Some pictures of soldiers from Iraq

[in_cog_ni_to]

These were just sent to me by an old friend. Thought I would share. They're very touching.

[thebigidea]

1. Invasion & Occupation has never been this cuddly!

You're with us and the kittens, or you're with the terrorists!

[xJlM]

11. Someone should send that one to the Lounge, eh?

DU is an interesting place.

[Lizz612]

2. wow!

I can't imagine being a medic. I really can't, its just so... What am I looking for? Conflicted. I would be so conflicted


And look, no one can resist petting a kitty!

[Randi_Listener]

3. Some of them will die

That's the sad part thanks to Bring 'Em On Buckwheat

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. The face of the soldier with the baby

looks so sad. :(

[THUNDER HANDS]

6. yeah...the guy kinda looks like Dan Ackroyd too

[Fleshdancer]

5. the baby picture is interesting.

From our perspective, it's most likely an "aaahhh" picture, but I bet it would be pretty horrifying from an Iraqi point of view.

Could you imagine seeing Iraqi soldiers in America holding a white baby in his arms? Americans would explode with hatred and anger.

[xultar]

9. So true! n/t

[wndycty]

10. The soldier was holding the baby because. . .

. . .his or her mother had just been killed. I remember it when it ran. . .it was very sad. I think we were responsible for her death.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. The troops at the checkpoint had just shot up a car filled with an Iraqi..

...family that was trying to flee one of the combat areas. The excuse given was that the car failed to halt quickly enough. I think the baby may have been the only survivor.

[TexasMexican]

7. KITTAH!!!

is that brit solider with the kitty male or female?

[HFishbine]

8. Thank you

Very touching. The one that strikes me the most is the first picture. There's something about the expression of the Iraqi (I assume) in the background middle. It appears as if he's hoping. Hope is good.

[louis-t]

12. Too bad there can't be more of the 1st photo and less of the 2nd.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. he is asking for forgivenes and questioning "dear God what are we doing?"

[HFishbine]

14. Or maybe

He's cherishing a moment of humanity.

[CityZen-X]

15. Prayer Circle

In pix #5 (Prayer Circle), I would like to believe the troops are praying for their safe return home, and the defeat of GW Bu$h*t in 2004!!!

[ACK]

16. Yep I say it is a good post.

I have never been against the men and women in the military.

I am against lying to the American people to get us into a war and having no real plan to get us out.

I am against profiteering through corporate cronism and then deciding to cut and run by June if things look bad.

I am against an arrogant attitude that got us a puny coalition of few and prevents us from being able to get the UN into the situation on the ground in force.

However, I am not against some 18 year old kid that wanted to serve his country and get his college paid for and found himself sucked into a PNAC blood letting.

Good post.

[Minstrel Boy]

17. what do you see when you see these images?

Because I don't find them "touching." I find them disturbing. And frankly, I'm disappointed more here don't.

If you aren't troubled by the propaganda value of these images, perhaps you are unfamiliar with similar scenes of occupied France. They were a great reassurance to the homeland that all was normal and as things should be. Look, the pictures said, the cafes are open! The children smile and reach out to our noble stormtroopers! See vanquished foe and conqueror mingle happily! "Children of France! Trust the German soldier!"

"Touching?" America will never be a republic again if that's its reaction.

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. I understand what you're saying,

Minstrel Boy. I said "touching" because that was the emotion I felt at the time. I was "touched" by the soldier holding the baby, looking so very sad. I saw compassion in that picture. The man who is smelling the envelope from a loved one (I assume) almost made me cry. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be away from my family for months and months at a time. The ST picture with everyone SMILING?? that is something I don't see very often. It made ME smile. That little boy actually has a smile on his face. I do not begrudge that little boy happiness. The picture of the soldier petting a kitten? Well, being an animal lover, that made me say..."awe" and I wondered if that soldier has a kitten at home that he/she missed and was longing for? They are all human beings.

I think these picture were a welcome sight compared to the pictures I usually see of death everywhere. Dead Iraqi's and dead soldiers. Pictures of soldiers coming home in aluminum body tubes. It felt good to me to see them alive and well instead. Hell, for all I know, some or all of them could be the ones coming home in those body tubes. :( THAT doesn't make me feel good at all and I am NOT naive enough to think that Iraq is anything but a war zone. A miserable, deadly war zone.

[janx]

20. Where did they come from originally?

?

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. an old friend sent them to me

and I don't have a CLUE what his political persuasion is. He just sent the pics. :shrug:

[SharonAnn]

21. Yes, my right-wing uncle sent these to me to show why I should

support *'s war!

He said it's "unAmerican" to have been against the war and that surely, now that I could see what was really going on, I will understand why * had to "take out" Saddam.

Sigh!

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. So,

these are going around the net as a propaganda tool? Sheesh. I honestly did not see them that way. :(