stevens@teklabs.UUCP (Steven J Silberberg) (10/27/83)
What kind of a one dimensional world do net people live in? Being a draft registrant, our recent marine deaths not only affect me emotionally, but I'm worried about a full scale war (conventional OR nuclear). Doesn't anyone have any thoughts about our presence in Lebanon and Grenada? Should we be there? What are our vital interests of which Reagen speaks. Should we send more troops? Withdraw? What? I cannot believe that there has not been a single article posted about these. People have been touting the net as a powerful communication medium. It is. Sure it can be fun, but it should also be used for things that actually affect our lives. I think Frank Zappa summed it up pretty well. "I don't wanna get drafted" -- Steve Silberberg
odom@uiucuxc.UUCP (11/01/83)
#R:teklabs:-259200:uiucuxc:21200016:000:986
uiucuxc!odom Oct 31 09:05:00 1983
Jeff:
You are the Big Stick. What does the US have to threaten
or "push" with but your life?? For the record my husband
is an AF vet (i never have figured out why he volunteered)
and is prime cannon fodder to be recalled in case of war.
There is NOTHING in Lebanon or Grenada that i want my
husband to die for! (he's a big guy and not too coordinated,
he'd raise his head and that would be that.)
anyways, your point about grade school was excellant. but
what if we push back and they don't stop? Lebanon looks
a lot like vietnam to me, and Grenada looks like a rehersal
for nicaragua et al. either of those would probably be nice
long-term wars with little or no chance for nukes and a great
boon to our economy but frankly, i'd rather suffer with
unemployment, recession, inflation etc and have a father for
my daughter. Reagan's going to have to issue a better invitaion
than either of these for me to send my husband.
susanlllenoir@uok.UUCP (11/03/83)
#R:teklabs:-259200:uok:6600010:000:1770
uok!lllenoir Nov 1 20:46:00 1983
I also have registered for the draft
and I guess that gives me a vested interest
in what the American military does abroad.
The idea of going out with a gun a shooting
at people makes me nervous but that's
because I'm human and I think it would
affect most people that way.
So when ever I see the U.S sending troops
somewhere you had better bet that I pay
some attention and see what's going on.
Sending the Marines into Granada was one
of the best things we could have done.
Those people that say the only justification
Reagan had for doing it was to gain support
for his 1984 presidential campaign need
to take a closer look at the facts.
Sending troops to Lebanon was a less
intelligent act simply because we put
them there and wouldn't allow them to
do anything. This is sad because it took
the death of 200+ marines to show the
folly of that course of action. In my
opinion, the Marines should stay in Lebanon.
Some would argue that the death toll is
to high and that they should be brought
home now. That would be stupid.
First of all think of the message that
this would send to the world (and the
people responsible for the bombing).
To bring them home under these conditions
would be like saying .. Ya we pledge to
help bring peace here.. but only if it
doesn't hurt us.
The other reason (at least as important as the first)
is the morale of the troops themselves.
They are angry and want revenge on whoever
caused them the loss of their comrades.
To order them home now would do nothing
but harm to them and to the country in
general.
Well that's my opinion (sorry I got on
a roll).
Lets here from some of you other net
persons. This topic has caught my interest
in a big way.
Lionel Lenoir
University of Oklahomaesj@ihuxl.UUCP (J. Johnson) (11/03/83)
Why are we in Lebanon at all? Who cares? Let the little twits blast each other to hell and back. The Israelis certainly don't need our troops to protect them; look at what they've done in all the Arab- Israeli Wars! I would think that the Straights of Hormuz and the oil producing states should be the main concern considering the maniac in power in Iran. (Five will get you ten that the Ayatollah and friends would knock off a lot of the anti-US rhetoric if we got down to basics: our bucks and technology for their oil.) ihnp4!ihuxl!esj