I have been hearing that while getting my affairs in order for the deployment to Afghanistan I was given short notice that I was going on. (less than 5 weeks)
My co-worker on the Ambulance was the first to say that when I let him know. My Shift Supervisor was the second when she found out. My wife got that comment from the principle at our oldest daughter's school, our neighbor, and one of the park mothers. As time has gone on, I've been keeping track as we let people know.
People seem to have forgotten that we are still fighting in Afghanistan. No one is protesting it, the news hardly talks about it, and still we have troops there getting killed and wounded.
More thoughts, most negative about the anti-war movement in the Democratic party, after the fold.
I started asking people when they thought the war was over. They give two points in general when they thought that. One is December of 2011. (when the last of the Combat troops left Iraq as per the Bush time line that Obama refused to speed up and even tried to get extended)
Ok, I'll by the confusion, but it has been two more years since then, surely the number of news reports about US Soldiers being killed in Afghanistan (more than under Bush) should be a clue we are still at war.
The other date is early February 2013. When Obama announced that in two years the war would end, maybe, BUT we would keep 50,000 Soldiers there for ten years.
Either way, what happened to "I will end the wars the day I take office?" What happened to the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the wars in the middle east? This person kept troops in Iraq for two more years, expanded the bombing of other nations, expanded the War in Afghanistan and under his leadership saw more Soldiers killed in two years of the war than Bush saw in his 8. Now this person who orders the drone killings of possible suspected terrorists and anyone near them, who claims that as President he can order the murder of a US Citizen with out a trial, who wants to take unilateral action (bomb with out UN approval) a nation in the middle east, is sending me over.
And no one is protesting? Oh there are several online petitions. But lets be honest, there was no anti-war movement, there was only an anti-Bush movement. Once Obama took over, everything he has done is ok. He can do things that would have riots in the streets if a GOP president tried because the anti-war left really does not care.
In 2002 when I was called up, quakers were standing on the corner of State and Aurora in Ithaca NY holding signs calling for peace. In 2003 when I got called up the second time, small groups joined them saying "no blood for oil". In early 2008 when I came off deployment, the quakers were the only ones standing there, and by December they were gone and never came back.
I voted for Obama in 2008 BECAUSE he said he would end the wars and bring the troops home. In 2012 I did not vote for him, I picked one of the third party people. And now in 2013, i'm still going to war under the direction of the Nobel Peace Prize winning president.
The last times I deployed i felt good that people were using their free speech to express distain for the wars. When I would see news reports of mass marches and protests, I knew that the people of the US wanted us home safe. Now I realize they did not care about the Soldiers. Just their 15 minutes of fame and getting rid of the GOP president.
Then I felt glad to hear opposing voices that were not Ron Paul. Now the only opposing voice is Rand Paul.
Buzzfeed reported it best: "“What antiwar movement?” former Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked when called for comment on Wednesday."
I feel we are letting a man get away with all sorts of wrong just because he put a "D" after his name but is acting like he has an "R". We were lied to.