Stars and Stripes letter (once again, critical of Bush)

[lebkuchen]

Familiar Ring

This is in answer to the letter "Love it or leave it" (Dec 11...see below). It had a familiar ring to it. The Vietnam War era comes to mind, and there were certainly lots of reasons to have a different opinion from the government back then.

It's always the stout patriot who jumps out of the woodwork to tell a combatant to stop whining and condemns him for not feeling blind loyalty. Not all of us see President Bush as the "anointed one." All these guys go through a lot.

By the way, letter writer, how is combat going in Kuwait? The writer is in the wrong theater, isn't he? Is he seeing lots of blood and guts in order to defend the future of his five kids? It might be that the writer's enthusiasm is so rampant because he's in Kuwait and not in the line of fire.

It's easy for the writer to drool with patriotic overflow and even go so far as to tell people who don't feel like he does to get out of the country. Lots of them are in Arlington National Cemetery. And there are the rarely mentioned hundreds who have been maimed and crippled. They have to live years on end outside the norm without a real future. I don't see President Bush taking pictures with them. It must be that they're not able to gather around him cheering for the ever-important photo opportunity. Instead, they get the usual monotone of empty platitudes over the airwaves.

As for the letter writer, he should thank the troops who are fighting for his children's future instead of accusing them of disloyalty.

Christel Fiore
Camp Darby, Italy

URL provided when available.
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Love it or leave it

This is in reference to the letter “Thanksgiving visit” (Dec. 7...see below). It upsets me to hear anybody talk badly about President Bush, especially our military personnel. Our president took time out from his busy schedule and family to be with his soldiers in Iraq on Thanksgiving. He didn’t have to do it. He wasn’t thinking of himself. He was thinking of the morale and well-being of the soldiers.

I’m currently at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and when I saw the president’s visit reported on Fox News, it made me feel proud to be an American and happy for the soldiers who could spend time with their commander in chief.

Apparently the letter writer is not in a leadership position in which his decisions can put other lives in danger. It’s not an easy thing to do. The president didn’t send the writer to Iraq to be killed or wounded. He made the decision to send our soldiers to Iraq to preserve our freedom and our children’s future. I totally support my president’s decision on the Iraq war because I don’t want any of my five children to go to war for something that could be a lot worse in the future when we can take care of it now.

The letter writer needs to stop whining, stand up and be proud that he’s an American (if he is one) who has a part in preserving the future of Americans. The writer complained that he’s delirious and exhausted. But he should love our country and fight for it or leave it.

Ron Betenbough
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=19187
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Thanksgiving visit

So the boss came to visit us on Thanksgiving, under wraps and under the American flag. Thanks for coming. Oh thank you, kind leader, merciful leader, for taking one day out of your busy schedule to visit us. The shepherd looking over his flock. Thanks for making the sacrifice. God knows we’re making one. Re-election is coming up, but that had nothing to do with it, now did it?

I remember your victorious landing on the ship. Oh how all those then alive, and now dead, would love to sit down next to you, cutting their families’ turkeys and filling the empty seats at the tables. Leader of the free world, be our guest at the head of our table. Or would you like to sit in one of the many empty seats left by the war? There’s plenty of room. Enough turkey and stuffing to go around. Fat and happy, delirious and exhausted. That’s how I feel.

In a hurry? Going so soon? Have time for questions? You sure do have time for compliments. Do you ever feel responsible? I’m tired of this. Go back home to the ranch and tell them how happy and fulfilling the trip made you feel.

Spc. Damian Torres
Iraq

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=19144

[w13rd0]

1. Wow, the third one was...

...quite savage, and altogether too true.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. hey that last one is UnMerkan!

you can't say that about your commander in chief unless you've fought for the. . .oh wait a minute.

[lebkuchen]

4. Bush is at Walter Reed today, FINALLY

Stripes articles and letters have been getting a lot of press lately, and it's certain Bush gets advances on both, reacting appropriately as they are published in order to dampen the criticism, which has been non-stop in this paper.

If you want to make the Chimp jump through hoops, write something critical of Bush and sent it to Stripes: watch what happens.

Asian edition:

[e-mail]


or Europe:

[e-mail]

It doesn't matter which you choose. Include some facts and figures, and a contact number.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. But remember, Cher (of all people!!) got there first. . .

and upstaged him.

:evilgrin:

[Philostopher]

3. This is, in fact, getting really interesting.

We never read Stars and Stripes when my ex was in the Air Force, but then we were always Stateside. Has there ever been this dramatic a separation of views expressed in S&S by active duty military?

I'm not surprised that there's such a broad range of thought among members of the armed services -- the volunteer corps, when the economy dips, consists of many people for whom the military isn't necessarily their first or even second choice, and who don't enter for ideological so much as practical reasons (kids to feed, bills to pay, can't afford an education otherwise) -- but I am a little surprised that S&S is printing letters that are so baldly political, and that condemn the existing administration.

The 'official line' during the Reagan Administration was that you kept your mouth shut regardless how you felt about him. I know Stars and Stripes is intended to be an internal 'organ' but I'm kind of surprised they publish such critical letters, I guess. Impressed, too.

[lebkuchen]

5. You could refer to archived letters dating back over a year

and find plenty of military/military retired/civilian letters highly critical of Bush in Stripes. In the past few months, there's been a crescendo, making "letters" the hottest read in the paper, for military, those in the federal government, and national editorialists.

[lebkuchen]

6. URL to the first letter is here

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=19376