tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post113184149211527659..comments2023-08-20T04:44:26.157-04:00Comments on A Soldier's Thoughts: Lost TimeZachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13788548920729883920noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1133059978955444202005-11-26T21:52:00.000-05:002005-11-26T21:52:00.000-05:00Zach, will you be able to come home on leave for x...Zach, will you be able to come home on leave for xmas this year to see your family? Take Care.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1133007768712621942005-11-26T07:22:00.000-05:002005-11-26T07:22:00.000-05:00great job, yankshttp://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/...great job, yanks<BR/><BR/>http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ <BR/><BR/>we luv yaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132594090530134702005-11-21T12:28:00.000-05:002005-11-21T12:28:00.000-05:00send some love folks..loveAsoldier.comsend some love folks..<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.loveasoldier.com" REL="nofollow">loveAsoldier.com</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132591777598948452005-11-21T11:49:00.000-05:002005-11-21T11:49:00.000-05:00taff,lets brainstorm some solutions for these folk...taff,<BR/><BR/>lets brainstorm some solutions for these folks. please could we ask all the get all the women involved. i'd guess kristen, kate, hurria and the rest of the ladies on this site want their menfolk back home beside them asap. lets see what we can cook up.<BR/><BR/>geiser<BR/><BR/><BR/>http://www.permaculture.org.au/greening.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132507086098497892005-11-20T12:18:00.000-05:002005-11-20T12:18:00.000-05:00Snag,With great respect to Americans like you and ...Snag,<BR/><BR/>With great respect to Americans like you and Zach, the majority of your compatriots have so far completely failed to appreciate Niemoeller's message. It still boils down to doing the right thing, and not doing or tolerating the wrong thing. Zach sounds like a good man in a bad place, but he's part of the machine that's doing bad things. All the sophistry in the world, all the philosophising gradualism and anguished analysis of one's past actions from Vietnam to Baghdad cannot change that brute fact. His undoubted sense of honour and duty to his friends and country, and his equally obvious physical courage (it would take a hell of a lot more than a soldier's pay to get me on a plane to Iraq) are being betrayed by his country's avaricious leaders and ultimately by his own lack of the moral courage to just say "No". This would be a hard and painful step, but others have taken that step before him, and it would be the right thing to do. As the saying goes, for evil to triumph it is enough that good men do nothing.<BR/><BR/>But like all of us guests on Zach's blog, I wish him well and a safe and speedy home-coming now that his departure date approaches, and I appreciate his honest attempts to share his own doubts and experiences in Iraq with the rest of us - and his willingness to tolerate our sometimes critical responses - via his blog. America needs men like Zach, but she needs them at home, not in Iraq.<BR/><BR/>Safe home-coming and peace to all in Iraq.<BR/><BR/>taffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132479848857133052005-11-20T04:44:00.000-05:002005-11-20T04:44:00.000-05:00yo snag, go chew a tootsie roll and relax, you pe...yo snag, go chew a tootsie roll and relax, you people are just throwin words at each other. how'd you act if you had some willy pete at your disposal?<BR/><BR/>are you familiar with this, from one of your early american writers? "..../.... a common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are peaceably inclined. Now what are they? Men at all? or small moveable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power? Visit the Navy yard, and behold a marine, such a man as an ameriKan government can make, or such as it can make a man with its black arts, - a mere shadow and reminisence of humanity, a man laid out alive and standing, and already, as one may say, buried under arms with funeral accompaniments, ..../...." henry david thoreau<BR/><BR/>weave word webs whenever you want. when you've finished, have calmed down, and are satisfied with your rationalizations, and have determined to your satisfaction why generations of your countrymen continue to do behave like shills and idiots, how do YOU suggest we might help the CHILDREN in iraq? or the 2 children in zach's family?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132441309126524152005-11-19T18:01:00.000-05:002005-11-19T18:01:00.000-05:00Thank you for your service. perhaps I am in the U...Thank you for your service. perhaps I am in the Unit that will be releiving you shortly. We Ship out in 10 days. I also have a couple of kids and know how hard it is to be away from family. But I beleive in the reason we are over there so I'm as ok with it as I can be. I would love to vent against some of these rants about how wrong it is to be over there... But I don't have the time... Congrats on a job well done.<BR/><BR/>Royalsof<BR/>Easy Co 2-506th INF enrouteAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132385956385874002005-11-19T02:39:00.000-05:002005-11-19T02:39:00.000-05:00Zach: Thank you for you service, God Bless you an...Zach:<BR/> Thank you for you service, God Bless you and your family. I pray you will return safe to the ones you love.<BR/><BR/> I really find it hard to stomach the vile things that have been posted here, but hey, this is America we have freedom of speach.<BR/> <BR/> I was born in Honduras Central America. I am an American by CHOICE, not CHANCE. It just amazes me that some do not realize how blessed they are to have been born here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132347672439930522005-11-18T16:01:00.000-05:002005-11-18T16:01:00.000-05:00Free Iraq.Lawk Salihhttp://www.lawksalih.comFree Iraq.<BR/><BR/>Lawk Salih<BR/>http://www.lawksalih.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132284381520770442005-11-17T22:26:00.000-05:002005-11-17T22:26:00.000-05:00Thank you for the reminder. Sometimes we do take ...Thank you for the reminder. Sometimes we do take the most important people in our lives for granted. May God bless you and keep you stay safe.Paigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00014103425723902201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132279190998183392005-11-17T20:59:00.000-05:002005-11-17T20:59:00.000-05:00This is really touching. You give such a fantasti...This is really touching. You give such a fantastic point of view. Only if everyone could read this...Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12351829904831853599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132261025636117742005-11-17T15:57:00.000-05:002005-11-17T15:57:00.000-05:00http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132258711711194742005-11-17T15:18:00.000-05:002005-11-17T15:18:00.000-05:00hello all from the vomit guy,obviously, everybody ...hello all from the vomit guy,<BR/><BR/>obviously, everybody on this site is one big HUGE happy family. some of us have too much to eat, too much to drink, great big cars, and huge bleeding hearts. others be dodgin bombs, or just wasting away in refugee camps (kashmir, houston, paris suburbs, .......) and really be bleedin. the majority rest silent and asleep, comfortably ignorant. at least there's commonality for those who gotta "complete the mission". <BR/><BR/>taff got the message earlier. ironic, no? the soldiers on all the sides kill and write "poetry" about it; must be kind of anti cathartic. hurrias dodging bombs, and doing a fantastic job, under the circumstances, of remaining polite. ole snag seems like a pentagon or darkside apologist who accepts that human beings'll never be able to get past the intellectual linguistics enough to question authority and refuse the m-16 or kalishnakov. and yes i've been following your apologetic comments these last months; "but we here in the united states...." stay in north america, ladies and gentlemen, if you can't bring with you more civilized behavior.<BR/><BR/>americans were always supposed to be smarter, better, more compassionate, so what gives? my "neocon" attitude must have confused the folks in the unit when i told 'em politely they could wage daddy butch war 1 without me. i filed c.o because it finally dawned on me that i was a part of, benefitting from, aiding and abetting the insanity. were they vindictive or beat me or throw me in jail? no. maybe i was just lucky. but watch the cockroaches scurry away when you turn on the light. <BR/><BR/>if we're gonna vote about it, i vote for hurria and his/hers, and get them muriKans back bombin huntsville or spokane. <BR/><BR/>and i suggest if you can't get far, far, far past lofty discussions of the socioeconomic and psychological reasons for your continuing wars on others, and feel obliged to develop and use them fancy weapons, please just do it closer to home. keep in montana or florida. you'll save on transportation costs, etc, etc. duh. muriKans bombin muriKans, keepin it to yourselves. ask the question. duh.<BR/><BR/>and what shall we do to protect the children in iraq? in zach's family?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132258421400929642005-11-17T15:13:00.000-05:002005-11-17T15:13:00.000-05:00I just want to say I respect you and wish that eve...I just want to say I respect you and wish that everyone could truly appreciate what it is that soldiers sacrfice. to me this war has gone beyond politics and is now about ending things the best way possible. The one thing I want everyone to do is even if your apposed to the war still respect the soldiers that are fighting on both sides. Because no matter how hard you try you can never truly understand what it is they have been through. until you have seen what they have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132192442944249492005-11-16T20:54:00.000-05:002005-11-16T20:54:00.000-05:00Zach,I've been reading your blog off and on for a ...Zach,<BR/>I've been reading your blog off and on for a while now and you never fail to touch me with your thoughts. I've never been a supporter of this war, but as a fellow military spouse once told me, "I support the men, not necessarily the mission." So thank you for your service and sacrifice. Thank you too to your family for their sacrifice. Stay safe and keep on writing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132151814415864462005-11-16T09:36:00.000-05:002005-11-16T09:36:00.000-05:00Penny, please explain how Zach and the others who ...Penny, please explain how Zach and the others who are taking part in George's Excellent Iraq Adventure are fighting to protect your country. And what are they protecting it from?<BR/><BR/>Hurria, for some Americans...<BR/><BR/>the more Iraqis we killed = the safer Americans are back home.<BR/><BR/>we have tons of these brainwashed people here.36% of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132147029838571392005-11-16T08:17:00.000-05:002005-11-16T08:17:00.000-05:00My daughter sent your link to me and I'm glad. It'...My daughter sent your link to me and I'm glad. It's nice to read the words of someone who is THERE, someone that is experiencing the actual situation, not just mouthing off with personal opinions. <BR/><BR/>I am not a supporter of the war or the Bush administration. But I am also not willing to give up my freedom that so many have died to protect and I am in support of our troups. I just hope we get out of this war before it becomes another Viet Nam. We don't need another Wall in D.C.<BR/><BR/>You, and all the soldiers fighting to protect this country, are and will remain in my heart and prayers.<BR/><BR/>Be Safe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132118618462434242005-11-16T00:23:00.000-05:002005-11-16T00:23:00.000-05:00Hurria, are you a Sunni, Kurd or Shia?Hurria, are you a Sunni, Kurd or Shia?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132101335395215892005-11-15T19:35:00.000-05:002005-11-15T19:35:00.000-05:00So then it would be safe to say that you only crit...So then it would be safe to say that you only criticize Zach in between arguing about historical references. I've read through your posts and that seems to be all I can find.<BR/>Typical that you would consider my arguments to be less worthy than yours. As if my words are less important than yours are because I fight for a different cause. You are high and mighty on your throne aren't you? Infallible because you are an "oppressed" Iraqi with the inability to discuss anything other than how awful your people have it.<BR/>By justifying your consistant disrespect by saying "I could be worse" you are admitting to said disrespect. You use polite mannerisms, but your intentions are less than pure. If you have any other purpose for posting besides berating Zach and his colleagues and making Americans feel bad for being more priviledged, then you have yet to prove that. If your intentions are to "rally the troops" so to speak and talk them into spending years in prison, then you are wasting your breath, but you and I both know you aren't here for that.<BR/>Since you haven't figured it out, that kindness I speak of is the "right" you think you have to berate and belittle Zach and his values in his own blog. That "right" that he has so graciously given you to express how much you think he is a coward and an annoyance. That "right" that you take so much advantage of especially in an entry that clearly was a tribute to his family while advising everyone, not just Americans, to not take anything for granted. THAT kindness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132096406594398302005-11-15T18:13:00.000-05:002005-11-15T18:13:00.000-05:00. Rush Limbaugh tries to milk the troopsTalk about....<BR/> Rush Limbaugh tries to milk the troops<BR/>Talk about lowering the bar. Have you seen this "Adopt a Soldier" program Rush has started? You would figure that a program targeted for our troops would actually help them in some small way. Maybe the money would go to some equipment, supplies or anything the troops could actually use over in Iraq that will help them survive. Here's what they get for 49.95:<BR/> "Support our men and women in uniform by giving a subscription to Rush 24/7 and the Limbaugh Letter to a member of the US Armed Forces. He or she will receive unfettered access to Rush 24/7 online as well as every big, colorful issue of The Limbaugh Letter "<BR/>Rush is charging 49.95 for a solider to receive his radio broadcast and newsletter. Have you ever seen a creepier operation?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132089993739959932005-11-15T16:26:00.000-05:002005-11-15T16:26:00.000-05:00You know exactly what kindness I meant, but I like...You know exactly what kindness I meant, but I like how you managed to twist it to fit your agenda. Story of your time here as a reader/poster, huh. Snag's argument makes perfect sense to me, and he hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that because it strays from your pointed(and overplayed) message, you immediately dismiss it.<BR/>I think my favorite line from your tirade is where you claim to occassionally criticize him. I challenge you to show me a post where you say something nice about him. Show me a post in which you speak of him but don't criticize him. But I'm sure that because that point takes the focus off the eeeevil soldiers, it will be dismissed as well.<BR/>I know full well the difference between criticism and a dislike for someone, but do you know the difference between disrespect and criticism? Disrespecting someone and their family constantly in their own blog is an awfully strange way of showing how much you don't dislike them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132074441227360102005-11-15T12:07:00.000-05:002005-11-15T12:07:00.000-05:00Hi Snag, Hurria!Your dialogue is interesting but w...Hi Snag, Hurria!<BR/><BR/>Your dialogue is interesting but while I respect both your viewpoints, I'm still puzzled by Snag's devotion to gradualism. To me it seems Hurria is right: when an unjust and illegal war is going on, who cares what soldiers feel about their actions? As you point out, Snag, they could choose not to come to the war in the first place. I'm reminded (as usual) of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For over 20 years there has been a peace movement in Israel called "Peace Now!" campaigning to persuade Israelis to end the occupation. And for more than 20 years, Israeli peaceniks have joined the protests, then put on their uniforms to serve in the Occupied Territories. Then they all go home and weep about it and write poetry or sing songs about how terrible it all was (rarely stopping to think how much more terrible it is for the Palestinians). Then they all do it again. Because of this, many people prefer to describe "Peace Now!" as "Peace When?", because "now" never seems to arrive. That is why Snag's perfectly reasonable argument strikes me as part of the problem, not the solution: while you argue reasonably and thoughtfully, your opponents are busy summoning new armies with lies and BS - you'll never catch up like that.<BR/><BR/>My somehwat rambling point is that it doesn't matter what lies Zach and his buddies believed in order to send them to war, or how Americans were duped into supporting the war (that's easy: $$$ plus ignorance usually does the trick). They need to stop adding to the problems now. The situation will only change if individuals act to change it. No anguished blogs or heart-searching autobiographies (as in Vietnam) will stop the next round in the GWOT. Otherwise our governments know they can count on us to follow the script every time.<BR/><BR/>Enough from me. Again.<BR/><BR/>Wishing all in Iraq peace and safe home-coming.<BR/><BR/>taffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132065774923777422005-11-15T09:42:00.000-05:002005-11-15T09:42:00.000-05:00So I ask again Hurria. Why do you continue to post...So I ask again Hurria. Why do you continue to post here if you find Zach's posts to be annoying? It seems to be the only statement you didn't address. Is it because you enjoy using his board as your own soapbox without having to do some work and create your own blog? Is it because if you DID create your own blog it wouldn't be as heavily trafficked as Zach's and your opinion wouldn't be heard? Or do you just enjoy abusing the kindness of others? If you don't dislike Zach, you sure have a funny way of showing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132052330343769302005-11-15T05:58:00.000-05:002005-11-15T05:58:00.000-05:00. Sgt. Singley.... I salute you and your loved one....<BR/> Sgt. Singley.... I salute you and your loved ones. Most of the country has escaped the burden you and your compatriots now bear. I am a student of history, I worry that our country has lost it's moorings, so few have any "skin in the game".<BR/><BR/> I post alot at crawfords list, we argue and share info. I'm going to put your site on a link there. It will do us all good to look in here.<BR/><BR/> Many Thanks..... Colorado BobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10616339.post-1132041128046035222005-11-15T02:52:00.000-05:002005-11-15T02:52:00.000-05:00snag and those couple of anonymous commentors abov...snag and those couple of anonymous commentors above, you make me want to vomit with your intellectual rationalizations for all this muriKan nonsense.<BR/>shills for the rich families, the white skinned working class killing brown skinned poor. a truly fantastic model for human development. muriKans be callin it "intelligent design, no?<BR/><BR/>""Prevail" is the "in" word in America just now. We are not going to "win" in Iraq - because we did that in 2003, didn’t we, when we stormed up to Baghdad and toppled Saddam?<BR/>Then George Bush declared "Mission Accomplished".<BR/>So now we must "prevail".<BR/>That’s what F J "Bing" West, ex-soldier and former assistant secretary for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration said this week.<BR/>Plugging his new book - No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah - he gave a frightening outline of what lies in store for the Sunni Muslims of Iraq.I was sitting a few feet from Bing - plugging my own book - as he explained to the great and the good of New York how General Casey was imposing curfews on the Sunni cities of Iraq, one after the other, how if the Sunnis did not accept democracy they would be "occupied" (he used that word) by Iraqi troops until they did accept democracy (emphasis added). He talked about the "valour" of American troops - there was no word of Iraq’s monstrous suffering - and insisted that America must "prevail" because a "Jihadist" victory was unthinkable."<BR/>Torture’s out. Now they call it abuse Robert Fisk, November 12, 2005Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com