Fighting Them Over Here
Fighting Them Over Here
Yesterday, the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg welcomed President Bush as the guest speaker for the Division Review ceremony, marking the end of All American Week. Predictably, the most unpopular president in American history used his speech to the troops and their families as another opportunity to buttress his legacy and defend the disastrous decision to invade Iraq by — what else? — waving the bloody shirt of 9/11.
VetVoice’s Rock Richard, himself a member of the 82nd Airborne, attended the ceremony and found the president’s remarks extremely inappropriate. “Six and a half years after the September 11th attacks,” Richard writes, and “the President is still linking those attacks to Iraq and Iraq to Osama bin Laden…This is just too ridiculous“:
Given the opportunity to thank honorable men and women for their service to their country, the President, using a captive back drop of American Soldiers seized the opportunity to make political demands of the Senate, make ridiculous errant arguments for our entry to the Iraq war, and link Iraq to Osama bin Laden and the September 11th attacks. I must say, in my entire career, of all the military functions I’ve attended, not a single one has disgusted me as much as I was today when President Bush finally ended his remarks.
Among the various discredited claims which the president continued to indulge is the idea that, by invading Iraq, the United States has “taken the battle to the terrorists abroad — so we do not have to face them here at home.”
It is far past time that the president and his supporters abandoned this ridiculous and reprehensible talking point. First, and most obviously, because it’s been long established that “the terrorists” weren’t in Iraq in any real sense until after the U.S. invaded and created the chaos which “the terrorists” subsequently exploited. Secondly, and more profoundly, “fighting them there so we don’t have to fight them here” is simply another way of saying that America has chosen to turn the towns, streets and homes of Iraq into battlefields, to use the Iraqi people themselves as bait for “the terrorists” and as cannon fodder in an illusory “war on terror.”
10 Responses to “Fighting Them Over Here”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Wonk RoomContact Us
Donate
LOOKS LIKE BUSH IS TAKING HIS VISIT TO FORT BRAGG LITERALLY
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:39 pmYou leftards have to tell me…..
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pmHow does it feel to wake up every day pissedoff and hating your country????
Shouldn’t this be called The “wank” room???
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pmDoesn’t the RNC ever update the talking points for their trolls? The ones here are old and droll
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 pmMy reply was about the troll bobeast3. Wanted to make it clear just in case their silly little post gets removed.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pmHey bobeast3, this site is called THINK Progress. That means you need to think before you come here and look stupid.
I was conservative before you were out of diapers, pal.
The problem with jerkoffs like you is that the wonderful American education you pretended to get failed to take. I know, I know, you hate public schoolin’ but you had some anyway.
As to the shrub and his little dog and pony show. He should be utterly ashamed to show his face to these men. He sends them in harms way, provides them with lousy equipment, extends their enlistments, and only wants the lifers to get a college education. A real prince this piece of shit presidink.
May 24th, 2008 at 1:43 amB3, It is you and your re-pukes that hate America, the Shrub voted against a raise for our soldiers, he has continually stymied congress when it comes to not letting people from his administration to testify in congress.He went into Iraq illegally, he has destroyed Iraq and is in progress of destroying America with this ILLEGAL WAR.Old man Johnny has continually voted down benefits for our soldiers,if you need more let us on the LEFT know and we will be much obliged to tell you. We on the left love our country by helping the people who need help, like the 45 to 50 million people without health care,people losing their homes to foreclosure due to illegal and immoral lending practices and we care that our soldiers can`t get decent care if they make it back from Iraq and Afghanistan, the right only cares about the right and it`s obscene profits from anything it can get it`s grubby little hands on, I am not a rich person wanna be, I just want to live the American dream, I am not a greedy or corrupt hypocritical christian like you people on the REICH.The Reich should be ashamed for what they have done to our country and Iraq and it`s people and Barack will put all of Bushco behind bars asap.Can you on the REICH say war crimes?????
May 25th, 2008 at 1:45 amBobeast3
May 27th, 2008 at 12:58 pmIt feels incredibly sad to wake up every day and see the wonderful country we had based on real principles and ideals torn apart by individuals who aren’t able to see the larger picture, and are ruled by fear (and greed).
yeah, bob. i hate my country. thats why a week after my daughter was born i left to spend 14 months in Afghanistan wearing an army uniform. How much time have you spent in combat?
May 27th, 2008 at 1:50 pmYou leftards have to tell me…..
How does it feel to wake up every day pissedoff and hating your country???? — Bobeast3
*******************************************************
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL.
I’m not kidding…he’s posted the same message word-for-word in multiple threads on the Wonkroom page, which means that his only interest in being here is to post flamebait for his own amusement — and he has been reported for the same.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm