Fighting for our freedoms

AARguy · Jul 18, 2023

Josh77 said: ↑

I have No hate for America at all, or for any people. I love our people and what we stand for, even if I have criticisms on how we handled things at many points in our history. I apologize if I came across as sounding hateful, but it is not so. It is my desire for America to be the best it can be and remain a powerful and true force for goodness in the world. We have many dark points in our past, such as our experience with Vietnam, our treatment of native Americans, etc etc. I don’t hate the people who made those decisions, and empathize with what drove them to make those decisions with what they likely thought was the truth at that time. But I believe looking back with our 20/20 hindsight and seeing what was really going on, and being critical of the decisions that were made, can help us make better decisions in the future. Not that I am likely to ever be in a position to make such decisions.
My first tour in Iraq was with Bco 1/502, 101st airborne. We were part of the initial invasion. While Thunder Run was happening, we were tasked with securing areas they bypassed on their rush for Baghdad, with Najaf being my battalion’s focus. We then continued to Baghdad for a short time, then to Karbala, and finally went north to Mosul where we spent the rest of our tour. My platoon fortified a train station hotel up there, and we mostly conducted presence patrols with occasional raids for the rest of the deployment.
My second deployment was with Bco 3/67, 4 ID IN 2005. That tour was entirely in Baghdad at FOB Rustamiyah.
The third deployment was back to Mosul with Aco 3/8, 1st CAV, around 2009. We spent part of the time at FOB Diamondback at the airbase, and part of the time pushed out into the desert south of the city.
My final deployment was around 2011, at COB Adder, an airbase further south, again with 1st CAV. The base was shutting down as we left, handing everything over to the Iraqis.
Again, I do not hate America, not even remotely. If I am critical, it is because I believe there is always room for improvement. Throughout my time in Iraq I saw the effects of many decisions that were made from above that were non-sensical, and that aggravated things big time for the people that we were supposed to be helping, which many times felt like betrayals. But, overall, I am proud of what I did there, and I like to think that I and the soldiers I served with did the best we could for the people of Iraq given the circumstances we were presented with.
Personally, I have serious doubts that we should have ever invaded Iraq. At the very least, we should have left after Saddam was defeated. Staying and “rebuilding” caused more trouble than it fixed.

Anyways, it is an interesting background you have. I have sat through countless AARs, pretty much after every single mission and training event I have ever been in, even if it was just a quick informal one. Sometimes I may have wanted to throttle the guy who came up with them (joke), because I was exhausted and wanted to get some shut eye before the next mission, but conducting the AAR when it was still fresh in everyone’s mind was probably the best practice.
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Fair enough.

Bluesguy · Aug 1, 2023

lemmiwinx said: ↑

The US doesn't have to worry about invasion by land or sea. Who's going to invade us, Canada or Mexico? Don't male me laugh. Let's wait and see who wins the air war then.
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How about a China in control of the entire western pacific, the Indian Ocean, west Africa, South America, and eastern Russia?

yangforward · Aug 2, 2023

I'm guessing that 'fighting for our freedoms' is just a good excuse for going to war,
and most of the wars do not increase our freedoms or anyone else's.

Again it's a guess, but I think it is inherited from the first two or three wars,
the war of independence, the war of 1812, and gaining
freedom for slaves in the Civil War. It could also be a factor in WW2,
but in more recent wars, Vietnam onward we seem to have
decreased the freedoms of other countries and not improved our own.

Turin · Aug 4, 2023

has nothing to do with freedom.

Has everything to do with proffits and the US war machine.

If global peace ever breaks out, the US economy would crash.

AARguy · Aug 4, 2023

Turin said: ↑

has nothing to do with freedom.

Has everything to do with proffits and the US war machine.

If global peace ever breaks out, the US economy would crash.
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Global peace assumes that there will come a time when there are no evil men left seeking power... no more Hitlers... no more Tojo's... no more Mussolini's... no more Genghis Kahn's... no more Pol Pot's... no more Ho Chi Minh's... no more Saddaam's... no more Ayatollah's... no more Putin's... no more Napoleon's... no more Stalin's...

"Only the dead have seen an end to war"... Plato

You will see such global peace... when you die.

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Fighting for our freedoms

How often does the US have to go to war to fight for our freedoms?

We can last 6 months without a war

We can last 4 years

20 years is the most we've done in the last hundred years

Other opinion (please state)

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Fighting for our freedoms

How often does the US have to go to war to fight for our freedoms?

We can last 6 months without a war

We can last 4 years

20 years is the most we've done in the last hundred years

Other opinion (please state)

AARguy Banned

Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

yangforward Well-Known Member Past Donor

Turin Well-Known Member

AARguy Banned

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