I personally never blame the soldiers for the war (it's a stupid thing, really), but I can't quite feel sorry for them here, either. As sad as it is, all of them are volunteers and all of them should have known what they were getting into. I'd save the sympathies for the tens of thousands of civilians that died in the war. Likewise, I'd save the loathing for the leadership that determines the course of action.

That said, I think the least the soldiers deserve is respect for doing their duty. And besides a few exceptions, I know most of them do it honorably.

As for those protesters - honestly, if I was passing by and saw something like that at a funeral, I'd probably tempted to throw in a few punches. Is that unreasonable? :dead:

We never blame the soldiers although sometimes they take the brunt of what the commander and chief have directed them to do. They do however deserve a better life during their tour and after their tour.

Punching the protesters is great in my book:up: Shameless idiots.

"The soldiers knew what they were getting into" thing bothers me. Its true, in that volunteering for the military is volunteering for war and defense of this nation. However, everyoe that signed that dotted line did so with the beleif that they would not be put in harms way for a cause such as Iraq, where there is no clear goal, no clear objective, poor leadership at the highest levels, etc, etc.

I while ago I was seriously considering about going there, especially with the new NATO condingent Poland is sending over. In the end I decieded not to go because I am applying for officer school in June.

Now when I think about it I also never hear anything about death casualties in A-stan and Iraq in a lesser degree, and I have access to Polish, Swedish, British and American News. It's very sad how the media treat both conflicts and the casualties acompaning them. I find the mass media in todays society to be a very negative force. For me it feels as if they have a private agenda, and they are almost allways blowing up stupid, non important news,thus leaving the more important news in behind.

Come on man, everyone wants to know about Britney Spears divorce and Tom Cruises new baby. American does not care about the war in Iraq. It's over there in another world on another planet. This is American....we are shallow, self serving idiots. The news covers what they want to help on political agendas.

I'm not sure about "The soldiers knew what they were getting into" thing either. Some while back I saw a documentary on British TV which show some military guys trying to recruit at supermarkets. This was down in the deep south somewhere, I can't remember and, (this is not a racist comment) but nearly all the people they tried to recruit were black. I guess this is because of the high unemployement down there.
They were promising a career and college fees being paid.
I find this quite mind boggling to know that these poor guys don't know what the reality is when being posted to the battle front and coming back missing limbs and traumatised.

10 dead today. :nope:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16075920/

Recruiters have a quota to hit. They look for easy marks and those that will be easily persuaded. Not because they are dumb but because they tell them about a wonderful life in the military. When you are handed a gun and asked to sit in the mud, being taught combat, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT some day you will are might be in a war.

There's nothing in your post which shows any kind of misleading information on the part of recruiters because people certainly can have a career, paid college fees and have a chance to travel around the world.

And anyone who thinks they can join a military service and never be put in harms way is quite naive.

And there's nothing wrong with recruiting in black or poor neighborhoods since it's quite logical that you'd find more recruits that way.

Ditto - utter BS. They seem to get standing applause everytime they even appear anywhere.

Also, Washington DC has a higher murder rate per 100,000 people at about 8.5 per 100K vs 160K US troops in Iraq at a per capita rate of 6.1 per 100K. They are safer over there.

The US should pull out of Washington DC based on those #'s.

-S

yeah, no kidding:doh:. I think Baltimore is worse than that!

Headlines from todays news in Sweden:

First let's start with some Anti-American News(A must have in Sweden):
American soldiers stand for trail for murder in Iraq
USA may leave Iraq in 2008
Nothing about the soldiers that lost their lives today, only news that show how evil USA is... :nope:

One news report that shows the stupidity of Americans(A must have in Sweden):
Fart led to emergency landing of airplane

And some news that Swedish newspapers believe to be more important than for example Coalition casualties in Iraq(In Sweden the Coalition forces are viewed as something very bad):
Britney Spears may loose her children
USA: Boy arrested by police for oppening christmas gift in advance


In Polish News they reported the death of the 10 soldiers. But then again, Poland is not anti-American as Sweden is.

We all knew in the US that the anti-americanism would start and then grow after the collapse of the USSR. It was a given. I still don't like it much though. Their are just some people in the world who lack the intelligence to see things for what they are through logic, instead of seeing things through the eyes of jelousy. The mentallity is no different than hating Bill Gates for nothing more than him being the richest man in the world. It's plain stupidity on an almost uneducated level, but this is the world we were dealt when we were born, and this is the world we must live with since it is never going to change. Welcome to the world.

-S

US soldiers dying in a war - common. US soldiers being put on trial for murder - less so.

How is a headline about the US possibly leaving Iraq in 2008 anti-American or showing how "evil" the US is? Show some examples from the article, back up your claim please.

Do Iraqi citizens come into this at all? I'm sure the murder rate of foreigners in Wasington D.C. is lower than the death rate among US troops in Iraq.

Dont make comparisions that dont stand up.