Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

albacore

(2,398 posts)
Wed Apr 6, 2022, 10:43 PM Apr 2022

Combat veteran here..... Vietnam Vets Against the War member....Veterans for Peace member...

I was appalled at the "Shock and Awe" videos of the Iraq war.

I HATE the "war porn" videos we see today. It's truly awful.

I firmly believe that war is NOT the answer.

And yet....

I find myself hoping that the newer, nastier war technology - like the Javelin and the Switchblade and the Stinger - will blast the shit out of the Russians.... kill them all.

Conflicted. I guess you can take the man out of the Marines, but you can't take the Marines out of the man.



10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Combat veteran here..... Vietnam Vets Against the War member....Veterans for Peace member... (Original Post) albacore Apr 2022 OP
My dad said..once a Marine. Always a Marine. Deuxcents Apr 2022 #1
I'm with you there. Katcat Apr 2022 #8
The old Pollyanna phrase "there is some good in all people" is now so out of date it's laughable. Jack-o-Lantern Apr 2022 #2
I hate wars of aggression, and I was literally sick over "Shock and Awe", but Crunchy Frog Apr 2022 #3
The purpose of engagement in this case is so incredibly clear to me. Stinky The Clown Apr 2022 #4
+1. I think there are a lot of 'conflicted' doves stopdiggin Apr 2022 #5
There is a line in the movie, V For Vendetta. Mr. Evil Apr 2022 #6
Hubby is a VV Katcat Apr 2022 #7
The end of P&T both will result in a lot of rejoicing! Brainfodder Apr 2022 #9
Even a pacificist can be pushed beyond limits. I'm there with re: to Russia. hlthe2b Apr 2022 #10

Deuxcents

(16,087 posts)
1. My dad said..once a Marine. Always a Marine.
Wed Apr 6, 2022, 10:52 PM
Apr 2022

I honor your service as I do all good men n women who answered the call of duty. I hate war n even protested it when I was young. What’s going on in Ukraine is sickening n I wish horrible deaths to those who are participating. My rage is at times unrecognizable b/c I like to think I’m a peaceful person. Reality has hit that theory hard.

Katcat

(229 posts)
8. I'm with you there.
Thu Apr 7, 2022, 01:11 AM
Apr 2022

What the Russian soldiers have done/are doing is some of the most heinous things I’ve ever heard. I felt sympathy for the Russian people UNTIL THEY DID NOT DENOUNCE WHAT THEIR MILITARY HAS DONE. Now, I literally don’t give a **** if they all die.

Crunchy Frog

(26,578 posts)
3. I hate wars of aggression, and I was literally sick over "Shock and Awe", but
Wed Apr 6, 2022, 11:46 PM
Apr 2022

I'm perfectly fine with a defensive war that's being fought against a brutal aggressor. So I'm actually enjoying watching videos of tanks and helicopters getting blown up. The more, the better.

Maybe that makes me a sicko.

Never served in the military. I doubt I could have even survived boot camp.

Stinky The Clown

(67,762 posts)
4. The purpose of engagement in this case is so incredibly clear to me.
Wed Apr 6, 2022, 11:52 PM
Apr 2022

I am very much antiwar but this is different.

stopdiggin

(11,248 posts)
5. +1. I think there are a lot of 'conflicted' doves
Thu Apr 7, 2022, 12:11 AM
Apr 2022

out there. I think it boils down to a gut level conviction - that there MUST be a priced paid. The world needs to see ....

Mr. Evil

(2,825 posts)
6. There is a line in the movie, V For Vendetta.
Thu Apr 7, 2022, 01:05 AM
Apr 2022

"Violence can be used for good."

If there ever was an example where that line applied in real life, it's right fucking now.

I want to see Putin and Sergey Lavrov (Lapdog) and all those murderers (they're not soldiers) of civilians, especially children, given the Mussolini treatment for what they did to Ukraine and its people.

I'm just disgusted with the way we live on this planet. A country is allowed to lay waste to a neighboring country on a whim!? So the leader can appear tough? If Putin is allowed to continue this slaughter and gets away with it, it will only encourage similar behavior from other sociopathic sufferers of delusions of grandeur. This is untenable and he and his cronies must be made an example of. ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Brainfodder

(6,423 posts)
9. The end of P&T both will result in a lot of rejoicing!
Thu Apr 7, 2022, 01:13 AM
Apr 2022

I don't even care how, even if it's drowned in liberal tears or hung upside down above an alligator pit?

I don't even care if they re-enact parts of Seven with those 2?

I don't even care if they are run over by a steam roller twice for good measure?

I don't even care if they are tarred and feathered before or after the visit to the gallows?


hlthe2b

(102,132 posts)
10. Even a pacificist can be pushed beyond limits. I'm there with re: to Russia.
Thu Apr 7, 2022, 06:43 AM
Apr 2022

My throat catches and the tears come every morning when I wake up and hear/see the horror from the day before.
What is happening now is inhuman and we cannot allow it to continue. At some point, the cost of engagement so overwhelms any perceived "honor" or "wisdom" of deferring under cries for "peace," that to sit back and watch is evil, IMO. And if one is still compartmentalizing, still performing intellectual exercises to justify not doing more, then I urge consideration of what is to come and soon.

There is little doubt Putin will push into the Balkans and ultimately NATO countries if not stopped. There is little doubt loss of Ukraine's agriculture means starvation for much of Africa and to a large part, India which is dependent on the "breadbasket" for much of the region. There is zero doubt, IMO that genocide is underway. When did "nevermore" become "never maybe?" I now have a closer understanding of how my grandparents and parents felt, watching from the sidelines in 1939 with all who screamed that it was "Europe's problem" and US must look to the US interest. All who denied what was happening. Yet many realized that Hitler needed to be stopped before what was obvious to many came to pass. That we didn't and the ramifications throughout the decade that followed have not taught us a damned thing about megalomaniac authoritarians is depressing as hell for me. History guides us if we will simply pull our damned heads out of the sand.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Combat veteran here..... ...