Richie playing for "the troops".

Yes, they need support, I just often dislike it when they are praised as *the* patriotic heroes. And I believe a lot of them also do it for realistic reasons like money. Sure, many of them would make the ultimate sacrifice, but there's a difference whether you make it defending your country or being sent to some small country on the other side of the globe. The latter doesn't suit the image of the hero that gives his life, in my eyes, it's more like playing with the relatives' feelings for propagandistic reasons.
I'm referring here more to the news media and the administration. Nothing wrong with musicians playing for soldiers.

in what way they make our lives better? as far as i'm concerned these troops made worse the lives of thousands of people in the countries they invaded and they did not make my life any better- i don't know about yours though.
also they don't only give their lives, they take lives, too.

you can't go on a war without supporting it. most definately you will lose.
and i'm not a fan of this deterministic point of view because we may not take the direct decisions but we can hypothetically (hypothetically because obviously not everyone does it), change what we don't like through the voting process, something widely known in democracies.
they only reason that i feel sorry about the (american) soldiers is that they are somewhat 'forced' to join the army due to high unemployment and then they are brainwashed about how they will become the 'heroes' who will save their nation and the rest of the world from the terrorists/ tyrants etc.
it's not that i despise the army in general, since every country needs army but only for defensive purposes. therefore trying to change something in your country (as most americans seem to think that something does go wrong) is much more useful (and moral if you like) than supporting those, who got paid to kill, so they can go back and kill again. these patriotic/nationalistic shows are only good for bush's political agenda-setting.

What are you talking about??? As a rule, most Americans join the military for the education money they get when they finish their service. It's a very small portion that join because of high unemployment. Second, this a marine base not the army, and you know no matter whether you believe in the war or not, these guys just spent a year of their lives or more doing a tough thankless job and I think it's cool that they get to come home and some great entertainers are going to to hey thanks by spending a few hours entertaining them. FYI the national unemployment rate in the US is about 4.8% Oops, I lied it's 5.4% as of FEB.

Well said. We all know that Richie as well as the others of Bon Jovi were against this war but that doesn't mean that he can't support or think of the troops who have to fight in this war and for sure not everyone of them think it's right what they do. They do what they are told to do. Remember, Jon also dedicated songs to the troops during the Bounce-tour and said that he supports them. He doesn't play for Mr. Bush or Mrs. Rice but for the soldiers.

who are you talking to I am lost and I don't understand your post ...

what does this mean ? A rule ? what service ??

I am truely lost .. so the marine join for one year ? who do that ? why ? why is it thankless ? is it a rule or a chgoice ? sorry for all the questions I don't understand .....

ok I am doubting here sorry so ppl join the army for what ?


i am not trying to argue at all i am just lost about what you are saying ...

I know what is the guys (band) opinions about war BUT for me it's just plain not possible to support the troops and not support what they do ... I can understand that the troops are not directly responsible of what is happening but ARMIES world wide do war first and defend their country in second
it's like supporting guns and being pacifist .. this can be called a paradox ...
I know as a fact that most american citizen adore the army and praise it but this is highly confusing me

Mimi, there was a post before mine about how most american soldiers were forced to go into the military because of high unemployment here. The unemployment rate in the US right now is 5.2% . In truth during peace time most citizens that enlist in the military here do so because A) training and jobs skills for future employment outside the militaryB) in the US you can recieve funding for college which you can use after your military service is up. Unless we are at war, most peoples service is one 4 year stint after which they return to the private sector. 5.2% unemployment is not really very high.
It's easy to sit there Mimi, and be cut and dried about not supporting the troops if you don't support the war because well quite frankly those troops aren't your brothers, sisters moms dads or friends. They are ours.
I think what the entertainers did was nice and appropriate, it by no means shows support for the governments decisions, it was about saying thanks and welcome home.

You know, this pretty much sums it up for me: I totally agree on the welcome home part, but thanks? What for?

Thanks for being willing to give your life to make mine better

And they do, even though the current war may not be indicative of that. This topic makes me incredibly mad.

thanks a lot rainsong for your clarification .. I understand understand better now ...I agree with the Thanks and Welcome home thing ... you are right yes those ppl are all yours that's a point that cannot be forgotten it's normal

But that's my point. The propagandistic hipocrisy of your sick current administration that plays with the understandable feelings of soldier's relatives to make it look like it is a reputable venture to go to Iraq. What exactly was worse for you before they went?
It is abusing people's moral concepts and hiding ulterior motives behind them.
The soldiers do a tough job with the ultimate input but after all it's the job they signed for. I'd welcome them back for sure, but I can't thank them for what you said since it is not what they went for. They *had* to and that is sad, as are the reasons.