My friend's car just got "yellow-ribboned".

[Coventina]

A friend and I were having lunch at a local restaurant. After we finished, and walked out to his car, he noticed that someone had put a yellow "Support the Troops" ribbon on his car while we were eating.
He didn't have any stickers on his car of his own.

:wtf:

What is wrong with people? Don't they understand that if he wanted one, he would put one on himself?

Anyway, he immediately took it off and destroyed it. Hope the person is happy that they wasted their money.

We both agreed that we'll "support the troops" when they quit committing war crimes.

[proud patriot]

1. were you two talking politics at the restraunt ?

[Coventina]

3. Yes, actually we were!!

But it was so loud in there I really doubt anyone could have overheard us.
Lunch rush, you know.

[trotsky]

2. Don't you see?

As long as you put a magnet ribbon on your car, you ARE supporting the troops.

Questioning the leaders who put them in harm's way without adequate supplies or armor is NOT supporting the troops.

Asking to reinstate some of the tax cuts for the wealthy to actually help PAY for those supplies and armor is also NOT supporting the troops. And it makes you a pinko commie terrorist.

Got it?

[ClassWarrior]

4. Spray paint your magnet ribbon orange and write "No Vote Fraud" on it...

Out of solidarity with the voters in the Ukraine and Ohio.

NGU.

[Arkana]

47. LOL

Right on. :P

[Placebo]

5. Why don't you support the troops?

Support the troops, not the war. They're just following orders. It's not like they're commiting war crimes because they want to. :eyes:

[Coventina]

6. Everyone has the ability to NOT COMMIT EVIL

They lost the last shred of dignity they had in my eyes when I heard that they were slaughtering the dogs and cats in Fallujah.

[Placebo]

8. Umm, that's not how it works in the military.

It's not like you can just NOT follow orders, at least not in mass. And it's not like just because SOME soldiers did/are doing that to dogs and cats means that they ALL are. :eyes:

[el_gato]

16. thought police

[9119495]

20. You're right. Not all soldiers are evil. But they have an obligation

not to follow illegal orders. Torture is illegal so they CAN'T do it. If so, prosecute. Recent documents demonstrate that even Nazis could have refused to follow orders without punishment beyond refusal of promotion. Few actually chose to avoid committing atrocities.

[realisticphish]

46. read up on Stanley Milgram's experiments

he found that people who believed that a researcher had authority over them shocked other people with what they thought were fatal electrical shocks because the researcher told them to (the victim was just an actor). realize that these were normal people, who did NOT like doing it; but because they had volunteered for the experiment (and they did not know what the experiment was beforehand), the researcher had authority over them.

now picture a soldier, who actually DOES have an authority over them, and imagine the indoctrination, and elimination of individuality. the effects would be multiplied exponentially

in short, it is NOT always as simple as people think; you can say "well I wouldnt do that" but the simple fact is that you were NOT in that situation, and did not understand the pressure and sense of responsiblity that the soldier had

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Coventina]

52. I understand they are under pressure

Which is why I don't think our soldiers should be tried as war criminals.

Just like the average German soldier was not tried as a war criminal.

It doesn't change the fact that what they are doing is criminal.

[TrueAmerican]

10. Yeah,

And odds are someone that post at DU is a rapist, phedophile, or other scumbag.

Does that mean we all are who post here?

[Guitarman]

15. Where did you hear...

that dogs and cats were being slaughtered? This is a bit far fetched.

[Coventina]

17. Link

http://www.notinourname.net/war/dogs-9dec04.htm

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

24. Hell, I would shoot stray dogs eating corpses

And not just because of the rabies danger.

[Placebo]

29. Exactly.

It's still a person. Ot it was You can't just let dogs eat it!

[Coventina]

31. So if they are shooting dogs out of "respect"

why are they not disposing of the bodies?
Why are they letting them sit out and rot?

The dogs are just following the instincts the Great Mother gave them.

[Placebo]

33. Look, war isn't pretty...

but don't blame the soldiers, they didn't ask to be put in these difficult positions. Focus your negative energy on Bush, the generals, and that crowd, not the men and women in uniform.

[Coventina]

35. See my post #21

[AntiCoup2K4]

32. Those cats were terraists!!

John Asscrotch and Bill Frist told me so!

[peacebird]

43. actually i heard that they had to slaughter the dogs

they left the corpses out rotting, the dogs were starving and started eating them. as i understand it there were serious health concerns with leaving the animals alive?

"But this time the marines are not chasing down the insurgents who they defeated in a devastating assault on the city last month. Their quarry is stray animals grown fat on the flesh from corpses and who could harbor rabies."
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=041210033510.1bgx7r1p.xml

the part i found MOST disturbing was the light colonel who said killing the dogs was really hard on his men... ?
what about killing the people?

[Coventina]

12. yep. Following orders...like the German soldiers in the camps.....

[Placebo]

13. What are you TALKING about?

Our soldiers aren't Nazis.

[Coventina]

14. Neither were a lot of the German soldiers.

[DrWeird]

27. Why do you hate America?

(psst, whatever you do, don't bring up Napoleon)

[Coventina]

28. LOL!!! Thanks Dr. Weird.

You are completely forgiven for the Arwen/Eowyn thing.

:pals:

[DrWeird]

30. To bad the search function for the archives is down.

There was a very funny lounge thread about a hypothetical invasion of Canada.

[Placebo]

34. Funny because...

it was hilarious to think that Canada would withstand an American invasion, if it happened today. :D

[DrWeird]

36. Funny to think that we could invade Russia

and that analogies to Hitler and Napoleon were DISRESPECTFUL OF THE TROOPS SO STOP SAYING THAT!!!

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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

[Coventina]

11. Methinks someone doth protest too much. n/t

[wtmusic]

18. No, some of them are killing Iraqis

with only the best intentions.

:eyes:

[Bouncy Ball]

9. How farging ODD.

Random drive by ribboning.

What's next?

[TrueAmerican]

19. Delete

We're not suppose to call Freepers out. ;)

[Coventina]

21. Um, you and I have both been here long enough to know the rules.

on edit: Nowhere did I say I hate the troops. I don't hate the troops. I feel sorry for them. I'm sorry I can no longer respect them. I do not hate them. I want them to come home and get the help they will need.

[Guitarman]

37. Walk a mile in their shoes...

before you are so quick to condemn the soldiers. It is too easy to pass judgement on something that you have no real perspective on. Seeing the world in black and white absolutes changes once you set foot on the battlefield.

[Coventina]

40. So the only way to judge a behavior is to do it yourself?

I'm not condemning the soldiers for decisions they didn't make.

But no way, no how am I EVER going to publicly declare that I "support the troops" (what does that even MEAN anyway?) when we have so many reports of human rights abuses from the field.

I have NO DOUBT that there are good, honorable men and women in our armed forces. People of valor and dignity who represent the best our country has to offer. It is a tragedy that they have been tainted by association, but they have become tainted. Ultimately, the bulk of the responsibility is on the head of G. W. Bush, but each soldier is ALSO responsible for their own individual actions.

We all have the power to do what is RIGHT. We all make the wrong choices sometimes. Too many bad choices are being made in Iraq right now for me to justify saying "I support the troops".

I don't hate them. I don't wish them harm. I just want them to come home and get the mental and physical health care they are going to need.

[Bouncy Ball]

22. I don't think we are

supposed to "call people out" like that.

If you really think that, then hit alert. But no need to yell freeper.

[vpigrad]

23. Why would someone support...

the thugs that give Bushie his power? Those are the same thugs that are killing people by the tens of thousands in Iraq? I would have ripped the yellow ribbon off of the car and shredded it where everyone around could see. We don't support the type of people that make this world so much more dangerous.

[Qanisqineq]

38. if I understand you, then my HUSBAND is a thug?

He's military and got sent to Iraq. Don't believe all the shit you read about the military being absolute Bush supporters.

Edit: even worse grammar than what this post has now!

[vpigrad]

42. Why did he take an oath to serve Bush?

I'm serious about that question. You say he doesn't support Bush, but why would he take an oath to serve him?

[BiggJawn]

44. Uh, you've got your Dictators mixed up...

Hitler required a personal oath of loyalty from his troops. One of the things he got from the "Enabling Act". Our troops swear an oath to defend the Constitution.

You inference that DU'ers who have relatives in service have sworn oaths to Bush personally marks you as either mis-informed, a shit-stirrer, or worse.

[realisticphish]

48. you dont take an oath to the president

and anyway, why do you assume that he became a soldier after shrub was elected?


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[vpigrad]

49. It doesn't matter when he joined...

He's serving Bush now. And yes, you do take an oath to serve the president. Ask him about the oath he gave when he signed-up. I worked next to an Army recruiter's office for years, and I heard the kids take the oath many times.

[Qanisqineq]

51. How do you figure it doesn't matter when he signed-up?

Desertion sounds so easy to civilians, doesn't it? Well, when the Iraq War started I was in graduate school and he was living some place else. He couldn't leave, he and others were kept under guard until they were deployed. Now he is back, but I don't have a job and currently have an illness that keeps me from working until I have a tumor removed. What is he to do? Desert and not be able to work because then they could find him if he applied for a job? Live on the streets and I can't get healthcare or afford all my prescriptions?

Apparently you have all the answers...

[Qanisqineq]

50. nope, he took the oath to serve Clinton

not all contracts are just 4 years.

[derby378]

25. You got "yellow-ribboned?" I got "Bush-tagged"

Stepped into a Blockbuster Video for five minutes, my little green car festooned with Democratic stickers. When I step out, look what someone put on my front bumper:



Hey, at least they didn't key my car or cut the brake line...

[Coventina]

26. And these are probably the people that get worked up about graffiti.

But it's okay when THEY do it!

:shrug:

[derby378]

41. That's right - how many Kerry signs did they steal? (n/t)

[peacebird]

45. get your indelible pen and draw a circle with a slash thru it....

a nice little "NO w'04" sticker free of charge!

btw - i am not a physically violent person but i would make an exception if i saw someone plaster one of those on MY car...!

[Deja Q]

39. I'd re-locate the magnet to the gas tank door.

[Flammable Materials]

53. WHAT I WANT ***SO BADLY*** TO DO ...

... is swipe a bunch of these ribbon magnets from Bush-worshipper's SUVs. Then, one day, I want to plaster ALL of them all over my car with a huge sign on top that says: "I WIN!!!!!"

[samplegirl]

54. Not one bit of money goes to Support the troops from

those stupid yellow ribbons. The guy whos making them sure is
cashing in though.