Stop blaming the troops.

[Damnitbobby]

Look I am a 15 yr veteran of the Army discharged for physical injuries. That being said I want to address something I have seen allot on these forums and I'm sure will crop up in this post.

Blaming troops for the wars we recently have been in and "despite the media pretending other wise" still currently fighting. And to a degree a growing anger towards soldiers.

1. The soldiers you meet on the street have zero choice in where they are sent. And they have absolutely no input in who our nation goes to war with. That responsibility lies in the hands of you the American public. The same time you are saying "why is this happening" I promise you soldiers are saying the same thing. That's right we as a nation hold the blame for and burden for where our troops are sent. How you may ask is it your fault. Well voting is where it all starts. We as a nation voted in the people who make the choices that either make us a great nation or lead to our down fall.

2. Voting is where it all starts. We as a nation voted in the people who are responsible for the direction our nation is going. So the next time our nation goes to war and you are sitting there thinking "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?" ask yourself what did you really know about the guy voted in as president. Did you really have a clear picture of this person or did you only know what CNN, FOX, and other media outlets told you.

3. The media coverage of the war in Iraq and other locations. Look the media in America sugar coats everything to play up the ratings. I came home from Iraq on leave after my unit replaced the guys that went in first. I was visiting my family and one of the first things I wanted to see was the news to make sure nothing had happened to my friends and my soldiers still there. Everything I saw on every channel was nothing close to what was really happening over there. I won't go into details but I will say there are things about the conflict there that people in the EU knew but the American people had no clue of. So I just ask you all to use your head and think for yourself when picking someone to lead our nation.

3. Band wagon troop support. Look I never asked for that, and I never knew exactly how to respond to people saying thank you for your service. Now don't get me wrong I am sure many of the people who said this truly meant it. But there was allot who just say it. And politicians love to throw those words out. As a soldier I took pride in my job and serving with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. For soldiers the military is what they make of it. Some come in for education benefits others so they can provide for their families as many civilians are doing. I joined for my own reasons. I wanted to get out of a dirt whole town in TN and see more of the world. I can honestly say out of all the people I went to school with I am the most world traveled so I definitely achieved that goal. To me it was never a matter of service as it was more adventure and just enjoying my job. On a side note I encourage you all to try and see other nations on this planet. Seeing how the rest of the world lives and see things first hand will give you a broader field of view on how and why things are shaping up around the world.

4. Lastly I am not asking you to love the troops cause we don't ask you to love us. But I do ask you to think beyond what you see on TV and chat forums. For every 1 bad soldier you see in the media doing something terrible. There are thousands of other soldiers feeling greatly shamed by that person. Because they destroy all the hard work of those trying to do their best to do the right thing everyday.

I am stepping off my soap box now. I wish you all a great day.

PS. Please forgive grammar and spelling mistakes.

[TheGravemind]

I've never seen anyone blame the troops tbh. At least not in the U.S.

[Sand Person]

I've never seen anyone blame the troops tbh. At least not in the U.S.

this.

maybe except teen-aged/early twenty something "intellectuals" who are being taught by super politically one sided teachers/professors.

other than that, i haven't seen any anti-troops posts in any media. Lord knows we dont want another vietnam. the way our peoples treated the troops when they came home was despicable.

[Rukentuts]

I've never seen anyone blame the troops tbh. At least not in the U.S.

Considering most of the volunteers now have started in the forces since 2001, the blamers say they knew what they were getting in to.

[Deleted]

Anyone that joined in the last what, 5-8 years has had every opportunity to know what they're signing up for is wrong.

So yes, some of that blame falls on the soldiers.

[Rukentuts]

Stop with the college shit. To be honest I have not seen anti troop stuff any place.

But college turns you into filthy liberals.

[zorkuus]

1. The soldiers you meet on the street have zero choice in where they are sent.

Actually they kinda do. When you'll have drafts then I'll have some sympathy.

[Catta]

But college turns you into filthy liberals.

"Reality has a clear liberal bias"
- Stephen Colbert

[Arcanist]

Who voluntarily joined again?

[Zylos]

this.

maybe except teen-aged/early twenty something "intellectuals" who are being taught by super politically one sided teachers/professors.

You have to be pretty brainwashed and most likely uneducated to think that. Professors teach the subject they are hired to teach; not preach about their political views.

[Elim Garak]

If all the troops who don't want to go to war - quit the military service - there will be no wars. Oh wait... they do want to go to war hence why they joined military service in the first place. Blame the troops.

[Iyarashii]

You are the kind of person I respect, because of #3. You did it for your own reasons, and you don't expect anything from it. So thank you for proving to me that not all troops aren't self-entitled people doing it just to look better than everyone else.4

[Deleted]

If all the troops who don't want to go to war - quit the military service - there will be no wars. Oh wait... they do want to go to war hence why they joined military service in the first place. Blame the troops.

That would be too easy. Perhaps, just maybe, if a country doesn't act aggressively and feel the need to blow the shit out of other countries, there might be a nice cooling off period where they don't make new enemies whilst killing their current enemies.

Soldiers joining up now just perpetuate this nonsense. There's no honour in that, if anything, it's dishonourable to facilitate the government now, as it has been for going on a decade.

[rowaasr13]

TL;DR: "But I was just following orders". I think I've heard this somewhere before.

Putting blame solely on troops is of course very wrong, but treating them like "tools" just in use by somebody else isn't any better.

[TheGravemind]

Considering most of the volunteers now have started in the forces since 2001, the blamers say they knew what they were getting in to.

You don't decide where you get deployed to, and the U.S. military operates in many, many places, so there is a very high chance that you'd never even visit an active theatre of war if you signed up.

- - - Updated - - -

TL;DR: "But I was just following orders". I think I've heard this somewhere before.

Putting blame solely on troops is of course very wrong, but treating them like "tools" just in use by somebody else isn't any better.

Except "I was only following orders" is not an actual defense within the UCMJ. U.S. military personnel reserve the right to conscientiously object to an order if they feel it violates the Geneva Conventions/etc.

[Arcanist]

3. Band wagon troop support. Look I never asked for that, and I never knew exactly how to respond to people saying thank you for your service. Now don't get me wrong I am sure many of the people who said this truly meant it. But there was allot who just say it. And politicians love to throw those words out. As a soldier I took pride in my job and serving with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. For soldiers the military is what they make of it. Some come in for education benefits others so they can provide for their families as many civilians are doing. I joined for my own reasons. I wanted to get out of a dirt whole town in TN and see more of the world. I can honestly say out of all the people I went to school with I am the most world traveled so I definitely achieved that goal. To me it was never a matter of service as it was more adventure and just enjoying my job. On a side note I encourage you all to try and see other nations on this planet. Seeing how the rest of the world lives and see things first hand will give you a broader field of view on how and why things are shaping up around the world.

Oh, I see. So you joined for the travel opportunities. That's as good a reason as any to participate in the destruction of two nations, amirite?

[TheGravemind]

Oh, I see. So you joined for the travel opportunities. That's as good a reason as any to participate in the destruction of two nations, amirite?

Oh, shut up. Afghanistan is better off right now than it would have been if we had not intervened. I can not say the same for Iraq, but at least the old mass-murdering Ba'athist regime, we at one point supported, is now gone. In ~25 years, Iraq will be a better place.

[Fugus]

Anyone that joined in the last what, 5-8 years has had every opportunity to know what they're signing up for is wrong.

So yes, some of that blame falls on the soldiers.

Many who joined in that time did so with the illusion that they were fighting for something good, remember, the media doesn't exactly tell the truth (or at least the whole truth) when it comes to these things and many others also disliked it but joined due to shitty job markets leaving them with a join or starve choice to make.

No one in their right mind blames the troops. The only troops you can blame are the ones who support the actions, the vast many who disapprove of them and have no choice deserve no more blame than slaves in the slave days for encouraging slavery by listening to their owners. When you know what you lose when you don't listen, listening quickly becomes the only option when you have others to provide for.

Edit: Saying solders deserve the blame for being a solder is like blaming Walmart employees for how Walmart acts and treats them because they work there neglecting what happens if they don't.

[Zangeiti]

this.

maybe except teen-aged/early twenty something "intellectuals" who are being taught by super politically one sided teachers/professors.

other than that, i haven't seen any anti-troops posts in any media. Lord knows we dont want another vietnam. the way our peoples treated the troops when they came home was despicable.

Aka Left wing liberals who were tought by the liberal government that their actually making a diffrence, We all know that the only change is corrupt in the US.

[Deleted]

Aka Left wing liberals who were tought by the liberal government that their actually making a diffrence, We all know that the only change is corrupt in the US.

Oh no a liberal (although it actually isn't very liberal) government whatever will we do?

THINK OF THE BIBLE PLEASE WON'T YOU THINK OF THE BIBLE! /sarcasm.