SwiftVets.com

[Essayons]

As Knighthawk pointed out, GenrXr never mentioned media bias in any of his prior posts.

He believed that SFC Ruiz was not qualified to lead because he was a prior gang member based on his words: “I am sorry, but I do not buy into the gang bangers make for good warriors.” So, GenrXr, you are biased and that bias was the thrust of your original post 5 weeks ago.

Four weeks ago GenrXr posted: “Ya'll have no clue as to the negative replies to this article...keep waxing on, I will drop a 800lb gorrilla on you once you have dug the dirt deep enough.”

So where are the negative replies? NADA!

GenrXr you did not drop an 800 pound gorilla, you dropped 8 pounds of “sour grapes.” You have gone through the original article and posted your conclusions/opinions which show an obvious lack of understanding of the military. You “refuted” nothing! You make assumptions about what the article states and draw illogical conclusions.

Cases in point:

“Ok we have established Ruiz as a greaser ghetto Brooklyn gang member.” No, he is an E7 SFC in the United States Army. You do NOT get to that rank without peer review. Your statement is couched in the present tense by using “as” instead of “was.” Freudian slip perhaps?

“Ok we have now established that Ruiz is in control of the military units he is associated with, rank be damned. Ruiz is after all a Brooklyn Cobra, which overrides any military code of conduct.” This is a ridiculous and biased conclusion/opinion. There is “rank” and there is “reality.” Ruiz is the platoon sergeant of the 4th Platoon. The reality is that a platoon leader (2nd or 1st LT) usually does not have the experience/knowledge to run the show and if he is smart he will learn from the platoon sergeant.

“You go Cobras! Damn when will I hear about the training he received as a G.I.” Again, SFC Ruiz is an E7 and has received the proper training and peer review to attain that rank.

“Are they now teaching hero-worship to West Point students?” You inject “hero worship” for your own biased purpose. Showing respect and admiration for the capabilities of SFC Ruiz is not “hero worship.” Your bias and desire to prove you point is obvious.

“I want to ask Captain Born directly. Did they not teach you in West Point about the sensitivities of carrying on your person the body parts of the enemy in war not for trophy purpose, but rather a eager beaver reporter purpose?” Again, your desire to prove your point causes you to inject into your question your opinion that the reporter was the reason for the skull fragment being brought back to battalion even though SFC Ruiz gives the reason as a “sarcastic” gesture.

“Ruiz and Born although subject to my refutation are to be revered and honored for their service. My problem is with the reporter and how this article was framed and both Ruiz and Born’s naïve complicit support of it.” GenrXr, you stated last month: “Is this for real? If so I think the government has an issue on their hands and needs to remove this idiot from the field.” So you have gone from calling SFC Ruiz an “idiot” who needs to be removed from the field to stating that he and Born should be “revered and honored” even though they are both “naïve and complicit.”

You conclude with: “Nowhere in the article did it say that the reason Ruiz and Born and their unit succeeds in Iraq is because of their belief in good as opposed to the nihilistic view of their enemy.” So you have gone from this statement in your original post last month: “Someone from the military needs to watch these dumb ***** and their BS talk” to your latest opinion that their “belief in good” is what makes them successful.

The only person that you, GenrXr, have refuted is yourself.

Regards,
Dick
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Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer.

[wpage]

Essayons & others

You make very valid points and I do agree with you. My thoughts are that GenXr is in a corner and would like to back out gracefully, while still making the assumption that the author of the article may indeed tilt toward the anti-war side. I do believe the article is pretty well on the money as far as actual battlefield conditions. I have just today researched the author (Steve Fainaru) and found that he does tend to slant a lot of his stories for pick-up by leftist propaganda writers and commentators. Quoted below is only one of the plays taken from the World Socialist Website. In all, I counted about 8-10 leftist sites that have reprinted this commentary on the article. I didn't copy the whole article. Don't want to give the socialist site any undeserved link hits. The author is supposedly an independent writer and has written for the LA Times, Boston Globe, WAPO, etc. You know, the ones we all like so much.

Gen Xr,
With this new information, I concede a small bit that you probably originally had good intentions. However, you sure got the hair up on my back calling our brave fighting men names. Calling the forum members "clueless" and threatening us with an "800lb Gorilla" still doesn't sit well with me. If the slanted author information was the supposedly 800 lb. gorilla why didn't you just say so? What say you?

Aren't we on the same side?

[GenrXr]

[wpage]

As far as I'm concerned, my rift is over. Time to go back kicking Kerry/Kennedy/Leftist/ and Terrorist A$$es!!!!!!!!

[Essayons]

wpage and GrnrXr,

Yep, the World Socialist Website has a different opinion of the Ruiz article.

Also, it is enlightening that GenrXr has now modified his position during the time today that I have prepared the following:

I will post my response as I prepared it before GenrXr’s recent (above) recantation of his position

But my response to GenrXr was based on his words. I posted on 13 April the following:
“The key elements were SGT Ruiz has the respect of the platoon he commands and that the 1LT platoon leader was replaced. The latter shows that SGT Ruiz has the respect of the sergeants and officers above him. Possibly the article was printed by the WAPO for negative shock value.”

The author of the article “may” have had a bias against the Army. GenrXr did not state he believed the author had a bias in his postings last month. Only now, 4 weeks after he posted his “gorilla” statement, does he invoke the reporter bias argument.

You are correct that GenrXr has backed himself into a non-defensible corner. He should have shut his pie hole keyboard opinions down a month ago but he did not. He persists in denigrating SFC Ruiz and others as “dumb *****” and “idiots.” Like he knows what combat entails.

GenrXr, should you persist in your denigrating SFC Ruiz and CPT Born I will unload on you at full automatic – mark my words as I do not make threats that I do intend to follow-up with fact. It took you 4 weeks to post your illogical response to your “gorilla” claim – post your response to my current words and I will be on your ass within a day.

GenrXr, you have one out and that is to accede that you have no clue regarding combat operations and that your original post was a “ready, fire, aim” response.

Please understand that I am trying to remain civil in my response to you. If you could see inside my head and understand my state of mind – well you would be chagrin at my loathing of your pathetic attempts to revise your original position that you took a month ago.

You go boy.

I await your response.

Regards,
Dick
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Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer.

[msindependent]

This article was just more anti military crap. So what if Ruiz was in a gang years ago, big deal. I'm glad he blew the enemies head off, no doubt he saved some of our guys from getting killed. Not only are they trying to make the military look bad to their readers, they are trying to make the military feel bad for doing their job. Our young guys have to come home and now read how they were barbarians? Please, they don't need the added burden of guilt trips.

[Snipe]

Hmmmm. Gang Banger huh? My #3 kid married the most useless
piece of c**p in town. Not a gang banger, but not anything else either.
Not employed, not supporting a family, not doing NUTHIN'.

So then he joins the Army. So for the last 8 months, he's been learning
how to be an infantryman. Right now he's probably chugging up a
Colorado mountain. Deployment time around fallish. So we both have
had an extreme attitude adjustment. He just made PFC too. Of course
there have been a LOT of us to have come around 180. All someone
had to do was give us a direction to go.
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Tin Can Sailor