Is the U.S. winning the War in Iraq?

I see.

n/p

 

The only time anyone ever truly wins is when they offer aid and support for purely sympathetic reasons. It's that purely human response to someone in need. It's not counting medals or tallying scores. When there's accounting and measurement, it's simply a competition and awards and medals lose their luster over time, but those truly generous acts of aid and succor those are the things raise each of us to a higher level. And neither party says the other won or lost they just take a deep breathe, smile and thank the forces that be that they were able to help. That's true winning.

 

Gardener, you bring up a good point. Before I elaborate on that point I want to first say that I'm not saying this to belittle any of our service men or women that have earned medals honorably and with their hearts in the right place.

That being said. When I was overseas I witnessed what I would consider war crime and counter productive to what we at the "grunt level" see as trying to do over there. Unfortunately there are members of the upper tiers of rank that would go on missions for the apparent purpose of filling their jacket with ribbons and medals. This is from something as little as a full bird colonel comming down to the site of a road side bombing after the fact to check on a soldier (oh and by the way earn a silver star for being on a combat scene) to commanders pushing a rash decision to raid a town on 'suspected' weapons tearing peoples homes apart and causing irreversable damage to our ability to win their hearts and minds.

I was only a PFC in the Army when I was over there, so call me blind, but the people who really deserve those medals are the ones building the schools and aiding the people. It disgusts me today to think I would at one point have gladly accepted any medal dangled in front of my face for calling in an artillerly barrage on unconfirmed information of a village with "hostile intent".

People don't earn call signs like "Rambo 6" or "Captain America" for nothing. When it is finally time for the peace corps to get boots on the ground, I wouldn't mind havnig a pair next to them if it could mean setting the things that I or others did right.

 

How do you feel about the care returnings vets get? Mental health specifically.

You don't understand the concept of cannon fodder until you see the people left to twist in the winds of battle induced shell shock.

We all see the physical damage done. What little the media allows us anyway. But we can only imagine the timebombs that are returned to us in the form of people who are going to be at war for a long time after they come home.



x

 

I feel that although there is a presense of care of veterans returning with mental health concerns, that the qaulity of care is greatly in deficient compared with the other focuses of the VA. With the nearing of 50% of soldiers and marines returning with one form or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) the VA lacks the resources to provide personal enough attention to each case.

I feel that they are trying their best but there are certain realities that they face when it comes to staffing and understanding of each situation case by case. This is by far no excuse though. I believe this issue still needs a great deal of attention by our government and the powers that be within the VA long with the community.