Army Ranger Kills Himself--- before we get too excited about Obama foreign policy

If you don't see how your thread title is pretty much being flippant with this tragedy then I am really not sure what to tell you.

This thread title just seems like the same kind of Basso thread titles that we see clogging the D & D.

 

Dude, where exactly did I criticize anybody? If you can handle a weapon in your hands, fine. If you can’t, fine. I’m not making a judgment here.

And no, I’m not going to answer your last query because I don’t know them, but they both sound like men that I wouldn’t mind having in my foxhole. One because of his sense of duty, the other because you really want somebody that can give you a chuckle now and then when bullets are flying past you.

They signed the dotted line on their own accord. Good god damn enough for me.

But you would rather play god with their lives.

You would kill a man to satisfy your need of a friend.

But now I understand. You lost a dear one. I’d be really hurt too. So peace to you.

 

Keep in mind that Obama had always said he would be flexible with deadlines depending on what was going on.

 

Go back to lurking.

 

actually, ron paul has promised to immediately bring all the troops home. maybe that is why he has more donations from the military than all other republican candidates combined. he is also the only candidate on either side who actually served in the military.

 

Oh yea Im a huge Paul supporter and even though he's doing much better in the polls this time around and has really made a name for himself he just doesn't have the chance to become the republican nominee.

 

be that as it may, paul is a republican who has promised to bring the troops home. if that is your main voting issue than the choice is clear, whether you are a republican, democrat or independent.

i agree that the GOP will never give him the nomination though. but if they actually wanted to win in 2012 they would.

 

So the name of another poster is an ad hominen attack now?

Those certainly aren't flippant issues. Your thread title though is being flippant since you took a tragedy and then put a play on another thread title to criticize it.

We have seen that type of behavior frequently here from above mentioned poster so this is any thing but ad hominem.

Having passion is one thing this is little class. Again its like the ridiculous punny thread titles that we see here often. I'm sure the authors of those would say that they are just showing passion.

You could've made your point with some decorum and respect for the life of the soldier who died but I guess in your mind that would just undermine your passion. If anything you haven't succeeded in reminding people of the issue but have derailed your own thread from the outset.

 

And to me, that points out the salient problem with his death... a failure on the part of the military (the Army, in this case) to identify someone who was becoming suicidal, who had probably done, and taken, all that he could, and should have left the service, gotten the help that he and his family clearly needed, with a pension and longterm healthcare from a grateful nation. That's where the train ran off the rails.

 

I think you're using "legitimate" differently than I am. You mean -- in appealing to 'just war' -- whether it is morally justifiable. I meant legitimate as the true expression of the will of the people. Military suicides may change people's minds about the war and undermine the legitimacy (in my definition) of our continued participation, but I don't think it is a reflection of legitimacy in itself.

Not that you should stop complaining. Suicides and combat deaths and collateral damage of Americans and Afghans and Iraqis aren't good and Americans can find it too easy to not think about these things. I just don't think it is only thoughtlessness that prolongs this war. The real possibility of lawlessness, atrocity, dictatorship and extremism (with more and bigger fights down the road as a result) if we were to leave prematurely is a motivation to stay and fight.

That's where this thread got off the rails too. That's what we should have been talking about here, since as citizens we really should demand our military do a better job of taking care of our soldiers' physical and mental well-being.

 

Exactly, JV. While glynch and I disagree often, we also agree often, as well. Here, I have to disagree. A soldier's death in this fashion doesn't need to be held up as an example of the "problems" of the President's foreign policy. Sadly, disturbed people, in and out of the service, take this path far too often. We should concentrate on finding ways to help them, get them back to as normal a life as they can lead, given their individual circumstances. There are plenty of topics relating to Obama's foreign policy that are worthy of a thread, but this incident isn't one of them.