Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 12, 2009

Too much info to deal with. Must wait for coffee to finish.

O icon, blackberry running seven or 8 programs at once.

Oooh! An icon audition, cool.

Can’t wait! LOL

Love the smell of metafiction in the morning!

13, Good God, please bring Ray and his sisters & brothers home! 5 Rotations qualify as a war crime for God’s sake

@plus4: haven’t both #15 and #18 appeared in the dailies? i would think it’s at least possible, since we are well into summer.

Great strip today. Bloom already.

I thought Uncle Stupidhead Chucklebutt (luv that new name!) already “retired” from “odd jobs.”

fbjsr - You’ve got a point, to get five rotations you’d probably have to volunteer. But lets not forget who were talking about here. Most soldiers feel that this kind of thing, forget about the politics, is their job. They feel compelled to deploy. Not because it gives them a chance to commit violence. They feel compelled to go for a large number of reasons. Patriotism, loyalty to their comrades, loyalty to their unit. A deep feeling of responsibility. Knowing that if they don’t go someone less qualified will have to. Knowing that the skills they have may keep other soldiers alive.

I respect your father and his sacrifice. But some might say he had it easy in other ways. Your father only had to leave home once. Soldiers today have to keep going back and back and back into war zones. Knowing what it is like, knowing what they’ll have to do. Imagine having been through something like Fallujah, and then knowing you’ll have to go back. And your Dad never had to deal with anyone treating his war as wrong, unpopular or even trivial. It isnt fair to compare WW2 vets with the soldiers of today. Their wars are completely different. At least the enemy in your fathers day wore a uniform. Both WW2 vets and todays soldiers have been asked to make terrible sacrifices. They have all done more than enough to earn our respect and gratitude.

Check the rotation/extension count in Iraq. 5 may be a stretch, but most of them have been there way too long. Just as a quick example, the 18th MP Division started its 3rd rotation in 2007

WHOOAH & Semper Fi !!

If not the GOP, then who?

I love the stove pipe hat, but it looks like its out…

And, as far as I am concerned, making a US soldier serve one rotation in Iraq is a war crime…

This is why I like gocomics - my local paper always drops the first 2 panels in the Sunday comics.

Fbjsr, minor technicality; scratch the word rotation and pen in extended tour. Many have been there for 5 years. Some have volunteered, but most have not . is it not the same. On top of that most are National guard or reserve, who have not had proper training, let alone much training at all. This is the last I have to say and the closest I come to a political rant. I’m a 2 tour (extended) Viet Nam vet myself, ah yes Dypak, by my choice, not forced like many of today. Fbsjr and all others in similar situation, may God be with your son, daughter, loved one or yourself, whom are about to set out on the most noble sacrifice.

I protested in my day, when I could. The old bones don’t take much to standing or marching much these days, so I blog, write letters, and make phone calls. But my stance comes from my Army service during the Vietnam ‘war’. The biggest lesson I took from that was that the USA has ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS doing nation building anywhere in the world at any time.

If a people want freedom, they’ll eventually go for it.

Maybe we can help them then, maybe, but limit it to materiel and training.

I love Garry Trudeau and Uncle Stupidhead Chucklebutt!!!

No. 18: Hold it in! Hold it in! (I wanna see his head explode…)