This Marine has figured it out

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/198791

Groups here back troops, but not Iraq occupation

When Dan Kaufman re-enlisted to fight beside his fellow Marines in Iraq, he didn't expect to fight a battle for civil liberties when he returned home.

"They used the Iraq war and terrorists to take away our freedoms that the military has fought for over the last 300 years," Kaufman said, citing warrantless wiretapping as an example.

"I got back to find out that all these freedoms that I was supposedly going over there to protect, the government is eroding when we come back here."

Kaufman served in the Marine Reserves from 1995 until 2001 and re-enlisted when he heard that his unit was being activated in 2004. As a machine gunner with the 2nd Battalion 24th Marine Regiment from Milwaukee, Kaufman was sent in to help secure Yusifiyah, a town about 25 miles southwest of Baghdad.

Although proud of his unit's accomplishments, Kaufman has become an outspoken critic of the war he believes was based on lies and deceit. He answered questions for a crowd gathered at Vilas Park for a cookout Sunday afternoon sponsored by the Military Families for Peace and the Military Family Compassion Groups.

"It doesn't matter how good the troops do over there because they are being undermined at every turn by the administration," he said. "I found we weren't doing anything to help the country, and we were wasting all of our resources in order to p--- the rest of the world off."

[Longhorn]

1. K&R! nt

[lonestarnot]

2. and another baby!

:patriot:

[Recursion]

3. Semper fi, devil dog

From 2/5 to 2/24... here's hoping the Corps doesn't hang you out to dry, dude...

Actually I remember doing a CAX with 24th Marines... good guys. Real big guys, though. Not in a "nudge nudge reservists are fat" way, just in a "these are really big frigging Marines" way.

:patriot:

[Toasterlad]

4. Even a Jarhead Can Figure It Out!

How is the rest of the country so stupid about what this administration is up to??? :crazy:

P.S. Re: Jarhead - don't take offense. Just a little inter-departmental rivalry from this ex-Navy man. ;)

[Bucky]

5. Heh. From your post I figured you were from...

one of those jealous branches of the military.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. This one is a keeper.

Reminds me of an earlier situation, where a father's son died in Iraq, and the father was fired from his job for being one of the earliest Americans to protest the war. My comment then was that it was a double injury. First, the boy died fighting for a right/freedom, which his father later proved didn't exist.

[Mnemosyne]

7. Needs another

:kick:nR

[NewYorkerfromMass]

8. I hope he is not the exception

If half the troops are as smart as this guy we'll be in good shape.

[neuvocat]

9. They might be following the lead of their generals.

A number of them have been speaking out against it for some time. They may be retired but they could still lose a lot by doing so.

[frogcycle]

13. I am seeing a LOT more

suggestions of discontent, disillusionment in the articles about the KIA
despite the highly vocal "swiftboater" types, John Kerry was far from rare back then, and there are plenty of military with their heads on straight today.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

10. kick

[sutz12]

11. Semper Fi, bro...

Yes, Jarheads do 'get it.' :)

VMFA-531, MAG-11, MCAS El Toro.

.....and no, it doesn't look anything like it did in Independence Day. :)

[Uncle Joe]

12. This sums it up nicely

"It's not that people aren't willing to go fight, it's just that the cause needs to be the right cause," Kaufman said.

"We aren't the good guys just because we are the U.S. In order to be the good guys, you need to do the right thing."

Semper Fi, Dan Kaufman

:patriot:

[frogcycle]

14. roger that

12 Killed - Afghanistan
90 Killed - Iraq

as of 6/26