I am not a supporter of the war, but I do support our troops that are in harms way. With the level of non information coming out of Iraq, a video like this helps to remind people what is going on over there. If anything I should have added a *political tag as well as *worldaffairs

I don't agree that it's snuff, in that a video is intended to show the death of people for the visceral curiosity of humans.

I understand that lives were lost here, and I think that if anything this video shows the level of resolve the opposition force has in Iraq and what our military personnel are dealing with on a daily basis.

Wow... I have never seen religion used to actually contradict the beliefs of a Faux News "reporter". I almost have to give them props for this... except that it's all a grand stand stunt and not actually news.

Doc_m brings up a point which I never understood about the religious peoples' beef with homosexuality (or the sinful group of the day): Isn't god supposed to love everyone? If he (she?) exists, and you follow his/her rules as prescribed in the holy book, why the violent hatred towards those that are perceived as "sinners". Aren't you supposed to hate the sin, not the sinner? Like Doc said, in the eyes of the religious, we're ALL sinners, so just to be consistent, you best dish out some violent hatred towards yourself and not play God by deciding who's sins are worse than others.

As for the specimen being interviewed, I doubt many people here agree with her. It's interesting, however, to see some Faux News folks come out in the open and say they disagree with the war in Iraq ( link @ -0:49). It's not long ago that they would have been burned at the stake for saying such "Blasphemy" which "doesn't support the troops". I really doubt there is anyone who doesn't support the troops. It's their LEADERS we don't support. By questioning our government, we SUPPORT our troops, for if the leaders have nothing to hide, then they should not fear the people's inquisition of their actions.

Over the last few years there were reports that showed the US military dropping recruitment requirements and offering waivers in exchange for military service.

Reports of the Army unable to supply sufficiently armored vehicles and other equipment against IED threats, pre and post surge. Soldiers are now familiarizing combat driving techniques using simulators because there is a shortage of M-1114s.

America does possess formidable military forces, but we are talking about soldiers on the ground currently not total combined forces; which would take into account navy and air.

Extended tours (from 12 to 15 months), with multiple returns are common, fatigue is taking it's toll. A secondary surge has already taken place to bolster troop numbers, by sending more combat brigades and extending tours for troops already in Iraq.

Troop levels would thus increase to around 200,000 by the end of this year, a record since the start of OIF. These numbers of course do not include the large number of private military contractors in Iraq, also surging in numbers, paid for by US taxpayers under contract from the DOD. Meanwhile the Army is shedding officers at an alarming rate, 44% left, the highest loss rate in 3 decades.

With regards to the Al Anbar success stories, one must remember that is only occurring because previous Sunni insurgents have turned against Al Qaeda, making US forces the most convenient allies in driving out foreign radical Islamic terrorists. The relationship is tenacious, it also means the US forces now have to bolster previous Sunni insurgents and make them components of the Iraqi government, which is filled with Shia militias who do not want minority Sunni influence.

"To bolster that case, Bush made his own surprise visit to a U.S. military base in Anbar province on Sept. 3 to tout growing cooperation between Sunni tribal leaders and American forces.

But the sheiks didn't seek out U.S. help because an additional 30,000 U.S. troops had been shipped to Iraq. Rather, the sheiks had found themselves caught between al-Qaeda extremists on one side and Shiite-dominated government forces on the other.

The Americans became the enemy and erstwhile friend, respectively, of my enemies – and thus an ally of convenience for the Sunni sheiks.

Indeed, the Anbar situation could be viewed as evidence that the political and ethnic divisions of Iraq continue to deepen – with Sunni traditionalists growing only more desperate. But these shifting sands of allegiances have become the foundation upon which Bush is building his case for open-ended U.S. military involvement in Iraq."

- How VIPs get 'Brainwashed' on Iraq by Robert Parry.

The important thing to consider is; will such success be replicated in other provinces? Will the forces join into the Shia dominated government which opposes Sunni influence? Thus how long will this commitment last. All questions to which officers within the armed forces cannot answer, because the situation is that fragile.

After posing gamely with the troops at the Al-Asad base, Bush celebrated the return of Sunni areas to the control of U.S.-armed militias-composed largely of former insurgents who have at least temporarily decided that their Shiite rivals, currently in control of the central government, are a more pressing enemy than the American occupiers. Speaking of one such group of Sunnis trained by the Americans and dubbed the “Volunteers” by their instructors, a U.S. soldier told The Washington Post, “I think there is some risk of them being Volunteers by day and terrorists by night.”

The National Intelligence Estimate reported that Iraqi goverment is precarious, violence remains high, a decrease in Baghdad violence due to sectarian cleansing. The Government Accountability Report, a congressionally mandated report, showed that the Iraqi goverment met 3, partially 4, and did not meet 11 of its 18 benchmarks. The NIE was tweaked favorably by Gen. David Petraeus, the GAO was attacked by the White House as being 'inadmissible', 'harsh' and 'locked into failure'.

With regards to your comments about losing Iraq on principle, it was never a war for us to win in any sense, it was a systematic fear mongering campaign driven by PowerPoint presentations with aerial photographs about WMDs that got us into Iraq.

After 4 years of being constantly lied to about hostilities ending, turning the corner, mission accomplished, and witnessing the daily ineptness of the way the current administration has and is handling the war we are again on the brink of giving this administration another pass on the war up to 2009 since the current surge will remain up to and until April 2008. To have President Bush then compare the Iraq war to Vietnam; As Andrew Sullivan put it:

His speech yesterday actually managed to shock. You might think that, in wartime, a president would acknowledge what no one denies is a terribly grim decision in front of us - whether to pursue a clearly unwinnable war in order to govern a clearly ungovernable country - or withdraw and redeploy in ways that will doubtless lead to even more bloodshed. But no. There is no gray here; no awful decision for the least worst option; not acknowledgment of his own moral culpability for such a disaster. There is instead an accusation that those who reach a different judgment about the course of the war are, in fact, enemies of the troops:

Our troops are seeing this progress that is being made on the ground. And as they take the initiative from the enemy, they have a question: Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they're gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground in Iraq? Here's my answer is clear: We'll support our troops, we'll support our commanders, and we will give them everything they need to succeed.

To place all the troops into the position of favoring one strategy ahead of us rather than another, and to accuse political opponents of trying to "pull the rug out from under them," is a, yes, fascistic tactic designed to corral political debate into only one possible patriotic course. It's beneath a president to adopt this role, beneath him to coopt the armed services for partisan purposes. It should be possible for a president to make an impassioned case for continuing his own policy in Iraq, without accusing his critics of wanting to attack and betray the troops. But that would require class and confidence. The president has neither.

For more I would refer you to an excellent post - Thirteen Ways not to think about the Iraq war.

That's an easy one. I've got no respect for soldiers. I feel pity for them in their suffering, contempt for their eager willingness to kill, and I'm saddened when young people die needlessly for reasons about which most of us have no idea. But I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. And I strongly suspect that the great majority of them are witless patriots and/or adventurists. And that says nothing of the racist hatred for the "other" that is firmly implanted into their jarheads during basic training.

The "support our troops" 'meme' has been specifically crafted and employed to preclude intelligent criticism of the war. The distinction you make -- "against the war but support the troops" -- is actually one of the cleverest nuggets of propaganda ever crafted. It assures for power the disconnect among the people that they require for the killing to continue. And parroting it plays a necessary role in that killing.

I feel these sorts of posts belong with the garbage at LiveLeak. Not here.

idk what it is, im kinda sick of people rippin on george bush. idk, its like an old worn out joke. we voted him in and we regret it. im not saying i support the war (i support our troops), but he'll be gone soon anyway. now he's in too deep to really do anything. if we pull out of iraq [and this is strictly what I think] the civil wars in iraq will tear it apart. we should pull out, but only a little at a time. im sure the first thing the next president does is going to be pull out the troops. *fingers crossed*

... very sad

'We support our troops! ... but may disclose the identities of our secret agents for political gain...'


oh, and its beavis and butthead

Individual SUVs are too small, so I drive a tractor trailer LOADED with running SUVs. I drive it everywhere, including just down the block to 7-11 for big stinking cigars. Every single SUV on the trailer has 3 magnetic ribbons: one is original yellow and the other two are painted yellow, covering up the red and pink colors of AIDS and breast cancer, respectively. All read SUPPORT OUR TROOPS or SUPPORT MORE NUKES. Like many of you, I am disgusted that the One True Christian God hid America's oil under the sandboxes of backwards oven-y countries, but at least He made the natives not smart enough to extract it without America's help. Nice ponytail, hippie, but it belongs under a turban. Amen.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Hey Ren, can we have PSDs of your latest batch? I think they're good to go - love em.

One small suggestion, it's kind of a US-centric thing, but have you seen the magnetic "support our troops" ribbons? They are a huge thing in the US (and quite a polarizer) if possible could we try one of those in place of the blue ribbon? It might be a nice little tongue-in-cheek chuckle.
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enAU176&q=magnet%20support%20our%20troops%20ribbon&sa=N&tab=wi
If not, then let's keep it, cause it looks good.

" Man, that's awful. Keep slapping those "support our troops" magnets on your Escolades folks."

Riighttt...So we as Americans should stop supporting the thousands of hard-working honest soilders who are giving their lives for us because we saw a video of two bad apples?

That logic seems to be on the same level as the soilders in this video.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Man, that's awful. Keep slapping those "support our troops" magnets on your Escolades folks.

The problem is that, as 2nd grade as that math is, it won't fit into one phrase. If it won't fit into one phrase, it can't be an issue for someone to run on. That's what people vote on, phrases: Pro-life/choice, Family Values, Sanctity of Marriage, Support our Troops and countless other shallow BS phrases.

Too much like right. –That's for sure.

Sure brings the reality of the situation home. Support OUR troops!

heh, well it was in the queue for 5 days. The hogan video still has a good 3 days before it gets canned, so you never know... i just threw it might vote. We are trying to look at ways to get more users to visit the queue, it seems to be a part of the site that gets overlooked. At any rate this video got my vote because I absolutely despise those magnets, Walmart sells the support our troops one, and the troops don't even get any money.