Reason
04-18-2010, 11:58 PM
April 18, 2010
Support the Troops on Facebook
Posted by Laurence Vance on April 18, 2010 06:57 PM
From a reader of mine who doesn’t support the troops on Facebook: (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/56065.html)
I recently got on a ‘Support the Troops’ blog on Facebook. The idea was you write in and express your ‘Support’ for the troops in whatever manner you wished. Of course, the thing was overwhelmed with cheap sloganeering and drippy boilerplate pronouncements of “Keeping us Free” and “Dying for our Rights,” and other disgustingly ignorant statements which were either educationally wrong (“Our Troops Give Us Freedom of Speech”) or geopolitically wrong (“Our Troops are Fighting those who Threatened our Freedom”) et al., ad nauseum.
Understand that my father was a decorated Marine (Navy Cross) of WWII and my Uncle a Bataan Death March survivor. BOTH men taught me both about military matters and the proper use of the military. Even though they supported their role in WWII (something now coming into question by prominent historians), they did NOT support Korea or Vietnam. They both understood that both conflicts were unconstitutional, and in many respects they both become somewhat ‘Pacifist’ in their beliefs. So, I am not a ‘Military-Hater’ bred in some ‘Red Baby’ commune.
So, I (foolishly) went on and stated that “I Support the Troops” and that the “best support is to immediately bring them home, punish all the politicians who put them there, and demand that our leaders adhere to the strict law forbidding our troops to be used in ANY situation other than DIRECT NATIONAL DEFENSE.” Well, I immediately was FLAMED by so many so called ‘Military Patriots’ that I couldn’t keep up with answering them all. And, the VICIOUS and UGLY emails I got from both soldiers and families was simply shameful. MANY told me either “Stand Behind Our Troops, Or Stand In Front of Them,” which I informed them was the same despicable, irresponsible slogan George Bush made (“If You’re Not With Us, You’re With the Terrorists”), insinuating that I should be shot by our own troops for NOT supporting the POLICY, just as Bush labeled any American a “Terrorist” for not supporting his policy.
So shameful were the comments, in fact, that I finally gave up and said, “OK, FINE. Keep em’ over there. Let em’ continue to be blown to bits by ‘IEDs’. Let them continue to be cut down by snipers. DON’T EVER BRING THEM HOME! Instead, send them into Pakistan and Iran. Let’s light off World War III. That seems to be what you want. However, let’s not forget that China and Russia are HEAVILY invested in that region, and will look upon any further aggression by the U.S. as a DIRECT THREAT to their national interests. And, in case any of you have forgotten, China alone has a standing Army of over 2.2 million FRESH troops, and can match every weapon we have. China’s FEMALE army is larger than our ENTIRE MALE army! And, I don’t think I need to explain the capabilities of Russia, either. Put them together in unison to defend their national interests against U.S. aggression, and the U.S. military will simply be OVERWHELMED. We will literally be WIPED OFF THE MAP (to coin a favorite NEOCON false statement of fact). So, go get ‘em, “HEROS”! From the ugly knee-jerk criticism you’ve (en masse) flamed me with, I can’t say I’ll feel sorry for you.”
Posted with permission of said reader. And as I told him, I think the American military mindset is hopelessly cast in stone.
Support the Troops on Facebook
Posted by Laurence Vance on April 18, 2010 06:57 PM
From a reader of mine who doesn’t support the troops on Facebook: (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/56065.html)
I recently got on a ‘Support the Troops’ blog on Facebook. The idea was you write in and express your ‘Support’ for the troops in whatever manner you wished. Of course, the thing was overwhelmed with cheap sloganeering and drippy boilerplate pronouncements of “Keeping us Free” and “Dying for our Rights,” and other disgustingly ignorant statements which were either educationally wrong (“Our Troops Give Us Freedom of Speech”) or geopolitically wrong (“Our Troops are Fighting those who Threatened our Freedom”) et al., ad nauseum.
Understand that my father was a decorated Marine (Navy Cross) of WWII and my Uncle a Bataan Death March survivor. BOTH men taught me both about military matters and the proper use of the military. Even though they supported their role in WWII (something now coming into question by prominent historians), they did NOT support Korea or Vietnam. They both understood that both conflicts were unconstitutional, and in many respects they both become somewhat ‘Pacifist’ in their beliefs. So, I am not a ‘Military-Hater’ bred in some ‘Red Baby’ commune.
So, I (foolishly) went on and stated that “I Support the Troops” and that the “best support is to immediately bring them home, punish all the politicians who put them there, and demand that our leaders adhere to the strict law forbidding our troops to be used in ANY situation other than DIRECT NATIONAL DEFENSE.” Well, I immediately was FLAMED by so many so called ‘Military Patriots’ that I couldn’t keep up with answering them all. And, the VICIOUS and UGLY emails I got from both soldiers and families was simply shameful. MANY told me either “Stand Behind Our Troops, Or Stand In Front of Them,” which I informed them was the same despicable, irresponsible slogan George Bush made (“If You’re Not With Us, You’re With the Terrorists”), insinuating that I should be shot by our own troops for NOT supporting the POLICY, just as Bush labeled any American a “Terrorist” for not supporting his policy.
So shameful were the comments, in fact, that I finally gave up and said, “OK, FINE. Keep em’ over there. Let em’ continue to be blown to bits by ‘IEDs’. Let them continue to be cut down by snipers. DON’T EVER BRING THEM HOME! Instead, send them into Pakistan and Iran. Let’s light off World War III. That seems to be what you want. However, let’s not forget that China and Russia are HEAVILY invested in that region, and will look upon any further aggression by the U.S. as a DIRECT THREAT to their national interests. And, in case any of you have forgotten, China alone has a standing Army of over 2.2 million FRESH troops, and can match every weapon we have. China’s FEMALE army is larger than our ENTIRE MALE army! And, I don’t think I need to explain the capabilities of Russia, either. Put them together in unison to defend their national interests against U.S. aggression, and the U.S. military will simply be OVERWHELMED. We will literally be WIPED OFF THE MAP (to coin a favorite NEOCON false statement of fact). So, go get ‘em, “HEROS”! From the ugly knee-jerk criticism you’ve (en masse) flamed me with, I can’t say I’ll feel sorry for you.”
Posted with permission of said reader. And as I told him, I think the American military mindset is hopelessly cast in stone.