Reply to comment.

1/19/06
Well, I'm not sure what you are trying to say. That may be the most rambling comment I have ever had. Do I understand you correctly? Are you actually telling me that I have no right to bitch? Remember what this country stands for. The troops are fighting for MY right to Bitch.

I will comment on your remarks in order.
1. I am not sure where 2,3,4 went but 1. Do I claim my Vietnam Veteran? I am not sure what that means but as I said in the original note, I served during the Vietnam era. No combat. So? What does that prove? Nothing.

I really don't think that because your father had problems you have any additional rights to muzzle me. What the protesters did to the returning vets was despicable. It is one of the reasons those same people now end every complaint about the war with "but I support the troops".

As most normal people, I do not wish for Jane's demise. I would really like it if she would just shut up.

Writing to the President or to Congress is an option. I chose to write about my issues here. If you don't like it, go bye-bye.

I am a product of the 60's and you can't wait for me to die? You feel the same about your parents? What about G W Bush? What about all the other products of the 60's? By the way, you have no idea if I am a product of the 60's. Since I was in the Military in the mid 60's, does that count? Does someone have to have been a hippy to qualify as a product of the 60's? If so, I guess I am not. Then again, some parts of the 60's were pretty good.

Oh yes, my Love Children that I couldn't raise. What the hell do you know about my family? I wish you Gen X kids would get involved in politics instead of spending your life whining about poor, poor pitiful You... If you want social security, you should have raised a stink and supported the president's plan for private funds. No. You guys gave us politically correct speech and Bill Clinton. Thanks.

Response to comment

1/17/06

At last! A comment from a "lib" that doesn't simply consist of some obscenity. You ask several questions. I will try to answer as I can in this reply.

Prove to you that we should have gone to Iraq.

Well, that might be hard to do. It depends on what you consider proof. Did you consider the first Gulf war a good reason to go to Iraq the first time? If so, are you aware that the first war was ended on a cease-fire in which Hussein agreed to certain things, including the continuing inspection of his country? Are you aware of the Oil For Food foolishness that was preventing proper UN supervision? What about the attempt to kill George H W Bush? Did Hussein shoot at American and British Airplanes in the area HE agreed was no-fly zones?

What about The recent revelation by Stephen F. Hayes in The Weekly Standard that Iraq under Saddam Hussein had ties to – and was training thousands of – terrorists in the years prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Or, the 9/11 Commission Report that clearly stated, “[Osama] bin Laden himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995.” http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/550kmbzd.asp

Did or didn't the US Congress vote to allow the war to take place? See: http://hnn.us/articles/1282.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_1441

Did or didn't almost all of the US Senators make statements that the Hussein regime was a threat to the US? Too many to document but check out press statements of Kerry, Clinton, et al at the time—not 2 years later.

Did of didn't George W Bush take the cause to the UN and didn't they unanimously approve the right of the US to enforce the original cease fire? See http://www.psr.org/home.cfm?id=Post_Gulf_War_U_N__Securi for a list of resolutions relating to WMD.

As for the WMD's, there has been some WMD’s found but I will ignore that. Regardless of the existence of WMD’s or lack thereof, the intelligence services of the US, UK, France, Germany, Egypt, Israel and others all stated he did have them. If you are the leader of a country and you believe that your enemy has both the capability and the desire to inflict damage on you, you MUST take action to prevent that damage. What would you and the great liberal left have said if President Bush had NOT attacked and we found out Hussein did have the WMD's when he or some group he sold them to used them in New York? There would have been rightful HELL to pay. A leader has to react to capabilities and intent. Imminent threat implies something in the nature of a bomb on the way.

Why didn’t he use them? I do not presume to be able to read his deranged mind. He may have already moved them to Syria. He may never have had them and had no generals to tell him that. I don’t know. But then again he may just have been more insane then we know.

If you doubt the truth of my statements of the absurdity of saying I support the troops but not what they are doing, ask a soldier. They would prefer peace also but they are doing what they signed up for. In large numbers, they think they are making a difference in Iraq. They think they are giving a country that was held in bondage a chance to be free. Maybe not American democratic government but a reasonably modified democracy that will perhaps make a major difference in the Middle East.

I suppose my biggest ire is directed at the people that say they support the troops and then in the next sentence say something like: “…that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," John Kerry.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47765
or perhaps Dick Durbin who: compared American behavior at Guantanamo Bay to the killing fields of Pol Pot, the Nazi concentration camps, and the Soviet Gulag. http://durbin.senate.gov/gitmo.cfm
In conclusion, I will say this again. You have the right to disagree with the war. You might even have an obligation to speak up about it if you do. No problems here. I simply object to the seemingly obligatory “but I support the troops” stuck at the end of any such protest. Don’t bother. They have seen the support many protestors give them.

One More Time

1/16/06
I'm going to try one more time. I only bother with explanations because there are such disingenuous people out there that try to argue that anything the military does is bad. Mr. Albanese, you argue as if all of our troops are draftees. The draft ended many years ago. You cannot but patronize the public and the troops with the often heard, "I support the troops, but I don’t support the war." If a person is a baker, if you denigrate his bread, constantly talk about how bad it tastes and how it is never fresh, you cannot honestly turn around and in the same breath say how wonderful the baker is. It is insulting and it is not true. A person may feel like he doesn't want to hurt the baker's feelings and so say what a wonderful baker he is. That does not change the evidence of your dislike of his products. I admit I am an armchair warrior. I am a veteran and I volunteered during the Vietnamese War. I did not, however see any combat. I do remember the military of that day and it consisted of people of several ilks. Some of them were drafted. They rightly hated where they were and what they were doing. There were those that enlisted and never expected to be involved with fighting. As far as the fighting was concerned, a lot of it was done by the volunteers that knew exactly what they were doing and why. Those are the ones that make up our entire military at this time. Repeat. There are no draftees in the military at this time. They almost unanimously support the leaders of this country. Never has one country invaded another for the purpose of improving the style of government in the occupied land, while simultaneously respecting the lives and resources of the people. This is a new endeavor and the success of it is evident in the 3 elections the people of Iraq have had within a year with very large turnouts dispite threats to the safety of the voters. You cannot ignore the purple fingers of fate. This time, there will be no sighning of the surrender to the cameras of the clamoring press. This time we use another standard. We will leave a country that is better off than it was. Remember, sir, we were attacked first. Ask the 3000 dead from Sept 11 about that. To say Saddam was not involved or there were no WMD's begs the question. You have to answer the primary question "are we at war or should we treat all these terrorists as criminals with complete protection of the very US Constitution they wish to subvert. If we are fighting criminals, I guess the proper response is to send an army of lawyers to fight them. Bill Clinton tried that approach before Sept 11. If that date is not important to you, ask the above mentioned 3000. If we are at war, help our army to be victorious in their battles. The war is not against Osama. It is not against Iraq. It is against the people that want to destroy this country and the way of life we have created in the most successful nation in history. You do not have to like the President. You do not have to like the Congress. You do not even have to like me. To like our troops, you have to support what they are so successfully doing.

Letter 16

1/5/06

Hey,
Just wanted to say hi and let you know how I'm doing. I haven't been able to get on her too much since I completely destroyed my laptop. I won't get into that too much, just make sure you never drop one. I'm doing okay. I have a room that I share with one other person, kind of reminds me of my college days, except no alcohol, no girls, and no fun. In case you didn't know, I'm located on Camp Falcon which is on the southern end of Baghdad. Not one of the larger bases, but at least we have a PX and a coffee shop. We have the only dining facility that requires eye wear in order to eat, but other than that the food isn't too bad. Not much here in the way of vegetation, just rocks and a lot of dirt. Baghdad is a wonderful place and you should come visit me. People here don't like dogs because they are filthy, yet they scavenge through the dump (which can be found on every street corner). Let's not even talk about how they never use toilet paper and just go to the latrine with a bottle of water. In case you didn't know, its to wash their hand when they are done using it. Of course they don't use utensils when they eat either, so washing their left hand with their right one and some running water probably isn't the best thing to do before going to eat. Other than that, they seem to be really friendly always coming up and shaking your hand and stuff. I've learned a few words in Arabic such as Hello, Goodbye, How are you, I'm good/bad, my numbers up through ten and a few odd words. I haven't learned words like soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, and deodorant yet, I'm not sure they translate. I've also learned how to write numbers and my name in Arabic. Well, I just wanted to let you all know I'm doing fine, no dysentery yet. Take care and please feel free to write me anytime and I'll get back as soon as I can. Here's my mailing address in case I didn't get it out to you.
Billy Engle
4th BDE CDO SPTT
Unit# 42508
APO AE 09361-2508