Interesting post from a former Marine

[AggiesAreWe]

I have a friend that was in the Marine Corp for 20+ years. He posted this on his Facebook page. Very interesting comments.

Here is the post:

 

I fought and lived through two wars, deployed 8 times, and served our nation faithfully for over 23 years, so pardon me if I don’t keep my mouth shut…

Please put your political party, your favorite news channel, and the people you have been told to hate aside for a few minutes, and just hear me out.

During my Marine Corps career, I served on two small advisor teams as the senior enlisted Marine in charge. The first was in 2007 in Fallujah, Iraq. The second was in 2012 around Now Zad, Afghanistan.

In Fallujah, we lived alongside the Iraqi Army. In Afghanistan, we lived alongside the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) . We ate with them. We trained with them. We went on missions with them. We fought beside them. We trusted them with our lives because we had no other choice.

Our teams were small, and we operated well beyond the immediate reach of American support. If something had happened to us, there were times when our command might not have known for hours, or even days. We were truly alone and unafraid, but we were never invulnerable.

At any point, one of those men could have slipped into where we slept and killed us. Do not think that thought did not cross my mind on more nights than I care to admit.

But it never happened.

That does not mean everything was perfect. It does not mean I trusted every person around me. We were lied to. We were sometimes misled. There were missions when the hair stood up on the back of my neck because I did not know whether we were walking into an enemy ambush, or whether the very people beside us might turn on us.

But they never did.

Those experiences did not make me naïve about terrorism, radicalism, or the dangers in that part of the world. They taught me something far more important: you cannot judge an entire religion, culture, or people by the actions of their worst members.

I saw goodness and deceit. Courage and cowardice. Loyalty and betrayal. Faith and hypocrisy. In other words, I saw the same things that exist in every country, every religion, and every political party, including our own. Fear in a child’s eyes looks the same in a Muslim as a Christian.

And before anyone lectures me about Iran, understand something: I have names tattooed on my leg belonging to men who were killed by explosively formed penetrators, the same type of deadly weapon that the United States military documented as being supplied or supported by Iran and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq. We have been fighting proxy wars with Iran for decades. I know what Iranian involvement has cost American service members because I carry part of that cost with me every day.

So no, this is not sympathy for the Iranian regime. It is not ignorance of Iran’s history. It is not forgetting the Americans who were killed.

It is simply asking:

At what point do we say enough is enough?

Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals. That fact does not, by itself, prove that the Saudi government planned or directed the attacks, and the 9/11 Commission did not establish that the Saudi government as an institution or its senior officials funded al-Qaeda. But the fact that fifteen hijackers were Saudi, and the unanswered questions many Americans still have, should at least make us willing to question how selectively our outrage and foreign policy are applied. We bomb Iran for being “two weeks away” from a bomb, but the country that started radicalizing their people with Wahhabism and proved 3/4 of the 9/11 hijackers gets a nuke deal…

We spent two decades in Afghanistan because al-Qaeda had been given sanctuary and training space there. Now, the United States is engaged in a military campaign against Iran while also entering into a major civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. To be accurate, it is not a nuclear weapons agreement, but it is a significant, decades long nuclear partnership, and Americans have every right to examine it closely and demand consistency from their government.

So please explain something to me:

In what way is the war with Iran part of an America First agenda?

How does it lower gas prices?

How does it lower grocery prices?

How does it make housing, insurance, electricity, or healthcare more affordable?

How does it help the working American who is struggling to keep food on the table?

How does it help our veterans, our children, our communities, or our economy?

How many more American sons and daughters must be placed in harm’s way while politicians give us another carefully rehearsed explanation for why this war is different from every other war?

America First cannot mean Americans come last when the bills arrive and the blood is spilled.

I truly believe both political parties have learned the same trick: keep Americans furious with one another so we never look up and hold the people in power accountable.

Republican against Democrat.

Conservative against liberal.

Christian against Muslim.

Black against white.

Native-born against immigrant.

Neighbor against neighbor.

They keep us fighting horizontally so we never look vertically.

Because a united American people who put truth, accountability, country, and conscience ahead of political parties would be a threat to every political machine that depends on our fear and division to remain in power.

This is not simply red versus blue anymore. It is truth versus manipulation. Conscience versus blind loyalty. Good versus evil.

And please do not tell me that we must accept the lesser of two evils.

The lesser of two evils is still evil.

It is okay to say your own party is wrong.

It is okay to admit that the person you voted for broke their promise.

It is okay to oppose something even when your political team supports it.

That is not betrayal. That is what citizenship and patriotism are supposed to look like.

Stop being yes men for politicians who would never send their own children to fight the wars they so easily begin.

Please open your eyes. Please look into your heart. Do not allow a politician, a television personality, an algorithm, or a political party to convince you that your neighbor is your enemy because he votes differently, looks differently, or worships differently.

I lived among Muslims. I ate with them. I trained with them. I distrusted some of them. I trusted others with my life. I fought beside them and they fought beside me.

That is reality.

Not a slogan. Not propaganda. Not something I learned from television.

I LIVED IT.

At some point, Americans must put our feet down and say:

Enough is enough.

America First must mean American lives first. American families first. American workers first. American veterans first. American communities first. American economic security first.

Not another politician’s ego.

Not another political party’s power.

Not another foreign government’s agenda.

And not another endless war.

It is time to stop hating one another.

Matthew 22:37–39 “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 

 

Thoughts on this Marine's point of view?

[OpEpsteinFury]

If I may - I politely ask you watch this video and tell me what your initial thoughts are 

 

[thetragichippy]

12 hours ago, AggiesAreWe said:

That does not mean everything was perfect. It does not mean I trusted every person around me. We were lied to. We were sometimes misled.

He obviously disagrees with the current administration on how to handle Iraq.  

Would he feel different if they built a Nuclear weapon and nuked an Army base? 

 

[OlDawg]

12 hours ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I have a friend that was in the Marine Corp for 20+ years. He posted this on his Facebook page. Very interesting comments.

Here is the post:

 

I fought and lived through two wars, deployed 8 times, and served our nation faithfully for over 23 years, so pardon me if I don’t keep my mouth shut…

Please put your political party, your favorite news channel, and the people you have been told to hate aside for a few minutes, and just hear me out.

During my Marine Corps career, I served on two small advisor teams as the senior enlisted Marine in charge. The first was in 2007 in Fallujah, Iraq. The second was in 2012 around Now Zad, Afghanistan.

In Fallujah, we lived alongside the Iraqi Army. In Afghanistan, we lived alongside the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) . We ate with them. We trained with them. We went on missions with them. We fought beside them. We trusted them with our lives because we had no other choice.

Our teams were small, and we operated well beyond the immediate reach of American support. If something had happened to us, there were times when our command might not have known for hours, or even days. We were truly alone and unafraid, but we were never invulnerable.

At any point, one of those men could have slipped into where we slept and killed us. Do not think that thought did not cross my mind on more nights than I care to admit.

But it never happened.

That does not mean everything was perfect. It does not mean I trusted every person around me. We were lied to. We were sometimes misled. There were missions when the hair stood up on the back of my neck because I did not know whether we were walking into an enemy ambush, or whether the very people beside us might turn on us.

But they never did.

Those experiences did not make me naïve about terrorism, radicalism, or the dangers in that part of the world. They taught me something far more important: you cannot judge an entire religion, culture, or people by the actions of their worst members.

I saw goodness and deceit. Courage and cowardice. Loyalty and betrayal. Faith and hypocrisy. In other words, I saw the same things that exist in every country, every religion, and every political party, including our own. Fear in a child’s eyes looks the same in a Muslim as a Christian.

And before anyone lectures me about Iran, understand something: I have names tattooed on my leg belonging to men who were killed by explosively formed penetrators, the same type of deadly weapon that the United States military documented as being supplied or supported by Iran and Iranian-backed groups in Iraq. We have been fighting proxy wars with Iran for decades. I know what Iranian involvement has cost American service members because I carry part of that cost with me every day.

So no, this is not sympathy for the Iranian regime. It is not ignorance of Iran’s history. It is not forgetting the Americans who were killed.

It is simply asking:

At what point do we say enough is enough?

Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals. That fact does not, by itself, prove that the Saudi government planned or directed the attacks, and the 9/11 Commission did not establish that the Saudi government as an institution or its senior officials funded al-Qaeda. But the fact that fifteen hijackers were Saudi, and the unanswered questions many Americans still have, should at least make us willing to question how selectively our outrage and foreign policy are applied. We bomb Iran for being “two weeks away” from a bomb, but the country that started radicalizing their people with Wahhabism and proved 3/4 of the 9/11 hijackers gets a nuke deal…

We spent two decades in Afghanistan because al-Qaeda had been given sanctuary and training space there. Now, the United States is engaged in a military campaign against Iran while also entering into a major civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. To be accurate, it is not a nuclear weapons agreement, but it is a significant, decades long nuclear partnership, and Americans have every right to examine it closely and demand consistency from their government.

So please explain something to me:

In what way is the war with Iran part of an America First agenda?

How does it lower gas prices?

How does it lower grocery prices?

How does it make housing, insurance, electricity, or healthcare more affordable?

How does it help the working American who is struggling to keep food on the table?

How does it help our veterans, our children, our communities, or our economy?

How many more American sons and daughters must be placed in harm’s way while politicians give us another carefully rehearsed explanation for why this war is different from every other war?

America First cannot mean Americans come last when the bills arrive and the blood is spilled.

I truly believe both political parties have learned the same trick: keep Americans furious with one another so we never look up and hold the people in power accountable.

Republican against Democrat.

Conservative against liberal.

Christian against Muslim.

Black against white.

Native-born against immigrant.

Neighbor against neighbor.

They keep us fighting horizontally so we never look vertically.

Because a united American people who put truth, accountability, country, and conscience ahead of political parties would be a threat to every political machine that depends on our fear and division to remain in power.

This is not simply red versus blue anymore. It is truth versus manipulation. Conscience versus blind loyalty. Good versus evil.

And please do not tell me that we must accept the lesser of two evils.

The lesser of two evils is still evil.

It is okay to say your own party is wrong.

It is okay to admit that the person you voted for broke their promise.

It is okay to oppose something even when your political team supports it.

That is not betrayal. That is what citizenship and patriotism are supposed to look like.

Stop being yes men for politicians who would never send their own children to fight the wars they so easily begin.

Please open your eyes. Please look into your heart. Do not allow a politician, a television personality, an algorithm, or a political party to convince you that your neighbor is your enemy because he votes differently, looks differently, or worships differently.

I lived among Muslims. I ate with them. I trained with them. I distrusted some of them. I trusted others with my life. I fought beside them and they fought beside me.

That is reality.

Not a slogan. Not propaganda. Not something I learned from television.

I LIVED IT.

At some point, Americans must put our feet down and say:

Enough is enough.

America First must mean American lives first. American families first. American workers first. American veterans first. American communities first. American economic security first.

Not another politician’s ego.

Not another political party’s power.

Not another foreign government’s agenda.

And not another endless war.

It is time to stop hating one another.

Matthew 22:37–39 “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 

 

Thoughts on this Marine's point of view?

Similar to many--I daresay most--who have served in similar situations. These situations happen all over the globe, and many never see the light of day either because they are considered clandestine, or they accomplish their objectives with no negative mission press.

Whether the situation involves a major campaign, smaller insurrections, drug cartels, or other objectives classified as 'National Security threats', those fulfilling the mission are always questioning their role.

They will continue to do so until they take their last breath.

I would say his thoughts are not uncommon.

[AggiesAreWe]

20 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

He obviously disagrees with the current administration on how to handle Iraq.  

Would he feel different if they built a Nuclear weapon and nuked an Army base? 

 

The part about being lied to and being misled was referring to the people in Iraq they were working with when he was with his unit in Iraq in 2007. Current admin was still selling realestate at that time.

BTW, current admin is dealing with Iran, not Iraq.

I don't always agree with my friend on things but I think his perspective here is well thought out and comes from experience and his heart.

[OlDawg]

Like him or not, George McGovern may have said it best.

"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

As I've said before, the impersonal nature of war today is a very dangerous thing. Leaders should be held accountable where young men and women aren't sacrificed needlessly. Especially when that sacrifice comes from a modern weapon that is sent by a faceless adversary who merely pushes a button.

Yes. There are 'just wars.' But, there should be some serious soul-searching by those who can--sometimes--remain unaccountable because of autonomous weapons.