What troubles me are the Democrats who still aren't comfortable with the phrase "Victory In Iraq" We better hurry up and get out before that happens!

In Response to an associsted topic "Dying for your country?";

I have lost friends to war and wish only to offer my point of view.

Men, when they die on the battlefield are scared. When the shock of their last few moments sets in they are naturally frightened... But to say "Shorn of dignity/ A waste / Pointless." is B.S.

If you lay your boot-prints on the ground in the name of your country, in pursuit of your enemy, then you like many others come before you, are a strong man in your decision to do so.
If you are not afraid to fight when YOU FEEL that it's time to fight then be proud. If you die crying out on the battlefield the only men that will hear you will be men like you, you are not subject to the scrutiny of those that where not there.

When a soldier dies in his uniform however he goes, know this...
He has already decided that his fate will be as susceptible to an early death just like every other soldier out there. He put his life into a pool with others and has agreed that he is no different, not special... That is an unselfish act. and the dignity of that act will never be "shorn".
Some choose to fight some do not. We don't want a nation of fighters and we don't want a nation of pacifists either, but remember people we are still in this together!

I myself have a sworn enemy and in my time I feel that I need to seek out and destroy him. My country has enlisted me to pursue this campaign so I do. I can understand why people think it is "Wasteful" and "Pointless", but this is the way of the WORLD I live in. The rifle and the soldier are still the primary tools for holding ground, and basing negotiations. Perhaps tomorrow it will not be that way. However in the WORLD today, it is.

Tomorrow perhaps my other countrymen that want to end war altogether will GLOBALLY succeed when you do I will be proud of your success. I see it's valor- But today you can't effectively affect change with your words, so I'll do it the way the rest of the world does, with a rifle and a soldier... Simply killing isn't what I'm looking for, I and my piers don't seek war for the sake of violence. Violence is just a tool, sometimes we use it sometimes we don't!
We seek to effect a change in the world as well. We just do it physically.
For me it's an enemy that I been hunting since 2001. I will never want to stop hunting him until his threat is gone. I'll do it from the mountainside you do it from the desktop and we'll meet in the middle someday.

If I die in the act- then my fate will be no different than the one who passed before me...
Have respect for the diversity of thought and disposition in other men.

What bothers me so much is that so many people seem to think they speak for those who are in the military. Having served for 8 years myself, I understand the mindest of those currently serving. Do they want to be there? No. Would they love to come home? Yes. But, they also understand that they have a job to do and they do it with pride. This is a volunteer military we have and for those who do volunteer, we understand and accept the risks involved. We defend our nation and answer to the Commander-in-Chief, no matter how wrong or right he may be. For many who have never served, this may be difficult to accept or understand, but that is the way it is and that is why we have the best military in the world.

My heart goes out to every family that lost a child,parent,friend or family member in this senseless war.I also take into account the many thousands who came home alive,but severely wounded or disabled.This includes apparently healthy people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.I took care of Vietnam Vets.I know what it is for a family to have to visit their son when he is permanently locked up in a mental hospital because he could never "adjust" to civilian life after seeing combat.The losses in a war are manifold,some less apparent than others.While the Media focuses only on the ones who died,we must remember that there is more to lose than ones life.

The thing I keep seeing on this item is abstracts. Anybody here know anybody who died? I do. An old friend of mine was killed in Iraq, but he knew what he was doing and I dare to say that he wouldn't want people taking a huge politicized dump on his grave, so knock it off!

Iraq is an UNJUSTIFIED war, period. Iraq did not attack us but we attacked them in the name of "protecting" America from future attacks. Well, guess what, this will increase the chances of future attacks because now the Bush administration and it's idiotic policies have the whole world of Islam against us. The war in Afghanistan was JUSTIFIED because we are going after the people responsible for 9/11 (OBL being one of them). Now we have lost him because we have deverted most of our attention and troops to Iraq. We apparently learned nothing from the mistakes made in Vietnam because this looks like a mirror image of that tragedy.

Most troubling, bar none. I'm sorry, but you people trouble me. Our servicement/women promised to give their lives in defense of our country. And everyone here uses that as their excuse to rate this fairly low. But how does the war in Iraq defend our country? Has anyone, anywhere, proven any danger to the U.S. from Iraq? Obviously it's there now, with roadside bombs killing soldiers daily, not to mention insurgent attacks. But, need I remind you, before we arrived, there WHERE no insurgent attacks? These people are dieing needlessly, defending a flag that, I'm sorry to say, was under NO THREAT from Iraq. I'm just sad that no one else on here has bothered to raise this issue. I find it disturbing.

Any life affected is just as bad.

The loss of any life is tragic- whether it be a soldier or civilian. These brave men and women deserve our full support as they defend our freedom abroad each and every day at a personal risk to themselves. Even if you do not agree with this war on Iraq, I think that we should stop arguing, at least publically, about it to show those brave men and women that if they shall die, they did not die in vain, and that we support them in a situation in which they did not initiate and upon which they have no control. BIGBABY, I hope that your cousin returns home safely. God bless!

The second worst thing on this list. My cousin is currently stationed in Kuwait, awaiting the inevitable attack on Iraq. Our soldiers are dying for us, we should respect and honor every single one of them. Even if you disagree with what we are doing, remember that soldiers have no control over political issues.

Loss of life is losss of life, regardless if they raised the right hand to serve or not.

The Loss of American lives in action in any war is disturbing. Obviously, we must respect and honor the sacrifices that these soldiers have made to protect our freedoms. Many of them have families and lives. They gave all that up for the greater good of our country. For that, they will always have my respect and admiration.

I totally agree with Castlebee. Loss of life of any kind is a horrible tragedy. Why isn't one of those catagories number one then? It's defiently 'most troubling' to me. I think Americans are getting too wrapped up in the whole war thing and have failed to remember the real tragedy in all of this. People died. Innocent people died and are continuing to die and everyone cares about where Osama Freaking Bin Laden is. I don't know, I think false patriotism and self-importance is pretty darn troubling too. Where is that on this list?

The loss of ANY life is - or should be - troubling to the whole of mankind.

I agree with both magellan and ellajedlicka21 on this one. We must remember that all human life is prcious, not just that of Americans. Yes, it was sad to lose these people who died in the WTC, and yes, it was sad to lose lives in Mr. Bush's (unofficial) War, but it is making me sick to hear about all these innocent, young Afghan youths and their parents getting slaughtered. They have no friends. At least people care about the Americans who died. Take care, everyone!

It is always tragic to lose young lives as the result of a war. All the other things on this list can be repaired somehow, but not the loss of lives. Whether this military campaign will be beneficial or not, only time will tell.

Hopefully any loss of American lives in military action will go towards the prevention of countless more civilian lives from terrorist attacks. It is awful to start hearing reports of loss of life in our military, but given the context that we find ourselves in, it is not unexpected.