Does fall of Ramadi degrade the sacrifice of those who fought, died there?

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. I don't think degrade is the right word.

I do think this makes us all wonder, especially the families of those who gave everything, and those who were never the same, was this really worth it? Making gains, at the cost of US blood, and then losing them, makes us wonder was it worth it? That, of course, is an individual question and answer.

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines always do their duty and excel at the mission and task they are assigned. We don't get a vote on where we go or why. We don't a vote on what we do when we are there; at the strategic level. We don't get a vote when we are told it is time to leave, because we have either done all we can or because the US is just plain tired.

The US has a history of this type of strategic behavior, leaving too soon.... Generally based on political or national will.

I think the right word is it is said and this trivializes the efforts of everyone who fought their; especially those who were wounded and those who gave their last full measure.

I've gotta go with "no." It's unfortunate that the Iraqis were unable to hold the city, but the men and women who fought and died there did their jobs. They served with honor, they made sure their brothers and sisters could return home. Nothing can take away from that. There's no question, in my mind, that it would be better if the survivors were able to look back, see a free Iraq, and be able to think "I was part of that." And it's still possible that they'll be able to do that. Wars have setbacks, we've just become so accustomed to these sweeping victories we saw during the invasion that we've forgotten that's not the way war works usually.

Ultimately, the Iraqis are going to have to make a choice: do they want to roll over and allow ISIS to destroy the freedoms they've enjoyed for the last decade? Or do they want to fight? Believe it or not, pre-Saddam Hussein, they actually didn't have it that bad. Sure they had a king, but women were free to work, everybody was able to participate, be they Sunni, Shiite, Christian, etc. I think the problem is the generation that the defense of Iraq falls upon now has no idea how things could be in Iraq, and they want us to do everything for them.

Sorry for the lecture, but again, no, I don't think the fall of Ramadi takes anything away from our brothers and sisters who fought there.

While it is sad that the Iraqi military and government are so incompetent and some would say the say about our own leaders in this matter, but the failures of these people does not degrade the sacrifice of those who came before them?

I thought the US completely pulling out of Iraq was a complete political failure at the time and I am sad to find out how right I was...but we cannot undo those failures.

Just for the record .. that's S&S question .. not mine!

It does not degrade their personal sacrifices, but it absolutely makes a mockery of it. WASTED LIVES. WASTED EFFORT. WASTED TAX PAYER MONEY. WASTED TIME.

Obama pulled troops out of Iraq to win over voters, and it doesn't take rocket science to know that GIVING THE ENEMY our timeline for leaving, and then pulling troops out of Iraq, would undo all of our progress, invalidate our sacrifices, and return that country to turmoil.

ALL FOR VOTES.

ALL FOR POLITICS.

He is a smart man. Do you REALLY think he and his party didn't know this would happen?

They should be forced to call every American family who has a son or daughter suffering from PTSD and other injuries, or worse, loss of life, and apologize for choosing politics and personal gain over achieving victory and ending the war the RIGHT way.

Pathetic.

We have PATHETIC PEOPLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE, and we have had horrible leadership for years. We need someone real. Someone who chooses to do the right thing, not the easy, shallow, vote securing, bobble head candidates and leaders we have been force fed.

Yes, that is how I really feel. ;)

Military operations are conducted with a stated purpose and mission. We fulfilled our mission in restoring peace in Ramadi and An Anbar Province. My colleague, COL (Ret.) Tony Deane, together with his fellow battalion commanders, under the able leadership of COL (now Lieutenant General) Sean MacFarland, tackled the security issues in mid-2006 when they were part of a Call Forward Force and things looked much worse than now. Read Jim Michael's account of their efforts in "Chance in Hell", and I believe you will find that nothing can degrade what they, and their Soldiers and fellow Marines, accomplished there.

Should we have stayed instead of withdrawing? If so, how long should we have remained in Iraq? At what cost? How many more lives "our brothers and sisters in arms" or trillions of dollars?

In no way, shape, form or fashion does this degrade the sacrifice of those who sacrificed and/or died there. Referencing prior battles and wars of the U.S.'s past, it is not uncommon for a victor of a war or battle to lose that ground and have to retake it. However, to say that those who were injured and wounded, those that lost their lives, should have their valor and heroics degraded just because a portion of the battleground has been overtaken by enemy forces is very similar to blasphemy in my opinion. That is just my opinion though.

Simple answer, no. I will forever, as should we all, be indebted to those who stood before us and confronted the enemy in and around Ar Ramadi and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

No any more than the fall of Saigon did. The solders and Marines that that fought there did so bravely and with ferociously. Nothing will change their history. This does not reflect on them. It does reflect on a whole chain of events that has resulted in the current situation.

I believe it doesn't. This question and it's very base is mired by the thought of entitlement, which has destroyed America today from within.
We feel entitled to freedom, commerce, and other factors we forget we ain't entitled to shit but death and taxes.
Marines die for our brothers. Marines die for our country and its glory. We don't ask stupid questions as if our deaths and victories or losses count. We are there to win, we are there for the moment and we goddammed took that mutherfucking city. We took it. We held it. Twice. More times that people imagine. But now it's taken. I am out of the service. A grunt. A warehouseman, a soldier even! And still it matters little.... Go check what Tarawa looks like...the Makin Attoll...who gives a fuck about them. We do. And we're silent. Another story for the books...