Reuters
PFC Jace Badia and Congratulator-in-Chief Bush
Sorry, this photo op is over the line. Look at this man’s right arm. We don’t know what else is wrong with him but that skull cap looks suspicious. A little Googling reveals:
… Jace Badia, a 1999 graduate of Sacred Heart
Academy was serving in the Army in Iraq and was severely injured
this past week in a combination of two bomb blasts, the first as he
was driving and his vehicle was hit by an IED then again when the
medical crews were attempting to evacuate him to receive care.
We understand that Jace is receiving care in Germany at this time
and will soon be returned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington, D.C., where his wife Susan (also an SHA alumnae)
and 4-month old daughter, Kylie will be joining him as he begins
what will be a long period of recuperation and rehabilitation. Our
prayers are with Jace, and all of his family.
It’s nice that Bush visited a wounded man, but the “congratulations” is pathetic. Yes, he did get a Purple Heart. But he’s not exactly beaming….thanks and condolences would be appropriate, not this “lucky you” shit. But that might be just a little too real for the fratboy; this is just another Katrina photo-op. Pathetic manipulation. Our men and women deserve better. Much better. How about, for starters, Bush goes to Fort Carson, CO, and straightens them out on caring for people with post traumatic stress disorder.
13 Comments
December 24, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Yeah, I think our men and women deserve better too. For example, no more pathetic remarks such as “I support the troops, but not this war”. Insane. You can’t have it both ways. If you are not for the US winning the war in Iraq (which we are doing) then you cannot in any way, shape or form support our troops. I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not, but the men and women fighting in Iraq volunteered to serve their country. I can’t remember the date the draft ended, but you could google it. We are blessed with a top notch military that is completely volunteer — cool, huh? They make it possible for my family to have a Merry Christmas by keeping our nation safe and the terrorists miserable. I’m sure that soldier in the picture is honored to spend time with the Commander in Chief.
December 24, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. There seems to have been no purpose in sending our kids over there. Saddam Hussein had neither weapons of mass destruction nor any connection to al-Qaeda. Why Bush and Cheney decided to deceive us about these facts is still unclear. So now we have lost and spent as many lives and as much money as was lost on 9/11, all over again. To no purpose, I would add. And a country which was no threat to us has been shattered. 500,000 Iraqis have died, people who were doing us no harm and had nothing to do with 9/11. Over a million have become refugees. And we have created immeasurable hatred for the United States.
I hope you come to recognize what a terrible thing this has been. The soldiers and their families and our country will have to bear this burden for generations.
December 25, 2006 at 12:07 am
Seesdifferent,
I am one of those soldiers that has been to Iraq twice, and I am preparing for my third time over there. Iraq has not been a terrible thing, in fact just the opposite. In the humble opinion of a college educated grunt, Iraq is one of the smartest foreign policy moves this country has ever made. In one fell swoop, we upended the apple cart of static Middle Eastern politics. We deposed a dictator and gave the people of an Arab nation a choice. Granted there has been immeasureable violence and untold horrors in Iraq, but getting rid of Saddam was still the right call. The reactionary forces of the greater Middle East have quite a lot at stake with anarchy and civil war in Iraq.
Anarchy and civil war in Iraq can be used to bludgeon the already damaged Arab peoples and convince them that the autocratic systems already in place are the only key to peace and stability. I have spent two years in Iraq now, and it was the most frightening, soul searing, yet rewarding time of my life. I’m a democrat and a good progressive, I joined the Army to make the world a better place, by force of arms if neccessary. I have spent nearly 10 years in the Infantry now and in my postings to Korea, Bosnia, and now Iraq I have learned one universal truth. No matter how bad we think our country is, we are still heads and shoulders above the rest of the world when it comes to repsect for freedom and human rights. I have served proudly under both President Clinton and President Bush, I voted for both men, both times. I have respected the leadership of both men immensely.
As for the reason togo to Iraq, we did what we did in Iraq, because we could. We could rid the world of one evil murderous bastard. We can’t be all things to all people, no one can. So we cast the die and went into Iraq. It wasn’t for oil, it’s cheaper to buy the oil than to steal it. It wasn’t for WMD which we found out don’t exist, it wasn’t for al qaeda either. Saddam did support terrorists, but there is no link whatsoever to al qaeda. So why? Like I said, we did it because it was doable. The same reason President Clinton went into Kosovo, he did it because he could. We could stop genocide from taking place, so we did what we could. As for the hatred, that will always exist, I have travelled the world from Thailand to Norway and the hatred has always existed. The anti americanism has always been there under the surface, no matter what people think, we have been despised by many in the world since day one. This isn’t hard to understand, those with less always resent those with more, those who hide behind autocracy always loathe those who try to shatter it. Those with a reactionary agenda and a love of the status quo always hate those who try to upend the apple cart.
Being in Iraq is a burden, but it is one I have volunteered for. My wife right now is in Afghanistan with her unit and when she comes back I will already have left. In the last three years we have spent 8 months together. This is a burden, but it is also our choice. Our faith in our country and our faith in the beauty of life itself dictate that we must shoulder this burden. My family is what it is due to America, I am lucky enough to be healthy, happy, and free due to this country of ours. Whether you are democrat or republican or green or libertarian, know this; there are Americans who have served in the war who are willing to never give up the fight.
One final word and then I am done. The young man in the picture is obviously pretty badly wounded, I have been wounded myself (nothing to brag about it just happened) and if the President of the United States came to see me and congratulate me, I would be all smiles, no matter what party he is from. I am an American first and foremost and the orders given by George W. Bush are just as legal and important as any given by William Jefferson Clinton. I am proud to have served both men and proud to be an American soldier.
December 25, 2006 at 12:19 am
Ooops one more thought. I don’t normally side with wingnuts, but as a soldier I feel compelled to say this. You cannot support the troops if you do not support the war. We are there to fight this war, most of us have volunteered to fight there after the Iraq invasion began. Most of us miss our families and the time we lose when we are deployed. But we are there to fight, make no mistake about it, the troops in Iraq are there because they volunteered to be there. I am going again because it is the right thing to do, my unit is going so I have reupped again. Those who call for us to come home with the job unfinished do us a great disservice. I joined to make the world better, to follow my liberal heart and do what I think is just. Most people that join these days are joining less for college money and more for the right thing. To many of my young privates, they joined to fight for their country and to do what they think is best. Most of us now have combat experience and we still reenlist in large numbers, most of us have either been hit, or know someone who has been or has even been killed, yet we still reenlist. And yet people that have never set foot in Iraq, people that know only the warmth and safety of their living rooms are working hard to call us off before we finish a job we believe we can finish. It is truly hard to tolerate someone who has never gone “over to the sandbox” telling me that the war is lost, that it is time to quit. I am well educated, I have a Master’s degree, I speak Arabic (well some) and I have spent countless hours among the Iraqi people. For someone who has never been to tell me the “truth” about Iraq is frustrating. I believe such people mean well but they have no concept of the reality over there. Such people might believe they have our best interest at heart, but that is a false belief. You want to support the troops? Tell your congressman or woman to give us the tools and the Rules of Engagement to do our duty to the fullest and let us leave Iraq with honor and victory. Both are still possible, if only our leadership on both sides had the courage of the men and women I serve with daily.
December 25, 2006 at 1:31 am
I would not have supported Bush’s invasion of Iraq had he told the truth, and neither would the rest of the country, nor the world. History and the law will judge him harshly.
Saddam was just what we made him.
And the facts are that, unlike the action in Bosnia, this war has been an unmitigated disaster for us and for Iraq. The country has suffered more deaths, torture, misery, and displacements than under Saddam. I support the 140,000 troops still in Iraq by trying to get them adequate body armor, trying to get them home, and advocating adequate health care, including psychological help, for those who have fought there. The Iraqis have expressed their desire for us to go home, have expressed that attacks on Americans are okay. We don’t know who the enemy is in Iraq. Only a handful of our civilian or military personnel understand the Arabic language, few can speak it, and only a few understand the history and culture of the area. The issues in Iraq are mostly political. More and more people in the world hate us all the time. The majority of Americans (and the troops) want a withdrawal and the end to this madness. Those are the facts. Continuing the madness is much what we did in Vietnam and it is something like delusional, and certainly a denial of the facts. The Iraq Study Group at least came to grips with the reality.
I have no way of knowing who you really are, but I can say that your ideas are not representative of our troops, our people, or the world, nor are they grounded in reality.
Best wishes and happy holidays. Thanks for expressing your views.
Seesdifferent
December 25, 2006 at 1:44 am
With all due respect, my views are quite representative of the troops. I eat, sleep, breathe, work and train next to them every day. Saddam is exactly what we made him as he was useful for a time. His use ran out when Iran culturally retreated in the early 90’s. We used Saddam as a proxy like we used the Angolans and the Thai nation. We used them as proxies to fight wars we could not engage in ourselves but in whcih our national interests were at stake.
As for a few fallacies of yours, we always had adequate body armor, we have had to upgrade as the enemy force had upgraded their ability to cause us harm. Most troops want to stay and finish the fight, thus the hig reenlistment numbers the Army and Marine Corps are experiencing. And finally how can a war where every major battle has been won, where our enemy is tied down unable to strike us elsewhere and where the majority of the troops involved believe they will win be construed as a disaster?
I found your blog through a progressive website and wanted to check it out, I don’t know who you are, but you are way out of tocu with reality if you think the majority of soldiers don’t want to finish this fight. The appeal for redress which is an group seeking to have military personnel appeal to congress for a withdrawal has exactly 900 and some change names on it. Over 1 million total personnel have served in Iraq in the last 3 and 2/3 years and the best the appeal for redress camapign can sign up is less tha .1% of total service members that have served? I enjoy civility and good debate, but your premise is folly. If you worked with the troops daily, if you led them, if you had them as your friends you would know the truth.
December 25, 2006 at 1:46 am
One more point, I am who I say I am, it is a little cheap to say “I have no way of knowing who you are”. I am no agent provaceteur. I am a proud soldier that serves his nation and asks for nothing in return other than the opportunity to do his duty.
December 25, 2006 at 2:04 am
I had a lot of spelling errors
December 25, 2006 at 3:00 am
You have your take on what the soldiers think and I have mine. Mine is based on polling data, yours is based on something else.
Bottom line, I don’t think you can come up with a reason to stay other than Bush’s, which is to not admit that the entire project has been a disaster. And by not admitting it, and by continuing to put our young men and women in harm’s way, we increase the disaster.
I appreciate your thoughts.
seesdifferent
December 25, 2006 at 6:02 am
[...] Anyway, apparently this whole thing started at this WP blog, where my mom commented to defend the troops. Obviously, some libby was offended and took it to the DU. Seriously, cracks me up. [...]
December 26, 2006 at 9:00 pm
THIS stuff cracks ME up:
“I cannot support a failed foreign policy…There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory.”
-Tom Delay (R-TX)
“You can support the troops but not the president.”
-Tom Delay (R-TX)
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
-Gov. George W. Bush (R-TX)
t/h LanternWaste at DU.
July 20, 2007 at 9:01 pm
[...] apparently this whole thing started at this WP blog, where my mom commented to defend the troops. Obviously, some libby was offended and took it to the [...]
November 19, 2008 at 8:03 pm
wow…that that thing on his arm is no was where he broke his arm what does it matter the hat hes wearing oh and he does not have just a broken arm or back his leg was blown off from a bomb and the other will have to be amputated in 10 years,im in his family do more research before you say crap like that again…ok