As for war crimes. In war, alot of stuff happenbs that is never mentioned on the news and or even in the books. War is hell.
Yeah Mr Coffe your absolutely right. As a professional Soldier for the past 17 years I can attest to that.
Unfortunately it is not all what are attempting to imply. More times than I can count I have seen with my own eyes brave men, men with families and children to come home too, put their OWN lives at risk in order to ensure innocent people don't get hurt.
Incidentally, I speak Vietnamese and visited Vietnam in 1994 as a member of Joint Task Force full accounting, looking for POW/MIA's. While I was there many of the Vietnamese asked me "Why did America abandon us and when are you coming back?" Men like Kerry, who help create a false perception at home helped contribute to that.
One quote really struck me as I read what the men who served with Kerry had to say:
Today we are here to tell you that just the opposite is true. Our rules of engagement were quite strict, and the officers and men of Swift often did not even return fire when they were under fire if there was a possibility that innocent people -- fishermen, in a lot of cases -- might be hurt or injured. The rules and the good intentions of the men increased the possibility that we might take friendly casualties."
That is the truth then just as it is today. Yet the media, because it is an election year, wants to paint a different story. I for one have not seen ONE US Newspaper run the story of the Poles finding the Cyclsarin cache. Why?
Earlier in this conflict:
One battle I was involved in the Media reported we killed 48 women and children. First of all, there were NO reporters even around the entire 2 weeks we spent routing the bad guys out of their caves. In the initial ambush and subsequent battle, which bled over from a 1.5-mile long kill zone along the main road and into a small hamlet, TWO children were wounded. One was a ten year old boy whose FATHER brought him up on the ambush line. Kind of like we take our kids fishing, he took his to do some bonding while killing the "infidels". When we found him, the boy had shrapnel wounds in his shoulder. The battle literally stopped while we Medevac'd him. Heck, I am a father myself with a 2-year-old girl; the last thing any of us want is to see ANY innocent person hurt. He is alive today and made a 100 percent recovery. The other child was a 14-year-old girl. The bad guys put a machine gun bunker in her front year. When we returned fire all the bullets which missed the bunker went into the house. Fortunately no one else was hurt and she was only grazed. We Medevac'd her and she made a complete recovery.
The reporter got his information when he heard that a big battle was going on. As he left his hotel in the capital city a local told him that he knew the whole story. Six major newspapers ran it. I never felt so bad in my life. Imagine having people think you would murder the innocent.
Why does the media create the perception that the bad guys in Iraq and Afghanistan are a home grown popular armed insurgency? In fact, the majority of the bad guys we kill are not even Iraq OR Afghani. They are Saudi's, Syrians, Jordanians, Chechen's, and other Arabs.
http://www.meib.org/articles/0405_iraq1.htmWhy did the media create the perception that they "uncovered" the abuse in Iraqi prisons? In fact the US Military had already fired a General and was proceeding with CRIMINAL investigations. Instead of holding that up as an example of a Democratic Nation at work, they choose to paint the picture the Military needed supervision creating a "Moral" high ground for the Bad Guys to retaliate by beheading innocent people. The story still would have reached the public. Our Media is best propaganda AQ has going for them. If you don't think so then ask yourself why there is a link to the LA Times on their website?
In the Kerry propaganda film "Swift Boat 94" one of the crews comments struck me. He talks about having been under fire for so long that he couldn't sleep at night blah blah blah…
I know men that spent WAY longer than one year in Vietnam. Guys that served in MACV-SOG their entire time carrying a rifle under a rucksack. The first NCO in charge of my unit was decorated 4 times for valor in Vietnam including a recommendation for the Medal of Honor, which was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. He spent 3 solid years over in Vietnam and the next 9 years going back and forth between Okinawa Japan and Vietnam. He is one of the most devoted family men I have ever met and has, as most of the guys who truly were in the "chit" do, the quiet courage of his convictions. Not at all like the Hollywood image of crazed killer or a neurotic who cannot handle "the real world". That image is simply a way to cover the truth and make it more palatable for lesser men. Larry, like the rest of us, would trade his life for nothing less than the hope of "Liberty and Justice For All". All of us sleep well at night and quite frankly get disgusted when people that had problems BEFORE they went to combat use it as an excuse.
No, Kerry is definitely NOT the man I want as my Commander and Chief.
Crumpp
