I was sent a video link on my email from a friend the other day and it was imensley inspiring to me. The link is http://www.mywarvideo.com/play.php?vid=132 I recommend watching it prior to reading the rest of my blog. WARNING, there is lots of harsh language in the video. It was an awesome 5:35 that I have watched six times in two days. When sharing this video to others I got some mixed reviews which honestly surprised me. Now I expected the anti war crowd to think it was harsh and disrespectful but one comment I received was interesting it went like this: "Well, that guy was boldly talking a good game and had some good/funny lines, but I don't think insults work as motivation."
My first point is "boldly talking a good game" does it really look like a game? Putting your life on the line every minute of every day to help secure a foreign country is no game. This speech was bred from frustration for people who didn't care enough to free their own country and protect it from those within that are killing their families and friends. This was the speech to light a fire under apathetic participants. Guys who would rather follow then lead and follow at a great distance. What I saw was an American soldier giving those Iraqi police a wake up call letting them know it was their turn to carry the ball. A speech like that however "insulting" it may be just might cause one or more of those men to step up to the task their country so desperately needs them to and lead them to true victory; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I think this rings true to Americans because we know that all things stem from freedom and that freedom is not free. There obviously is a huge cultural difference between Iraq and the USA. Iraq has never known true freedom. But don't think they will not know what to do with it when given the chance. Both man and beast know what to make of freedom.
The problem I see with people who have a dislike for this soldier and his speech are those who have a problem with true leadership. They themselves perhaps have never led anything let alone a combat situation. A situation where your decisions can cost lives in a heartbeat. those lives are in your hands as that leader. You are not trying to motivate some corporate salesmen to get their numbers up for the next quarter. This is the get it done attitude that is waining in our country today. The societal beat down of the Alpha Dog. Discouraging young boys from being competitive, aggressive leaders for our countries future. They need to get in touch with their feminine side. They need to cry. Lets not keep score. They need to understand that women are equal in all ways to men. Well they are not! (this is where I'm supposed to say the "No disrespect to women" line) but I'm not going to! That simple line is part of the problem. It's not disrespect pointing out the obvious truth. As a male I can't have a baby, do women say "no disrespect to men" but they can't have a baby. It's not disrespectful it's the truth. Therefore true leaders must speak the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts but mostly it sets you free.
I commend this soldier for his approach and I would be honored to have him on my staff anytime, anywhere.
It's CSta from bwc. I sympathise. The soldier's central message was, "do you care enough about your country, community, family, and freedom to fight and die for it?" And, judging by the bodylanguage and the lack response of the speech's audience, it seemed the collective answer was "No." I can imagine that, for the US soldiers there, who were willing to fight and die for the Iraqis' freedom, that attitude must have been a crushing disappointment.
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