Beowulf
03-03-2007, 06:30 PM
I found this article in my monthly "Legion" magazine as I am a paid member of the American Legion. I've always liked Charlie Daniels and enjoyed a couple of free, (yes, free) concerts that he put on. Here's a couple of snippets and a link to the article. It's a very good read!
Q: What was your impression of the U.S. servicemembers you met on your trips to Iraq?
A: The things that are so wrong with American youth today that get them in trouble – laziness, sloth, disrespect and the like – all of these do not exist in the military. These kids are bright-eyed, healthy and motivated. They respond to authority. They care about each other. The phrase “no man left behind” is not a cliché with these young military men and women. It’s the real thing. I found morale to be good. I think they are doing great. They are in the middle of some really nasty, adverse conditions with bad guys always lurking outside the wire, but our troops are doing fine. They understand their mission. If we could take the media and politics out of this war for about six months, I think we’d get it close to being over.
Q: Why are you at odds with the media’s coverage of the war?
A: They are not giving the troops fair coverage. Ask anyone who has ever been in Iraq about CNN. They never report anything good. I think the bad things like Abu Ghraib should be reported but not rubbed in the face of the American people for 40 days with nothing good reported. There are so many good things that are happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. We freed a people who had been living under oppression for more than a quarter century.
Another thing we are doing is keeping Iran out of Iraq. I don’t think we would be gone 30 days before Iran would be crossing the border into Iraq. I saw American military doctors treating a little Iranian girl who had some sort of disease; I didn’t see a television camera within miles to record our humanitarian efforts.
http://www.legion.org/?section=publications&subsection=pubs_mag_index&content=pub_mag_believe_0307
Q: What was your impression of the U.S. servicemembers you met on your trips to Iraq?
A: The things that are so wrong with American youth today that get them in trouble – laziness, sloth, disrespect and the like – all of these do not exist in the military. These kids are bright-eyed, healthy and motivated. They respond to authority. They care about each other. The phrase “no man left behind” is not a cliché with these young military men and women. It’s the real thing. I found morale to be good. I think they are doing great. They are in the middle of some really nasty, adverse conditions with bad guys always lurking outside the wire, but our troops are doing fine. They understand their mission. If we could take the media and politics out of this war for about six months, I think we’d get it close to being over.
Q: Why are you at odds with the media’s coverage of the war?
A: They are not giving the troops fair coverage. Ask anyone who has ever been in Iraq about CNN. They never report anything good. I think the bad things like Abu Ghraib should be reported but not rubbed in the face of the American people for 40 days with nothing good reported. There are so many good things that are happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. We freed a people who had been living under oppression for more than a quarter century.
Another thing we are doing is keeping Iran out of Iraq. I don’t think we would be gone 30 days before Iran would be crossing the border into Iraq. I saw American military doctors treating a little Iranian girl who had some sort of disease; I didn’t see a television camera within miles to record our humanitarian efforts.
http://www.legion.org/?section=publications&subsection=pubs_mag_index&content=pub_mag_believe_0307