Leo: "Has the Haitian government requested all nations assisting to refrain from displaying their nation's flag?"
No, they requested the two American Flags, which the US military had raised above the Haiti airport, be taken down. Because the US base of operations is at the airport, someone had actually lowered the Haitian flag above the main airport terminal and replaced it with the US Flag, and then had the Haitian flag flying underneath the American Flag. There was also a temporary consulate set up on the tarmac that had the US Flag hoisted above it. Because the tarmac, nor the airport, is US soil, it gave the wrong impression that the US military had taken over the airport in a military operation.
Apparently the Haitian Prime Minister said something to the US Ambassador in Haiti about having the US flags that were flying over the airport be taken down. The US flag is positioned above the entrance to the main building of the US compound, however.
Only those who never served would go along with this stupidity. Don't tell me I don't have a clue. You don't have that right.
I don't have that right? Oh, I absolutely have that right. I have the right to speak my mind as I see fit. If you don't like it, tough. Having served or not has no bearing on stupidity.
I will tell you that you don't have a clue about what is going on down there. And I will because you don't have a clue. It's painfully, and embarrassingly obvious that you don't have the slightest clue about what is going on down there.
I have a cousin who is currently an officer attached to the 82nd Airborne, career military now in his 30th year. Among many deployments, he has served three tours in Iraq, two in Afghanistan, and is now in Haiti. I've talked with him twice since he's been down there. If anyone has earned an opinion about flying the flag above the airport down there, it's him. You don't have a clue as to what is going on down there. And if he doesn't have a problem in the least about the flag not flying over the airport, neither should you. If you had a clue what was going on down there, what they are doing and what it's all about, both on the ground and diplomatically, you wouldn't have a problem with it, either. But you don't have a clue, and that's why you have a problem with it.
YOU have an OPINION, nothing more. YOUR OPINION is no more valid than mine.
Perhaps, but at least mine is a well informed opinion. Yours clearly isn't.
No, you don't.
I have served in several capacities overseas, both official and otherwise.
Not relevant. Sorry.
Military and relief efforts.
I don't believe you. Military perhaps,
maybe, but not relief efforts, otherwise you'd know,
for sure, that part of the US military's job is both relief and humanitarian efforts, yet you state quite plainly below that relief and humanitarian efforts is not their job. That's not only wrong, it's just butt-stoopid, as the US has a long and proud history of using its military for relief and humanitarian efforts. Anyone,
anyone, who has served in the military doing relief efforts would know that. And since you don't know that, I have to strongly question your claims of having served in a relief effort capacity.
That flag should FLY HIGH AND PROUD!!
Why? We're there to help people, not take ownership of the frigging airport.
When it comes down to it, NO other country on this earth will put out the efforts for other than this one. PERIOD!
So? It has nothing to do with flying the flag over the Haiti airport as if we've conquered the airport just to make someone without a clue feel good about themselves.
Our military should not even be there. It is NOT their job. Their job is to defend this nation. They are there as a GIFT from the people of this country and are doing a job that is not theirs to do. FLY IT HIGH!!
See, that's why I question both your military service, as well as your sanity.
§3062 of Title 10 US Code defines the job of the military, and part of that definition, in addition to "preserving the peace and security, and providing for the defense, of the United States, the Commonwealths and possessions," it lists "supporting the national policies", of which relief and humanitarian efforts are a part, and "implementing the national objectives," which also includes humanitarian and disaster relief.
This is from the Department of the Army,
Pamphlet 10-1, Organization of the United States Army , page 12:
What part of "
Humanitarian Assistance" and "
Disaster Relief" do you not understand?
Don't like that attitude? TOUGH!!
No, I don't like that attitude, because it flies in the face of what makes America great. What makes America great is not it's military might, but in its humanity in treating others as they should be treated, in doing what is morally right. You're more interested in flying the flag to show some kind of warped sense of pride, rather than in what that flag represents.
I am an old fashioned, flag waving proud of EVERYTHING I have done American. I make no bones about it and apologize to NO man for the RIGHT!!
Good for you.
Don't ANYONE even TRY to diminish the efforts of my "brothers and sisters" They are EARNING the right to see that flag fly!! As did everyone of us who served with honor in the past as will those who serve in the future.
And don't elevate yourself or anyone else to a position greater than it is. Don't elevate yourself above those you serve. Serving in the military is an important thing, but it's not the most important thing. Just because someone serves in the military does not somehow make them more special than any other American. You have to ask yourself, did you serve in the military to help preserve the American way of life, or did you serve so that when you got out you could be worshiped and revered and thanked on a continuous basis? Because it's the latter that you seem to so desperately want.
