A Soldier's Personal Revolution
A Soldier's Personal Revolution
I joined the Army in the early months of 2001; my patriotism led me to the recruiter’s office. I had grown up in awe of my grandfathers and their stories of World War II, and their reminiscing became my dreams. When I got to basic training I did not talk about missing home like the other recruits around me, I felt at home in ways I never had before.
The weeks after 9/11 found me in Kosovo, part of C co 3/7 Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, patrolling the border with Macedonia as part of our duties. We had ammunition to defend ourselves with and the authority to apprehend anyone crossing the border illegally. I will get back to why these details are important later.
Fast forward to 2003, I am rolling across the desert in the back of a Bradley fighting vehicle, part of the spearhead into Iraq. Other than those first three weeks of “Shock and Awe” what I remember most about Iraq was the people. Crowds of kids wanting to know about Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, open-minded adults wanted to know about our social freedoms, and ninety some percent of Iraqis just wanted to raise their families in peace and did not hesitate to tell us. I really fell in love with the Iraqi people. My platoon and I played soccer with some of those crowds of kids, we had dinner and shared food with families in their homes, we even went to a few house parties, and my lieutenant and I spent one very memorable afternoon swimming in an irrigation ditch with five young women. It is all of them I think of when anyone tells me we need to turn the Middle East into a sheet of glass or that all Muslims are our enemies.
I remember thinking on this briefly when I was there, but more so since I’ve returned, usually when I’m day dreaming behind the wheel of my van, but what we were doing when we were doing our jobs, patrolling the streets, conducting road blocks vehicle searches, bodily searching individuals, and searching houses, couldn’t be helping our long range plans for winning hearts and minds. I really have to wonder, how long would it take me to move from a position of thanks for my despotic government being removed to feeling like I lived in a conquered and occupied country if I saw foreign troops on the streets of my hometown Tallahassee everyday? Add to this our having bases and troops in Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, ( I may have missed a few, we have approximately 700 bases in 130 countries ) some of them for decades, our Navy of their coast, our fighter jets in their sky’s , the CIA in business with monarchs, dictators and thugs, and our State Department treating their leaders like irresponsible children, it’s no wonder moderate Muslims takes to the streets shouting “ Death to America” and a minority takes action against us. I would expect we would be doing the same thing if say, China had bases on our soil, and her Navy patrolled our coastline and Chinese fighter jets streaked across our sky. In short, this is all hard to admit, but our actions do have consequences.
Fast forward again to the present day, I am out of active duty, and in the Army Reserves. (I wanted to stay active duty, but my wife said I would be single, so we had a compromise.)To be honest the reserves has bored me to tears and I haven’t felt like I’m giving anything back to my country, so I looked into getting attached to a National Guard unit on our border with Mexico for a tour or two. However, when I learned they don’t have the authority to apprehend illegal border crossers and can only call up our overworked and overstretched border patrol when they spot illegal activity, I got myself in trouble again by thinking - about what I had done in Kosovo and about what I knew our military had done to our own people in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina ( disarmed law abiding civilians only trying to protect themselves when the police had failed to do so) . To add insult to injury, our Guardsmen and women on our own border don’t have ammunition and have on several documented occasions actually had to retreat when facing fire from Mexican paramilitary groups. Now why would I want to sign up for that? To be witness to the violation of America’s sovereignty? No one in the Executive branch of our government is doing anything about it, and it makes me wonder why I am even in the Army at all.
Why are we the worlds policeman when our own country is being openly violated? Why are we borrowing money hand over fist from nations not exactly our friends, just to spend it on our out of control foreign policy? I am starting to feel like the powers that be do not have America’s interests in mind at all. It’s starting to feel like our ruin is their objective. From our factories closing and moving overseas, to the plunging value of our dollar, America is crumbling. Yet I love her far to much to watch her fall apart.
This is why I am taking my personal revolution and joining forces with Dr. Ron Paul’s revolution. His “bring all the troops home” non-intervention foreign policy and plans to put America first again are just what we need at this time in our history. I don’t expect you to agree with everything he says, but I do hope we can all put our differences aside and join him in seeing that ALL the troops come home, the Republic is restored and America saved. Thank you and God Bless.
Zakery Carter
exclusivelyamericanmade@yahoo.com
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"How can we justify to the unemployed and underemployed in the United States the incredible cost of maintaining a global empire?" - Dr. Ron Paul
Look at the dates~spammer bumping old posts!!!
FYI~Look at the dates on OP before responding...we have a spammer bumping a bunch of old posts this morning!!
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I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
bumped for the soldier
bumped for the soldier
For an informed citizenry, individuals must discard the television set in favor of the acquisition of information via either books and/or the internet. An uneducated populous will remain in ignorance and thus continue to suffer the sharp ax of tyranny.
Thanks for the post Zak
I've pretty much had some of the same experiences with the military as you have and your conclusions are very close to my own. The great thing is that we actually have a few leaders getting the airtime and being vocal about their opposition to these policies. When we first joined the military those kinds of voices were few and far between. My hope is that we are making in roads in the mindset abroad and more people are asking obvious questions about the contradictions in our foreign and domestic policies in defending the country. I will second the sentiment that you should look into both OathKeepers and Iraq Veterans Against the War. You would be surprised how many like minded people you will find in both of those organizations. There is still great work to be done. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Stay safe!
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Zak, thanks!
...an oldie, but definitely a goodie...
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Bump beacuse your post should not
Vanish so quickly! Bless you my brother!
1976-1982 USMC, You can thank me for my service by voting for Dr. Ron Paul, President 2012
Bump for
Zak and others to read.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
Zak, I really admire you as a brother, You
have done more than asked. It is time for you to join Oathkeepers if you have not thus far. In my mind you are a true brother and there is nothing I will not do to help you. The process of change is long and hard. Some will be won and some will be lost. I can be a really angry person sometimes. I have vented to the extreme here on the daily paul with some people giving me crap and some understanding(thank you legalize). It may not be the best approach but it keeps me from doing what I was taught by our own government. I'll do that when the time comes!
In my anger I try to see some reason. With looking at things in this aspect I have turned to Oathkeepers. I am not alone. We will NOT allow the citizens to live under a communist/fascist/socialist country. The elitist time is near. The people of this country are Waking up. Will it happen soon enough? I don't think so. It will take people like you and me to make the difference. Remember your oath just as I have since 1976.
Politicians as a whole are pieces of crap and personally they all need to go straight to hell. This is just not the time to send them there. Regular citizens will do that. It is the fringe elitist we will need to take care of. Their days are numbered. When the stock market finally falls then grab your gun.
Other than that I'll see you on the other side and we'll have a beer. A old army buddy ( No I was and still am a MARINE) once told me just to shoot them all and let God sort them out. I laughed then but now I realize he was a smart son of a bitch. Bless you brother. Before fighting you must know your enemy. It is not the government! It is the ones running the government.
1976-1982 USMC, You can thank me for my service by voting for Dr. Ron Paul, President 2012
First, I have the deepest respect for your
courage, both as a soldier and as an individual who thinks and faces ideas honestly. Thanks for posting, I'd missed this the first time around'
But I'd also encourage you to keep thinking about the physical borders around our country. Here as in so many issues, Dr. Paul may be showing the way to a peaceful and just solution.
As he mentioned recently, he's been in consultation with Mexican officials and has been influencing a turn toward a saner economic policy there, and additionally may be influencing the recent Mexican relaxation of drug laws for personal use.
If these trends continue, the flow could reverse with Americans fleeing to Mexico for economic and personal freedoms! As it stands, our own government's policies caused all of the problems connected with migration of poor people here. Before federal laws extending education and welfare etc. to non-citizens, immigrants naturally brought cultural and economic enrichment to this country.
One more point Dr. Paul has made: an impermeable border may as likely mean Americans are trapped with no escape, as it could mean keeping immigrants out.
I remember
this! Bump for others to see :o)
Amazing How Simple THe Solution Really Is
So simple indeed. Bring them all home, surround our country and treat all that enter or exit legally with the utmost of courtesy. How many people need to hit the nail on the head before the rest wake up? The demise of our freedom IS the goal of our leaders. They are not stupid, they are malicious. Trying to steer these maniacs back on track is not going to change their ways. If we think that informing any one of the "corrupted" of the error in their ways is going to make them say "gee, I didn't see it that way" and "wow, let me bring this up to the group because we have been wrong the whole time" we're in for a world of hurt. These despotic criminals need to be removed, one way or another. With all the fraud we're going to have a near impossible task of getting real patriots back into the positions that matter. It doesn't take a genius to see the alternatives that we are left with.
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whole time" we're in for a world of hurt. These despotic criminals need to be removed, one way or another. With all the fraud we're going to have a near impossible task of getting real patriots back into the positions that matter. It doesn't take a genius to see the alternatives that we are left with.
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seems to be the mods don't get on until later in the morning.
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"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
Thank you Zak Carter!
* Wonderful letter! I missed this last year so I am glad to see it now!!
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"I truly wish that real life would no longer surpass the worst excesses of my nightmarish imaginings... Arthur Silber **
"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
War Is A Racket
WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.
How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?
Read more here. There is a Ron Paul ad at the bottom of the page:
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
I saw your article yesterday
I saw your article yesterday and sent it to some pro-war friends who say if you don't back our current foreign policy, you're against the troops. I bet there are a lot of others like you out there. Thanks.
Great Article
The situation on the border combined with our policy in Iraq is mind blowing.
Thanks for your post. I am
Thanks for your post. I am active duty Navy, and I, too, have joined the RP Revolution. When we military folks joined the service, we took and oath to support and defend the constitution from all enemies foriegn and domestic. Well...the actions of the current president, and his administration can not be considered anything other that acts taken by enemies to our constitution. They have systematically and callously usurped our nation's most basic principals and freedoms, alienated us throughout the world, and are giving up our nations strength and soverinty lock, stock and barrel. And, you're right about one important fact...our leaders are not working in our best interests, and haven't been in years.
Vote Freedom
Vote Liberty
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Paul M. Green
Solomons, MD
Vote Freedom
Vote Liberty
Vote RON PAUL
Zak is a soldier for Ron Paul too
Thanks to Zak for his service to our country then, and now to his active service in our Tallahassee Meetup where he is working hard to get our man elected.
Zak, you da man!
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
My brother
recently left the Marine Corps, stationed at 8th and I guarding the President on his various international journeys abroad. He'd been there since 2002, and went out in front of the President to the foreign locations to secure the perimeters of the routes the President would travel.
Completing boot camp in 2001, he watched all of his fellow Marines he had graduated with be shipped off to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He and I both felt the necessity of bringing justice to those who senselessly attacked US civilians on 9/11, but we've both independently come to the conclusion that what our governmnet is doing in Iraq and across the world is not Constitutional and only hurts America in so many ways.
After a recent phone call, he metioned he was supporting Ron Paul. I had not ever mentioned my fervor for Dr. Paul to him, and it was great to here that my own brother, a Marine, was confirming what I had come to understand through Dr. Paul's message of a foreign policy of prosperity and peace.
I love our Armed Forces, and I am so proud to know that all of you are supporting Dr. Paul over any other candidate.
God Bless You,
Carl
Well said...
I too am ex-military and was Mr. 'Patriot' neocon. Honestly, I may have not had the essential paradigm shift had this administration not been so incompetent(yes, that is my fault...I voted for W. twice).
My friends...we have George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the rest to thank for this glorious opportunity to save our country! Without their over the top actions...the fog would not have been lifted off of enough people to do even a fraction of what this movement has done.
Long Live the Republic and down with Corporatism/Fascism!
Federal Reserve to the American People:
"Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam."
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Fog is Lifted!
"My friends...we have George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the rest to thank for this glorious opportunity to save our country! Without their over the top actions...the fog would not have been lifted off of enough people to do even a fraction of what this movement has done."
Well said.
Like the frog sitting in a pot of water. If the pot of water is heated to a boil slowly, the frog just sits in the pot and eventually gets boiled alive before he knows what has happened. If the pot is heated up too fast, the frog notices the change in temperature and hops out of the pot.
We are the frog. The pot has boiled over. We're hopping mad.
There is no way for us at home to repay you for your service
I to will promise here and now to defend any vet that comes home. from anyone saying anything bad to them and if I see someone spit at a soldier of these United States of American, you better believe someone is getting smacked in the mouth. However I do have every intention of somewhat abusing them. I intend to sqweeze the crap out of them when I give them a big hug and tell them I'm Proud of them and their service to our country. I have done it to every guy I've met so far. Its a little strange to some when you give them a big huge in the middle of walmart and some are not really sure what to do when you do it, but I don't care what others think To me Its just something that must be done. So if your a vet and your out shopping with your family you better keep an eye out for the crazy huge guy (that would be me. =)
service to our country?
Could you please elaborate on this? How has this soldier (or any other in the military) served our country? I'm seriously asking you to explain this statement.
Shocking!
bdrake529, For starters, without those of us who volunteer and serve, you might be speaking Japanese or German right now.
I must say that I am really disgusted to read how little regard you have for those of us that have served.
Defend that statement.
Without our troops, we'd be speaking Japanese or German? Defend that statement.
How was Hitler, who couldn't even cross the English channel and successfully invade and conquer Britain, going to cross the Atlantic and conquer this nation?
Same with the Japanese. Logistically, it was impossible that they would invade this nation, overthrow its government, and conquer its people. Do some research and you'll realize that Japan was deliberately provoked into attacking Pearl Harbor. They never had any intentions of conquering this country.
Who takes 50% of the average American's income in taxes (of various forms)? Who can throw us into prison without due trial by declaring us "enemy combatants"? Who has violated our right to privacy, our right to free speech, our right to liberty and property? Who has mocked our freedom to make voluntary associations and run our own lives? Who has usurped our rights as parents and has claimed our children as wards of the state? Hitler? Hirohito? Bin Laden? No, our own government (at federal, state, and local levels). That is who you have served and for that I owe you no thanks.
Cause everyone likes getting shot at...
This is a reference to the damage of our foreign policy and that the soldiers take part in this?
1. We need a military. It protects the country.
2. Anyone in the military to disobey the government is guilty of treason (Within reason, there's a difference between "shoot those children" and "No Mr. President we won't be going into Iran."). Otherwise we could have a military coup every five years.
The actual actions of the military are the responsibility of the people through their representative government, and disobeying that rule of law within the military is a serious crime.
Anyone who joins the military is simply acting on the orders of our representative government, and thus is not at fault when acting on orders to invade a country whether or not the invasion is legal.
It is not them evading responsibility, it's simply because were the military not to obey the government we'd be in serious trouble.
Edit: Though the generals could say that Congress didn't declare war, hence we are not invading in accordance with the law. It'd be interesting if that happened as the generals would be correct.
Personal Oath
The induction oath of every branch of military includes an oath to defend and obey the Constitution. It also includes an oath to obey orders and the Commander in Chief, but since the CiC and all military officers get their authority from the Constitution, the Constitution is the higher authority.
The Constitution is the law that all elected officials also swear to uphold. It is the law that defines what the Federal government is. Therefore, when the government is in violation of the Constitution, it is no longer the legitimate government as defined by the highest law of the land. It is a rogue, criminal organization. People who break the law in normal society are considered criminal. Why shouldn't we draw the same conclusion of government officials who violate the Constitution (a law they voluntarily swore to obey)?
When an order comes down the chain of command that is in violation of the Constitution, it is the duty of every single individual in the military to consider their oath. If they obey an unConstitutional order, they are breaking their oath and since they are complicit in an unlawful action, they are also breaking the law (remember, the Constitution is a law, not a bunch of suggestions).
To cut off responsibility at the level of general is completely arbitrary. Generals take the same oath as privates. The lowest person in the military is under no less personal obligation to obey the Constitution than the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"because were the military not to obey the government we'd be in serious trouble."
It is not the duty of the military solider to "obey the government". It is their duty to obey the Constitution. Ideally, that should be one and the same (because the government should only be obeying the Constitution), but for a long time, it has not been. It is precisely because the military obeys the government, and not the Constitution, that we are in serious trouble. If a significant number of those in the military refused to obey unConstitutional orders, we wouldn't have had Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, Bosnia, Somalia, Grenada, Panama, etc.... You can blame politicians (or "representatives of the people"), but no one in Washington fired a bullet or launched a missile. It was military personnel that waged the actual wars.
"1. we need a military. It protects the country." - while I agree the Constitution allows for a military, please provide a thoughtful answer to this question. The military protects the country from what?
"simply acting on the orders of our representative government, and thus is not at fault when acting on orders to invade a country whether or not the invasion is legal."
Wasn't that logic completely repudiated at Nuremberg? Why are individuals suddenly not at fault for their willing participation in illegal (and immoral considering the death and destruction caused) activities just because they're wearing a uniform and taking orders?