Freeper e-mail tries to shrug off 600 dead Americans...

I got an e-mail and I answered it. Here's the e-mail and my response. I am submitting it to y'all for your approval and comments. So, my fellow DUers, please tell me whether I "done good." (I have obscured the name of the sender with X's to preserve his anonymity. I just don't feel comfortable about sending out another person's e-mail address over a public message board.)

Ron

------

In a message dated 4/4/2004 6:41:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, XXXXXXXX writes:

>
> 600 troops dead! Oh no! Whatever will we do?
>
> In WW2 we lost over 100,000 troops....never found Hitler.
>
> In Vietnam we lost about 58,000....we lost the war, never finished the job.
>
> In Iraq, we've lost 600, only 410 due to hostile fire, yet we removed a WHOLE
> government from power, rebuilt the country, still killing terrorists, and
> Saddam Hussein is in military prison.
>
> Anyone who thinks we are losing in Iraq is not looking at the facts. They are
> just hoping John Kerry will manage to get some votes out of a false reality
> created by the press, who are also unabashedly supporting
> Kerry. If this is
> you, then hang your head in shame. You are a real traitor.

MY RESPONSE:

We don't know yet how many U.S. troops will be killed in the Iraq conflict, or what its other costs ultimately will be, because it isn't over yet. We do know how many we lost in World War II and Vietnam, because those conflicts are over. Besides, I don't see how anybody can compare those two earlier conflicts with the present one. Although, as I said, it isn't over yet, so who knows what it will ultimately escalate into? Who knows whether we're witnessing the beginnings of World War III right now? As for the comparison to Vietnam, almost everybody agrees now that it was a war that we had no business fighting to begin with, and a total waste of those 58,000 lives. Yes, we have removed Saddam Hussein, but at what price? The world is not safer now than it was while Saddam was in power; it's MUCH more dangerous and a MUCH scarier place. It certainly seems scarier to me, anyway. Saddam was a ruthless despot, but he was a ruthless despot who was cowering in a corner of a room, holding a .22 revolver with six bullets in it, while several dozen other men across the room were holding Uzis and AK-47's and shoulder-held grenade launchers and flame throwers trained on him, and he KNEW he would be committing suicide if he made the slightest threatening move in ANY direction. We had Saddam contained and controlled, and the price of invading, conquering and occupying Iraq IN DEFIANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE SEVERE DESTABILIZING EFFECTS IN A VOLATILE PART OF THE WORLD does not justify whatever meager "benefits" are to be derived from removing him from whatever meager "power" he actually possessed. You, sir, are guilty of the transgression you accuse others of, namely, of "not looking at the facts." I have seen no indication that the press is "unabashedly supporting Kerry" either. I think you are delusional and imagining things. And I resent your calling me a "real traitor" because I disagree with you. What you're trying to do with charges like that is intimidate others into agreeing with you. I'd also like to see you try to minimize or shrug off the loss of those 600 troops in front of their loved ones. And whether we've "rebuilt" the country, or ever will, is an issue that is still open for debate. As is the issue of whether we're fighting terrorism, or fomenting it.

the Military. I find it offensive to say that "only 410 soldiers were killed to hostile fire". This marginalizes their deaths.

That is a HIT below the belt and is UNACCEPTABLE!!!!


"Free Republic is ANIT-Military"!!!

:mad: :mad:

we are deconstructing Iraq as opposed to building it

???

You can't sit there and compare the body count. Unfortunately that Freeper dose not have any respect for military heros.

I especially liked the analogy you stated about Saddam cowering in a corner with a handgun and dozens opposing him with massive firepower. Way to stick it to 'em!

I hate to be particular, but it's tough to read without paragraphs.

Here's my response...

"Tell it to the families of our war dead. I'm sure they would be thrilled to hear you pro-war types dismissing the deaths of their loved ones from the safety of your computer screen.

World War II? At least people knew why we were fighting. Vietnam? Please check your history. The first year of American deaths in Iraq beats the first year American deaths in Vietnam. 1 of those Americans killed is worth 1000 of George W. Bush; they had more honor and integrity in their little fingers than he has in his whole, Secret Service protected, body. Big man, isn't he. "Bring it on," he crowed.

The only government I care about removing from power is ours and I certainly don't appreciate my tax dollars being spent rebuilding a foreign country. Terrorists are everywhere so it does not help to be bogged down in Iraq; a nation that had not seen terrorism until we showed up. Saddam Hussein in a military prison? That's an excellent place for a leader who has betrayed his people. He shouldn't be locked up by himself; he deserves to have another loser by his side.

please don't forget to end your letter by asking him to go there and help with the rebuilding of Iraq and killing "terrorists", instead of threating people from the safety of his computer what a jerk

and are unpatriotic . They also dont have loved ones in Iraq, and sit at their desks or in large armchairs and play "war", and have no one invested in that war. They are fools, chickenhawks, and the lowest of the low. They are worthless, and people like that deserve nothing but to be shunned by actual patriots who support the troops, by bringing them home.
Your response was wonderful.
You are a patriot, They are traitors to the troops.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

just shut him up by telling 600 Americans have so far died because 1) Bush wanted to vindicate his corrupt father 2) Perle and Wofwowitz want an American Empire by 2010 3) Halliburton, Bechtel and Mobil need to steal Iraq oil from its rightful owners, the Iraqi people.

Any American supporting these mass murderers and criminal corporations should be in prison along with them.

and he killed himself.

I'd say he was "found".

Excellent response ! I plan to use parts of it if you don't mind as I am sure I will be getting the same EMAIL tripe from my puke family and friends. I have made a promise to myself that I will let NO EMAIL GO UN RESPONDED TO - that comes my way containing the kind of lies and trash you just responded to. Good job !

and then things were taken up a notch or two...

by comparison, in 1 year in Iraq we've lost FOUR TIMES the number of troops as we lost in the first year in Vietnam

how many more does this person want dead?

http://www.grunt.com/vietnamwarcasualites.htm

At the end of 1965 we had 65 KIA so actually in one year of Iraq we've lost nearly 10 times as many as were lost in the first 2 years of Vietnam.

however, it's in the form of a mass shia/sunni uprising against our occupation. not quite what * and his handlers suspected eh?

i'm a long time poster (saboteur) over on the FR...
(and a long time lurker here)

always enjoyed arguing with people who share a close to 180 degree view of my own...

lately, especially after today's news, i just couldn't even bring myself to post an educated/witty/sarcastic remark that would serve to tie up some poor freeper in raging knots while not blowing my cover...

thnx for the welcome!
it's good to be here!

:-D

I'll never understand these people. They grew up in the same country I did, yet their views are so selfish and full of hate. They don't care who dies - white male, Christians are the only people who matter to them. They constantly claim to be standing up for our country and our Democracy, but their behavior and attitudes go against everything a Democracy stands for.

This line is priceless: we've lost 600, only 410 due to hostile fire

Hey "Moran" - the 190 people who were not killed by hostile fire are just as dead as the 410 who were! Maybe those 600 people were expendable to you, but I doubt their family and friends agree. I don't care if we lose one guy ... I don't care if we're fighting WWIII ... as far as I'm concerned, the real traitor is the person who believes that our soldiers are expendable under any circumstances. Their lives matter. How dare you imply that they don't?
<end of rant>

Good for you not letting it go by.

that is a third rate military power.

How long did WWII last? Almost 6 years?????