, and be prepared for a physical assault.

*Buzz-click n.: robot; unthinking person; from the "Roger Ramjet" cartoons in which evil robots punctuated their remarks with a spoken "buzz-click." Used by kind permission of The gratuitous Dictionary of Obscure References.