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Originally Posted by Tribesman
Did he go to Iraq in that episode of sillyness?
If not then any previous service is entirely irrelevant.
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Not at all. I wasn't in Iraq, but I was in Vietnam. If you've never served you have no idea what it feels like to be accused of not being willing to risk your own life when you have done exactly that. I have friends who weren't in Iraq this time around, but were in Kuwait for the Gulf War. August signed up, and he would have gone wherever they sent him. His service is no less valid than anyone else's. It's not irrelevant at all.
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Do you really think anyone can honestly still believe that nonsense long after the authors of the rubbish have said it was bull?
Is it more likely that they are clutching at sttaws because it chokes them up that they were played as suckers and supported the waste of the troops.
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I tend to agree with you. Even if he is clutching at straws, his self-defense in the face of "as long as it's not your own life" is still relevant.
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Sheehans views are not suddenly right just because her son was in Iraq are they, some of her views hold water, some are rubbish and some are just very confused.
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No, nor would they have been right if she herself had served. That said, no one accused her of being willing to risk someone else's life but not her own. That accusation is the same as accusing someone of cowardice. Whatever I may think of August's arguing skills or tactics, I am certain that he is not coward, and that he would have willingly served in Iraq had circumstances dictated.
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So on an equal measure Augusts views on this topic are just pure rubbish as they don't stand.
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I agree, but that's not what his defence was about, or your charge of irrelevance. If you think his service is irrelevant to his argument, fine. I agree. But that's not why he brought it up. He brought it up because he was accused of what amounts to cowardice, and that grates on anyone who has served, whether he saw actual combat or not.