Soldiers in Mosul speak out

While I agree with the sentiments and think it is representative of the whole--I doubt it will do much convincing as it's a little bit of preaching to the choir.

After all, they're talking to Hannity--who is something of a polarizing figure for the left. Those soldiers that persuasion don't like him probably would be disinclined to talk to him, hence skewing the "sample" even further in one direction.

Just something to consider.

yeah ok, I had the same thought AL. But Hannity isn't putting any words in their mouths either.

He may have led them a bit with the questioning, but their answers were there long before Sean Hannity.

No, I'm not suggesting he was leading them. I'm saying those that are more inclined to talk to a Hannity (or a Franken) are those that already agree with them. As I reread the post I see where I screwed up in the writing.

I mean only that if you see a Hannity, and you don't like a Hannity, you're less likely to talk to a Hannity.

Accordingly, those that are left will tilt more in one direction than the other.

I gotta work on my blog typos, they are getting brutal lately.

Actually, if CNN or donkeys like Keith Olbermann showed up, I'm sure these soldiers had/would have the testicular fortitude(oh whoops I meant intestinal fortitude) to give them their opinion regardless of the reporters differing opinion and their reality on the ground in Iraq. Then again, I'm sure these great servicemen of ours are smart enough not to waste their lives knowing that their interview will collect dust or be magically edited or chopped to paint a picture that was not intended.
Hey, maybe some people who disliked Hannity spoke to Hannity and he magically edited out or threw it on the fox news shelf. Somehow I really doubt that.
I heard that most of the journalists don't even leave the green zone. The American public must be really comforted that they are getting an accurate picture of Iraq. Pretty Sad if you ask me. Was Hannity in the Green Zone? Maybe we can go with the left wing conspiracy theorists and the interview was staged in scripted! You never know! They have the UFO files on the history channel so the cover up and conspiracy must be true!

I wish choice parts of this could get wider dissemination, and be played over and over again. Public opinion will follow the lead of soldiers on the ground, if they know what those soldiers think. If they're willing to do what it takes, who are we to quit?

Fight the good fight!
Too bad the media so involved that our guys can't do anything without it being hyper-over-analyzed. This is a war and our troops are making the world safer for us. Let them do their job. Even if they must kill people, that's what war is sometimes about. Media should report, not broadcast live! I bet they wouldn't have had the stomach to let US win WW2 on either side of the world if they questioned everything as it happened and out of context. When the battles heated up and our boys started dying, the media would have cried and get us to pull everyone home. Hitler would have been emporer of the world and the US would be western Japan. Do what you gotta do! God Bless and Merry Christmas!
Jim

I know I'm late to this party, but you asked what a Normal(read as civilian) has to be tired about. What are we tired of? Guilt. Guilt for sending them out there. Guilt over families living through the difficulties of combat deployments, or worse. Guilt over that it all may be for naught. But mostly guilt for seeing you all suffer. We're tired of guilt.

Some of us, well, we feel responsible. And every single serviceman that gets messed over by this is our fault, our responsibility. We start worrying about our immortal soul and where it'll wind up. The Catholic Church changed its stance on what happens to the souls of soldiers who fight in wars, but it's never said much about 4f jerks like me who support decisions that send you all there.

It may not be combat. But it is something.

My husband and I are in the middle of watching Victory at Sea DVD series (NBC [!] 1952). It ought to be required watching for American citizens ... and NBC should run it prime time. Puts thing in perspective. I'm with the guy who said if today's media were reporting WWII we'd have lost. (Not to mention they wouldn't be around.) We were so close to losing so many times.

We need to remember this enemy doesn't wasn't to invade us. They want to destroy our civilization and could care less about sustaining a liveable GNP.

I particularly like the soldier who mentioned that every time we hear someone say that we can't win in Iraq, it feels like an expression of their lack of faith in us.

Can you explain why? That makes it sound like the soldiers are holding themselves responsible for the decisions of their superiors. Bad leadership decisions can put those soldiers in an unwinnable position. But why would that be the fault of the soldiers? Mistakes by the superiors are the responsibility of the superiors, and the soldiers are just doing their jobs honorably and respectably.

If we can't win in Iraq, it's the result of poor planning and poor decision-making from the top. And those who, for partisan reasons, won't admit to the poor decision-making and poor planning at the top shamefully try to deflect criticism by making it sound like a lack of confidence in Bush is a lack of confidence in the troops. Propping up bad leadership is more disrespectful to those who have to carry out the orders than criticizing the bad leadership.

i'm about to deploy to mosul and i would just like to know if anyone has been there and what it's like?