Americans tune out as Afghan war rages on

[AF6872]

Afghanistan is and will always be a nightmare for any nation involved. Aukland's Folly. Great Post ED

[AF6872]

Hey Scout: If the reference is going over your head look up.

[sprog]

Parts of this thread read like Finnegans Wake.

[EDelahanty]

Originally Posted by sprog

Parts of this thread read like Finnegans Wake.

That's an insult to James Joyce.

[AF6872]

The Earwickers were OK but "Ulysses" was banned Just some stream-of-consciousness.

[bruno]

The turn that this thread took was really disappointing. I was ignoring the thread as it didn't violate any "rules " until I read the Stars & Stripes article below his morning. That article reminded me of exactly what the OP posting this thread was decrying.

As EDelahanty pointed out below:

"The original focus of this thread was the inattention and ignorance of our fellow citizens about the ongoing war in Afghanistan.Even this thread was unable to stay on subject..."

It is beyond pathetic that our country has service members at war- and even many of the members of this forum apparently don't care and would rather talk about nonsense than discuss the sacrifice those personnel are being called upon to endure. You could have written in support of the war as it is being fought, you could have written how you think the war should be wrapped up tomorrow and those soldiers brought home, you could have talked about why we should or shouldn't be there, or how we wound up where things stand today- all of that shows that you actually care about the war and what your soldiers are doing. But for members of this forum to hijack a thread about the nations lack of interest in this war is appalling and those of you who can't even sustain a serious conversation about what you as voters have directed your soldiers to do should be ashamed of yourselves for your apathy which you demonstrated by turning this into some load of baloney about trivia.

Want something to have a stream of consciousness to write about? Try this:
http://www.stripes.com/quadruple-amp...-unit-1.187841

Standing on his new prosthetic legs, wearing artificial arms and dressed in combat fatigues, Staff Sgt. Travis Mills showed up in the pre-dawn darkness to greet soldiers as they stepped off the plane in Fort Bragg, N.C.

He was fulfilling a promise he had made to himself just weeks after an April explosion in Afghanistan left him a quadruple amputee....

...Mills, 25, who was on his third combat deployment when he was injured, talked about his whirlwind reunion and his road to recovery as one of only five quadruple amputees to survive the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ...

He also reminds the people he meets that American soldiers are still fighting and dying in a war in Afghanistan. "People say the word 'hero' to me," Mills said. "And I say, 'Hey, the heroes are the ones over there still fighting every day.'"

[scoutpilot]

I think Bruno makes a very valid point. For a multitude of reasons, Afghanistan feels like a much lonelier venture for us. When I first went to Iraq, the American people were very engaged. That was natural, I suppose. It was the beginning of the surge and there was great question as to whether we'd succeed. It was also 6 months before the disaster of Lehman Bros. and the collapse of peoples' financial lives. The second time, people cared much less. The surge was ending. The rules were changing. Home wasn't doing well.

There's a different feeling to Afghanistan, owing to a number of factors. The greatest among these is likely the disengagement of the American people. As others have pointed out, it's somewhat natural and expected. 10 years is a long time. Children who were so young that 9/11 had to be explained to them in kid-glove terms will be going to college next year. Parents have lost jobs. People have lost homes. Life has gone on. That's ok. We know it. It's hard to feel less love from the homefront sometimes, but we're not stupid. We get it. Our own families are just as exhausted by being patriots about all this.

Speaking as someone who's spent multiple years engaged in this fight, I can honestly tell you that we don't want you to stop living your lives. We don't. We don't expect America to stand by and cheer us on with the full vigor of the nation. We want to come home to a strong and functioning America. We want to come home to happy families and growing children. We want next year's Mustang to have more horsepower. A year or more in a foreign land means that the one thing we want in spades when we return is a big, boisterous, smiling America. The kind of America that says "Have a beer and let's eat some fried stuff!"

We can beat this horse to death, and likely already have (to include some, shall we say...interesting...ideas on how best to fight the war). When all the dust has settled, all we can ask is that you do your best to show respect to those who've undertaken the burden of years away from hearth and home to fight the fights of the country. That is all we can ask. Personally, I think America as a whole has done a good job of treating us well and making us feel appreciated.

If the nation can do just enough to make sure we don't have a generation of disaffected veterans like the post-Vietnam era, that would be a tremendous victory for the long-term health of our military and our people.

[Idzak]

Scout. Well said.

[mellowgator]

Originally Posted by goaliedad

TPG,

I ask you to put your legs back on. While being in a wheel chair certainly will get people to notice your situation, I'm not sure that it is the type of notice you really want.

If you come across half as well in person as you do in writing, once people get to know you, your loss will only serve to amplify your stature with those who take the time to talk.

I'd rather see fewer people with a positive impression than many with a superficial view of people like you. Unfortunately, I am afraid many people have already developed a stereotype of the wounded warrior and may not be paying much attention once they pigeonhole you based upon your appearance.

Yeah there is the school of thought that bad publicity is better than none, but I think you bring plenty of the things that people want to experience without your missing physical attributes.

I commend TPG for keeping his legs off to show the severity of the situation in Afghanistan. As a w-c user myself I find your comment insulting to all disabled people.

[scoutpilot]

Originally Posted by mellowgator

I commend TPG for keeping his legs off to show the severity of the situation in Afghanistan. As a w-c user myself I find your comment insulting to all disabled people.

Can we please not re-start a peeing contest? His point was not at all about the broader spectrum of wheelchair users or intended to be insulting to the disabled.