Ok now im pissed!!!!!!!

Branden the only reason you can say the rhetoric that spills out of your mouth is because a soldier died for that right.

A soldier is a volunteer and we know full well the ramifications of our profession. We dont want to go to war anymore than you want us to so let me ask you this....why did you send us?????

Im assuming that you vote (and if not then just STFU now) and last time I checked not too many people seemed to argue with going to war....in fact the vote was 296-133 in the house and 77-23 in the senate. Compare that to the 91 war in which it was 250-183 and 52-47 so obviously some people thought it was important and vital to our national interest. Maybe you should speak to your congressman or move to Massachusetts and talk with old Ted and John.

Trust me there is much more information than meets the eye that you will never see its called "asset protection and preservation." This could be HUMINT, SIGINT, EINT etc. And that is why we did and do what we do. Like the old saying goes, "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." (I think it was George Orwell who said that.)

There are roughtly 140,000 US Soldiers in Iraq now. Attempting to establish a functioning democracy in a country that has had terrible hardship. They might be heading towards a civil war but we had one to and actually the CSA was in talks with the British Empire for assistance and we are helping the pro democracy Iraqis.

Dont worry about Korea. The goal of the NK's is re-unification of the two Koreas. They will not nuke the south for that reason and also since Americans would be killed and it is the Presidential policy of the United States to retaliate with a full nuclear strike should our forces be slimmed or nuked. The real threat is to Japan so they will not enter on the Souths side but that is why they use the PATRIOT system which despite what you read....it works...very well!!!

So in closing let me say that you may belive whatever you want...please do that is why one of my best friends died so that you could do that and so that the Iraqis can too. Until you fold the flag of a young man killed in Iraq to the tune of taps, hand that flag to his mother, say those 45 words (if you have never heard them I pray you never will) and salute her all while holding back your own tears then you have no right to speak on such topics.

So simply put....a soldier does for an ideal....a noble quest.....the preservation and spreading of what we call democracy....we are the only country who sends citizens to their deaths not for riches....power....or land...but for an ideal. God Bless the USA.

Tim

PS- Freedom isnt free ask 1,190,262 dead heroes!!!