CNN: Troops respond to 'Jon Carry' with plea for 'halp'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops showed their displeasure -- and sense of humor -- regarding Sen. John Kerry's comments this week to a group of California college students, whom he told to work hard in school or they'd "get stuck in Iraq."

Eight soldiers, who are stationed near the southeastern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, are shown holding the sign in a photo that has been widely distributed on the Internet.

I'm not convinced in the least the Kerry would be doing much better or worse than Bush right now.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

I believe we would have captured bin Laden by now and that we would not be in Iraq right now. Most likely we'd be all done in Afganistan by now as well.

The only reason I disagree with this is because I don't see Gore using the necessary military strength (e.g. militarizing Afghanistan's borders, aggressive military tactics against Afghan militias, and so on).

Putting aside the reason why we went into various countries (namely, Somolia and Kosovo), the Clinton administration showed no willingness to use the military to the fullest extent possible. Leaving after 12 U.S. soldiers were killed in Somolia, rather than sending more (with more liberal shooting orders), was perhaps the most damning piece of evidence that the United States cannot stomach casualties.

My cousin is on leave from Iraq right now (he's stateside for two weeks). He's not too thrilled about our current situation in Iraq and has stated the following in the week since he's been back:

1. Dividng Iraq into three separate countries is the only thing that's going to work.

2. We're "fighting with our hands behind our back" (his words, not mine). He stated that he's required to file a report every time his weapon is discharged "and there's an investigation if you shoot people." This has really made me interested in researching military policies during American conflicts previous to the Second World War and whether we demanded this level of accountability of knowing who and what soldiers are shooting at.

3. When and if we leave before some sort of stability is established, there will be a lot of casualties among those who cooperated with the U.S. He said that's the biggest fear of the translator attached to their unit.

If you believe that Bush has made us safer in the world then you probably do think the t-shirt is funny

You know why? Because a lot of people I've spoken to about entering the military have all said the same thing: why would you go to college and then go into the Army? I can't tell you how many times this has been stated over the course of the last year and, I'm sure, will only become more frequent the closer I get to actually signing paperwork.

That's why I think the shirt is funny. Because there are people out there (e.g. Clinton, Bush and the entire Vietnam generation) who see college as a way out of serving in the military when the proverbial money is down. Kerry claims the statement was a "botched joke," but I think he knows what he meant.

I like the t-shirt, and it's clear that Kerry's stupidity pisses off his electorate, as they have to defend him. We saw it here. Thanks for the link to the shirt.

I don't like most of the presidents in the last 50 years. I liked Ronny. I know many here didn't like him, but I thought he was a great leader. Clinton wasn't a horrible president, and was 10 times the leader that Kerry could ever hope to be. But Slick-Willy was no Ronny.

Obama, I like his style, he is very likeable, but he is too new/young in the biz to run now, and we really don't know where he stands on most of the issues. Not to mention he's anti-gun, and pro-child murder, so he will never get my vote, just like most of the demos. All the rest of the demos threatening to run for prez all suck.

I wish a really charismatic Libertarian would come on scene and blow the doors off the 2 party system. If the libertarians would screw their head on right with respect to abortion, I would vote for them. But until then, I will vote for the guy/gal that is mind melded with me on the two above platforms.

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy.

The 2000 election wasn't "stolen." I agree with you, it should have rested at the state level, but you really shouldn't start complaining about federalism simply because it didn't swing your way.

Come to the "loose confederation of states"-POV more often and we can both fight the good fight on a consistant basis.

Ok, that last picture and sentence are hilarious.

I love the 19th century divinity, "God has blessed us"-symbolism, also.

Although I don't think that US policy is going to be able to turn on a dime. It's going to take a long time to extricate ourselves from this situation. The sooner we start, the better.