i am a reporter for the military (afn)
i've done extensive research on the subject of internal support for the war on terror, i.e, oef or operation enduring freedom. when polled, servicemembers support the president and his policies by an average two-thirds majority. this is based on polling conducted by the pentagon as well as zogby, cbs/nyt and abc/washpost. while this does leave room for a sizeable number of troops who do not support oef, russell's doc gives us the impression that the overwhelming opinion of american troops is that they in fact ARE against oef. it is misleading. as a soldier myself i am very much in support of the war and, moreover, in support of winning. some days are better than others....that's just life in the military. most troops are mature enough to understand and deal with it - most train for a good year or two before deploying so that they'll know what to expect. yes, equipment is scarce at times - especially for us reporters. there are soldiers who are the first to go to 'hot' areas of the country, infantry (11B) and fister's (13F), and they get the good stuff. so not everyone in the middle east has a flak vest or steel paneled hummers. take an interview out of context and it might just sound like we're in a war zone without all the protection you could possibly have. which is true....but only half the story. i think it is clear that russell has an agenda (which he's free to have - it's his movie). but he's obviously done some clever editing and thrown out what were likely the majority of the opinions gathered. btw, it's no secret that soldiers don't get paid enough - certainly not junior enlisted whom make up the vast majority of the military. the lower down the chain the less money you make....however; after overseas pay, yearly bonuses, hazardous pay, b.a.h. - not to mention the gi bill which pays upwards of 50K for college, etc etc etc, junior enlisted soldiers actually make anywhere from 35-50K per year. not bad for a first year/two years on the job - especially when you consider that food and housing is already paid for. but technically, base pay is low so i guess that's another half truth russell was comfortable with. btw, i don't recommend the movie. thanks.
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