enhanced_deficit
11-20-2015, 03:10 PM
Let's keep an historic view of things also as we discuss future hallucinations.
Tue March 25, 2008
Bush: U.S. deaths in Iraq 'laid foundations for peace'
Story Highlights
NEW: Sen. John McCain: Iraq central to "struggle against radical Islamic extremism"
President Bush vows to make sure U.S. deaths in Iraq "were not lost in vain"
Military announced 4,000th death in Iraq war Sunday
Democratic presidential candidates call milestone "heartbreaking" and "a tragedy"
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush expressed sympathy Monday for the families of the 4,000 Americans killed in the war in Iraq, promising to make sure their loved ones "were not lost in vain."
President Bush addresses the press Monday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come,' " Bush told reporters after a meeting at the State Department.
Military officials reported four U.S. soldiers died Sunday in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in the war to the milestone of 4,000 deaths, including eight Defense Department civilians.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/24/iraq.4000.deaths/index.html?iref=topnews
Media Debate (Finally) Begins: Have US Troops Died in Vain?
The new (surprise) hit movie Lone Survivor has sparked an important conversation.
As killings surge in “pacified” Iraq and our war in Afghanistan appears more lost than ever, the question was rising anyway: Were American lives lost in those two wars, particularly in Afghanistan, “in vain”?
Now, more than ever, this debate has been sparked by the new (surprise) hit movie Lone Survivor and comments by that survivor of an ill-fated Afghanistan mission, Marcus Luttrell. He got into a bit of a tiff on TV the other day with CNN’s Jake Tapper (a big supporter of vets groups, by the way) after the news host gently suggested it was at least worthy to wonder about that lives-lost-in-vain question. I’m old enough to remember going through all this re: Vietnam about forty years ago.
That sparked a round of Web shouting at Tapper, or at Luttrell, and then a round of defending each. Glenn Beck, a Luttrell buddy, joined in. Tapper took to Facebook (http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/jake-tapper-defends-himself-in-facebook-post_b121869) to declare that he did not say or believe that the death “meant nothing” and posted this (http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/jake-tapper-defends-himself-in-facebook-post_b121869):
We need to have open, honest, and yes uncomfortable conversations about this war. We can’t do that if any time someone sees things differently they’re accused of hating the troops. Questions HONOR the troops. And our freedom to ask them is what they fight and die for..
Does each of the deaths in Afghanistan make sense to my critics? If so, God bless and give me your number, I know some widows and moms who would love to hear the explanation, the “sense.”
That is not the same however as saying those troops died in vain. They died for whatever brought them there. Their battle buddies. Their faith. Their sense of justice.…
I would hope that my reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, my book about Combat Outpost Keating, my two CNN documentaries about Medal of Honor recipients, and my continued reporting on veterans and troops and their families would belie that accusation.
Apparently not.
Now, via Tom Ricks’s site at Foreign Policy, a former intelligence officer, Jim Gourley, has raised provocative questions—under the heading, “Yes, Marcus. They Did Die in Vain”—that are sure to spark more discussion (and probably anger in some quarters). You have to register to read it, so I’ll link here to a lengthy summary (http://americablog.com/2014/01/foreign-policy-yes-marcus-die-vain.html) and excerpts at AmericaBlog, including:
http://www.thenation.com/article/media-debate-finally-begins-have-us-troops-died-vain/
Related
November 19, 2015, 7:04 PM
U.S. vets return to Iraq to fight ISIS
KIRKUK, Iraq -- Some American veterans of Iraq can't bear watching the country they fought to secure lost to the forces of ISIS. Incredibly, some are returning to Iraq as volunteer soldiers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-veterans-return-to-iraq-to-fight-isis/
Tue March 25, 2008
Bush: U.S. deaths in Iraq 'laid foundations for peace'
Story Highlights
NEW: Sen. John McCain: Iraq central to "struggle against radical Islamic extremism"
President Bush vows to make sure U.S. deaths in Iraq "were not lost in vain"
Military announced 4,000th death in Iraq war Sunday
Democratic presidential candidates call milestone "heartbreaking" and "a tragedy"
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush expressed sympathy Monday for the families of the 4,000 Americans killed in the war in Iraq, promising to make sure their loved ones "were not lost in vain."
President Bush addresses the press Monday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come,' " Bush told reporters after a meeting at the State Department.
Military officials reported four U.S. soldiers died Sunday in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in the war to the milestone of 4,000 deaths, including eight Defense Department civilians.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/24/iraq.4000.deaths/index.html?iref=topnews
Media Debate (Finally) Begins: Have US Troops Died in Vain?
The new (surprise) hit movie Lone Survivor has sparked an important conversation.
As killings surge in “pacified” Iraq and our war in Afghanistan appears more lost than ever, the question was rising anyway: Were American lives lost in those two wars, particularly in Afghanistan, “in vain”?
Now, more than ever, this debate has been sparked by the new (surprise) hit movie Lone Survivor and comments by that survivor of an ill-fated Afghanistan mission, Marcus Luttrell. He got into a bit of a tiff on TV the other day with CNN’s Jake Tapper (a big supporter of vets groups, by the way) after the news host gently suggested it was at least worthy to wonder about that lives-lost-in-vain question. I’m old enough to remember going through all this re: Vietnam about forty years ago.
That sparked a round of Web shouting at Tapper, or at Luttrell, and then a round of defending each. Glenn Beck, a Luttrell buddy, joined in. Tapper took to Facebook (http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/jake-tapper-defends-himself-in-facebook-post_b121869) to declare that he did not say or believe that the death “meant nothing” and posted this (http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/jake-tapper-defends-himself-in-facebook-post_b121869):
We need to have open, honest, and yes uncomfortable conversations about this war. We can’t do that if any time someone sees things differently they’re accused of hating the troops. Questions HONOR the troops. And our freedom to ask them is what they fight and die for..
Does each of the deaths in Afghanistan make sense to my critics? If so, God bless and give me your number, I know some widows and moms who would love to hear the explanation, the “sense.”
That is not the same however as saying those troops died in vain. They died for whatever brought them there. Their battle buddies. Their faith. Their sense of justice.…
I would hope that my reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, my book about Combat Outpost Keating, my two CNN documentaries about Medal of Honor recipients, and my continued reporting on veterans and troops and their families would belie that accusation.
Apparently not.
Now, via Tom Ricks’s site at Foreign Policy, a former intelligence officer, Jim Gourley, has raised provocative questions—under the heading, “Yes, Marcus. They Did Die in Vain”—that are sure to spark more discussion (and probably anger in some quarters). You have to register to read it, so I’ll link here to a lengthy summary (http://americablog.com/2014/01/foreign-policy-yes-marcus-die-vain.html) and excerpts at AmericaBlog, including:
http://www.thenation.com/article/media-debate-finally-begins-have-us-troops-died-vain/
Related
November 19, 2015, 7:04 PM
U.S. vets return to Iraq to fight ISIS
KIRKUK, Iraq -- Some American veterans of Iraq can't bear watching the country they fought to secure lost to the forces of ISIS. Incredibly, some are returning to Iraq as volunteer soldiers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-veterans-return-to-iraq-to-fight-isis/