Santa Barbara's Soldiers Leave for Iraq

There is no honor in sending these men and women into harms way. This is a reflection on the entirety of the U.S. people for the irresponsibility of this invasion, occupation and our political process that brought it on. Is it all we can do is hope that everyone will come back safely?

Have you asked the soldiers about the honor that they feel? Nobody is sending anyone There is no draft. These men are proud to do what they do, ask any one of them. I have, have you?
Show some appreciation and respect instead of trying to portray them as victims of a heartless country. They are proud to protect freedom so people like you can mouth off against their own country. By the way - the invasion was on September 11 in case you forgot and don't start with the WMD thing. It was proved to us on that day that a hijacked commercial jetliner is in fact a WMD and I have National Geographic video called "Special Forces" of a training camp found in a safehouse in Baghdad shortly after what you call an "invasion". There were manuals, briefcases with detonation devices designed to be carried on to planes. One innocent American life is good enough reason for me to "invade" a country with a cruel dictator that hates America and has every reason to support and harbor terrorism. Good enough for me, even though the discoveries don't end there. You should be thanking these brave men as you cower behind them and criticize the country they are proud to protect and defend. To do any less is to dishonor them. God bless them and protect them.

Excuse me! - brave men and women! And looking at the photo I would not say these are the poor impoverished, taken advantage of victims from the ghetto that Michael Moore wants to portray them as.... just which ghetto in Santa Barbara did they come from? Just my observation

This is the first time I have been proud of Marty Blum for being on the right side of the fence for once and "showed up to wish them well and express appreciation for their sacrifices". Way to go Marty! Welcome to the "dark side"!

There is no honor in "building schools, organizing medical supplies" jhonathan? What does it take for you to honor a soldier of the United States military? Joining up in the first place is apparently not enough. Being willing to die so you can mouth off apparently is not enough. Building schools and helping people is not enough either. What do you want from them? Thank God there are people like them instead of a country full of cowards like you... only there would be no country if that were the case.

Um, the "invasion" didn't start on 9/11, there were no IRAQIS in those planes, they were SAUDIS. WE INVADED a country that has or was supposed to have had a lot of oil, so that we could take it from them. We have destroyed Iraq and created the "war-torn" situation that some of you suppose our troops are going there to quell. GET REAL PEOPLE! The war in Iraq has been a massive debacle, a huge lie and has sucked our economy dry. I honor every person who feels compelled to serve our country in such a self-less way, and I do not blame any military service person, following the orders of their superiors, for the crimes of the Bush administration. But that doesn't mean I can't openly acknowledge the outrageous falsehoods that have been sold to the citizens of this country in the name of the (fake) "war on terror". We the people have a patriotic duty to pay attention and keep those in power in-check -- we have and are failing miserably. I wept on the day of "shock and awe" and my heart aches for the loss of every fallen U.S. soldier and for every Iraqi who has lost their home/family/way of life. The morally bankrupt Bush administration will soon be a thing of the past, but the war in Iraq will go on and we will be footing that bill for decades, both financially, physically and emotionally.

Well I wept on the day of 9/11 Analog, I suppose you applauded. The hijackers were neither representative of Iraqis nor were they representative of Saudis. They were representative of Islamic extremists and terrorists, which claim no nation race or people. There were terrorists in Iraq and they were being harbored and trained.

Go to the National Geographic website and order a copy of "Special Forces" where the airliner hijacking training safehouse is discovered in BAGHDAD after the invasion.
I imagine that single act right there saved the lives of countless innocent AMERICAN citizens, perhaps yours.

Since they were SAUDIS would you have been happy if we invaded Saudi Arabia instead? They have just as much oil. And if we went to Iraq to steal their oil WHERE IS IT? Why are gas prices so high if we have all this free oil that we stole from Iraq?
This was a war on terror and any country that harbors them, not a war on a country or a people, and I do not consider it a crime when our president protects the people he is tasked to protect. If you haven't noticed by now, there has not been one attack on the the homeland since this "criminal" president began the war on terror. Nor can I can't think of a single hijacked plane since.

A crime by a president might be if it were perpetrated against his own people, like Saddam Hussein was so adept at with rape rooms and torture chambers and gruesome murders of anyone opposing him or threatening his grip on the country. GET REAL analog! Put down the bong and the tired screeches against the Bush administration, it's getting old and annoying. Look at reality for once and admit this is a war that has been won, when it is time for our troops to build schools and hospitals. I don't think they are going over there to steal oil, but we will see if gas prices go down - if they are stealing oil I would say we deserve it.

Before the US invaded Iraq on false pretenses, for which the people involved should be tried for war crimes, the Iraqi women enjoyed the most freedom in the Middle East. They were allowed to go to school and university, and did not have to were burkhas.

The US invasion has made things worse for all Iraqi women, and has reversed many educational freedoms they had before the US bombed their infrastructure to bits and dumped thousands of pounds of depleted uranium on their soil. This has led to unprecedented numbers of cancers and deformed births. History will look back at these actions as close to, if not, genocide.

I feel for the US soldiers who were unwittingly involved in this war. When men and women voluntarily sign up there should also be the responsibility of those in charge to ensure that they are deployed in an honorable way. It is a two way street - volunteer to serve on the part of the soldiers - responsible use of volunteers by those in charge. You cannot MORALLY have one without the other.

Typo in above - should be "wear burhkas".

"unwittingly involved in the war"? Do you know what you're talking about Tabatha or are you making assumptions? When was the last time you spoke with a soldier? Why are so many of these soldiers re-enlisting after having already been over there? Why have so many enlisted after the war began, knowing full well what they are getting into?

I give up. Just one question: What exactly is an "honorable way" for a soldier to be deployed who is trained to kill people and break things? Deliver flowers? The fact that this particular unit is "building schools, organizing medical supplies, or facilitating liaisons between Iraqi officials and U.S. military commanders" is not even good enough for you whackos without you having to call them dishonorable and immoral right off the bat! I guess this is what we call "supporting the troops" now days...making them feel like they are the bad guys and unappreciated. Shameful, ignorant and disgusting.

The soldiers are honorable and doing the best under the circumstances. I never said or implied anything else.

Why are deployed soldiers giving 6 times to Obama than they are to McCain?

I am sick and appalled at some of the idiots (johnathan, tabitha) who have posted their rude and shameful comments about the soldiers, men & women both who put thier lives in danger purely out of love of country and patriotism.......who likes war??....nobody...not even the soldiers who VOLUNTEER to go there and be shot at. I wish there was a draft....I really do because I have people very, very close to me who have given up a lot of their lives, jobs, recreation, living in paradise, money, etc, etc, etc to go into this so others don't have to. You people make me want to vomit. If you don't like America....go to Afghanistan, see how people live there and get the F out of the USA, you know nothing about what you speak, soldiers are not "unwitting involved in this war"....by saying this you are calling them stupid, clueless and basically government robots who have no choice ....it easy to be an anonymous coward with your stupid, idiotic, trying to be intellectual BS but I would LOVE to talk to you in person....maybe you should appreciate your lives, have some respect and get off your dirty soap boxes.

Thank you Penelope I was having trouble finding words for my disgust.

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the men and women who have given their lives and to those who have continually given of themselves for this country, for us, and for our freedom! may god bless you and protect you. and may bless and protect your families and give them strength to continue on without you here and give them the joy of once again being reunited with you.

i am so appalled to read others bashing these honorable men and women who have chosen to give so much of themselves for the people that bash them, who say that they are stupid, unintelligent, and that they cant think for themselves. may they rot in hell. let me tell you something about that place, it aint pretty and there, if you even think badly of THE goverment and their actions you go to prison, get executed or, my personal favorite, watch your family get executed. if you have never lived under the rule of a tyrant then you have no right to even begin to speak of all the "priviledges" that the people who live under a tyrant have. and although i cant tell you what life was like under sadam hussein or under the taliban, i can tell you about living under a tyrant, i grew up in the soviet union where i couldnt believe in god, jehovah, or allah, where i couldnt praise anything other than stalin, lenin and darwin, where my grandfathers were imprisoned in siberia, tortured and one of them was eventually killed by the governent for their beliefs, where my father was tortured because he refused to take up arms to protect the tyrants regime. or waiting in line for 3 hours for 4 loaves of stale, moldy bread or whatever else the government might try to pass of as edible, not getting a paycheck for months and months but still having the same bills to pay, or having the schools closed down for weeks, months at a time because the government wasnt paying the teachers and they in return refused to teach, who suffered in that? the government? the teachers? no it was the children! oh we cant forget the horrors of going to the hospital, if you were ever cursed enough to land in one than you better of had the meds, supplies, etc that you need to get better, have the money to pay for them, or if you dont than what the hell are you doing there?

i'm say all this to hopefully give you a small bit of insight into reality for the people who live under these tyrants. yes, they find ways to make the best out of the situation, to go on with their lives but TABATHA have you ever lived in the shoes of the women who you say had freedom of education and whatever else they wanted? have you ever even asked the Iraqis about what their lives were like under hussain? or the people of afghanistan about theuir lives under the taliban? have you ever even considered that through all the death and destruction that has been brought into their countries in the last 5 years that hope has also been brought back, because for many it has, they now have hope for a better tomorrow for their children, hope that their children will one day be allowed to freely talk crap about their government and about the men and women who gave up everything to protect them. hope for the things that we take for granted, things that our military men and women are protecting with their very lives.

WAR!
I hate the thought of going to war. I hate the Governments that suppress the thoughts and freedoms of their people, torture and kill their people, Rape and GAS their people over those Governments tyrants and miscreatans.
I hate that America has to placate to those Governments and then go and remove them but MOST of all....
I HATE those who are the cowards of their Country that is compelled to do right and just. Those individuals are the ones in Arabic garb, carrying an AK74 and shooting at the American troops as those troops come to take-down those evil regimes. When they are catured, they claim their American Citizship and after a slap on the rist, are allowed to return to Society to sole their HATE for their own Country and fellow American's. These are also those people who will SPIT on US service personell as their father and mothers did when Vietam Vetrans returned from fighting and dying. 'Tabatha', 'Analog8'. I bet your comments fuel the HATRED for America and are posted on Talaban Websites all over the Web. Thank you for being American Traitors!