This blog explores both historical and current events guided by the thought of the leading thinkers, past and present, of this school or movement of theology. Refer to the Classic Posts, Great and Contemporary Thinkers, various links of all kinds, in addition to the Archives themselves. David is the founder and manager of this website, but many friends contribute to it on a regular basis.
See Michelle Malkin's link for a video; here is a transcript:
Sgt. Seavey Yes sir my name is Mark Seavey and I just want to thank you for coming up here. Until about a month ago I was Sgt Mark Seavey infantry squad leader, I returned from Afghanistan. My question to you, (applause)
"Like yourself I dropped out of college two years ago to volunteer to go to Afghanistan, and I went and I came back. If I didn't have a herniated disk now I would volunteer to go to Iraq in a second with my troops, three of which have already volunteered to go to Iraq. I keep hearing you say how you talk to the troops and the troops are demoralized, and I really resent that characterization. (applause) The morale of the troops that I talk to is phenomenal, which is why my troops are volunteering to go back, despite the hardships they had to endure in Afghanistan.
"And Congressman Moran, 200 of your constituents just returned from Afghanistan. We never got a letter from you; we never got a visit from you. You didn't come to our homecoming. The only thing we got from any of our elected officials was one letter from the governor of this state thanking us for our service in Iraq, when we were in Afghanistan. That's reprehensible. I don't know who you two are talking to but the morale of the troops is very high."
Sen. Moran: "That wasn't in the form of a question, it was in the form of a statement. But, uhh... let's go over here." [Taking next question].
You're dodging the main points that he brings up in this interview, which include but are not limited to the following:
1. Military readiness 2. Fighting the real War Against Terror 3. Diplomacy will determine the success of Iraq not military action 4. Nation building is not possible in the midst of a civil war 5. Imperial objectives are hurting American reputation around the world, which makes diplomacy on other issues more difficult 6. The War cost is draining our Nat'l Budget and therefore hurting Americans
I'm not dodging, David -- I was on my lunch break and thought I'd pass along a note that other "war veterans" beg to differ. Murtha has his own opinions on the state of the WOT, I've read other bloggers and critics (some of them on the ground in Iraq and as such, are in a better position to offer their judgement than the Senator). General Abizaid, for instance, spoke recently to the Naval War College regarding the current status of the war on terror.
Last month (or was it December?) when you posted left-wing professor Juan Cole's "10 Myths about Iraq", I countered with James Philips' Dispelling myths about Iraq (SperoNews). I had also recommended the reporting of Arthur Chrenkoff's "Good News from Iraq / Afghanistan" (circa. 2004-2005) and presently that of Michael Yon (of whom you're aware) and Bill Roggio.
I know some of our mutual friends would dismiss it as "neocon propaganda", but I would add to that coverage of the Iraqi/American blogging collective No End But Victory and the military paper "This Week in Iraq". Simply put, there's a great deal out there that counters the viewpoints of Senator Murtha.
Just when you thought Madame Chiang was cold in her grave, we now must endure Michele Malkin, every American's answer to Ilse Koch. And, of course, the phoney holier-than-thou of Sgt. Seaver who would have us believe that he would enthusistically re-up if it just weren't for that darn disk of his. Easy, isn't it, to ride the high horse when the facts don't require much of you.
What's truly pity-inspiring about veterans like Seaver is their desperate need to find significance in their service in the teeth of all the lies and the manipulations that occasioned it. But of greatest concern is it's evolution into a kind of FreeKorp, stabbed-in-the-back mentality when, in a few years, it's utter futility is utterly grasped. Here undoubtedly is the material of the debased jingoism of the local news and of the police and authority worship of the Bush first, bombs away Evangelical. Maybe the next time Sgt. Seaver goes to a political meeting it will be to beat someone up. I'd worry about that.
4 comments:
War Veteran Sgt. Mark Seavey confronted Democrat Reps. Jim Moran and John Murtha at a town hall meeting in Arlington, Va. at a town meeting in early January 2005.
See Michelle Malkin's link for a video; here is a transcript:
Sgt. Seavey Yes sir my name is Mark Seavey and I just want to thank you for coming up here. Until about a month ago I was Sgt Mark Seavey infantry squad leader, I returned from Afghanistan. My question to you, (applause)
"Like yourself I dropped out of college two years ago to volunteer to go to Afghanistan, and I went and I came back. If I didn't have a herniated disk now I would volunteer to go to Iraq in a second with my troops, three of which have already volunteered to go to Iraq. I keep hearing you say how you talk to the troops and the troops are demoralized, and I really resent that characterization. (applause) The morale of the troops that I talk to is phenomenal, which is why my troops are volunteering to go back, despite the hardships they had to endure in Afghanistan.
"And Congressman Moran, 200 of your constituents just returned from Afghanistan. We never got a letter from you; we never got a visit from you. You didn't come to our homecoming. The only thing we got from any of our elected officials was one letter from the governor of this state thanking us for our service in Iraq, when we were in Afghanistan. That's reprehensible. I don't know who you two are talking to but the morale of the troops is very high."
Sen. Moran: "That wasn't in the form of a question, it was in the form of a statement. But, uhh... let's go over here." [Taking next question].
You're dodging the main points that he brings up in this interview, which include but are not limited to the following:
1. Military readiness
2. Fighting the real War Against Terror
3. Diplomacy will determine the success of Iraq not military action
4. Nation building is not possible in the midst of a civil war
5. Imperial objectives are hurting American reputation around the world, which makes diplomacy on other issues more difficult
6. The War cost is draining our Nat'l Budget and therefore hurting Americans
I'm not dodging, David -- I was on my lunch break and thought I'd pass along a note that other "war veterans" beg to differ. Murtha has his own opinions on the state of the WOT, I've read other bloggers and critics (some of them on the ground in Iraq and as such, are in a better position to offer their judgement than the Senator). General Abizaid, for instance, spoke recently to the Naval War College regarding the current status of the war on terror.
Last month (or was it December?) when you posted left-wing professor Juan Cole's "10 Myths about Iraq", I countered with James Philips' Dispelling myths about Iraq (SperoNews). I had also recommended the reporting of Arthur Chrenkoff's "Good News from Iraq / Afghanistan" (circa. 2004-2005) and presently that of Michael Yon (of whom you're aware) and Bill Roggio.
I know some of our mutual friends would dismiss it as "neocon propaganda", but I would add to that coverage of the Iraqi/American blogging collective No End But Victory and the military paper "This Week in Iraq". Simply put, there's a great deal out there that counters the viewpoints of Senator Murtha.
Just when you thought Madame Chiang was cold in her grave, we now must endure Michele Malkin, every American's answer to Ilse Koch. And, of course, the phoney holier-than-thou of Sgt. Seaver who would have us believe that he would enthusistically re-up if it just weren't for that darn disk of his. Easy, isn't it, to ride the high horse when the facts don't require much of you.
What's truly pity-inspiring about veterans like Seaver is their desperate need to find significance in their service in the teeth of all the lies and the manipulations that occasioned it. But of greatest concern is it's evolution into a kind of FreeKorp, stabbed-in-the-back mentality when, in a few years, it's utter futility is utterly grasped. Here undoubtedly is the material of the debased jingoism of the local news and of the police and authority worship of the Bush first, bombs away Evangelical. Maybe the next time Sgt. Seaver goes to a political meeting it will be to beat someone up. I'd worry about that.
John Lowell
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