Dear George:

Your Army is now ashore, it is the largest army ever amassed in one place, it is also equiped with all the best weapons and every troop has had the best of training.

Your navy is in place and contols the shoreline and indeed, I might add, without question, Your navy rules the seas.

Many of the citizens of the country we are invading, want nothing more then to welcome our troops with open arms.

The foe is ill equiped, ill trained and nothing more then a rag tag outfit, those that are not killed outright will go into hiding, but they will not last even one season as our embargos have stopped all supplies from getting to them.

George, it is time for you to prepare for Victory Parades, has this battle can only last a few days.

It will be a pleasure to send you the head of the rebels, that rascal George Washington........


Just a foot note on history for those who think that a war can be won, without a lot of fighting and killing, the above letter is based upon the facts as they existed July 4, 1776

Wow!! Great history lesson, Professor Nathen. I am getting more scared every day.

Very cool Nathen... thanks for that perspective...

Interesting side note... that message was addressed to King George III ... and our current president who thinks himself "king" is the third "George" who has held that office!

(You say you want a REVOLUTION!)

I just hate to hear all these people saying the war will be won quickly, I think that every life has value, both those on our side and those who would be defending their homeland. If even one life on either side is loss, then the war lasted too long for me.

The news I hear over and over, seems to see the victory is Iraq as being only a matter of days from start to finish, and yet, our own history shows so clearly that the British were wrong, even with all their might they were defeated, and if that seems like old history, then may I remind folks of another war called Viet-Nam.

If Iraq or any other country attacks the USA, I will fight them to the death, but I really have a problem with attacking a country which may or may not have weapons and if they do have such weapons, they may or may not have gotten them from us, and they may or may not use them to give to someone else who may or may not attack us.

If we adopt this policy today, then maybe tomorrow we will invade Canada or Mexico, where does it all stop? When will the knock come to my door, saying I may have weapons and such weapons may be used to fight the goverment?

I am not so much saying PEACE PEACE as I am saying, I question the motives of the current leaders and I do not trust them to tell the truth, I am not so much saying PEACE PEACE as I am crying out for reason.

As an American, it is our duty to stand up and be counted, to defend the source of our goverment and to defend our rights and our freedoms to pass along to the next generation.

It is not our duty to blindly follow George Bush or any other President.
They tried to impeach Clinton for his sexual acts and yet George is here trying to have his way with the world and not one word from congress, what's that all about?

I think John Lennon said it well, "I just want some truth", I think if the truth were known then we could all join together as one, but then that is what this is all about isn't, which truth to accept.

Nathen,
Thanks again for the perepective. I talked to my Marine son last night, and he's all gung-ho invade Iraq--have they brainwashed him? He's really didn't seem to understand that we could support our troops, yet not support the war. I have the feeling that this could become a very big issue between us, what do I do?

"WHEN I KILL THE ONLY THING I FEEL IS RECOIL"

Yes, the USMC can and does brainwash it's recuits, I myself had a great desire to kill VC, While it is not as bad now as it was during Viet Nam, I am sure you will not find a Marine that feels any other way then to Kill Kill Kill, unless that Marine has been in combat, then things change, it becomes a battle to stay alive and to watch after you brothers, of course, even then, some will become stone cold killers, it depends on the recuit and his/her background, when anger,hate and fear are mixed into the pot and then made to boil, it gets interesting.

Most Marines return to normal life after a period of time, some never do, the Corps is a cult, even today, I am a Marine, there just isn't such a thing as an ex-marine.

Of course I am all for peace, but being old corps, I can still expect the respect of any marine anywhere at anytime, so yes, you can be for peace and still be a marine.

Love of Family, Love of Church and Love of Country all play a part in keeping the recuit in balance, if he/she has a background of love then I think it will be okay.
The really mean bad assed guys seem to come from broken homes and a lot of abuse, they can pull the trigger on a baby without even giving it a thought, and they are often the ones who are the cause of "friendly fire" death to officers and those in command.
Like I say, I am from the old corps, they did produce some mean SOB's, todays corps is a little more about thinking instead of just being grunts.

Relax, your son will always love you, even as you a dove can embrace him as a hawk.

Nathen, thanks for the reassurances. I know we'll be fine in the long run. Just a very bumpy road right now. The Marine Corps has done wonders for Mike in terms of showing him what he's made of, and what he can do, and that has been life-saving for him, literally. Blundervibes and Prayers to all our servicemen and women, AND their families. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

Nathen, what you describe seems to be the experience of one of my son's oldest friends. He was all about "Kill, kill, kill!" while he was on active duty. He got out right after a tour in Kosovo, and not long after 9/11. He was alll prepared to have his active duty extended and go to Afghanistan, but basically the deal seemed to be he'd done four years active and he could and should go home. So he did. He was very worried himself about adjusting to civilian life, but at least on the surface it's gone better than expected. Funny thing is, he was planning to go into law enforcement. He had the credentials to get into the force pretty quickly. He was a vet, he'd been a sergeant and done well, but after being home for a while he decided he didn't want anything to do with that kind of thing at all and wanted a career that had nothing to do with guns, or that kind of conflict.