Did they really die for our "freedom"? (middle east, enemies, Taliban)
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This "die for our freedom" is an euphemism, a soldier never wants to be told that they're fighting for corporatocracy, profit, or preserving people's wasteful lifestyle.
If US is one day invaded by another power, people will rise up to fight themselves. Thus, conflicts that are fought not in safety of the nation is not wars for freedom. Seriously folks, was Vietnam ever a threat to US? Was Saddam ever a threat to US? Was any of these countries on the list below a serious threat to our freedom and safety? Or are those countries invaded for profit and geopolitics?
United States of America is an empire for the last 60 years, an empire with a history of invading sovereign nations, supporting torture, genocide, dictatorships, despots, and terrorism against civilians. Like usual empires, the citizens basked in a delusion of grandeur and mythology that ignores the very crime the citizens support, it's done with a powerful and insidious propaganda machine of heavily consolidated corporate media. The government and the media engage in many euphemisms and delusions to mask the true intentions. Ask little kids what US military is doing in Iraq, the most popular answer would be, "fighting for freedom".
Of course, I expect readers to not believe what I wrote, because sometimes, the truth is hard to swallow.
Quote:
Puerto Rico - 1950 - Military helped crush an independence rebellion in Ponce.
Korean War - 1951-53 - Military sent in during the war.
Iran - 1953 - The CIA orchestrated the overthrow of democratically elected Mossadegh and restored the Shah to power.
Vietnam - 1954 - The United States offered weapons to the French in the battle against Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh.
Guatemala - 1954 - The CIA overthrew the democratically elected Arbenz and placed Colonel Armas in power.
Egypt - 1956 - Marines deployed to evacuate foreigners after Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.
Lebanon - 1958 - Navy supported an Army occupation of Lebanon during its civil war.
Panama - 1958 - Troops landed after Panamanians demonstrations threatened the Canal Zone.
Vietnam - 1950s-75 - Vietnam War.
Cuba - 1961 - The CIA-directed Bay of Pigs invasions failed to overthrow the Castro government.
Cuba - 1962 - The Navy quarantines Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Laos - 1962 - Military occupied Laos during its civil war against the Pathet Lao guerrillas.
Panama - 1964 - Troops sent in and Panamanians shot while protesting the United States presence in the Canal Zone.
Indonesia - 1965 - The CIA orchestrated a military coup.
Dominican Rep- 1965-66 - Troops deployed during a national election.
Guatemala - 1966-67 - Green Berets sent in.
Cambodia - 1969-75 - Military sent in after the Vietnam War expanded into Cambodia.
Oman - 1970 - Marines landed to direct a possible invasion into Iran.
Laos - 1971-75 - Americans carpet-bomb the countryside during Laos’ civil war.
Chile - 1973 - The CIA orchestrated a coup, killing President Allende who had been popularly elected. The CIA helped to establish a military regime under General Pinochet.
Cambodia - 1975 - Twenty-eight Americans killed in an effort to retrieve the crew of the Mayaquez, which had been seized.
Angola - 1976-92 - The CIA backed South African rebels fighting against Marxist Angola.
Iran - 1980 - Americans aborted a rescue attempt to liberate 52 hostages seized in the Teheran embassy.
Libya - 1981 - American fighters shoot down two Libyan fighters.
El Salvador - 1981-92 - The CIA, troops, and advisers aid in El Salvador’s war against the FMLN.
Nicaragua - 1981-90 - The CIA and NSC directed the Contra War against the Sandinistas.
Lebanon - 1982-84 - Marines occupied Beirut during Lebanon’s civil war; 241 were killed in the American barracks and Reagan “redeployed” the troops to the Mediterranean.
Honduras - 1983-89 - Troops sent in to build bases near the Honduran border.
Grenada - 1983-84 - American invasion overthrew the Maurice Bishop government.
Iran - 1984 - American fighters shot down two Iranian planes over the Persian Gulf.
Libya - 1986 - American fighters hit targets in and around the capital city of Tripoli.
Bolivia - 1986 - The Army assisted government troops on raids of cocaine areas.
Iran - 1987-88 - The United States intervened on the side of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War.
Libya - 1989 - Navy shot down two more Libyan jets.
Virgin Islands - 1989 - Troops landed during unrest among Virgin Island peoples.
Philippines - 1989 - Air Force provided air cover for government during coup.
Panama - 1989-90 - 27,000 Americans landed in overthrow of President Noriega; over 2,000 Panama civilians were killed.
Liberia - 1990 - Troops entered Liberia to evacuate foreigners during civil war.
Saudi Arabia - 1990-91 - American troops sent to Saudi Arabia, which was a staging area in the war against Iraq.
Kuwait - 1991 - Troops sent into Kuwait to turn back Saddam Hussein.
Somalia - 1992-94 - Troops occupied Somalia during civil war.
Bosnia - 1993-95 - Air Force jets bombed “no-fly zone” during civil war in Yugoslavia.
Haiti - 1994-96 - American troops and Navy provided a blockade against Haiti’s military government. The CIA restored Aristide to power.
Zaire - 1996-97 - Marines sent into Rwanda Hutus’ refugee camps in the area where the Congo revolution began.
Albania - 1997 - Troops deployed during evacuation of foreigners.
Sudan - 1998 - American missiles destroyed a pharmaceutical complex where alleged nerve gas components were manufactured.
Afghanistan - 1998 - Missiles launched towards alleged Afghan terrorist training camps.
Yugoslavia - 1999 - Bombings and missile attacks Carried out by the United States in conjunction with NATO in the 11 week war against Milosevic.
Iraq - 1998-2001 - Missiles launched into Baghdad and other large Iraq cities for four days. American jets enforced “no-fly zone” and continued to hit Iraqi targets since December 1998.
I only read a few replies and was saddened by how hastily some attacked your thoughts. The honest truth is that you're absolutely right and it's also a sentiment that I hold dear as well. It isn't to say that we don't appreciate the military defense, but Americans are not nearly as honest as other countries tend to be regarding their military.
The fact of the matter is that we haven't been fighting for our freedoms for quite a while. The phrase is propaghandizement that I fear a lot of Americans have yet to understand. One has to understand, unfortunately, that war and military lifestyle isn't natural, it isn't easy, and although its service is necessary, would young, healthy, innocent men allow themselves to become allured by its attraction if they weren't inundated with the constant propaghanda of how much good they're doing for their own peoples, and how many freedoms they're protecting? Of course not. No one wants to realize the realities of war and politik and realize you're fighting for Corporatism and Idealogy rather than freedom.
But, smart, rational people understand this. It's simply honest.
per op
that may not have been their initial intent but in fact that is what happened.
takes guts to be a soldier or a cop, they got it.
you know i have noticed the names of the soldiers now-- its lopez, rodriguez and gomez. used to be smith, jones and johnson. did our courage go south?
ohh, i was referring to us, as in the USA. Not the actual soldiers.
That's a good question. Sometimes, I hear people say, "We want to thank those men and women for their service overseas." First, I support the military because they are often brave enough to go into situations that many non-military wouldn't. But, to answer your question, freedom is an ability to live without shackles. I do believe that anti-US terrorism is a threat. It may not be completely foreign-created, but there are people that would love to destroy this country and/or put us under their way of life. To me, that threatens my freedom. So, the Iraqi War is obviously corrupt and those guys shouldn't be over in these amounts and for this amount of time, so when I hear people talk about how they are over there fighting for our freedoms, I kind of don't understand completely. Yea, there are probably terrorists operating there, but that's not the only reason we are there. So, anytime a war is fought and it is not for the defense of the US people then I don't think you can say they are fighting for our freedom. They are fighting for US economy, US foreign relations and those who benefit financially from the results of that war. I do think we should support our military though because every healthy and successful country is going to need a good military or they would be bullied and sitting ducks. One thing is for sure though, most US soldiers are fighting for the people of the US. They believe that and yes, are fed that, but at least that's what is in their heart.
This "die for a freedom" is an euphemism, a soldier never wants to be told that they're fighting for corporatocracy, profit, or preserving people's wasteful lifestyle. /clip
wow! quite informative.
thanks
On a further note, im not asking to disrespect the US military, nor those that elect to go in. It's a genuine question. I beg you to show me different.
Wow, that's awfully nice. Instead of granting liberals the common decency that they are living breathing fully-functioning human beings capable of intelligent and rational thought, you reduce them to a disease.
Proof that when it comes to hate, liberals hate bad ideas while conservatives hate people who have different ideas.
Last edited by mhouse2001; 01-01-2010 at 11:11 PM..
This is something I've thought about for quite sometime. Im sure many people will be "outraged" by me saying this, but isn't the whole saying "our soldiers are fighting/dying for our freedom" not really an accurate sentiment? I mean, come on, Iraq, Nam, Korea? None of these wars were fought for our "freedom".
Furthermore, it's been decades since we really fought for our freedom. I think WWII might have been the last time that we truly fought for our freedom.
And before WWII i can only think of two other wars, the Revolution (American) and the war of 1812.
I guess it's just a feel good sentiment. Am I way off base? What say you?
I agree with you, but at the same time I believe every war we fought had good intentions at the time.
I believe every war we fought had good intentions at the time.
thanks, but i dont agree with you on the "every war that we fought" part.
There was no reason (in my opinion) for us to go into Iraq, and i dont know much about the Nam war, but from what i hear, it was pointless too.
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