www.CostaRicaTicas.com

That is just morally wrong. These older vets are out of the spotlight, so no one gives a shit. It is terrible. Regardless of your politics, we should all be ashamed that this is going on in our country.

YO Irish Drifter:

Bravo and thanks for your effort in remembering the troops. Unfortunately, it will probably be lost on death ears for many on this site.

Jprimm, what ever. You're an asshole. Got to be in the top 1% of people I care to never meet.

Pelo de Gato: At least you sent a card and I thank you for that. I do wonder if you really actually support the troops. I tend to doubt that you have ever sent emails, letters or sent packages to them. That is real support.

El Ciego: Why don't you ask for your card back because you apparently have little regard for the troops and what they are trying to do. I completely disagree with your assertions and frankly...I'm glad that you did not send that disrespectful message you spoke of. If I had received it while in harms way I would have had some hard feelings about it.

As for the VA: Yes, it is inept. HELLO !!! it's been that way for many years. And yes, I am one of those who cannot get medical benefits even though I was a grunt and certainly saw my share of action in Vietnam.

As for support. I abhor war and loss of military soldiers but once the war begins I am in it to win. To do less is to erode the support behind the men and women on that mission. For you that have never had to fight against an enemy in horrible conditions....you have no clue as to the horrors associated with it nor the eroding of moral due to politicians and flagrant left wing groups calling you names...i.e. baby killers, etc.

I've been in contact with a number of soldiers since we initially went into Afghanistan. I've sent packages, air conditioners, letters, emails and have relished my contact with many fine American men and women in harms way.

We are fighting a war against radical Islam and one that will be fought for many years. The last thirty to forty years has intensified and it is just the begining.

Someone inquired as to why I do not post much lately. I replied, "I don't feel comfortable on this venue any more." Perhaps it is time for this old vet to leave. YO.

Circus. Thank you for your sacrifice. Agree or disagree, your opinion deserves respect. Thank you for the message.

I generally agree with your premise. I just question weather this is a war that can be won militarily. Arabs hate our presence in Arabia. The longer we are there, the more Arabs that are killed, the more Arabs hate us. It is that hatred that is fueling the terrorist phenomenon. They just don't want us there. Period.

Imagine if things were turned around and if we had 600,000 Arab troops in Tanks roaming our streets? Remember the slogans from our revolution? Give me liberty ro give me death. As long as we have a military presence in the Middle East they are going to be sending terrorists or way. It is a simple equation. Who is to say that we would not do the exact same thing if they were occupying our country?

We need to figure out how to get out of the oil business. We are paying for both sides of the War on Terror. How stupid is that? Once oil is obsolete, we can get the hell out of there and the Arabs can go back to riding on camels and killing one another.

The best way to truly support the troops is too lobby the government for their return home. This is the biggest blunder in USA history . A war based on lies for profit.

How would we like it if we had foreign troops in the USA. I would think every patriotic american would take some shots at the invaders.

Every american supports the troops , after all they are our neighbors, sons and daughters, how could anyone be against them. To suggest otherwise is vile and unpatriotic.

Those with any common sense oppose their mission, which is totally illegal , immoral and therefor wrong.

Send a card instead to your representative urging him or her to end this senseless insanity.

Fine I'm a new guy but Phuck people Irish did a good thing why turn it sour. The people the cards are for are fighting people that want to kill all of us no mater what we think.

God I hate politics the worst soldier is better than the best politician. On a more positive note postage is huge in sending packages better off finding an organized effort and contributing or sending phone cards as was suggested.

ID did do a good thing. I like the phone card idea.

Different people have different ideas on how to best support the troops. The important thing is that we actually DO something. In the spirit in which the thread was intended, each of us that has posted should follow through on our own suggestions. Taking action is what counts. Talk is cheap.

Card sent.

I stand with Circus.
And also agree w/ Smelvis.
These freedoms we enjoy are the very reason we have been targeted.
Stratone

P.S. Anytime Government & Religion are mixed in any way you end up with shit soup.

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ALL FLASH, NO CASH !!!!!!

I am afraid that is nothing but Fox News / Right Wing propaganda sound bite my friend.

The terrorists are unequivocal about why they target us. It has nothing to do with our freedoms.

They want us out of THIER homeland and they hate us for our support of Israel. They see us as heathens occupying their holly land. That is not a political analysis, that is just a fact my friend. Nutty? Most certainly. But it has nothing to do with our freedoms and our way of life like some of the propagandists here in the US want us to believe.

I do agree with your general sentiment.

I emailed my congressmen yesterday. I will follow up with a call today.

KC- I respectfully disagree with your assessment of Stratone's post and with elements of your post as well. I do not have the time nor energy this afternoon to engage you in debate, nor do I find this to be the appropriate forum for same. But I would like to salute you for emailing and calling your congressman, no matter what your views, as at least you are one of the (seemingly) few Americans who cares enough to attempt to make a difference.

1. I dont' watch news on television. Nor am I right wing by any strech.
2. Being in the engineering business I have many friends from the middle east, especially from Iran.
I base my beliefs mostly on what I am told by them & their families still imprisoned in their own country.
3. I don't by any means think the US gobm't. is without flaw, contrair I think it's horribly flawed regardless of what side you want to examine.
But every single one of my Middle Eastern friends wants to stay over here and try to get their families and friends here too. At any cost.
There Im done no reason to debate, politics & religion there can be no winner, probably not even middle ground on that matter.
Stratone

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ALL FLASH, NO CASH !!!!!!

Most people do not understand that Iranians are not Arabs, they are Persians. Fact is Arabs and Persians don't like each other much.

You are right about one thing, there is also a very strong Pro-US faction in Iran and they hate the current religious government.

Another thing that we don't seem to get is that all of our saber rattling and threats of war only serves to make the extreme government in Iran stronger. Is that so hard to understand? We are only marginalizing the moderates in Iran with our threats of war.

If you look at the nationalities of the terrorists, most are from Saudi Arabia. Very few if any are from Iran. What really pissed of Bin Ladden is when the Saudi government allowed the US bases during the Gulf War in what the religious extremist regarded as their holly land. This is the exact time when the Mojahadine (sp?) turned their attention on us. Bin Laddin wanted to be the one that removed Sudam Hessian from Qatar the same way they kicked the Soviets out of Afghanistan. When the Saudi government turned to the USA Bin Laddin declared war on both the Saudi Government and the US government. This is historical fact.

Bin Laddins stated goal is to get us out of Arabia and to crush Israel. This is the exact same dynamic as when Bin Ldden went after the Soviets to get them out of Afganistan. Guess what? When the Soviets left Afganistan, Bin Ladden left the Soviets alone. It had nothing to do with their "Athiestic" government or ideology. They just wanted them out, just like they want us out. It is very simple. When the Government tells you something different, they are blowing smoke up your ass.

I am not a Republican, I am not a Democrat. I do not have a political agenda. I just get sick and tired of the bullshit misinformation that our government puts out there to justify self-serving policies. None of these assholes (Left or Right) are honest with us. The Left does not come up with any realistic solutions and do nothing blow smoke up our ass and find new ways to spend our money. The Right beats us over the head with their sound bite rhetoric that is just not grounded in reality. Unfortunately most Americans are so busy living their own lives that the bullshit just slides by without critical examination.

The whole thing just makes me sick. We have gone from the most respected country in the world to the least respected. Regardless of your political orientation, we should all be concerned and we should demand better.

Sorry ID ....... thank you again for the original post. We should all support our troops.

YO Everyone:

Kccostarica: I appreciate your cordial response and opinions. Personally, I lose it at times when this subject comes up....as I am torn between political folly and my experiences with war.

Were the potential problems addressed and thought out prior to our involvement in Iraq. NO. Since our own revolution in the late 1700's and wars that followed, have we ever anticipated the vast amount of problems prior to an engagement.....Hell no.

I do disagree with your assertion that Bin and the boys are doing their thing because we are in the middle east. It's been going on for a long time. Do consider that over 75% of wars, atrocities, terrorists and other fighting going on in the world is Muslim based. And by the way, Russia still has it's own internal problems with radical Islam.

You are correct in that the U.S. and other countries need to become independent of the middle east oil. Unfortunately, our environmentalist and lack of our historical inventive ways have kept that goal from happening. This will only happen when politicians realize that their personal vote gain is dimished by what our country sorely needs to remain solvent.

As for Israel: Remember, if they were left alone and not threatened...they would remain dormant and would have no need to attack neighbors. All wars against them have been started by their neighboring Islamic countries. Hell, with Clinton in office, they offered Arafat a huge amount of their land and concessions but being the terrorist he was he wanted nothing but the eradication of of the Jews.

They did indeed take a desert and turn it into a thriving place to live along with a structured government.

Back to the middle east: A pacific Islander friend once relayed a story to me contrasting his island history to the middle east. Not quoted but close.

He stated: "In our culture prior to the advent of others invading our shores, we basically had one major enemy...the volcano. It might remain dormant for many years but when it rumbled our chiefs would gather the brightest and prettiest / most handsome young members of our tribe and lead them to the top of the volcano. Then they were thrown into the bubbling volcanic fire. After the sacrifices, things would become calm for a number of years. When the volcano rumbled again....more sacrifices were made. It seemed to be a way to appease the Gods but we lost so many wonderful beings.

Do you not see the correlation of the volcano to the middle east?"

Perhaps so, I replied. It is true that history in the middle east has repeated for thousands of years with turmoil. Unfortunately, now in the 20th and 21st century we are having to throw our young soldiers into a volcano that is not nature's response.

Irregardless of one's politics, the world and not just this country, is in a fight for survival from terrorists. Personally, I feel it is best to attack them not only throughout the globe but in their back yard.

Just my opinion.

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Damn if I'm going to repeat this shit again. I need a drink.
I've been drinking vodka every day for 45 years and I have certainly never found it to be habit forming.

Thanks Cirus,

Here is the problem Cirus, the terrorists are all coming out of the fanatical religious schools (medraisis) in Saudi Arabia. So if we are going to go after the terrorist, then lets cut out the bullshit and go after them where they originate. Rest assured, that will never happen.

The Saudi government is the one paying for these schools. Saudi Arabia (and to a lesser extent Jordan and Eygpt) is the hot bed of terrorism, not Iraq and not Iran.

For Christ sake, Bin Laddin was a sworn enemy of Sadam Hussain. He hated his secular government. It just kills me that our government is still trying to convince us that they were collaborators. It is just insane.

IMHO none of this has anything to do with terrorism. They are filling us full of shit. Alan Greenspan had the courage to tell the truth. This is about oil and maintaining our influence in the region, pure and simple. I don't really have a problem with that, because that is the truth and Americas will never stand for paying $5 a gallon for gas. So this is what our government does on our behalf.

We have one hell of a mess on our hands now. There is no damn way we can just pull out without massive genocide. Meanwhile our politicians just continue to fill us full of shit (both sides). No one is accountable for anything. All we get are bs slogans, sound bites and excuses. I hate it.

BTW, I am not Anti-Israeli. I think they are their own worst enemy at times. They have done a lot to make matters worse.

Interestingly, there are 2 models for dealing with terrorism. The Israelis w/ the Palastinians and The British and the IRA. The Israeli approach has never produced long term results. For a long time the British did the same in Northern Ireland. The British eventually beat the terrorist in Northern Ireland by sucking up to the moderates in Northern Ireland and making peace with them. Then they let the moderates in Northern Ireland deal with the radicals. It worked. Something to think about it.

Gentleman,

May I respectfully request that you take your discussion of US foreign policy, terrorism, oil dependency, Bin Laden, etc. to another venue and leave this thread to what it was orignally intended:

A TRIBUTE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR ARMED FORCES

Thank you

respectfully

Irish Drifter

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine