Nbadan
01-04-2005, 07:40 PM
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. military crews are launching more than 100 helicopter flights a day from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln ferrying food, water and medicine to tsunami victims, a task they say is far more satisfactory than the Iraq war that seems only to destroy.
"Oh yeah, no doubt," said U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rachel Brainard. "Here we're helping people, not destroying things."
"It's the greatest thing to see all the smiling faces when we're taking off," she said on Tuesday.
*snip*
Desperate Indonesian villagers have rushed the choppers to grab supplies but they also are expressing a gratitude -- something the U.S. military has not seen much of in Iraq since invading the country in 2003 to oust President Saddam Hussein.
more
Alertnet.org (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04425615.htm)
The U.S. military is a group of honorable institutions working for dishonorable purposes and men in Iraq. That war is a crime of aggression, and like all crimes, it's participants are criminals by definition, or at least accomplices. That's not "hating the troops"-- it's standing up for the principles that they are supposed to serve. I think that's more important than being a "good American", if you take my meaning.
I applaud the relief work being done by our military in South Asia. However, that doesn't make up for one iota of the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq. I don't think any liberal or moderates here - "hate the troops." Many of us do hate what they're doing, and hope that they are ultimately held responsible for it. Our national honor is better served by the truth, IMO, than by whitewashing the crimes of our military in Iraq in the name of nationalistic jingoism.
"Oh yeah, no doubt," said U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rachel Brainard. "Here we're helping people, not destroying things."
"It's the greatest thing to see all the smiling faces when we're taking off," she said on Tuesday.
*snip*
Desperate Indonesian villagers have rushed the choppers to grab supplies but they also are expressing a gratitude -- something the U.S. military has not seen much of in Iraq since invading the country in 2003 to oust President Saddam Hussein.
more
Alertnet.org (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04425615.htm)
The U.S. military is a group of honorable institutions working for dishonorable purposes and men in Iraq. That war is a crime of aggression, and like all crimes, it's participants are criminals by definition, or at least accomplices. That's not "hating the troops"-- it's standing up for the principles that they are supposed to serve. I think that's more important than being a "good American", if you take my meaning.
I applaud the relief work being done by our military in South Asia. However, that doesn't make up for one iota of the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq. I don't think any liberal or moderates here - "hate the troops." Many of us do hate what they're doing, and hope that they are ultimately held responsible for it. Our national honor is better served by the truth, IMO, than by whitewashing the crimes of our military in Iraq in the name of nationalistic jingoism.