Returning troops still say Iraq responsible for 9/11

[Mountainman]

It makes it hard for me to want to support the troops when I hear what I'm hearing from them.

In a letter to the editor of the Bakersfield Californian, a returning Iraq war vet said, "never forget what they did to us on 9/11."

Today on NPR I heard about a returning Guard unit and one of the returnees said that he "would rather fight them over there than over here."

Where are they getting their information? This is one of the biggest lies I have ever heard in my life.

I don't support the war, I never have and it is getting harder and harder to want to support troops who feel justified in the killing of Iraqis because of 9/11!

[berni_mccoy]

1. 4 More Years

And history will be re-written as such...

That is what is truly scary.:scared:

[David Ippolito]

2. Write history now.

Keep speaking the Truth here on the internet.

And, support PBS and NPR.

Truth will ALWAYS find a way.

[Debs]

21. It will?

Who shot John Kennedy again? "I read the first draft of the Warren report says Kennedy was killed by a drunk driver" from Wag the Dog. Would twere that it were so but while truth is more powerful than lies in the long run it doesnt always 'find a way'

[sendero]

28. There may be hope...

... for PBS but NPR abandoned the truth 2-3 years ago and they are a lost cause.

Tune in to Morning Edition some time and listen to their political reporting and war-related reporting.

Then come back here and tell me about "truth".

[BlueEyedSon]

3. I don't support anyone who is a stupid propaganda whore.

At some point, people have to be responsible for their own ignorance.

[demnan]

4. You ask where they are getting that information!

They are getting it from their government, who lied them into harm's way.

These kids don't have the time to read the foreign newspapers on the internet to find out the truth - they've been brainwashed by the military. Many of them are not well educated or well read.

Give them a break. Lay the blame at the feet of the government, who lied to all of us.

[Jesus H. Christ]

6. Stupidity is no excuse.

Fuck that guy.

[Mountainman]

14. I have given them a break, but as a Vietnam vet I knew when I was in war

that the government was lying to us. Maybe it is different now but my parents told me what was going on back home while I was in Vietnam. My dad sent tape recordings of the local radio stations and sent me newspaper clippings. That was in 1967/68. I think we are in a very new and better information age now so I find it hard to believe that the troops can't find out what is really going on.

[atreides1]

19. Only Some Deserve a Break

When does the military take responsibility? When are they to be held accountable for their actions?

This administration may have lied and invaded another country illegally, but the military was responsible for the killing and
destruction of the Iraqi people and the infrastructure of Iraq.

Bush, Rumsfeld, and all the rest lied and cheated and coerced, but they didn't drop the bombs, they didn't kill women and children, they didn't torture detainees. All of this was done by a compliant military
with a chain of command who were only concerned with how they were going to supplement their retirement pay.

So yes, let's blame the government, let's point the finger at those who lied us into this war of aggression, but we should not let the military off of the hook, they share in the blame.

And my honest opinion is that some in the military don't really care about who attacked us, they just get to kill "camel jockeys" and "ragheads", and then get to come back and brag about it.

The military personnel who are not reenlisting, those are the ones who deserve a break, those who have refused to go, they deserve a break, those who do not look forward to returning to Iraq, they deserve a break.

But those that look forward to returning, that still insist that they are protecting the country against terrorists, they get no breaks.

[Been Fishing]

27. Not all are "kids"

who don't know any better! There are National Guard and Reserve units with "older" (36-52) soldiers. They should be "well educated or well read".

(Check the ages of those killed or wounded.)

[arcane1]

5. they live in a bubble

and with Rush on the radio

the brass certainly isn't going to give these poor bastards the truth, after all, and expect them to follow orders

:evilfrown:

[CottonBear]

7. Many of these troops believe in the "LIBERAL MEDIA" myth.

I have a young friend who is over there. He's a black college graduate from a rural area in the south. The army will pay for his grad school. That is, if he makes it back. He's an ammo supply guy so he's almost always on either a) the base or b) a quick trip to the airfield to pick up supplies. He has practically no contact with any Iraqis except for a few civilian workers on the base. He doesn't trust one of them. Some of them have set off car bombs and IEDs. Before he left he told me: "don't believe what the liberal media says about the war and Iraq." I suppose boot camp and hours of Rush on the radio have gotten to him and others. He just is looking forward to getting home eventually for posting to someplace safer(Afghanistan). He is quite isolated over there.

edit: I just spoke with him while he was home on leave during the holidays. Hopefully, he and his fellow troops will make it home within the next months.

[pocket]

18. They do get NPR over there, and the BBC

It is their own damned fault they are so ignorant.

The armed forces radio plays NPR for a couple of hours per day, and the BBC has their own station in the area.

[CottonBear]

24. Really? I didn't know that.

Why don't people mention that when they post about Rush and Faux news being broadcast over there?

[pocket]

31. they don't mention that because

it doesn't support their position.

One AFN station is music, and one is news/sports/talk. That one has both Limbaugh and NPR. Mostly it has sports.

[DulceDecorum]

8. Rush Limbaugh says so

and some of the soldiers desperately need to find an excuse
for having done what they have done.

[Ron Green]

9. When I was in the Army 1966-1969, we had a healthy contingent of

draftees. They kept everybody honest, as it were, by reminding us that our mission wasn't necessarily in the best interests of the US and what we stand for. Now, of course, everybody in uniform joined up, right? For some specific purpose (get out of a bad economic situation, learn a trade, defend our country, whatever.) I think it's reasonable to assume that these volunteers will more readily parrot the official line than would the true cross-section of Americans who served 35 years ago.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Al Franken said that when he was there, all he saw, everywhere, was FAUX

NEWS!!!!!!! They are being brainwashed!!!!!!! Only those who put up a valiant struggle can fight the brainwashing!

[tk2kewl]

15. not just brainwashed IMO...

It has got to be hard to accept that you are killing innocents. It is much easier if in your "reality" the people you kill are all bad guys. The alternative would be unthinkable.

[htuttle]

11. It's a racist outlook -- not just a factual mistake

When people talk about 'what THEY did to us on 9/11', it's not that they think Iraqis did it (some do though). It's that they blame all Arabs for 9/11, so 'they' are ALL responsible.


Straight up racist that sucker was simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne.
-- P.E.

[Pam-Moby]

12. WE must not forget

that while our troops are over there in Iraq the only thing they hear is that they the Iraqis are reponsible for the killing of our people here. They do not hear or realize that an EVIL one is actually here pulling thier strings to accomplish his sick demonted schemes!!!

[proud patriot]

13. Franken says all they get is faux news

Also a parent of a marine whose come home told
me he feels his son has been brainwashed .

[beam me up scottie]

17. You would have to be brainwashed in order to kill innocent

civilians, wouldn't you?

[proud patriot]

23. All I know if all your are told is one perspective

while being in the harsh mental conditions
of the military , While under fire constantly
one can see how easy it would be to lose the
human perspective .

We are asking too much of them. It is destroying
them in more ways than one.

all soldiers are brainwashed by being broken
down mentally to nothing in boot camp , then
built back up into a soldier "killer".

The increased tension of being away from home
for an extremely long time.

Bullets flying over your head (survival mode)

all of these are contributing factors to the
soldiers perspective .

I love and support our troops , even if I disagree
with them about the facts of 9/11 etc.

I cannot judge them for I'm not there , they are
doing what they can to survive ,some making terrible
mistakes along the way .

I tried to keep this battle w/ al queda , by
opposing the invasion of Iraq with all my might .

I opposed it because I support our troops and felt
their lives were far too valuable to waste in Iraq.

I felt invading Iraq would make the U.S. less secure
because of world (Allies) animosity as well as "taking
our eyes of the ball" the ball being al queda .

[beam me up scottie]

30. I know exactly what you mean. I am an ex-Marine.

I was not successfully brainwashed in boot camp; many others were. Some stayed brainwashed after boot camp, others came around eventually. I know it is impossible to know what goes through these soldiers minds but I have to believe that if I had been ordered to kill an innocent person I would not have done it, mostly due to the fact that my mom was a refugee in Germany during WWII and the horrors she witnessed and later told to me allowed me to view war from both sides of the gun. The soldiers that have killed will have to live with the memory for the rest of their lives. Maybe it is better for some of them if they never do realize what they did and why.

[Grip]

16. It's Human Nature

Man is a former prey species. In other words, we were once on the menu!

The human brain is hard wired to make 'safe-unsafe' connections as it interperates it's world. 'Us and Them' is fundamental human reaction.

It is really easy to group Iraqis in the 'Them' category when you know 'They' are trying to kill 'Us' everyday.

[Debs]

22. Your atavistic arguement

Becomes even stronger when you take into account we were both prey AND predators so we are hard wired for both aggression and defensiveness

[IronLionZion]

20. They want to believe they fought for SOMETHING other than Halliburton

remember that the bad guys here are rich old men in Washington

[spanone]

25. I believe it's called military mindwashing.Justification for an unjust war

[txaslftist]

26. Not all Vietnam vets escaped this "group think"...

I still encounter vets from that first quagmire who think that if the US had just stuck it out, we would have won. Many vets still give voice to the idea that we 'just abandoned' Vietnam.

It's not mind-washing, however, but a conscious choice to believe the least personally challenging among alternative explanations.

[okieinpain]

29. yeah, well I made a similar comment, and got my ass handed to me

well at least du'ers tried, I'm a big boy.