> Ok, > > So I am really not trying to start a flame war on my first day back, > not that I really would mind, just take it as it's meant, me letting > off steam on my first day as a civillian again. > > In the last year I have gone through quite a bit, some I'll talk about > some I won't. I guess to begin with I must say I am disgusted that > this nation has esentially forgotten that they have soldiers fighting > and dying in Afghanistan. Iraq is so much at the forefront that it > costs soldiers in Afghanistan not only notice, but funding, equipment > and support from outside the theater. The draw down in Afghanistan > was down to ten thousand troops not long after I got there, we are now > at double that again, fighting has started up again on a regular basis, > with foreign terrorists and old school (released) taliban making a > come back. > > The situation in Afghanistan wasn't stablized by our going in their > and fixing things, it was done so by our looking the other way at the > drug trade, human rights violations, and the continuation of the fudal > system of government that they have always had. Karzai, while I > belive he wants to do the right thing, is esentially useless. The > Taliban and the people that worked with them are still in a great many > positions of power. > > From my perspective we did enough there to pacify the US populace > after 911, and then moved on to GW's true goal, the ouster of Sadaam, > and the solidification of less free america. We have done it on the > backs of the American military. Extended deployments, under trained > troops in combat situations that they shouldn't be in (air force > finance clerks doing convoy security) improperly equipped soldiers, > and finally mistreatment of the soldiers they do have. By the end of > next year every single member of the reserves and national guard will > have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. My battalion has been > alerted to an Iraq deployment next year. Most of them are still in > Afghanistan. There is still no end game, no solid goal or way out of > either situation. These people have dug a whole that there is no > getting out of. > > KBR charges $35 a plate for slop in our chow halls. They pay bus > drivers $80,000 a year, and soldiers families are on food stamps and > WIC. My son was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiance > disorder) while I was gone. There was no child shrink available for > three months, so I have been going out of pocket to pay these medical > costs. We were so undermanned that we could not send home people on > emergency leave, one sgt had a son with lukemia and they made hime > stay. Everyone there is done. The stat of virginia will be unable to > field a battalion after this deployment, let alone the brigade it's > supposed to have. I don't think people understand just how thin we > are spread. > > So add to this the fact that this adminstration added the largest > department ever (Homeland Security) is making intelligance services > larger, took away civil rights (patriot). I am at a loss for words at > this point. I need to time to think about what I believe and what we > can do to fix things I guess. > > Thanx for listening.
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