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Title: American troops in Afghanistan losing heart, say army chaplains
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URL Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ne ... Afghanistan/article6865359.ece
Published: Oct 8, 2009
Author: Martin Fletcher
Post Date: 2009-10-08 09:57:15 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 8004
Comments: 240
American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taleban. Many feel that they are risking their lives — and that colleagues have died — for a futile mission and an Afghan population that does nothing to help them, the chaplains told The Times in their makeshift chapel on this fortress-like base in a dusty, brown valley southwest of Kabul. “The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” said Captain Jeff Masengale, of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2-87 Infantry Battalion. “They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,” said Captain Sam Rico, of the Division’s 4-25 Field Artillery Battalion. “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.” The chaplains said that they were speaking out because the men could not. The base is not, it has to be said, obviously downcast, and many troops do not share the chaplains’ assessment. The soldiers are, by nature and training, upbeat, driven by a strong sense of duty, and they do their jobs as best they can. Re-enlistment rates are surprisingly good for the 2-87, though poor for the 4-25. Several men approached by The Times, however, readily admitted that their morale had slumped. “We’re lost — that’s how I feel. I’m not exactly sure why we’re here,” said Specialist Raquime Mercer, 20, whose closest friend was shot dead by a renegade Afghan policeman last Friday. “I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die.” Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, has lost six colleagues and survived two roadside bombs. Asked if the mission was worthwhile, he replied: “If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t.” The only soldiers who thought it was going well “work in an office, not on the ground”. In his opinion “the whole country is going to s***”. The battalion’s 1,500 soldiers are nine months in to a year-long deployment that has proved extraordinarily tough. Their goal was to secure the mountainous Wardak province and then to win the people’s allegiance through development and good governance. They have, instead, found themselves locked in an increasingly vicious battle with the Taleban. They have been targeted by at least 300 roadside bombs, about 180 of which have exploded. Nineteen men have been killed in action, with another committing suicide. About a hundred have been flown home with amputations, severe burns and other injuries likely to cause permanent disability, and many of those have not been replaced. More than two dozen mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) have been knocked out of action. Living conditions are good — abundant food, air-conditioned tents, hot water, free internet — but most of the men are on their second, third or fourth tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, with barely a year between each. Staff Sergeant Erika Cheney, Airborne’s mental health specialist, expressed concern about their mental state — especially those in scattered outposts — and believes that many have mild post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “They’re tired, frustrated, scared. A lot of them are afraid to go out but will still go,” she said. Lieutenant Peter Hjelmstad, 2-87’s Medical Platoon Leader, said sleeplessness and anger attacks were common. A dozen men have been confined to desk jobs because they can no longer handle missions outside the base. One long-serving officer who has lost three friends this tour said he sometimes returned to his room at night and cried, or played war games on his laptop. “It’s a release. It’s a method of coping.” He has nightmares and sleeps little, and it does not help that the base is frequently shaken by outgoing artillery fire. He was briefly overcome as he recalled how, when a lorry backfired during his most recent home leave, he grabbed his young son and dived between two parked cars. The chaplains said soldiers were seeking their help in unprecedented numbers. “Everyone you meet is just down, and you meet them everywhere — in the weight room, dining facility, getting mail,” said Captain Rico. Even “hard men” were coming to their tent chapel and breaking down. The men are frustrated by the lack of obvious purpose or progress. “The soldiers’ biggest question is: what can we do to make this war stop. Catch one person? Assault one objective? Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taleban, because that almost seems impossible. It’s hard to catch someone you can’t see,” said Specialist Mercer. “It’s a very frustrating mission,” said Lieutenant Hjelmstad. “The average soldier sees a friend blown up and his instinct is to retaliate or believe it’s for something [worthwhile], but it’s not like other wars where your buddy died but they took the hill. There’s no tangible reward for the sacrifice. It’s hard to say Wardak is better than when we got here.” Captain Masengale, a soldier for 12 years before he became a chaplain, said: “We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is.” The soldiers are angry that colleagues are losing their lives while trying to help a population that will not help them. “You give them all the humanitarian assistance that they want and they’re still going to lie to you. They’ll tell you there’s no Taleban anywhere in the area and as soon as you roll away, ten feet from their house, you get shot at again,” said Specialist Eric Petty, from Georgia. Captain Rico told of the disgust of a medic who was asked to treat an insurgent shortly after pulling a colleague’s charred corpse from a bombed vehicle. The soldiers complain that rules of engagement designed to minimise civilian casualties mean that they fight with one arm tied behind their backs. “They’re a joke,” said one. “You get shot at but can do nothing about it. You have to see the person with the weapon. It’s not enough to know which house the shooting’s coming from.” The soldiers joke that their Isaf arm badges stand not for International Security Assistance Force but “I Suck At Fighting” or “I Support Afghan Farmers”. To compound matters, soldiers are mainly being killed not in combat but on routine journeys, by roadside bombs planted by an invisible enemy. “That’s very demoralising,” said Captain Masengale. The constant deployments are, meanwhile, playing havoc with the soldiers’ private lives. “They’re killing families,” he said. “Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives.” The chaplains said that many soldiers had lost their desire to help Afghanistan. “All they want to do is make it home alive and go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. It comes down to just surviving,” said Captain Masengale. “If we make it back with ten toes and ten fingers the mission is successful,” Sergeant Hughes said. “You carry on for the guys to your left or right,” added Specialist Mercer. The chaplains have themselves struggled to cope with so much distress. “We have to encourage them, strengthen them and send them out again. No one comes in and says, ‘I’ve had a great day on a mission’. It’s all pain,” said Captain Masengale. “The only way we’ve been able to make it is having each other.” Lieutenant-Colonel Kimo Gallahue, 2-87’s commanding officer, denied that his men were demoralised, and insisted they had achieved a great deal over the past nine months. A triathlete and former rugby player, he admitted pushing his men hard, but argued that taking the fight to the enemy was the best form of defence. He said the security situation had worsened because the insurgents had chosen to fight in Wardak province, not abandon it. He said, however, that the situation would have been catastrophic without his men. They had managed to keep open the key Kabul-to-Kandahar highway which dissects Wardak, and prevent the province becoming a launch pad for attacks on the capital, which is barely 20 miles from its border. Above all, Colonel Gallahue argued that counter-insurgency — winning the allegiance of the indigenous population through security, development and good governance — was a long and laborious process that could not be completed in a year. “These 12 months have been, for me, laying the groundwork for future success,” he said. At morning service on Sunday, the two chaplains sought to boost the spirits of their flock with uplifting hymns, accompanied by video footage of beautiful lakes, oceans and rivers. Captain Rico offered a particularly apposite reading from Corinthians: “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Poster Comment: “The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here. They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families,” ...“They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern,”... “They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through.”...“We’re lost — that’s how I feel. I’m not exactly sure why we’re here,” ...“I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die.”...Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, has lost six colleagues and survived two roadside bombs. Asked if the mission was worthwhile, he replied: “If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t.”...sleeplessness and anger attacks were common....The men are frustrated by the lack of obvious purpose or progress....“We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is.”...To compound matters, soldiers are mainly being killed not in combat but on routine journeys, by roadside bombs planted by an invisible enemy....“Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives.”...“All they want to do is make it home alive and go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. It comes down to just surviving,”...He said the security situation had worsened because the insurgents had chosen to fight in Wardak province, not abandon it...two chaplains sought to boost the spirits of their flock with uplifting hymns, accompanied by video footage of beautiful lakes, oceans and rivers.
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#72. To: Cynicom (#69)
Yes, for US and "thinking persons." WE have already made our respective opinions known. It's the military who presents the Street Organizer and his perverse policy-makers his greatest challenge with respect to "the truth."
All of this was intended for the Pentagon and Oval office. It will bring the desired results. Like the lady said, Obama must do something NOW.
Really? Hey - If some Lefties are beginning to question the "wisdom" and judgment of Dear Leader, it may just begin opening their eyes on other issues.
If the pose of the picture was played straight, you may be right; But would President Ayers be affected by this?
Of course, I didn't even notice his hands were black or his hair African-curly so you can't go far by my observations. :) In 0bama-Land, we've been conditioned to question whether the night sky is "black" or African-American" or whether The Monkees were a racist group from the 60s ;-) Gone for most of us are the days when we saw "people." Are you telling me you haven't noticed that on most TV shows commercials, the "Boss" or "Captain," or Judge, or "Leader" is now black or female?
When names and statements such as Rico are appended, it was sent as a message. The General gave them a message a month ago, now the people at the bottom have spoken. The Pentagon is wondering if there is a thread linking the two, and if so, how strong. This has to send chills down the backs of the stalwart heros sitting safely in their easy chairs. Ayers??? I would suggest it goes well over and beyond his head, a warning to the entire system if you will. These men at the bottom have put their heads on the chopping block, they are at risk. The general can resign, walk any day and get a full pension. What do the peons have to look forward to??? My odds would be that the military will try to hang them either overtly are covertly, one way or the other.
Excellent. I recall the Hillary one. By the way, the men of the Pueblo were beaten when it came out in our media about the fingers and what they meant.
The General gave them a message a month ago, now the people at the bottom have spoken. The Pentagon is wondering if there is a thread linking the two, and if so, how strong. This has to send chills down the backs of the stalwart heros sitting safely in their easy chairs... These men at the bottom have put their heads on the chopping block, they are at risk. The general can resign, walk any day and get a full pension. What do the peons have to look forward to??? My odds would be that the military will try to hang them either overtly are covertly, one way or the other. From the bottom of the rung, this could certainly be their only card left to play before they are sacrificed on the "Altar of Bush's War." 0bama's Dims are HOPING to frame the debacle as "Bush's Fault" and "War" and at the same time destroy morale. For them it's a "Two-fer." The Dim-controlled media has covered up for the Kenyan from Chicago for as long as they could; Some leaks are springing, but in the past the MSM has been able to plug most of them up... The battle within the Pentagon and the strife between NWO-Commie moles vs. pro-sovereignty career Big Guys is intriguing; How many are willing to toss away their careers and golden parachutes over ideology is an unknown factor. Public or behind the scenes "hangings" for insubordination?? Too many witnesses. Too messy. MIA or coincidental "accidents" will send the same message.
Our good ol' media - ALWAYS on our side. /s Ernie Pyle would have kicked Geraldo's azz all over Iraq.
If you do not recall Pueblo, there were many people that said the men should not have given the finger to the Koreans. And the Navy tried to hang the Captain and some crew.
Who really wants to fight for the New Communist World Order - Feral Reserve Famblies - Illegal Shadow duhhhhmeriKan government ? September 11, 2001 was an inside job; now the troops are figuring it out. Which means none of them will be coming back alive...
Re the Pueblo... "And the number one thing you may not have known about the Pueblo is what happened to the men when they returned. Despite receiving a hero's welcome on December 24, the euphoria did not last. That same day, the Navy created a board of inquiry. Hearings started in January, involving the testimony of the crew. Commander Bucher and Lieutenant Harris were recommended to be court-martialed.
If alive...they will be ruined for life...due to the war mongers.
Do you recall the Pueblo's Sister Ship that was in the vicinity at the time ?
No... Have no recall on that, memory is full of holes.
It's time they stand up and say "HELL NO !".
Did you run an inquisitive eye over the photo????
Different pile..... "KILL EVERYBODY" - US ARMY SPECIALIST DARRELL ANDERSON EXPOSES US POLICY "I joined in '03," 'cause I was broke, I needed money, but I was a young American kid, I wanted to fight in a war. I joined up. [A] month out of training I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, January '04. Saddam's been captured. And I get there and the guys I'm serving with have been there for six months already; they were there in '03. And I go, "Well, you know what, I think it's come out that, you know, these people had nothing to do with 9/11, there was no Iraqi on those planes. We can see around here there's no Al Qaida, there's no terrorist syndicates in Baghdad, or Iraq. Saddam had stamped 'em out." And I asked my buddies, "Well, you know, we're here to find 'weapons of mass destruction'." And they laughed at me. And I said, "Well, you know, we're here to 'help the people.'" And they laughed at me. And I said, "What's our mission? What's our goal?"...They're like, "All we're trying to do is make it home alive..." Anderson describes the escalation of violence against unarmed civilians: "In April, they told us, "In a crowded area, if one person shoots at you, kill everybody." Anderson explains the rationale from the officers: "They [members of the crowd of people] are letting them [the person or persons firing at the U.S. military] attack you. They're no longer innocent if they're there at the time of the crime..." (9/11 conference, Chandler AZ Feb 23-25, 2007) 911TV.org / snowshoefilms post-production/ 9:46 Some relevant background: In trying to suppress the Yugoslavian resistance, Nazi Gen. Keitel, supreme commander of the armed forces, issued this order in Sept. 1941: "In order to nip disorders in the bud the sternest measures must be applied at the first sign of insurrection. It should also be taken into consideration that in the countries in question a human life is often valueless. In a reprisal for the life of a German soldier, the general rule should be capital punishment for 50-100 Communists. The manner of execution must have a frightening effect." Perhaps the American generals, the neo-cons, and the new world order planners who direct them are copying the Nazi playbook. More likely, though, they are progressing along parallel lines because they've committed the same egregious war crimes; they can only compound their crimes until they "kill everybody" who resists them. The Yugoslavian partisans fighting German fascism were called "communists." Today, U.S. fascism calls that same resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan "terrorist." Gen. Keitel was hanged for this and other war crimes by the Nuremberg Tribunal on October 16, 1946. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/... After 7 months in Iraq, Darrell Anderson, 22, decided that he wasn't to risk going back to Iraq to kill or be killed. He fled to Canada, a deserter. While there, though, he felt he wasn't doing enough to expose and stop the war and returned to U.S. and, possibly, a long prison sentence. Perhaps to undermine the legal case of other deserters in Canada, the U.S. military imprisoned Anderson only a few days, releasing him with a 'less than honorable' discharge. Given Anderson's heroic determination to organize and help GI and other war resisters, the U.S. military may come to believe they've made a mistake. 911TV.org / www.SNOWSHOEFILMS.COM Yor Yevrah updates: PSDplat asks, "wtf does he [Darrel Anderson] mean, 'expose 911'?" Good question. Anderson, gung-ho when he got to Iraq, quickly learned that Saddam had nothing to do with Sept. 11. It takes a while longer to come to grips with the deeper lie that 9/11 was an inside job. Defenders of the official conspiracy theory (19 Arab hijackers) enable the inside-job perpetrators to get away with their crimes and cover-up and to continue the mother of all hate crimes, the racist, genocidal, global and ersatz "war on terror". One indication that a person's belief system (cognition) is unsound and unstable (and manipulated) is his use of ad hominem attacks (name calling) in a desperate attempt to repress an impinged perspective. CereaLVII, for example, indicates he himself is in a high state of cognitive dissonance (denial). If his belief system was secure he wouldn't be provoked into calling Darrell Anderson a "pussy," and so forth.
Which photo my friend ?
bump
The Afghan foto on this thread of the black soldier.
The flag?
Aye, the flag...oy vey, goyim gone bad. (To the tune: Bad Boyz) "Bad goy, bad goy, whattzu gonna do, whattzu gonna do when the truth rings true..."
Post 28
Do you mean the flag on the sleeve of the soldier in #95?
POST 28 THE BLACK SOLDIER.
Are you looking at the american flag?
Affirmative.
It is unfair to blame Obama for this. He got stuck with two no-win wars from the Bush Admistration --- and lots of Republican shrapnel about how evil it would be to "cut and run". Additionally, we do owe something to our allies in the coalition for joining with us, and we owe something to the civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan for wrecking what little they had. So Obama is wrestling with an octopus; how to end the war without being called names for it. (I used the octopus metaphor because I thought the more appropriate reference to Uncle Remus' tar baby would be seen as racially insensitive.)
Wrong. If you re read his talks before he became president, he stated many times that Afghanistan would be his point of interest in fighting "terror". Afghan is his burden.
Do you recall the Pueblo years ago in North Korea???? Many people overlooked that in the first photo, two enlisted men had their hands on their knees and were giving the upside down finger to the Koreans??? You're switching from one conspiracy theory to the next too quickly for me to follow. Are you saying the soldier was sending a secret message or that the photographer was staging a phony scene of a soldier praying? Pick one conspiracy and stick with it. I don't see exactly where there is any real propaganda payoff with a Brit audience one way or the other and this story will have very limited impact in the States either way.
If you're off into the world of secret handshakes, you've lost me.
Sorry to confuse, I can see you were never in the photo analysis business. When I used the term "staged" I did not mean to infer "phony". It was put together for maximum effect, what they did was heroic in my book, God bless them for it. Way more than we talkers will ever do to stop this madness. Now, the article without the photograph would have gotten little attention. These gentlemen knew they were risking their military careers in speaking up. In doing so, they wanted maximum gain for the risk. It was the only way to go and I would have done the same. It was a masterful presentation. So good that if one takes time, there are many messages there, intended or not, that they wished conveyed, and convey it did. Does that help or not????
Okay. What do you think the chances were that ANY American MSM would have carried the story and the photos???? I would say nil and to back that up, we saw negative coverage AFTER the story broke. It was NEVER intended for Brit consumption, it was their only safe outlet. They evidently had a friend in the Times people present. I would say they used the ONLY possible outlet. would you or I have trusted American MSM on the ground there??? I would not.
If you browse the political websites like TOS1 and TOS2, you will see the blood dancers showing their contempt for the troops by badmouthing the soldiers in this article. They only support the troops if those troops are willing to shed the blood that allows the blood dancers to dance their jig. What really amazes me though is people like Joe Snuffy on TOS2. This is a guy that claims to be a Vietnam War vet and who has on many occasion talked about the waste that war was, and yet here he is bad mouthing those soldiers who have woke up to the same realization about this war. Him and his ilk are real pieces of shit. At least in his war there was a draft and everyone theoretically had the opportunity to be sent over there. Unlike the Vietnam War, today's war sends the same soldiers over and over and over again. And yet this yahoo and those like him turn on them in a heart beat if they stand up and say enough is enough. The soldiers know that there isn't a damned soul in Afghanistan worth the life of a single soldier. It's a shame that the Joe Snuffy's of the world are so unwilling to see that.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976 The purpose of the legal system is to protect the elites from the wrath of those they plunder.- Elliott Jackalope
I posted to him but he did not reply. If he is indeed a Viet vet, I do not understand him at all.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestThe story and facts speak for themselves. The rest is up for you to decide.
#73. To: Liberator (#70)
#74. To: Phant2000 (#67)
No, Lib ... she actually referred to the "number of troops requested" and hoped he wouldn't "comprosise" what was requested.
#75. To: Cynicom (#73)
All of this was intended for the Pentagon and Oval office. It will bring the desired results. Like the lady said, Obama must do something NOW.
#76. To: TooConservative (#68)
#77. To: Liberator (#75)
If the pose of the picture was played straight, you may be right;
#78. To: Cynicom, TooConservative (#71)
Many people overlooked that in the first photo, two enlisted men had their hands on their knees and were giving the upside down finger to the Koreans???????
#79. To: Liberator (#78)
(Edited)
#80. To: Cynicom (#77)
When names and statements such as Rico are appended, it was sent as a message.
#81. To: Cynicom (#79)
By the way, the men of the Pueblo were beaten when it came out in our media about the fingers and what they meant.
#82. To: Liberator (#81)
Ernie Pyle would have kicked Geraldo's azz all over Iraq.
#83. To: Horse (#0)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#84. To: Liberator (#81)
#85. To: Rotara (#83)
Which means none of them will be coming back alive...
#86. To: Cynicom (#84)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#87. To: Rotara (#86)
Do you recall the Pueblo's Sister Ship that was in the vicinity at the time ?
#88. To: Cynicom (#85)
If alive...they will be ruined for life...due to the war mongers.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#89. To: Rotara (#88)
#90. To: Cynicom (#87)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#91. To: Horse, alll (#0)
"The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so." ~ Josh Billings
#92. To: Cynicom (#89)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#93. To: wudidiz (#91)
Yor Yevrah updates: PSDplat asks, "wtf does he [Darrel Anderson] mean, 'expose 911'?" Good question. Anderson, gung-ho when he got to Iraq, quickly learned that Saddam had nothing to do with Sept. 11. It takes a while longer to come to grips with the deeper lie that 9/11 was an inside job. Defenders of the official conspiracy theory (19 Arab hijackers) enable the inside-job perpetrators to get away with their crimes and cover-up and to continue the mother of all hate crimes, the racist, genocidal, global and ersatz "war on terror".
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#94. To: Rotara (#92)
#95. To: Cynicom, Rotara (#94)
"The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so." ~ Josh Billings
#96. To: Cynicom (#94)
This one:
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#97. To: Cynicom, Rotara (#89)
Did you run an inquisitive eye over the photo????
"The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so." ~ Josh Billings
#98. To: wudidiz, Cynicom (#97)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#99. To: wudidiz (#97)
#100. To: Cynicom (#99)
"The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so." ~ Josh Billings
#101. To: wudidiz (#100)
#102. To: wudidiz (#100)
#103. To: Cynicom (#102)
"The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so." ~ Josh Billings
#104. To: Jethro Tull (#11)
#105. To: Shoonra (#104)
It is unfair to blame Obama for this. He got stuck with two no-win wars from the Bush Admistration
#106. To: Cynicom (#71)
When the photo is "staged" you should be.
#107. To: Liberator (#78)
#108. To: TooConservative (#106)
You're switching from one conspiracy theory to the next too quickly for me to follow. Are you saying the soldier was sending a secret message or that the photographer was staging a phony scene of a soldier praying?
#109. To: TooConservative (#106)
Pick one conspiracy and stick with it. I don't see exactly where there is any real propaganda payoff with a Brit audience one way or the other and this story will have very limited impact in the States either way.
#110. To: Horse, all (#0)
#111. To: Hayek Fan (#110)
What really amazes me though is people like Joe Snuffy on TOS2.
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