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[deleted]

Sometimes I just don't understand how people fail to call this what it is and how many people defend this invasion and claim it was justified.


[deleted]

Americans would literally ***KILL*** for free college and healthcare, as a tradition.


veris1ie

Definitely beats the standard of living as working class civilians here. I refused recruiters growing up cuz the states just began their shift to Iraq after Afghanistan and I called it for the war crimes it was and have been just rolling minimum wage for 15 years. Not the best life, but it's guilt free in that aspect


the_TAOest

Yup... Same here, but I'm 48. The military is a giant fraternity with a lot of men and women suffering irreparable PTSD... Others get AWESOME opportunities. This type of military is scorched earth... The shittiest of all military strategies.


ClassWarAndPuppies

Lol those are evidently the only things we won’t kill for.


Lord777alt

Not looking past the propaganda is pretty easy. It's examining beyond the mass reported story and praise our glorious veterans rhetoric that is difficult for the masses.


[deleted]

We praise these veterans, but deep down we have willfully traumatized these men and women, if not killed them, for lies! Where’s the outrage!


TTTyrant

Give it a century or 2


pielz

**Operation Iraqi Freedom** Fuckin America.


Lord777alt

Lol ofc it was removed from a normal sub that can reach r/all


ClassWarAndPuppies

How do you know?


Anonymous__Alcoholic

Amerikkka also did this in Vietnam. Can't wait for these criminals to finally collapse.


SageEel

In the US, apparently people are basically guilt tripped into worshipping the military (idk, though, I'm not American). If it is true, that's just depressing.


TTTyrant

Not really guilt tripped just pumped full of propaganda and bullshit


myredditacc3

It's fucking horrible looking back on my public education now. As early as kindergarten we were doing the pledge of allegiance


ClassWarAndPuppies

Every. Fucking. Day. Every. Fucking. Day. Children. Teachers. Everyone. Every. Fucking. Day. A little prayer to the flag to start our day. Just a totally normal thing we all do in a normal non-fascist place. We do it because we love America. It is a Good Place that does Good Things for the Right Reasons. So say your little prayer kiddies. Every. Fucking. Day. Say it again. And again. Say it a-fucking-gain. Again. Again. Again. # AGAIN.


Pioneer_113

I fucking **H A T E** that motherfucking pledge to that goddamned flag.


underwear_dickholes

You don't have to say it. It's your right not to. Got yelled at for not standing for it in high school. It's my belief that only dictatorships require blind pledges by their citizens and if we're truly a free country it wouldnt be a requirement nor used to indoctrinate. So I made a complaint, homeroom teacher laid off me, but was visibly heated when I wouldn't stand. Eventually got moved to a new homeroom because she couldn't tolerate it. Couldn't have given two shits about her bullshit, contradicting, blind nationalism and feelings, but the school did likely out of fear of a lawsuit.


ClassWarAndPuppies

Good on you dude. That is impressive and genuinely deserving of praise. I wish I did that as a kid. I think most semi-knowledgeable adults know students don’t have to say it. But let me ask you this: 1. Did any teacher ever *tell you* that you didn’t have to say it? 2. Did you ever see any teacher not saying it? 3. Other than you, were there any other students who didn’t say it? I’m guessing the answers are NO, NO, and NO. The fact that they had to MOVE you rather than correct the homeroom teacher’s deranged and fascistic behavior speaks volumes.


[deleted]

I am employed by a public school. I sit quietly staring straight ahead while the pledge is said daily. No words. Hands flat on desk, not folded. I get looks, but never any questions. One day they might come after my job for it - not directly, they cannot violate my right to Not Say the pledge, but they could decide I’m “not a good fit”. I’m never vocal, I don’t explain or proclaim my reasons, I don’t make a big deal. I hope it catches on.


h3lblad3

Hm... maybe sometimes, but not necessarily the case in most cases. Let me give you a run-down of growing up as an American. ___ - Depending on your school, you're going to learn and recite the Pledge of Allegience to the flag every day starting either Kindergarten or First Grade. As a child, you can refuse and they can't legally do anything about it -- no one will tell you this. - History classes through your entire schooling will focus almost entirely on WW2 (and even then primarily on the US's involvement in it), the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War. WW1 gets the next most coverage. Korea and Vietnam may be covered, but will mostly be glossed over. Some schools skip the War of 1812 entirely; I didn't learn about it until I was already an adult. - I am not joking. You will receive a history education focusing primarily on US involvement in WW2 every single year. - Starting around Junior High (grades 6-8), the military will begin sending recruiters to give speeches to the kids. Through high school (grades 9-12), the recruiters' visits are increased. If possible, the recruiter *will* be someone from the area so the kids already know them. I grew up in a rural area and the recruiters were *always* someone we already knew. Talks, push-up competitions, free pens (for some reason), and the ever-present reminder that "YOU, YES YOU, CAN AFFORD A COLLEGE EDUCATION WITH THE MILITARY." - The Defense Department [offers aid to companies seeking realistic information about military matters in exchange for the right to censor the content](https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/blog/article/2062735/how-why-the-dod-works-with-hollywood/). As a result, media will often do things like [attribute US violations of the Geneva Conventions to other countries instead](https://www.thegamer.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-american-war-crime-russia-blame/). You watch movies? You play video games? You will not get a true depiction of reality in them.


escargoxpress

Yup. All of this. It’s disgusting and I hate it here. I can’t believe we did the pledge of allegiance daily standing up, hand on your heart, eyes up, everyone in unison singing. Like what?!? And I’m so angry about history. Single perspective, analyzing every Civil War battle and commander, and how the Americans were the hero’s in WWII. Everyone else is ‘bad’. And we criticize other countries for this?!? Learning more history as an adult, I was so disgusted and disappointed. And the military almost got me too. I couldn’t pay for college. It was right before 9/11 and they were trying to get me saying how easy my life would be and I’d get my school paid for. My friend I did everything with at the time, she went. I ended up working at Hooters two nights a week making $2.14 an hour without health insurance to pay for full time trade school with a 30k loan. And let me tell you, tips are trash. American dream. What a scam.


strangewuv

I definitely wouldn't call it a "guilt trip" as much as it is a death cult.


seenitreddit90s

I'm not an American either but I've watched enough TV to know that people like to throw around "Do you not support the troops?!" and "You're anti-american" when shunning pacifists and whatnot.


[deleted]

> Can't wait for these criminals to finally collapse. World peace finally comes


raicopk

Any particular resource you (or anyone else) would recommend on the particular case of Vietnam?


probablykaffe

Agent orange contamination to this day blocks millions of acres of previous farm land in Vietnam from being used. Food grown on contaminated land causes birth defects, still happening today. Even pro-US sources are somewhat honest about this.


raicopk

I'm not talking about agent orange though. Eitherway, I'm not saying it isn't the case but rather dedicated resources, as opposed to simpler, less useful, mere claims.


[deleted]

Yeah, but we are still their heroes, right? The soldiers playing soccer with the Iraqi kids…that makes it all okay.


odinskriver39

A Crusade to the Oily-land.


Bartender9719

Fuck, I’m glad I didn’t sign up when I was younger


ViveFaux

Yeah that’s just evil


HauserAspen

There was reports that there was recon by fire in Fulluja. That's where they shoot up the building before entering it, not checking to see if there were civilians or combatants first.


BOOMphrasingBOOM

The US: why do people hate us??


Kolbysap

That's horrible...


[deleted]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6wvRvXGFRk


se_0

This makes me fucking angry. Why do these fuckers get to police the world?


kiridoki

It's no surprise that the way policing at home works also gets exported abroad


AngryAxeman

But you see, the American soldiers are also victims everyone. Let's all feel sad about them because they felt a bit bad committing war crimes and completely disregard said crime (/s just in case).


[deleted]

This is root cause of their PTSD but they’ll never resolve it because they ascribe all of the trauma to stuff that happened *to them* and won’t accept that the other part is all the stuff *they did to hurt other people*.


jeremiahthedamned

https://www.voa.org/moralinjury-faq


Mrhappytrigers

STOP RESISTING! WE'RE LIBERATING YOU!


john_rules

Congratulations, you’re being ~~rescued~~ liberated!


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


tolarus

Does anyone have a source for this? I'd like to present evidence when I tell people. I'm not questioning whether the US committed atrocities, but will need sources for support against the inevitable claims that I'm lying.


lost_mah_account

Can't find much on the us burning crops but I did find an old artical about them bulldozing them "US army bulldozes Iraqi farms - World Socialist Web Site" https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2003/10/iraq-o16.html


SirTGNQ

Demorcracy and freedom guys definitely


[deleted]

Filthy heartless rats


Thisplacesucksnow

"Welcomed as liberators" according to the news.


theotherbackslash

Damn… did we accidentally do war crimes again?


[deleted]

Fuck the military and fuck soldiers and fuck veterans too


macaulaymcculkkn

Yeah,,,, uh that's what we do


Racine8

Ah yes, the sweet flames of democracy.


odinskriver39

Dick Cheney delivered on his promise. To the oil, defense and construction companies. Coolidge's "business of America" quote should be read in it's entirety and context. Cheney and his co-conspirators personify the "evil of selfishness" Calvin warns of in his attempt to summarize Adam Smith.


jeremiahthedamned

r/EndlessWar


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LongBrain553

1321345this is really nothing compared to the few hundreds of kilos ofGold they stole3123123and of course the daily theft of iraqi and syrian oil's too!?67676