Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for January 04, 2015

Should’ve never gone in there.

So it seems.That’s why Senator Obama opposed it.

@bama1fan92

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

A Doonesbury from nearly quarter of a century ago:

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1991/05/04

How about a lesson learned for the future. Our adventuring into other lands never works out for anyone (except those selling the weapons).

Remember Bush Sr? He stopped 100 miles from Baghdad because he did not want destabilize the region. Might have been onto something.

Most disabled vets have a hard time admitting that they gave a limb (or eye or limbs or who knows what they lost) for a lie their government told them. I would probably do the same thing.

Interesting that no one is commenting on GBT’s take on gratitude toward veterans. Are our expressions of gratitude merely an attempt to assuage a lurking sense of guilt?

Compare Kennedy to Dubya. Kennedy had pictures of the missiles in Cuba, undeniable proof of the problem. Dubya had drawings, hints and guesses of proof. The only actual proof in the WMD arena was Saddam’s use of chemical weapons. Dubya is a dummy and that is the fault of an individual. Following a dummy is the fault of the people of the United States.

I’ve talked to lots of vets (and cops and others who have volunteered to take on the evils of the world), and I’ve never had one yet respond to a show of respect like this. Throwing this response out there as if it were “representative” just for a political eye-poking is just as disrespectful to vets as every Congress and every President slowly stripping them of promised rights and services.

The two biggest tragedies in U.S. history. 1- 911 and 2, how the Government reacted to it.

Oh and awesome strip today!

What exactly did Bush I lie about? That wasn’t Iraq that invaded Kuwait? Those people I talked to in Kuwait who had friends killed and were tortured were really just actors?

That’s potent stuff they’re growing now that pot is legal in some places.

Iraq is a disaster and crawling with terrorists because our stupid president told our troops to “cut and run.” NOT because we were there!

B. D.? Did you forget that you were also in Vietnam?

I have much respect for those who have served in the military. I also have respect for anyone who volunteers for any worthwhile cause meant to protect or help others. ( I know that’s subjective ).What I detest is war.

Bush stopped for the reason stated above. Saudi helped our effort. Maybe they did not want ISIS or Al Queda on their border. Maybe they thought they could handle Saddam. Fact is Bush Sr did what he said he would do and Saudi was helpful in 1985 in slashing oil prices to destabilize the USSR. Sound familiar?

Soldiers don’t make policy. I thought we learned that much from Vietnam vets and their sorry treatment. Don’t be so hard on yourself BD.

Ending the draft may have been a good idea for the military, but it was a terrible idea for American society. Now we have generations of Americans who think that if we go to war someone else will go do the fighting for them. So I bite my tongue every time someone says “thank you for your service” because I want to say “If you want to thank me, join up…” America was founded on the concept of the “citizen-soldier” starting with the revolutionary war but military service has become too “inconvenient” for most Americans today.

Actually, whenever I see someone in military uniform or I can tell a person is a veteran, I walk up and thank them for their service in the very same way this gentleman did. It does not matter where they serve/d or the outcome, the fact is that they put their lives out there to protect us and our way of life. They make a sacrifice, even if they never see a battlefield.

“Welcome home”, NOT “thank you for your service” (for things you don’t WANT to be “thanked” for having to do.)

Got back from ’Nam in ’67, and spoke at rallies against that war, but spelled it out in terms of exactly what was REALLY going on there, not the myths. My son was in Iraq and elesewhere, nothing good to say about the Bush/Cheney version of that war, or Afghanistan. (btw, I served only three years and “retired”, he served 13 literally did retire on disabilities.)

The soldiers who are best at war are the ones who actually hate it the most, we were both good at it, and hate it, but aren’t pacifists if we, or our country, are pushed. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the “push” all came from liars in the Bush administration and their supporters, either Bush was totally stupid (possible) or the worst traitor in American history (more possible, with Cheney et al pushing HIM.)

As to how Republicans in Congress and others, have treated our veterans? I recall how after WW I, our future leaders in WW II, FIRED ON VETERANS in the “Bonus Army” right here at home. That’s the chickenhawk driven response, and it ain’t anything new.

BTW; my Democratic Senator on the intelligence committee voted against EVERY legislative effort of Bush/Cheney to get us into Iraq, based on what he knew, but because of “classified” information and prohibitions, he couldn’t pass that knowledge of FACTS on to the public, without risking prison, and charges of treason, that should have been facing Bush/Cheney/Wolfowitz/Perle/Rice/Feith, and others.

As to him admitting he’d also been in ’Nam, who wants to admit that much embarrassment for the stupidity of his fellow “countrymen”?

We love to show “respect for our heroes” as long as it doesn’t involve paying any TAXES. Big, corporate-funded “concert for the vets” in DC? Great! Privately-funded charities providing rehabilitation services? Fine, we’ll give ’em free air time to ask for money. Daytime TV show surprising a disabled vet with a free Mexican vacation (I am not making this up)? Sure, why not? State lottery running a “Veterans Cash” game which promises to give some of its proceeds to rehabilitation, job training and shelter for vets? OK. Properly funding the VA? Sorry, that might involve the Correct People having to pay a little more in taxes. Or worse, it might divert some of that precious DoD money from expensive-and-useless weapons like the F-35 (aka “corporate welfare”). Sorry. We respect our heroes, but we respect our MONEY more.

Welcome home, B.D.

The powers that be should have listened to Dick Cheney when he said going in to Iraq would be wrong. What kind of government would be put in place after saddam. There will be civil war between the three factions (he left out how the minority Christian group would be killed, attacked and run out of the country, but I add that in) and are the lives of our soldiers worth dealing with saddam at all, and we would end up in a quagmire. Hmmm…… Darth Cheney should have listened to that guy.

@Ray ThomasThe terrorists started coming to Iraq after 2003 invasion and they stayed. Even after the “Surge,” all they did was lower their profile.How long was the US going to keep its troops there and how many?

Apropos… just saw a TV commercial soliciting donations for the Wounded Warrior program. While I can’t say anything for or against that organization, it is my opinion that our government should be providing every medical service necessary to rehab the vets, period. I can’t imagine a situation in which the government can rightfully deny any such aid, be it medical, social, or psychological. It’s the least we can do, but we are not even doing that.

“He was just wanting to one up and finish what his father had done”.His father HAD finished what he had intended..“War Criminals both.”.GHWB for stopping Saddam’s invasions of his neighbors?Don’t let hatred get in the way of your vision.We’ll send you Jeb to help you straighten out your thinking.Then maybe one of the little dark ones.

Some vets don’t think themselves as heroes. Some think they did what they had to do. They also lay their lives on the line for our freedom. But I still say to the vets, “thank you and welcome home.”

Thank you, GBT, for this strip. The only heroes are the people who opposed this war.

I think both Trudeau and his bitter vet miss the point. Regardless of whether you think the war was a good idea or a bad one, executed well or poorly, accomplished its ends or failed in the attempt, the fact of the matter is that we had men and women who volunteered to put their lives on the line — many of whom gave their lives — to protect our country against all enemies foreign and domestic. The more’s the pity that the domestic enemies are a greater threat to the nation than the foreign ones; but I digress. I am thankful for all those who volunteered to put themselves between threats to the nation and the continuance of our nation and our way of life. And our military is all volunteer; we haven’t conducted a draft since Vietnam (despite the fact that men still have to register for it when they turn 18). If you can’t be thankful for that, I pity you.

“Why didn’t April Glasby not tell Saddam to keep “hands off our Kuwait” instead of giving him the green light so that the US could attack an destroy.”.She was trying to be diplomatic and follow orders as she stood in the darkness on a floor stained with the blood of the previous person to have said NO to him..Diplomats tend to be wishy-washy lest they back themselves into a corner and force us to go into military action.

“Then why was GWB always talking about finishing it in Iraq then?”.It is obvious he disagreed with his father’s approach and believed all would have been kittens and puppy dogs if only Saddam had been removed from office.It is obvious he mistakenly thought they would become a loving and peaceful nation if only they had a democratic government..As to why he may have had plans to invade, they were obviously not good ones or well thought-out. He did not plan for what happened the day after victory.(and this is assuming he actually did have plans for attacking Iraq, a claim I don’t actually know since he and I have never talked and others have been known to lie).Even so, it would not be a bad idea to have plans on hand for fighting any potential enemy, lest you get into a fight you can not win because you forgot to get enough nails for the shoes for the horses for the battle, so to speak.

“They may or may not be persecuted for it but it is grounds for impeachment and removal from any committee that requires a clearance .”.prosecutedEach house of Congress can decide what will be grounds for removal from office.To clearly state that other claims being made are lies is not revealing anything classified, just making a statement regarding a public claim.The senate does not serve the President.If a senator lets people die by supporting a lie for fear of losing a committee position, he should not be in the senate at all..This leads to the question, Was he lying then or is he lying now.Me not know..“You are too simplistic ".That’s because I’m simple minded.I know we can’t trust our public officials, but I keep insisting they act trustworthy.The “everybody lies about…” just doesn’t cut it when done by those who have power of life and death over billions of people by their lies.

What would of happened if BD said Vietnam?

BD should have also mentioned Viet Nam. The country’s booming now — and all because of us!