Stories from Soldiers in Iraq (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Stories from Soldiers in Iraq

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Thanks for this entry, Steve. I have a friend who was in Iraq closer to the beginning of the war. He saw a lot of awful things and although he has transitioned back home pretty well, you can still sense that he's a changed man. I have seen how hard it is for him to even talk about what happened there.

Your suggestion to "strive to be a more conscious person yourself" is helpful, because barring that, it's hard to know what to do. I know that I feel helpless to give him any comfort because I can never understand the feelings he's dealing with. At least there is something we can do to help out. If more people stop picking sides ("heroes" vs. "villians") and just live compassionate, joyful, peaceful lives...maybe we can make a difference.

[wolfgang]

I think it’s a mistake for them to be treated as heroes or villains. Such polarities imply conscious decision-making, but their stories frequently reveal a descent away from conscious thought. In war one’s thoughts become reactive instead of proactive. “Do as you’re told” replaces “think for yourself.” Survive replaces live.

So don't consider them as heroes or villains because they are trained? Being a hero includes training. Should a fireman that is able to run into a fire against his fear because of his training not be considered a hero too? It's almost even more admirable because they are trained to not have normal reactions to fear so they can do a job. Heroes they are because of how they end up paying for the mess in one way or another. They used conscious deciscion making to join and be trained.

The typical level of American consciousness won’t be of much help to them; it’s what they’re already being offered, and they reject it as useless.
The only practical way to help such people is to strive to be a more conscious person yourself, such that you positively influence everyone around you.

Right on! Let's do more conscious raising to help.

[Sam988]

thats the price for electing AND RE-ELECTING a president like bush. sad

bush manages to be worst than the president from my country (brazil), which is pretty bad, i must say.

[Chinese Dragon]

Bush will play any role in the war that you believe him to play, it's not his fault that there's a price to raise consiousness in Iraq. That's why I like having Bush as our president, unlike Kerry he knows that we have a moral obligation to overthrow any corrupt government to help that nation, even if it is our own.

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by Chinese Dragon

Bush will play any role in the war that you believe him to play, it's not his fault that there's a price to raise consiousness in Iraq. That's why I like having Bush as our president, unlike Kerry he knows that we have a moral obligation to overthrow any corrupt government to help that nation, even if it is our own.

The war was a disaster, a complete disaster, plain and simple. Price for raising the consciousness in Iraq? You mean the consciousness of the now dead tens of thousands of innocent civilians and soldiers or what? What did you achieve there?

[The Wise Turtle]

In my experience, the best way to help people get to a healthy state of mind is to make sure that they are meeting all their basic needs for physical and emotional and intellectual health. When people have the basic needs met they will be able to make good deciscions and will be naturally motivated to try to be a compassionate and productive part of this world. Making sure that people have enough nutritious food (fresh whole foods, and not junk food!), clean air, plenty of clean water, a safe home, exercise and rest, fun/play, love, a sense of belonging, usefulness, and effectiveness (knowledge and skills) will provide them with a good solid base for being a good person, and living a healthy life.

And that goes for everyone, not just scared and confused soldiers.

-Turtle

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Stories from Soldiers in Iraq

Killing people is a bad idea. It causes pain and destruction to those killed or injured and it leaves permanent scars on many of the people who killed or injured others.

I can not say that war is never justified but I do believe that it damages many of those young men and women who are involved in the prosecution of any war.

I was a young man in the Army many years ago and I carry the effects of those events and actions with me now. For many years it was a terrible burden and I did not know whether I would survive the emotional angst.

I am past the place in my life where it seems unsurvivable to remember. I have taken these experiences and become a better person as a result of my life long ago. I think killing people is a bad idea and hope never to wish for another's death or be the instrument of another persons death.

I have two much younger brothers. One of my brothers returned with severe injuries over a year ago. He is now having his next of many operations. If the operation is a success he will live longer but be sterile and on a colostomy bag perhaps for the rest of his life. If it is not a success he has been informed he would not survive more than two or three months. He has nightmares, flashbacks, and a tremendous amount of survivor guilt. His twin brother is in the Marine Corps and is deploying to Iraq this month. I hope he comes home physically healthy and psychologically intact.

The counseling the returning troops receive is inadequate. The Veterans Administration and the Military hospitals are over burdened and unprepared to deal with proper psychological counseling.

I have lived through several wars and their aftermaths. I see the same self destructive behavior in those trying to forget their experiences. Substance abuse both alcohol and drugs, extreme anger and violent eruptions and severe depression all of which are destructive to the person and his/her family. I see many returned veterans die of their pain.

I also see some people who overcome and are better for their experiences. I hope I am one of those people. Today I feel and believe it is so that I am a better man for the path I have walked. I know many other people who are better people as a result of those war time experiences.

I will now step down from my soap box and thank you all for listening.

[Still Growing]

First of all Bush is not the decision maker... Its special interest groups comprised of banks, corporations, etc.

The Iraq war was created to:
1. Fight muslim extremists on another turf. If our intent was to liberate Iraq then why were our borders tighter going out of the country than going in? They lured local extremists in. Many US military people report that their fights are often with non locals. There is a war going on here and the Iraqi people are pawns so that it doesn't have to be fought on US soil. Our Dept of Defense's own think tanks are ran by people who will profit off this war.

2. Create a US miliary base in Iraq. This was the ideal time for us to cease control and to put strategic bases up against Iran. If you don't care about people and only about military strategy then this was a brilliant move to counter Iran. The think tanks who are paid by the banks and corporations know how to plead to the Dept of Defense and show them on paper what moves should be made for our better good.

3. Financial interests. Iran was negotiating with Iraq to run a natural gas pipeline through the country and ultimately to India. Our gov't will do everything in its power to counter every move of Iran. As we speak there are companies aligning themselves to profit long term on Iraq. Before every county has an uprising the money interests move it to control. Name any country you like and there are banks and corporations who were waiting in the wings and funding the uprising.

What does this all mean???

Well what you hear on CNN and Fox are a joke. They won't tell you about military strategy and have no interest in dwelling on the special interest financial groups since they own shares of both networks.

When I hear people focusing on Bush as being "good" or "bad" then I realize they have no clue about how things work. Its sad but politicians do not run the gov't they only give you lip service and tell you what they think you want to hear or at least what they think you'll believe.

There were no WMD in Iraq so Bush made a mistake... This is hilarious !
The money interests paid statisticians to show him how it was the only way to protect America's interest and explained to him how to feed it to us. This figure head still believes he's doing the right thing. Who we should be mad at is Haliburton, the banks dueling over Iraq's future and the ones who will be feeding India with oil. Our deficit is in the trillions and the Federal Reserve prints money like mad.. Our tax dollars then go to pay them the interest on our own money which they print at their discretion. Many are privately held banks that moved in during the American Revolution and now these few profit off every dollar thats printed. This isn't Bank of America traded on the stock exchange but family banks that are hundreds of years old.

There are trillions being made off this war and the whole world is debating about Bush as if he is the decider.

The ones who run this country don't care about military people, they don't care about the innocent Iraqi poeple and they control the largest military in the world and run it like their personal militia.

There are a lot of people who know whats really going on but no one dares speak of it.

Now reply and tell me how delusional I am then go back to your TV and turn on your favorite news channel and let them keep feeding you the lies that mask their profits.

[Dan.Linehan]

eBay: A Solution to the War in Iraq (item 150141399174 end time Jul-22-07 05:24:36 PDT)

Army Captain Thad Krasnesky, says the New York Post.

[nownow]

Originally Posted by Still Growing

First of all Bush is not the decision maker... Its special interest groups comprised of banks, corporations, etc.

The Iraq war was created to:
1. Fight muslim extremists on another turf. If our intent was to liberate Iraq then why were our borders tighter going out of the country than going in? They lured local extremists in. Many US military people report that their fights are often with non locals. There is a war going on here and the Iraqi people are pawns so that it doesn't have to be fought on US soil. Our Dept of Defense's own think tanks are ran by people who will profit off this war.

2. Create a US miliary base in Iraq. This was the ideal time for us to cease control and to put strategic bases up against Iran. If you don't care about people and only about military strategy then this was a brilliant move to counter Iran. The think tanks who are paid by the banks and corporations know how to plead to the Dept of Defense and show them on paper what moves should be made for our better good.

3. Financial interests. Iran was negotiating with Iraq to run a natural gas pipeline through the country and ultimately to India. Our gov't will do everything in its power to counter every move of Iran. As we speak there are companies aligning themselves to profit long term on Iraq. Before every county has an uprising the money interests move it to control. Name any country you like and there are banks and corporations who were waiting in the wings and funding the uprising.

What does this all mean???

Well what you hear on CNN and Fox are a joke. They won't tell you about military strategy and have no interest in dwelling on the special interest financial groups since they own shares of both networks.

When I hear people focusing on Bush as being "good" or "bad" then I realize they have no clue about how things work. Its sad but politicians do not run the gov't they only give you lip service and tell you what they think you want to hear or at least what they think you'll believe.

There were no WMD in Iraq so Bush made a mistake... This is hilarious !
The money interests paid statisticians to show him how it was the only way to protect America's interest and explained to him how to feed it to us. This figure head still believes he's doing the right thing. Who we should be mad at is Haliburton, the banks dueling over Iraq's future and the ones who will be feeding India with oil. Our deficit is in the trillions and the Federal Reserve prints money like mad.. Our tax dollars then go to pay them the interest on our own money which they print at their discretion. Many are privately held banks that moved in during the American Revolution and now these few profit off every dollar thats printed. This isn't Bank of America traded on the stock exchange but family banks that are hundreds of years old.

There are trillions being made off this war and the whole world is debating about Bush as if he is the decider.

The ones who run this country don't care about military people, they don't care about the innocent Iraqi poeple and they control the largest military in the world and run it like their personal militia.

There are a lot of people who know whats really going on but no one dares speak of it.



Now reply and tell me how delusional I am then go back to your TV and turn on your favorite news channel and let them keep feeding you the lies that mask their profits.

Greed, lust and fear have become dominant and this is reflected in the government. Scary times..........

[Sam988]

Yea and when one single country has enough power to start a war even though the UN and it's Security Council is against it, then it scares me even more.

god knows where a president like bush can take the US

[Dan.Linehan]

This is a good article about where the minds of some people are during all this.

Seems its all about "winning," at any cost.

AlterNet: Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening

[Paul Maurice Martin]

... is that it helps keep from feeling overwhelmed when you look at the whole project.

[Ethan]

Now, I hate to stir things up as its been a while since this was posted but this seems to go against the whole notion of take your mind of what you don't want, and go for what you do want. The Secret teaches it, The Science of Getting Rich teaches it, and I think (though its been a while since I read it) Think and Grow Rich mentions something about think about what you want, not what you dont want. Isn't this "raising consciousness" about what we don't want giving it power? Isn't it just making it worse? Shouldn't we be more focused on training soldiers to be conscious or making the military a more thought free place? I'm not sure exactly where our attention should go on this, but it doesn't seem like focusing on what we don't want helps a whole lot. It tends to create more anger and negative emotions in people than any feelings of a "lets do something to fix this" attitude. Im just sayin'.