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I noticed a few inconsistencies with your page. I wonder how I was quoted praising Bush in 2003, when I didn't arrive in country (Iraq) or make any comments prior to December 2004.
Some other interesting factoids that your blog missed: I am a registered Democrat. I have voted that way for the past 12 years. Not until my recent deployment have my views started moving over to the right.
The reason I support Bush, is because Bush supports all of us over here. We are using the latest and greatest equipment, our families are better protected by a higher death benefits and health insurances, our pay is higher than ever, and the President fixes shortcomings that we tell him about – up armored tactical vehicles.
If you really look at my record you will find that I am a recent Bush convert. I've learned that hindsight is 20-20, at least in my political views. A wise man once said that "if you're not a liberal at age 20 you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by age 30 you have no brains.
I'm sorry that the improvements of the Iraqi Army and other Iraqi Security Forces is not as evident to you as they are to me. My unit has logged over 15,000 man hours this year training the Iraqi Army. Our police teams have logged over 6,000. They are getting better at their jobs, we've invested a lot to make that happen.
I'm sorry that I cannot agree with your assessment of the interview we had with Mr. Bush. Your view assumes too much. You have not given enough evidence to support your claims.
There were 10 American soldiers present to know better. More importantly, there are millions of Americans who hear your opinions yet remain steadfast in their support of the President.
I'm really disapointed that assumptions have been made by you and others, which you have no possible way of verifying without speaking to any one of us.
Poor journalism works the same way, it doesn't seek the truth by knowing all sides of a situation. You have your opinion, and I have mine. That's one of the things that kes America great. If you're ever in Chattanooga, look me up. I'll buy you a beer at Big River and tell you my side of the story.
Respectfully, G.M.
-- Read Tim Karr's response
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2 comments:
Murphy's statement is simply more shrill propaganda. It is clear from his comments that he does not in anyway deny what you have said about him, nor does he describe himself in terms other than someone who represents the pro-Bush position. His own paltry suggestions of why he supports Bush reveal his own failure at discerning what really is happening to veterans after their time served, as well as what "support" should actually mean. I am most amazed by the only facts he offered in his statement however.
"I'm sorry that the improvements of the Iraqi Army and other Iraqi Security Forces is not as evident to you as they are to me. My unit has logged over 15,000 man hours this year training the Iraqi Army. Our police teams have logged over 6,000. They are getting better at their jobs, we've invested a lot to make that happen."
On the surface these numbers might sound big, but in fact they describe the most miniscule of commitment on the part of the US to train and support and Iraqi puppet army. The average number of hours that a single person works a year (in service sector economy, as in the military) is between 1800-2000 hours. Thus ten people can accomplish a year's worth of work in six weeks or so, and twenty good soldiers can do so in fifteen days. Let's say that of the total of 21,000 man hours mentioned by Murphy we allocate a company of troops, divided among the police teams and "his unit" to do the training (teams come as squads from platoons, two platoons per company--a unit can be up to division strength of a 1000, so for this i arbitrarily chose just one company of 100+ soldiers). Divide 21K by one hundred and you get a whopping 210 hours of direct instruction time for nearly eleven months of the supposed training this year. That is roughly six weeks of 8 hour day/five day per week work with the Iraqi's; or barely the time spent on boot camp not counting any other training or instruction/orientation.
First Lt Murphy's own factual recitation signals the abject failure of our efforts to provide the facilitation for the readiness of the Iraqi security forces. He needs a lesson in either providing more ambiguous and evasive propaganda(talking to the DoD female spokesperson) or exaggerating and deceiving the facts.
Hey Lt. Murphy,
It's Big "O".
Long time, no talk.
(Dan and I were worried you were dead, what with you going to Afghanistan and all. But both of us are too big of slackers to actually try to email you any more than once and finding out you were really dead would've only served to give us another excuse to get plastered anyways. Like we need any more of those.)
It's good to see you're still rising up in the ranks.
I'm also a little awe-struck at the popularity (and criticism) you've accumulated over the last few days.
When we last had words in Gainesville before you left, you were a staunch Kerry supporter and had a VERY condemning opinion of the Bush administration.
What up with this sudden "Poster-boy for Bush" nonsense?!?!
It's seems you've been feautured in print frequently supporting the Bush agenda.
It's got me more than a little skeptical myself.
(It's admittedly wacky that in my usualy pro/anti-american proapganda internet musings that I not only come across an article your name and with your picture attached but I find you labeled 'Soldier Propagandist' as well.
(Everybody's I know is getting famous but me. I've so way stopped trying...)
While it's great to see you finally get your share of spotlight time, I'm a little uncomforatble with the easy, glib nature of how you present your argument and what data you use to support it. Especially your forum responses, ESPECIALLY given your journalism background, however breif it may've been.
Knowing you personally, I understand you are more pro-millitary than pro-politics and alot of what you've said here and in print elsewhere has held true to what you had presented to me as your beliefs.
But...
When last we talked, you were holding a much, MUCH different opinion of how our President was doing his job, not to mention, we talked a great deal about the future of this counrty and how it was headed in the wrong direction.
Do you still think we are still the last generation of kids to have ever gotten a shot in America and that all successive generations of Americans born after us are going to have a harder shot at getting an education and a good job because of what Bush coorporate American is doing to the landscape of this counrty?
What about your opinion of all energy companies that are benfitting directly from this war??
Your veiws of Dick Cheney's affiliation with Halliburton??
How about your stance on Education in this country??
These are all things I remember you saying to me before you left.
Please explain to me what has caused you to radically change your veiws and beliefs over the last 11 months, and don't give me more of that "liberal at 20/ a$$h0le at 30" nonsense either.
Is your mind really clouded by how much better your situation got as a soldier that you forget what life is like when you were a civillian like the rest of us (and will be again one day)??
I understand Bush might be seeing to it that YOU guys in the millitary are getting good pay and have all of the cool toys to play with but what about all of the people who are not YOU soldiers that the Bush administration is putting the shaft to on the daily??
(I don't want our next meeting to be spoiled by my repeatedly calling you a hypocrite. I'd much rather be getting you REALLY drunk instead. Future meetings may become even more uncomforatble if I was always thinking you had been compensated in some way for furthering what time has yet to prove may or may not be the biggest fiasco of our generation.)
That being said...
What I want to know is:
How weirded out are you gonna be to know that fate has blown me your way once again and is giving me opportunity to hold your feet up to the fire.
(Weird Karma, Dude.)
I've seen what you've told all of the other people,
I wanna see what you tell Dan and I.
If you don't want to open up a dialogue with me here in this forum, you know how to get a hold of me elsewhere.
Otherwise, you'll know what to expect when I see you next.
Drinks will be on me.
Love and kisses untill then.
To go on in a completely personal vein:
Glad to know you're still alive, mate.
Dan was soooo worried about you being in Afghanistan and ending up dead in the bush, we just talked about it the other day.
He's gonna be so weirded out when I send him the link to this...
Again, it's seriously good to know you're still alive and doing well.
Keep up the doing good job you're doing and get back SAFE!
(To all of the other kiddies out there reading this, please excuse my familiar tone with Lt. Murphy, he's an old freind and ex-college roomate of mine and I haven't had a chance to communicate with hims since a few days before he left. When I last talked to him, he was still in the Nat'l Guard and was going to lead a squad of Army Rangers in Afghanistan and was complaining about not being properly trained for the job with his main speciality being heavy ordinance and artillery. You must imagine my surprise to see him show up on the radar like this, smiling picture of him and all!)
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