Do you feel a betrayal by the untimely withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan and the results?

Cpl Dennis F. — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:59:43 -0400

I Know as a Vietnam vet that I was greatly disheartened by the US abandonment of S. Vietnam. How have the current situations in the mid-east & SWA effected you?

Response by Cpl Dennis F. made Aug 22 at 2014 3:15 PM

Cpl Dennis F. — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:15:26 -0400

CPT Gregory Wagoner Thanks for the up vote, but I also really want to know what you think about this subject. Regards, D.C.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 9:19 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 21:19:23 -0400

Betrayal to whom? America didn't "fail" anybody.
Let's imagine a scenario: You are supremely wealthy. You are walking along one day and a gang of thugs jump you and beat the crap out of you. I mean, really, really work you over. You lose some teeth, your face is a bloody pulp. Bruises everywhere. My god, man, you were in a coma for a month!
You get out of the hospital and realize that this gang of thugs has gone on a terror-streak and brutalized half the town! Nobody is safe.
Now, being the billionaire you are, you realize that you have to do something! (That homeless vet you toss coins to every week can wait a damn minute.) Throwing money at stuff has helped in the past, right?
So, you decide to donate your next fat paycheck to the police department. You purchase new weapons. You pay for instructors to teach these policemen on how to deal with roving, faceless gangs. You hire experts on violent crime. You finance overtime, extra patrols, security, surveillance, investigation, interrogation, logistics,housing of potential suspects, training and placement of new police recruits and advisers to the advisers. You've done everything but "think" for them. (Because money can't buy that yet.)
So, you stand down. Because you are confident that you have done everything in your power. You still show up at that well-equipped police department, though, waiting for those thugs to get what's coming to them.
And realize that you have just spent time
And patience
And countless dollars
On a police force who lack the fortitude and competence to do anything with all that you have given them. You realize, with absolute horror, that your police force all rode the same short bus.

The American government did everything in its power, to the exclusion of the present good, to aid the Iraqi government in its supposed "quest" to rid itself of global terrorism. We lost a lot of great, dedicated servicemen and women, because we tried to do the right thing and expose oppressed countries to what it means to be free.
The failure does not lie with us. It lies with corruption and greed and cowardice of these other "governments". We aren't puppet-masters.