Quote Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
This was REALLY the wrong thread for this!!! So sorry to all!! :thumbsup:
The poem that started this thread was not written recently. It was, in fact, written several years before the Iraq invasion - and preceded 9/11, also.

â??A Soldierâ??s Christmasâ?ť was written by Captain Michael Marks December 7th, 2000
A Soldier's Christmas was the first in this series of patriotic writings, drafted on Pearl Harbor Day 2000 when in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election our nation saw the right of US Armed Forces personnel openly questioned and debated. I felt it unconscionable that at the onset of the Christmas season, those serving to defend our nation would hear anything but our love and support. It is our challenge to stand for their rights at home while they stand for our lives and safety overseas. This poem went out and quickly spread around the world in emails, letters, magazines. I received letters from Marines in Bosnia, soldiers in Okinawa, from a submariner who xeroxed a copy for everyone on his sub. Moms wrote, dads, brothers and sisters. I have saved and cherish every letter and set out to continue writing throughout the year. http://www.wusatv9.com/special/soldiergreetings.aspx

It's becoming a somewhat meaningless cliche, this habit of everyone saying,â?ť I support the troops". Just for pointing that out, I feel that I must say it myself, so: I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

I'm not sure that I support the regime(s) that will result from our intervention in Iraq, though. If people do not fight for democracy themselves, do they really deserve it? I don't know, given the religious climate in the Middle East, if anything remotely resembling a democracy is even possible over there. Does that kid in the picture, or her parents, have even the slightest fucking idea of what freedom is about, and the personal responsibilities it entails? I doubt it, and don't see them becoming very "enlightened" anytime soon.

I know that this was not the intention of the original posting of the thread, but these questions bother me. The fact that our armed forces are putting their lives in harm's way in Iraq, and many are dying or becoming injured, does not sit well with me. Money makes the world go â??round, and thatâ??s what it seems to boil down to. If the Iraqis think that that they will have more money, they will tell their kids to wave the American, or any other nationsâ??, flag.

It's only my opinion.