This is what being a marine is all about

[slateman]

Finish high school, get good grades. Talk about it with your parents.

It will be the single biggest commitment you make in your young life so far.

It will probably shape the rest of your life.

Uhhhh...I'm a sophmore/junior in college.

[Jack_Dubious]

I did my time, 83-87 1st MEF.

hey FOL i didnt know that! I thought you were just talkin the talk.

JDub

[FactsOfLife]

hey FOL i didnt know that! I thought you were just talkin the talk.

JDub

Yep straight out of HS. My old man was in, his old man was in. Wasn't much doubt about me going in.

And as an added bonus, I'm reminded of who the boot is in the family every time I see him.

[FactsOfLife]

Uhhhh...I'm a sophmore/junior in college.

College is great, it isn't in the same level of commitment joining the service is.

Last time I checked, going to college you weren't likely to be putting your life on the line.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

...
Last time I checked, going to college you weren't likely to be putting your life on the line.

...unless it's Kent State.

[FactsOfLife]

...unless it's Kent State.

....or you're stuck in the sixties...

[Jeffy-CanCon]

....or you're stuck in the sixties...

AND you're stuck in the sixties!

(couldn't help it, caught a documentary on the subject recently on the History Channel)

[FactsOfLife]

AND you're stuck in the sixties!

(couldn't help it, caught a documentary on the subject recently on the History Channel)

Kent State was a seriously messed up piece of history.

[taylor492]

I dont mean to hijack this thread but i was crusin around and found this. Its a good read.

http://www.legacy.com/azcentral/Guestbook.asp?Page=Guestbook&PersonID=2163592

[Cobra_Clark]

Good read. But I think Fallujah needs to be carpet bombed into oblivion.

yeah it does for sure, Im tired of hearing about our boys getting killed there

[Konigballer]

I'm sure carpet bombing Fallujah to the ground would really swing the war our way

I mean, using B-52's to fight guerillas worked so well in Vietnam......

Actually that city pisses me off to, and sure anihalating that city would kill alot of guerillas, but we would lose the political war just like we did in Vietnam. Guerilla wars are not about body counts and enemy KIA, that doesnt matter to those people. Its the political war that decides victory, razing fallujah to the ground would just completly open the flood gates for even more foreign fighters to strengthen the growing "home grown" iraqi guerilla force. The politacal fall out would be tremendous, just look at all the crap we're taking for the prisoner abuse scandal.

As bad as that scandal is for our image, its really very minor compared to things we've done in other wars. Anyone who has read alot of military history can reference up some real "atrocities". If we bombed Falluah to the ground, just imagine what would happen as soon as the networks flash images of dead women and children in bombed out lunar landscapes, it would not be good.

[devildog]

what needs to happen is we need to get the cameras get out of that country, so the marines can do what they are there to do, without the "mothers of america" whining about iraqis dieing. let me clue you in moms, its a war, people die.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

While I am confident that if you kill enough Iraqis the survivors will eventually submit peacefully, I am equally confident that no Western government has the political will to do so. It would also mean a political death (domestically) and irreparable damage to foreign relations. Meanwhile, anything short of that kind of unrestrained violence only seems to strengthen the resistance.

I thought the Iraqis would be glad to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and to have a chance at the sort of democratic freedoms we enjoy in the West. But it appears now that all they want is revenge on their neighbours, and a chance to act on old hatreds (like in former Yugoslavia). The Occupation troops are in the way, delaying the start of their civil war.

[Konigballer]

i know the Iraqi's wanted Sadam gone but I don't remember them chanting for Democracy in the streets. I think thats a largely american goal.

I agree with you Jeffy-CanCon, the various factions in Iraq would much rather wait till we leave to start their civil war and let the strongest win. I'll bet they set up a government just like Iran and become more of a threat than they were when Sadam was kicking the crap outa' them.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

...
I'll bet they set up a government just like Iran and become more of a threat than they were when Sadam was kicking the crap outa' them.

You may be right. Like Iran, Iraq has a Shiite majority, and Saddam tended to rely on his own Sunni minority group to keep him in power. As I understand it, Bush figured that if he got rid of Saddam, the Shiites would be grateful and cooperative. Everyone forgot that it was Shiites in Iran who coined the nickname "Great Satan" for the USA. So now the Sunnis are mad because they lost power, and the Shiites are mad because the US Army is till there.

At least the Kurds are still on our side. For now. How long will they wait before realizing that the West will not support their desire for an independent homeland?