USSoldier11B

Most Americans, even pro-Iraq war ones have little or nothing against France. American tourists have reported that the French have been nothing but courteous and accomidating. (For France)

I see this thread is still going nowhere useful besides venting hatred toward my nation.

I truly don't know. I don't like many U.S. Bourbons and I particularly dislike SoCo. I prefer Scotch or a nice Cognac.

I disagree, I think that a desire for civil liberties and rights is a basic need of the human race. I do not claim that democracy is for everyone, for there have been great monarchies in history. and socialism seems to be doing fine for smaller nations consisting of a somewhat homogenous cultural demography. Do not blame democracy for the woes in the world today, people have suffered much more under other forms of government. America is technically a Republic, as are most other democratic nations. One of the key elements of the U.S. Constitution is check and balance. If the founders agreed on anything as a whole it was that no one entity should have absolute power in the U.S. as to prevent tyrannical rule. However, changes in legislation and delegation of power has somewhat departed from the founder's concept of what America should be. Congress was intended to be the most powerful branch of government, since it is the most democratically elected body. For nearly 150 years it was just that, with the President serving merely as a "clerk" of Congress. Changes during the FDR administration have given rise to a much more powerful executive branch. Also liberal judicial activism has given rise to a much more powerful court system. However, the U.S. courts do not have much in the way of means to enforce their rulings, while most enforcement agencies belong to the executive bureaucracy. In the American political spectrum I would be considered a moderate conservative, I find many of your statements to be somewhat amusing being that they would be considered beyond the left and even right fringes of American thinking. If you go far enough on either wing you end up with anarchy, or the absence of government. I think this is foolish given the nature of men. I find it odd that so many European ultra-liberals agree with American liberalism since it's main scope it to expand federal control and increase the size of an already behemoth bureaucracy, which is turn, is the very bane of Marxist thinking. Is democracy a universal value? No, many people have absolutley no grasp of the idea. Is freedom? Yes, human beings are by nature self-interested and desire to make their own path.

I don't think any of the currently fielded RPG's can defeat Abram's armor. I guess it depends on how many you have and how long you think the damn thing will just sit there. Nah, where as a diesel tank sound like an ailing semi-truck, M1's sound like small jet aircraft. The first time I heard one start up I was startled. I'll investigate for sure. I'm skeptical. Nations like Germany, U.K, Israel, and The U.S. have much larger R&D budgets. I'd like to see the Leo in action, I respect Germany's prowess in producing fine weapons and armor. I once saw some concept designs for a new General Dynamics MBT but I can't seem to find the info now. I recall it have the signature oversized turret, but it had a radically low profile. Currenlty the Abrams series is supposed to remain fielded until 2015. It seems like the DoD is satisfied with the Abrams from now, despite it's somewhat large size, it's weapons range is still superior to current threats to U.S. armor.

I can't really vote because I haven't used all of these systems. I've used a LAW and an AT-4, and am familiarized with the Javelin and RPG series weapons.

Unsuccessful. I swear, you people are so unrealistic. Rebuilding a nation in that bad of shape takes time. Every one is a fucking critic and expert now. Makes me wonder who the real enemy is. Pat Buchanan never liked Bush because he took the Republican candidacy from him. If Buchanan where president, he would probably nuke Iraq, N. Korea, and all of the whiny European socialists. So don't be too smug. Oh, and another thing, you guys sure seem to be "experts" in American government, especially about positions you yourself could never hold because you are foreign nationals. Sadly I find myself close to leaving the forums again because the hatred for America and it's government is getting out of hand and the forum is filled with left wing extremists.

maybe so....but these guys knew what they were signing up for...(college money I guess) My gradfather spent 4 years in Europe fighting WWII. These guys are being sissies.

Thanks for the input guys, you are really knowledgeable, and it's kinda nice to talk about something other than how evil my country is.

You are off-topic, yet again this is leaning toward "Bash America" instead of "War in Iraq". This is treason, it's ok for civilians to say such things, but these men are bordering on insubordination. Even when Clinton was in office we were told to keep our mouths shut. I'm sure the brass is currently reaming these guys asses, in my Civil Affairs class we were pretty much told to shut up and do our jobs unless authorized by the commander. Despite the reasons for this war, and it's shoddy justification, I still believe in it's objective.

ah, the judge, jury, and executioner has spoken. How can you be so naive as to believe in all this justification crap? Politicians do the smoke and mirrors thing everyday, and I'm sure all of yours are just as guilty. This has been brewing for the last 50 years. Don't think that ANY of your countries are not guilty of some part of making the middle east the nasty little quagmire that it is. It is a nasty nasty situation politically and intelligence wise. What does everyone expect everything to smell like roses? This shit isn't funny, and sooner or later one of us is going to get a dirty bomb on our back porch, then we'll have something to bitch about.

Nothing to fear...our heroic yet bohemian deep core oil drillers and NASA ::supresses giggle:: will save the day.

Avon is my hero(ine) <3 Do you have any daughters?

The Army breeds a more stoic, cerebral, and silent (when sober) type of specwarrior. (this does not include wide eyed PFC's in floppy tan berets) I've met a lot of SEALS, and about 90% of them suffer from some sort of excessive personality syndrome...personally I think it's all training doctrine. Anyway, bring a SEAL to Colorado and throw him in the woods with a compass and he will get lost....I've seen it several times. Delta and line SEALS are not on the same operational level, Delta is much more intensive. Now, SF and SEALS are more of an equivalent. The NAVSPECWARDEVGRU (SEAL Team 6) is a par equivalent of SFOD-D.

Rapper + expensive liquor on MTV = Moron minimum wage recipient in Dickies coming into the LQ and asking "where the Courvoisier at"?

Uh....no....because the if the Army is providing logistics...who are they doing it for? The Army does not provide the Marines with supplies...it's a seperate entity. Also...if you watched the 24/7 news media orgy of the war in Iraq you would have noticed that the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division (Mechinized) and the 1st Armor Division was on the front line right along with the British units and the MEU. The airborne was also deployed into Northern Iraq where there were...no Marines.

Did you make that up off the top of your head Tex? That was so abrasive even I was cringing (while giggling) sorry Ran...

Because Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath party are/were still pulling the strings.

Yeah, alcoholic logistics officers will do those sort of things.

Read the book "The Master Terrorist (the story of Abu Nidal)" It has somewhat drastically changed my negative attitude toward our actions in Iraq. The facts in the book are clearly documented and startling.

Lol, that's good stuff. I respect Marines more than any other branch, and even more than a few of our more dubious infantry divisions, despite the fact that they have to pick a fight everytime we share the same bar. Must be penis envy on their part.

A man after my own heart...I also like a good tequila, like Patron. ::hick:: :::burp::

Nowadays, yes the Marines fullfill a capability that the army cannot. Although in WWII methods of insertion for both forces were primarily the same. Minus airborne ops for the USMC. Only a few select Marine units use parachute insertions, mainly Force Recon. These days the Army is not big on maritime insertion operations. In fact, in the conventional Army I receive zero amphibious training except for river fording operations. Special Forces and Rangers however, do train to insert squad sized elements by Zodiac boat, and we even cross trained with SEAL team 5 to learn some maritime navigation since it is much different from land nav. Although I might harass Marines with zeal, I realize their value, plus the fact that the shoot better than most of my conventional branch counter-parts. Despite the fact that Corps has done everything to distinguish itself and an independent branch, incluing having it's own Commadant, it is still technically a sub-branch of the USN, being that all support roles for the USMC are fullfilled by Navy Corpsmen, and academy officers for the USMC go to Annapolis. Perhaps in the future the USMC will become completely independent as the Air Force did from the Army, but I doubt it since the Corps is only roughly 1/6 to 1/8 the size of the Army and it would require a massive expansion to make it full indepedent, minus transportation provided by the Navy. Given the current sentiments of our more liberal folks...the military won't be getting larger anytime soon.

Here in America hard liqour is mainly for alcoholics and teenagers (McCormick Vodka is only like $8.00 for a 1.75l bottle, so you and 5 other guys can get drunk for less than $2.00 a piece, economical for high school students.)...as is cheapy macro-brew beer. I don't see anything sissy about a double shot of Jameson in a pint of Guinness...

That's what I'm saying, when I say military parade I mean like straight Red Square style. Could you imagine the U.S. Army carting a nuke on display through downtown San Fransico or Boston?....the liberals would be jumping up and down and screeching like organ grinder monkeys, it wouldn't be pretty.