Why Our Military is So Hated Around the World

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An Afghan woman holds a U.S. flag during a ceremony in Kabul marking the donation of more than 5000 wheelchairs to Afghanistan, September 22, 2003.
REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda must be political soul mates.

From a transcript of Bill O’Reilly’s interview with Ted Turner:

O’REILLY: All right. Is America a good country?

TURNER: Oh, it’s a great country.

O’REILLY: Are we exploitative overseas? Is the war on terrorism largely our fault?

TURNER: No, I wouldn’t say largely. But I think if we stopped bombing people and sent doctors and scientists and engineers around the world that we’d make a lot more progress, and we wouldn’t have near as much terrorism in the world as we do. I think bombing just makes people angry, and they want to bomb you back.

Uh…yeah…that’s all our military does is carry out American foreign policy objectives of “bombing people”; not bombing terrorists…not bombing America’s enemies…but “people”.

Here’s a little education for Ted Turner, by way of a Hugh Hewitt interview with Robert Kaplan:

HH: You know, I want to begin in the 9th chapter of this, your second book on the American military, as you were driving out of Timbuktu, 11 hours beyond the gates of Timbuktu. Use that as a metaphor for what you were doing and why you went the places you have gone.

RK: Well, Timbuktu is not the edge of the Earth. The edge of the Earth is miles beyond Timbuktu, north into the heart of the Sahara desert. And I was with a company of American Special Forces officers, about twelve of them, all non-commissioned officers except for a captain. And you would think what is the U.S. military doing in the heart of the Sahara desert. Well, we’re not only in the heart of the Sahara desert, we’re all over the Pacific ocean, we’ll all over South America, and all this is occurring while we are fighting a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. And what I tried to do in the course of the years in which I embedded with the military was to show the whole thing. Not to ignore Iraq, but not to be limited by it, either, because one big deployment might overstretch us like Iraq, but dozens upon dozens of smaller deployments will do no such thing. So I was with a company of American Special Forces officers who were investigating just what was in the center of the Sahara desert in terms of al Qaeda movements, humanitarian, prospects for humanitarian relief, just getting to know Africa. Because in this global world war on terrorism, really is a global war.

HH: Now your accompanied by, extraordinary in the course of this book, an extraordinary array of Americans, one of which on this particular trip is an Evangelical staff sergeant from Oklahoma who doesn’t want to be identified, because he doesn’t want his deeds to serve himself. I thought that was another metaphor for the extraordinary people you’ve spent the last many years with.

RK: Yeah, the people I…what I did was I didn’t report on anybody in this book. I befriended a lot of people, and revealed them to the reader as they revealed themselves to me. And the best of these people didn’t want any publicity, not because they were afraid of being written up badly, but because they were afraid of getting public recognition for anything they do. For them, the real sweet thing is to do it and not get recognition, if you can believe it. And this Evangelical staff sergeant, he drove most of the way through blistering sandstorms, he slept only six hours, which was interrupted by an hour and a half of guard duty, and he got up the next morning to fit little African children for eyeglasses as part of a civil affairs project that this Special Forces A-team was doing. And just, you know, just dealt with one child, one woman after another throughout the morning without any complaining about lack of sleep or anything.

HH: Let me tell the audience, this is a remarkable read, you’re going to want to get Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts, and just an example of detail, “Following sun up, Captain Tory, an Evangelical staff sergeant from Oklahoma, set up an eye clinic inside one of the ruins. They unpack little boxes of adaptable eyewear, an ingenious, low-tech device manufactured by the U.S. Agency for International Development. These were round, Harry Potterish horn-rimmed glasses of zero prescription which increasingly strengthened as you pumped a clear gel solution attached to the frame inside the glass. The SF, Special Forces guys called them, ‘never get laid again glasses,’ because of how they made you look.” Now that has got an eye for detail, pardon the pun, Robert Kaplan, but I guess it is in those very small things, as well as the B-2’s that we’ll talk about later, that the genius in the American military lies.

RK: Yeah, it all lies in the details. For the price of one F-22, you could populate all of Africa with SF-A teams doing humanitarian relief. But that is not necessarily a criticism of an F-22, because I get that later in the book when I talk about the B-2 and other expensive bombers, which are sort of an expensive form of health insurance to keep the Chinese honest about their intentions in Taiwan. But you know, we get bargains in our military budget, and we don’t. The B-2’s, the F-22’s, there’s no bargains there. But in terms of what we can do on the ground in a place like Africa, we get a lot of bargains like this deployment that I embedded on.

Extracted from a post targeted at Paul Bearers:

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Robert Kaplan says,

people have this image of the U.S. military going all over the world as a busybody, propping up dictatorships. It’s so false. In fact, the only regimes we prop up through training missions are of certified democracies, certified by Congress, which we have not imposed on them, that they’ve evolved organically on their own as democracies.

The Savage Wars of Peace, by Max Boot:

Far from being isolationist before World War II and the formation of NATO, America from the very beginning of the Republic intervened in a nearly continual series of civil wars, coups, and hostage rescues. Starting with attacks on the Barbary Coast pirates between 1801 and 1805, the nation has always interfered in other nations’ business far from home.

Two generations of college students have been taught that all such “adventurism” is nothing but imperialism and running-dog capitalism–and Boot does not deny that states naturally send in their forces out of national interest rather than mere idealism. But he shows that the majority of the time the Marines intervened to stop the slaughter of civilians, to retaliate against the killing of Americans and destruction of their property, and to prevent chaos from spreading beyond a country’s borders. While such incursions often served the local property-owning elites and corrupt grandees, such interventionists as Thomas Jefferson, Chester A. Arthur, and Teddy Roosevelt assumed that order and stable governments were usually preferable to mass uprisings, constant revolution, and mob rule.

When natural disasters strike, what does America do? Take advantage of another nation’s misfortune, or come to its rescue, using American military might while draining American taxpayer coffers and making private donations to charities? We did this for earthquake relief in Iran, 2003 just being one year’s example of this:

In the latest U.S. shipment, an American military plane carrying 80 personnel and medical supplies landed early Tuesday in the provincial capital of Kerman. The team reached Bam, 120 miles to the southeast, by midday.

Seven U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes have already delivered 150,000 pounds of relief supplies — including blankets, medical supplies and water — making the United States one of the largest international donors.

Pakistan:

Pakistan earthquake relief, the ‘Great Satan’s’ military has delivered 94 tons medical supplies, 1,939 tons of humanitarian supplies, 1,582 tons of equipment, evacuated 15,794 victims..provided doctors, nurses, medicine…..
81574865_d5bebcae83-dod-centcom-photo-pakistan-earthquake-relief

In addition, we donated a mobile hospital:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2006 – The United States today transferred the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, the last unit of its kind in the U.S. Army, to the Pakistan government for continued use in earthquake relief efforts, a Defense Department spokesman said.
The 84-bed hospital, which arrived in Muzaffarabad shortly after the earthquake struck the country on Oct. 8, is valued at $4.6 million, according to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.

The hospital consists of the following:

* Primary health care and emergency medical treatment section;
* Surgical suite with two operating tables and sterilization equipment;
* Two intensive care units; I
* Intermediate care ward;
* Minimal care ward;
* Pharmacy;
* Laboratory;
* Radiology units;
* Medical maintenance work area with a supply of repair parts;
* Power-generation system for the entire hospital; and
* Storage containers for packing and moving the hospital.

The hospital has treated more than 20,000 patients and provided about 20,000 vaccinations to about 8,000 patients since October. After the transfer, the American medical personnel will return to their home base in Miesau, Germany, and the Pakistani military will take over the hospital, according to the embassy.

In further progress toward the end of U.S. military relief efforts in Pakistan this spring, the U.S. Navy turned over $2.5 million worth of construction equipment to Pakistan military engineers Feb. 13. The equipment includes three D-7 bulldozers, a 15-ton dump truck, nine 20-ton dump trucks, seven 100-kilowatt generators and four generator skids, according to the embassy.

The U.S. also is donating its two forward-area refueling point systems to the Pakistan government to increase helicopter efficiency during reconstruction.

The U.S. military has been on the ground in Pakistan since Oct. 10, providing relief after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Kashmir region in northern Pakistan Oct. 8, killing more than 70,000 citizens, injuring more than 60,000 and leaving more than 3 million homeless. At the peak of initial relief efforts, more than 1,200 personnel and 25 helicopters provided vital transport, logistics, and medical and engineering support in the affected areas.

Today, 600 U.S. servicemembers continue to provide aviation, medical and engineering assistance to relief and reconstruction efforts.

the 2004 tsunami

WALL OF WATER
U.S. Troops Aid Tsunami Victims

American forces began 2005 by helping people on the other side of the globe. Within hours of the Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami that devastated large swaths of the Indian Ocean region, U.S. troops were mobilizing to help. Thousands of servicemembers rang in the New Year in the region or were mobilizing to go there.

U.S. Pacific Command had immediately begun planning the U.S. and international response. Military leaders communicated directly with U.S. ambassadors and senior military officers in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, among other countries.

As Jan. 1, 2005, dawned, the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group was afloat off the Indonesian island of Sumatra , and the ship’s 17 helicopters and aircrews were flying relief supplies to survivors in devastated areas. The USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, with support ships and 25 helicopters, had almost arrived from Guam. Pre-positioned ships full of supplies had left Japan, Guam and Diego Garcia en route to the region. And Joint Task Force 536, soon to be renamed Combined Support Force 536, was already operating in Utapao, Thailand.

“Like in so many places, those who wear our uniform are showing the great decency of America . I appreciate your compassion. I appreciate your love for your fellow human beings and thank you for the work you do.”
President George W. Bush

“One thing the Indonesians are never going to forget is who was there first,” U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe said a few weeks later during a visit to the Lincoln.

Within days, more than 15,000 U.S. military members were in Southeast Asia assisting relief and recovery efforts under Operation Unified Assistance, the name given the post-tsunami relief efforts focused on Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

“If you look at the front pages of many papers, you’ll see pictures of U.S. military people rescuing people, delivering food and water, assisting with emergency medical types of assistance,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a Jan. 4 radio interview.

The U.S. response was massive, immediate and comprehensive. At least 17 Navy ships and a Coast Guard cutter were in the region or en route within a week.

“Like in so many places, those who wear our uniform are showing the great decency of America, ” President Bush said Jan. 10 of the humanitarian efforts. “I appreciate your compassion. I appreciate your love for your fellow human beings and thank you for the work you do.”

Military medical assets proved invaluable in many ways. USNS Mercy, a floating trauma center with the capacity to house up to 1,000 hospitalized patients, departed its home base in San Diego Jan. 5. For six weeks the ship was supporting the operation with more than 500 U.S. Navy and nongovernmental organization medical staff, volunteers, uniformed Public Health Service members, and Navy support personnel. Mercy’s personnel conducted a wide range of medical and dental assistance programs ashore and afloat, performing 19,512 medical procedures, including 285 surgeries.

Many more were helped through the efforts of environmental and preventive medicine specialists. Military epidemiologists, entomologists, hygienists, microbiologists and others tested water, soil and air samples

for diseases and contaminants to ensure the safety of aid workers and displaced local residents. The teams helped identify and treat contaminated wells, killed flies and mosquitoes in large areas, and trapped and removed rats from displaced-persons camps.

“We know that we touched many, many people – more than 50,000 directly, with a larger lasting impact – with efforts of the preventive medicine unit … and the friends that we made,” Navy Capt. Dave Llewellyn, Mercy commander, said as the ship was transiting home.

Navy oceanographers conducted safety and navigation surveys of the ocean and coastlines in the region. “The tsunami wiped out tons of shoreline,” said Forrest Noll, a scientist with the Naval Oceanographic Office in Stennis, Miss. “It changed the landscape drastically.”

In a more colorful description of the devastation, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Loiselle said, “It looked like somebody had just taken a giant Weedwacker to the entire coast.”

Loiselle, an aviation warfare systems operator aboard the Lincoln , said the relief work was one of his most rewarding experiences. “My single biggest gratitude is rescuing people,” he said. “I’d much rather do that than (be) shooting people.”

Other military support included:

• USS Fort McHenry, a dock landing ship that left Sasebo , Japan , Jan. 2, delivered more than 1.2 million pounds of water, food items and clothes. Fort McHenry also delivered more than 2,000 pounds of supplies personally collected by communities within Fleet Activities Sasebo.

• Hundreds of Marine Corps engineers and Navy Seabees helped Sri Lankans repair infrastructure and clear debris. Some debris cleared from the island was used to reconstruct a sea wall.

• Army engineers deployed to Thailand to help rebuild roads, bridges and power infrastructure.

• Several teams of military forensics experts, including anthropologists, dentists and mortuary affairs specialists, helped manage the overwhelming numbers of bodies.
Officials estimate roughly 300,000 people died in the disaster, and more than 1.1 million people were displaced. The statistics regarding U.S. relief efforts are also staggering. According to U.S. Pacific Command information, U.S. military flights in the region included:

• About 70 reconnaissance-assessment flights, resulting in roughly 570 hours flying time;

• More than 1,300 fixed-wing aircraft flights, resulting in more than 4,635 hours flying time; and

• More than 2,200 helicopter flights, resulting in more than 4,870 hours flying time.

In all, U.S. Pacific Command assets delivered or coordinated delivery of more than 24 million pounds of relief supplies and equipment into the region by Feb. 14, when Combined Support Force 536 ceased operations.

time and time again, America has used its military interventionism on behalf of humanity.

“Like in so many places, those who wear our uniform are showing the great decency of America . I appreciate your compassion. I appreciate your love for your fellow human beings and thank you for the work you do.”President George W. Bush

Ok, maybe Ted Turner was referring to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where al-Qaeda and the Taliban brutalized the populace, and we “stayed the course” there to train native security forces and serve and protect innocent civilians and budding democracies at the expense of American blood and treasure, along with our Coalition partners.

Here are examples of the evil that American soldiers do, terrorizing the “native brown people”:


A U.S. Army Soldier from Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Ft. Lewis, Wash., shares a laughs with an Iraqi army soldier at a U.S. and Iraqi Army security checkpoint in Tarmiyah, Iraq, Sept. 25, 2007. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 2nd Class Summer M. Anderson.


U.S. Army Sgt. Quenton Sallows hands out Iraqi Flags to Iraqi children beginning their first day of school in Lutafiyah, Iraq, Oct. 1, 2007. Sallows is assigned to Civil Affairs, 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Quinton Russ.

Nice to Meet You


U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Julia Venegas, from 2nd Marine Logistics Group, shakes hands with a little girl in the village of Kabani, Iraq, while on a security patrol Sept. 28, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo taken by Lance Cpl. Robert S. Morgan.


A U.S. Army Soldier of 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division plays with a young Iraqi boy in Mufriq, Iraq, Oct. 8, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller.


Iraqi girls walk to a primary school in the Andaloos district of Fallujah, Iraq, Oct. 17, 2007, to receive school supplies from U.S. Marines and Iraqi police. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Robert B. Brown Jr.


The students at an elementary school in Jerf Al-Mila hold up their ‘Junior Hero’ stickers after taking an oath to become honorary Junior Heroes during a visit to the school by Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (mechanized), Oct. 17. The Junior Hero program was designed by the Iraqi security forces to teach children about the roles of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police who work in their communities and ways in which they can volunteer to keep their villages free of crime. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

A Sucker for Children


U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Patrick K. Mason, a squad leader for 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, hands a lollipop to an Iraqi boy during a security patrol in Dulab, Iraq, Sept. 25, 2007. The Marines are working with Iraqi police in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller.

Check out the American soldier menacing an Iraqi girl:

2008-01-13

Jan. 13, 2008: A U.S. soldier plays with a young girl during a patrol in Baghdad.
Jewel Samad – AFP/Getty Images

2008-08-03

U.S. Army Capt. Charles Ford plays a video game with seven-year-old Wa’ad, who lost an arm and a leg to an improvised bomb, during a visit to the child’s home near Muqdadiyah, Iraq. U.S. soldiers from Hammer Company are arranging for the child to be fitted with prosthetic limbs.
Maya Alleruzzo-AP

080910-N-6278K-074

U.S. Army 2nd. Lt. Hunter Wakeland is seen on patrol with local Iraqi police in Abu Tshir, Baghdad on September 10, 2008. You Witness News/U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joan E. Kretschmer

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A young Iraqi girl embraces Capt. Janet Rose assigned to the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion, at the Baqouba Women and Children’s Hospital, June 9, 2007.

pi080707a4

may-28-2007

A boy seeks shelter behind a U.S. soldier as gunshots ring out following a car bomb explosion in Baghdad. At least 21 were killed in the bombing and 66 wounded, police and hospital officials said.
Khalid Mohammed- AP

Gee…is that Iraqi boy running to the terrible imperialist occupier for any particular reason?

q1x00099_9_21

This photo, which appeared on the front page of this morning’s edition of The New York Times, shows an Iraqi boy taking cover behind a U.S. soldier as civilians fled the sound of gunshots following a suicide bombing yesterday in central Baghdad that killed at least 21 people and wounded 66 others.Photo taken by Khalid Mohammed, AP

It seems the boy understands who to run to for protection…

july-31-2007

A U.S. soldier of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division hands a soccer ball to a young boy in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, July 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

2008-12-12

PLAY PALS
U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Rex plays with an Iraqi boy during a neighborhood presence patrol in Malha, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2008. Rex is assigned to 25th Infantry Division’s Company D, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kani Ronningen

To paraphrase Ted Turner, “All we do is bomb people“…

pi090105a3

U.S. soldiers from Task Force 2-116 Armor’s headquarters company watch Iraqi children dangle from their new monkey bars after their installation at the orphanage in Kirkuk, Iraq, Aug. 19, 2005. U.S. Army Sgt. Fenton Doyle constructed the playground equipment


pi090105a2

U.S. soldiers from Task Force 2-116 Armor’s headquarters company swing Iraqi children after installing their new swing set at the orphanage in Kirkuk, Iraq, Aug. 19, 2005. U.S. Army Sgt. Fenton Doyle constructed the playground equipment from old humvee parts

pi060926a81

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Micheal Green, with Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, is followed by Iraqi children while patrolling the streets of Bayji, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua R. Ford

ai013106a1usarmyphotostaffsgtbrittsmith

U.S. Army Spc. Sam Rogers, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 48th Brigade Combat Team, receives a hug from a young Iraqi girl who is overjoyed with her new shoes. Rogers helped deliver donated shoes to the Abu Tubar School near An Nasiriyah

Thanks, Mike (my post):

Saving Ala'a

Scott Southworth, right, is seen with his adopted son, Ala’a, July 19, 2007, in the home in Mauston, Wis. Southworth first met Ala’a, who has cerebral palsy, at the Mother Teresa orphanage in Baghdad in 2003 while he was serving in Iraq.
(AP Photo/Andy Manis)


2008-09-14

HERO HUGS
A U.S. Army soldier receives farewell hugs from a group of boys living in a Palestinian community in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 14, 2008. The soldier is assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s Company C, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. His unit, along with Iraqi National Police, handed out humanitarian aid bags to foster good relations with the Palestinian community and the Iraqi Security Forces during Ramadan.
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brian D. Lehnhardt

Check out the American Air Force medic bullying the Afghan boy:

2008-04-08

U.S. Air Force medic Gary Horn arm-wrestles with a boy during a visit to a school in Shahr e Safa in Zabul province, Afghanistan.Goran Tomasevic, Reuters

1477884

04/08/07 – U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Ed Franco plays with local refugee children in Dar Ul Aman, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 8, 2007, in support of a volunteer community reach program.


1477887

04/08/07 – Maj. Shawn Haney, U.S. Marine Corps, plays with a local refugee child during a volunteer community outreach program in Dar Ul Aman, Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 8, 2007.


1477896

04/08/07 – A U.S. Air Force Airman holds a local refugee child in Dar Ul Aman, Kabul, Afghanistan, April 8, 2007, in support of a volunteer community reach program.

081206-N-8825R-012

GRATEFUL KISS
A grateful refugee camp resident in Kabul, Afghanistan, kisses U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Yevsey Goldberg, who helped bring more than 550-kilograms of rice and other supplies, Dec. 6, 2008. Goldberg is deployed to International Security Assistance Force Headquarters.
U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Aramis Ramirez

Back to the Turner interview:

O’REILLY: Because there is, you know, there’s one man who’s done more for the continent of Africa than any other man in the history of civilization. Do you know who that man is?

TURNER: Nelson Mandela?

O’REILLY: No. President Bush has saved more lives, sent more money, and provided more medical care for the citizens of all the countries of Africa than any human being that’s ever lived. Yet, you just said send the doctors, send this, send that and the world will like us better and there won’t be as much terrorism. We have done that. And not only in Africa, but around the world. The world does not look upon George Bush as a hero and neither do you.

TURNER: No, I think he made a lot of mistakes, too. But you can’t — but he did some good things, and I think basically he’s got a good heart.

I mentioned some of Bush’s liberal accomplishments in Africa, before. Danny Huddleston at American Thinker says President Bush’s approval rating in Africa is 80%:

Also, few people are aware of the help Bush has provided to Africa. He has an astonishing approval rating of 80% on that continent. The NY Sun reported on this back in February:

President Bush’s sense of mission to improve the lives of the people of the Middle East has attracted so much attention that the Wall Street Journal called him “Bush of Arabia” the other day over an article by Fouad Ajami. Less widely appreciated are Mr. Bush’s achievements in Africa, which are worth marking as the president embarks today on a visit that is scheduled to include trips to Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia. Mr. Bush has committed $15 billion to fight AIDS and HIV in Africa, and the result is that the number of Africans benefiting from anti-retroviral drugs has soared to 1.3 million today from 50,000 a few years ago. A similar effort is under way to fight malaria, with similarly promising results.

Mr. Bush hasn’t gotten much credit for this among the American public, but, as a BBC interviewer noted yesterday, his approval rating in Africa is in the 80% range, which is astonishingly high. [….]

Asked about all this yesterday, Mr. Bush characteristically looked beyond the poll numbers to the broader principles. “I believe to whom much is given, much is required. It happens to be a religious notion. But, it should be a universal notion as well,” the president said. “I believe America’s soul is enriched, our spirit is enhanced when we help people who suffer.”

President Bush, America, our military interference “policing” the world, has done more good on behalf of the “global community” than harm.

061202-N-1328C-071

U.S. Army Spc. Danielle Deal visits with a student at the Djibouti City School in Djibouti after handing out school supplies collected by Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa on Dec. 2, 2006. Deal is deployed with Bravo Company, 489th Civil Action Battalion

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U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Weitz walks holding hands with two children who live in a tent city set up by Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa after severe flooding in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, on Dec. 2, 2006.

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U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Artis Weaver, the chief enlisted officer of Joint Task Force Guyana, plays cricket with children at Joshua’s Place Orphanage in Georgetown, Guyana, July 5, 2009, during a mission for New Horizons Guyana 2009. New Horizons Guyana is a U.S. Southern Command–sponsored humanitarian event that will benefit thousands of Guyanese in Georgetown and its outlying areas. Weaver is deployed from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 49 out of Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Pa. (DoD photo by Airman 1st Class Perry Aston, U.S. Air Force)

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Catherine O’Connor, from the 4th Civil Affairs Group, plays Chutes and Ladders with children in an orphanage in Georgetown, Guyana, July 14, 2009. Marines, Airmen and Soldiers visited the all-female orphanage to play with children and deliver gifts. (DoD photo by Airman 1st Class Perry Aston, U.S. Air Force)

“You give him back his son,” says Steve Muth. “His son’s going to be fine. You can see it in their eyes. They’re not going to forget you. They’re not going to forget you’re from where you’re from. It will be two generations. They’ll still be saying, ‘you know, when you were a kid, it was the Americans that came after the earthquake.’ They won’t forget.” -Bob Simon 60 Minutes segment reporting on NYC Paramedics Saving Lives in Pakistan, in wake of the 2005 earthquake.

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U.S. Navy Master-at-Arms 1st Class Keith Thomas, embarked aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), carries a patient to be seen by medical professionals in Tumaco, Colombia, June 12, 2009. Comfort is deployed in support of Continuing Promise, a four-month equal partnership humanitarian and civic assistance mission between the United States and international partners in seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jessica Snow)

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U.S. Navy Cmdr. Alison LeFebvre, a physical therapist assigned to the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), escorts an El Salvadorian child to physical therapy during a medical mission at the Jose Pantoja Hija schoolhouse in La Union, El Salvador, June 22, 2009. Comfort is on its sixth stop in support of Continuing Promise 2009, a four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marcus Suorez, U.S. Navy)

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FA readers: challenge all of your friends and associates to read this entire post. Make sure they pass it along to their favorite liberals. Rub their noses in it.

Great post guys. Thank you.

Thank you, WS. Excellent post. I will definitely share.
I’m only in my late 30’s so I do not remember our troops coming home from VN. I get a deeper sense of what it must have been like to come home to such dissent each time I see and hear some manipulator of the truth put a shadow over our military and it’s humanitarian deeds. It saddens me to no end. I pray for our Iraqi heroes and hope they don’t find it worse here at home than in a free Iraq where they are appreciated.

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda were not just soul mates. They were actually married at one point.

I could never understand the people who criticize your American troops or your wars. Something is very wrong here. Whenever a country is in distress, they always turn to the USA and it is always the USA who goes and helps them. Your troops and our troops (Canadian) are doing a very good job wherever they go. When they leave, they have made friends and allies because those countries are in a better position than they were before they came to help.

So what is wrong with those leftist pacifists? What is it that they do not understand? Our troops do not let them in distress; they help them reconstruct a better country where there is more freedom and more opportunities for all of them.

Thank you Wordsmith for this thread and all the nice pictures. I sure do hope that the leftist pacifists will open their eyes and finally see reality.

Thank you Wordsmith for this canadian photo. Our troops are getting better and better under Stephen Harper.

When Harper took office, the budget of the Canadian military was so lean after the cutbacks of the 1990s liberal government, that analysts warned operational effectiveness was in jeopardy. Mr. Harper boosted the budget to $18 billions.

Wordsmith, You are 100% on the money with tjhis post!

I and so many other REAL OIF and OEF Veterans all have stories of the human side of this war. I lost count of how many MRE’s, various snack foods, and bottles of water I gave to kids when I was in Iraq 5 years ago. No MSM reporters or photographers ever saw or recorded what I did for these kids, but the proof will be realized in the next 5-15 years as these kids become adults, become leaders in their local communities, and they’ll remember the kindness and compassion that was shown them by American GI’s!

Once again Wordsmith, thanks for the post and the research you put into it!

Paul, it might not be shown on the msm, but many people DO still have an inkling what you guys did/do over there.

Anytime you want to share the good things you guys did, or some of those human stories, PLEASE submit em to us so that more people can learn.

Was comment #1 the quiz Skye referenced in her post? That was tooo easy!

So many good photos, but this one leapt out:

Take a few minutes to watch this video and the attitude of the general “moonbat” population. Especially on the left coast.

Click here: YouTube – Santa Barbara Anti-American Protest

Are we not “peacemakers”?

Thank You so much for posting all this info about our military and President Bush’s accomplishments! I do so appreciate our military and all the good work you guys and gals do for our country as well as for other countries…..Thank You so very much!

I love the “Grateful Kiss” photo. Does the Afghan man realize that with a name like Goldberg, the good doctor he’s thanking is probably a Jew?

WordSmith,

Check out this picture. You can’t make this stuff up:

http://skyepuppy.blogspot.com/2009/01/islams-best-and-brightest.html

RC Brooks,

You know, everytime a moonbat comes on this blog, I imagine him exactly like the idiotic pacifists on the video you have linked. This is why I am usually rude to them, they merit no respect at all. What a bunch of stupid wackos! I have no pity for these people, no respect and no patience.

Really great piece of work on this post. It is so sad because the media could have been doing this for years. In WWII, that was what the media did was to boost morale and support the troops. That was the last war that it supported.

My husband is retired Army. We’ve known some of the finest people in the world while being a part of the military family. Ted Turner can shoot from the lip all he wants-these pics tell the story of the great work our forces can and do perform in some of the most ravaged places on earth. God Bless ’em all.

My son was working the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln during the relief mission
in Indonesia after the tsunami that struck in late 2004 .. The scope of what the task force
did and the missions carried out is just a faded memory now. Those young men and women
went to it out of orders and duty.. but, what you do not hear is how they made a shipwide
decision to stop taking showers, so that the helos could deliver more fresh water to the
stricken islands. The deck crew re-routed the ship’s plumbing to the flight deck so the sailors
could fill dozens of containers at a time from the ship’s desalination plant. Then they ran 24/7
missions to provide relief and thousands of flights … for a people who did not ask – and a
government who had only derision for the USA. But, I do believe those people, in those wrecked
towns and villages will never forget.

WORDSMITH, yes fantastic pictures also, thank you for telling it as it is,

I really appreciate all the work the U.S. military has done for people all over the world

Word THANKS Beautifully Done!
Semper Fi

All cosmetic.

And look at the replies, tons of morons bought it.

A majority of people don’t understand that the ability to project *real* power globally is the deterrence that keeps the greater peace…it serves as a barrier of entry to those states who would otherwise easily overpower their neighbors to get what they want — they must build their forces to the highest possible obstacle to their ambitions, if that obstacle is Vietnam and/or the Philippines (for instance) then that is much easier to overwhelm, isn’t it?

Now if the other side of your equation is Vietnam, Philippines, United States…whose forces are going to present the biggest obstacle to your ambition?

In the long term it is cheaper in blood and gold to maintain this kind of global deterrence then sit around and wait for the repercussions of not doing so to compel action that requires national mobilization and massive global conflict.

On behalf of NJROTC from Patrick Henry High School,

We appreciate all that you guy have done for us, we’re giving back by organizing a food drive for our troops to make your holidays more festive and filling. We hope support the men and women who are serving our country, waiting for family and friends in Afghanistan to come back safely.

Happy Holidays from PHHS

Kathryn Aquino
hi,
you are super PEOPLE

, Why is your military So Hated Around the World
?(you did not answer your question)… Because, they are lost in cheap esoterism, propaganda and lies they call “The only truth”(and they think so much of themselves…). Not even worth Stalinian or Nazi propaganda.

You know guys…. The problem doesn´t lie in the military.
The problem are those who have the power to command it: Politicians mostly.
As many associations, the military is being used not only for portection and help, but abused for assault on countries who do not deserve the destruction and tears that come along with war.

Of course there are unable or abusive people with power right in the heart of the organization too, or ones that are so overly fanatical or optimistic, bigot fools, filled with national pride, so full of themselves, that they forget the bigger purpose, rapists, people who simply like to kill with big guns that make a lot of noise – like a computer game, but so much more realistic.
You can´t deny it. There have been countless scandalsthat are proof.

The army is not evil. But if a servant is commanded to slap a child, the child will hate the one who slapped it, not the one who ordered it to be slapped.
A knife can be used as a tool or weapon.
And so on… To put it metaphorical.

Luna
you are right, yes it depend on the COMMANDER FOR SURE, AND HE DICTATE THE KIND OF WAR TO FIT HIS AGENDA ALSO, AND that is not the war as it should be played out, this AFGHANISTAN WAR REFLECT OBAMA unsettled hesitation AND UNWILLING, to extend it with the number of MILITARY REQUIRED TO END IT BY ELIMINATE THE WRONG SIDE AND LIKE A SURGEON WOULD FOR A CANCER, THAT IS CUT IT OUT ALL, AND BURN IT ALL TO ELIMINATE IT AND GET THE TROOPS BACK WINNING THEIR WARS LEAVING THE MESSAGE THAT YOU DON’T MESS EVER WITH AMERICA, OR YOUR WHOLE COUNTRY
WILL BARE THE RESPONSABILITY AGAIN. LEAVING TO GIVE THE COUNTRY THEIR OWN RESPONSABILITY TO DEFEND THEIR OWN,
and not dragging the military into further operation not required anymore, except to get their
presence being resent with hatefull attack because they are there still after so long, too long for that
COUNTRY AND TOO LONG FOR THAT PEOPLE AND AT LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE TOO LONG FOR THE BRAVEST OF THIS AMERICA,
BUT HE CHOOSE TO USE THE AMERICANS TO DO THE JOB FOR THEM AND GET THEM KILL FOR THEIR CAUSE WHICH ARE NO MORE FOR AMERICA, WHY SHOULD THE MILITARY WHO SPILL THEIR BLOOD FOR THE FREEDOM OF AMERICA, HAVE TO PUT THEIR LIFE IN DANGER FOR A COUNTRY WHO HATE THEM AND SHOW IT PUBLICLY WITHOUT ANY REPRIMANDE FROM THEIR LEADER AND ORDER TO STOP THEIR HATE AGAINST THE MILITARY.

Kathryn Aquino
hi, you where in 2011 there above, now from 2012 here,
will you do the same for the TROOPS THIS YEAR,
NJROTC FROM PATRICK HENRY HIGH SCHOOL,
BEST TO YOU ALL.

The only way someone could understand what our fighting men and women go through is to go to where they are ,pick up a gun and fight along side them. until you do that then you cant say a bad thing about them . God Bless our troops and God Bless the United States!! .

Brad24567
yes SIR, AND IT’S OKAY TO BE HATED BY THE ENEMY,
BUT PRAISE BY THE ONE WHO’S FREEDOM IS PROTECTED
BECAUSE OF ALL OF THEM INCLUDING THOSE WHO DIED,
AND THOSE WHO COME BACK WOUNDED, WE LOVE THEM
FOR HAVING THE COURAGE TO STAND AND FACE THE ENEMIES FOR ALL OF US
INCLUDING THE FOOLS AMONG US,
BEST TO YOU.

My unit has thousands of photos like those posted in this article. The real people in Iraq didn’t want us to leave. They were rebuilding lives that were either destroyed living under Saddam or were prevented from flourishing. If we had stayed another 10 years, the Iraqi people would have built an economy that would have fed themselves. They would not have had to be dependent upon government hand outs.

Obama pulled out the troops which made Iraq unsafe for all of the NGOs Turner thinks makes the difference in the world. Obama allowed a pseudo dictator to take charge of Iraq and restart the infighting. allowing ISIS to capture western Iraq.

It takes 15-20 years to develop senior police officers, senior military officers and senior non-commissioned officers. Obama cut that effort short to meet a political objective to “end the war in Iraq”, Instead, he made sure the war in Iraq will continue for decades, maybe centuries Now, we are faced with having HRC as a know nothing president who can not reason her way out of a wet paper bag. Does any one really think she can make a difference in the world based upon her “experience” as a senator and Sec of State? If so, why has she not done so in the past?

Merry Christmas!

See the Air Force play Santa for thousands of islanders