Craigslist Post from an Angry Marine

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-04-23 04:38pm

From an Angry Soldier
Date: 2007-04-10, 1:00PM PDT

I'm having the worst damn week of my whole damn life so I'm going to write this while I'm pissed off enough to do it right.

I am SICK of all this bullshit people are writing about the Iraq war. I am abso-fucking-lutely sick to death of it. What the fuck do most of you know about it? You watch it on TV and read the commentaries in the newspaper or Newsweek or whatever god damn yuppie news rag you subscribe to and think you're all such fucking experts that you can scream at each other like five year old about whether you're right or not. Let me tell you something: unless you've been there, you don't know a god damn thing about it. It you haven't been shot at in that fucking hell hole, SHUT THE FUCK UP!

How do I dare say this to you moronic war supporters who are "Supporting our Troops" and waving the flag and all that happy horse shit? I'll tell you why. I'm a Marine and I served my tour in Iraq. My husband, also a Marine, served several. I left the service six months ago because I got pregnant while he was home on leave and three days ago I get a visit from two men in uniform who hand me a letter and tell me my husband died in that fucking festering sand-pit. He should have been home a month ago but they extended his tour and now he's coming home in a box.

You fuckers and that god-damn lying sack of shit they call a president are the reason my husband will never see his baby and my kid will never meet his dad.

And you know what the most fucked up thing about this Iraq shit is? They don't want us there. They're not happy we came and they want us out NOW. We fucked up their lives even worse than they already were and they're pissed off. We didn't help them and we're not helping them now. That's what our soldiers are dying for.

Oh while I'm good and worked up, the government doesn't even have the decency to help out the soldiers whos lives they ruined. If you really believe the military and the government had no idea the veterans' hospitals were so fucked up, you are a god-damn retard. They don't care about us. We're disposable. We're numbers on a page and they'd rather forget we exist so they don't have to be reminded about the families and lives they ruined while they're sipping their cocktails at another fund raiser dinner. If they were really concerned about supporting the troops, they'd bring them home so their families wouldn't have to cry at a graveside and explain to their children why mommy or daddy isn't coming home. Because you can't explain it. We're not fighting for our country, we're not fighting for the good of Iraq's people, we're fighting for Bush's personal agenda. Patriotism my ass. You know what? My dad served in Vietnam and NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.

Fuck you, war supporters, George W. Bush, and all the god damn mother fuckers who made the war possible. I hope you burn in hell.

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 309485032

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2007-04-23 05:03pm

Will this ever end up in the... media with it treading carefully in this "war" thing?

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2007-04-23 05:17pm

I can certainly understand the Marine's frustration. My wife is agonizing over my impending deployment to Iraq too, and I've lost some personal acquaintances to that war. This particular Marine is separated from service now, has lost her husband to the war, and is now voicing how she really feels, uninhibited by the laws and regulations that would have prevented such pronouncements while she was in. For many Soldiers and Marines who are making their second or third trip to Iraq (or the spouses and children watching helplessly from the sidelines), it's a no-win situation. Just go, do your best, survive, and come home.

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2007-04-23 06:20pm

Okay, my money's on, if this gets any recognition in the media at all, she'll be painted as anti-american, anti-patriotic, etc. etc. And, of course, a majority of people will just lap that up.

This country depresses me.

Lord of the Abyss · Post by **Lord of the Abyss** » 2007-04-23 06:21pm

So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.

And the cycle continues. If she's that angry, setting her son up for the same fate isn't the right thing to do. I can just see him joining the military years from now to be just like his Dad the "hero", and being sacrificed by some idiot politician like his Dad was.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-04-23 06:39pm

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:Will this ever end up in the... media with it treading carefully in this "war" thing?

It never will. The Fourth Estate has failed our republic, which is why we must tear it down and rebuild it. In fact, we as a people are in the process of doing so: it's called the internet, and it's having a very real impact on how the game is played.

The government made a grave strategic error in underestimating the importance of controlling the internet when it took off ten years ago, so they didn't bother to stifle it with censorship, regulation, and top-down content distribution like they have with TV, radio, and print media. They may not survive their mistake.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2007-04-23 09:43pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:They may not survive their mistake.

Hell, that's one mistake my government made which I can say I'm proud of.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-23 10:05pm

jegs2 wrote:I can certainly understand the Marine's frustration. My wife is agonizing over my impending deployment to Iraq too, and I've lost some personal acquaintances to that war. This particular Marine is separated from service now, has lost her husband to the war, and is now voicing how she really feels, uninhibited by the laws and regulations that would have prevented such pronouncements while she was in. For many Soldiers and Marines who are making their second or third trip to Iraq (or the spouses and children watching helplessly from the sidelines), it's a no-win situation. Just go, do your best, survive, and come home.

Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration? I can completely understand this Marine's anger, but what I can't understand is the people who have gone there, lost friends or been maimed themselves, and come home singing Bush's praises. Do they honestly believe the rhetoric? Or are they engaging the "I refuse to believe my friends died for nothing" psychological defense mechanism?

Ekiqa · Post by **Ekiqa** » 2007-04-23 10:15pm

Darth Wong wrote:Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration? I can completely understand this Marine's anger, but what I can't understand is the people who have gone there, lost friends or been maimed themselves, and come home singing Bush's praises. Do they honestly believe the rhetoric? Or are they engaging the "I refuse to believe my friends died for nothing" psychological defense mechanism?

As guess, probably the latter. And if so, probably related to Survivor's Guilt.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-04-23 10:33pm

Darth Wong wrote:Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration?

Might it have something to do with the high level training to obey orders from one's superior without hesitation, even at the risk to one's life that goes along with military service?

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2007-04-24 12:14am

Darth Wong wrote:Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration? I can completely understand this Marine's anger, but what I can't understand is the people who have gone there, lost friends or been maimed themselves, and come home singing Bush's praises. Do they honestly believe the rhetoric? Or are they engaging the "I refuse to believe my friends died for nothing" psychological defense mechanism?

The problem is so many of them have bought hook line and sinker the idea that Democrats are anti-military. They grew up with the idea that only the Republicans cared and now they are basically living that just like a religion and finding excuses in their own mind that "well this sucks but if the Democrats were running things it'd be worse." Looking at the recruiting regions that provide the largest amount of troops: the Deep South and Midwest, strongholds of hardcore jesuslovin' conservatism where you just don't trust no bleedin heart liberal wanker who lost us Vietnam and is gonna lose us the next war if we let 'em.

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2007-04-24 01:56pm

Darth Wong wrote:Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration? I can completely understand this Marine's anger, but what I can't understand is the people who have gone there, lost friends or been maimed themselves, and come home singing Bush's praises. Do they honestly believe the rhetoric? Or are they engaging the "I refuse to believe my friends died for nothing" psychological defense mechanism?

Few Soldiers I know are praising the current Administration.

Post by **Coyote** » 2007-04-24 02:11pm

CmdrWilkens wrote: The problem is so many of them have bought hook line and sinker the idea that Democrats are anti-military. They grew up with the idea that ... you just don't trust no bleedin heart liberal wanker who lost us Vietnam and is gonna lose us the next war if we let 'em.

And the pisser is, the fucking Dems let that slide by without challenge.

The Democrats, who were pushing for war against the goddamn Nazis while the isolationists right wingers were attending Bund rallies if they cared at all. The Democrats fought world war II, the Democrats fucking nuked people.

They got so caught up in fellating their washed-out hippie "base" (

) that they totally slink away sheepishly at the very idea of fighting, even though a Democrat administration fought the "last 'good' war".

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-04-24 02:12pm

jegs2 wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:Why are so many of them so supportive of the administration? I can completely understand this Marine's anger, but what I can't understand is the people who have gone there, lost friends or been maimed themselves, and come home singing Bush's praises. Do they honestly believe the rhetoric? Or are they engaging the "I refuse to believe my friends died for nothing" psychological defense mechanism?
Few Soldiers I know are praising the current Administration.

They're still getting all the airplay in the MSM.

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2007-04-24 02:13pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:They're still getting all the airplay in the MSM.

MSM?

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2007-04-24 02:17pm

jegs2 wrote:
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:They're still getting all the airplay in the MSM.
MSM?

Main Stream Media

Although I have noticed more Iraq vets speaking out against the war on the MSM more recently.

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2007-04-24 02:19pm

The Original Nex wrote:Although I have noticed more Iraq vets speaking out against the war on the MSM more recently.

Most of the OIF veterans with whom I interact are less than pleased with the current state of affairs. We may not speak ill of the current administration, but we also don't go out of our way to praise them. Many of us are discussing what President H. Clinton's policy in Iraq will be and how it will affect OPTEMPO.

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2007-04-24 03:00pm

Minor nitpick: The title of the OP is mis-named, since the author of the original letter is a Marine, not a Soldier. Marines don't like to be called or referred to as anything other than Marines. This goes in the same category as there's no such thing as an ex-Marine.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-04-24 03:22pm

jegs2 wrote:Minor nitpick: The title of the OP is mis-named, since the author of the original letter is a Marine, not a Soldier. Marines don't like to be called or referred to as anything other than Marines. This goes in the same category as there's no such thing as an ex-Marine.

Could we have that rectified, then? I meant no disrespect.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2007-04-24 03:32pm

Title edited at OP poster's request. No Army grunts were harmed in the making of this edit.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2007-04-24 05:48pm

Lord of the Abyss wrote:
So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.
And the cycle continues. If she's that angry, setting her son up for the same fate isn't the right thing to do. I can just see him joining the military years from now to be just like his Dad the "hero", and being sacrificed by some idiot politician like his Dad was.

What do you expect the mother to do? Say, "Your daddy died for a stupid cause, which implies your daddy was stupid for dying for this cause, and I hope you didn't inherit his stupidity"? Please show some respect to this woman for her loss.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2007-04-24 06:05pm

Sidewinder wrote:What do you expect the mother to do? Say, "Your daddy died for a stupid cause, which implies your daddy was stupid for dying for this cause, and I hope you didn't inherit his stupidity"? Please show some respect to this woman for her loss.

Your daddy died because a bad man lied. Everybody believed him, because they were too lazy to think for themselves. Never let that happen again.

Medic · Post by **Medic** » 2007-04-24 08:08pm

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:Okay, my money's on, if this gets any recognition in the media at all, she'll be painted as anti-american, anti-patriotic, etc. etc. And, of course, a majority of people will just lap that up.

This country depresses me.

Slightly tangential but I was eating diner as FNC was talking about that whole Pat Tillman silliness. Apparnetly there was some lowly Specialist somehow testifying in front of Congresspersons and claimed he was told by his BN CDR to lie to the Tillman family about how he died. (and if you're wondering, he claims also to have been threatened with a reprimand if he told the truth. Oh, and they were talking about Jessica Lynch blowing the lid on her own manufactured heroics)

I finished eating and rose to my feet the guy sitting next to me, someone with bigger rank on his chest quipped 'they must hate the military.' Sharing rank with said lowly SPC and Tillman in addition to being stone tired and already full I didn't bother to try and contest the point but that pissed me off quite a bit. No, it couldn't POSSIBLY be that this SPC testifying in front of Congress simply is doing the right thing or simply values honesty too much to keep quiet.

Someone as senior as that guy (he had a few rockerbottoms) has obviously seen his fair share of ate-up 'kids these days' and the ETS-afflicted Soldiers but why the fuck is it so hard for people to call spades a spade?

Bald-faced lies, lying to a grieving family about how their son died and the manufacturing of heroes is fucking bullshit! Especially when there are so many deserving stories to be told.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2007-04-24 09:30pm

jegs2 wrote:
The Original Nex wrote:Although I have noticed more Iraq vets speaking out against the war on the MSM more recently.
Most of the OIF veterans with whom I interact are less than pleased with the current state of affairs. We may not speak ill of the current administration, but we also don't go out of our way to praise them. Many of us are discussing what President H. Clinton's policy in Iraq will be and how it will affect OPTEMPO.

I'm not trying to discount your experience here, but are you aware that in 2004 about 70% of the armed services voted for Bush?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-24 10:16pm

Sidewinder wrote:
Lord of the Abyss wrote:And the cycle continues. If she's that angry, setting her son up for the same fate isn't the right thing to do. I can just see him joining the military years from now to be just like his Dad the "hero", and being sacrificed by some idiot politician like his Dad was.
What do you expect the mother to do? Say, "Your daddy died for a stupid cause, which implies your daddy was stupid for dying for this cause, and I hope you didn't inherit his stupidity"? Please show some respect to this woman for her loss.

Explain what part of that statement is disrespectful of that woman or her loss, and why.