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

The fall of Mosel and now Ramadi does not degrade or diminish in anyway the sacrifices and accomplishments of what we (American and Coalition forces) did in Iraq. We did our job and for the most part Iraq was a stable young democracy when we left.

The utter and complete failure of the current administrations lack of a strong foreign policy when it comes to Iraq and counter terrorism as a whole is the issue. The political feel good move of proclaiming victory and running away without leaving behind a residual force to "train" and maintain stability is the epic fail.

I do not think it degrades their sacrifice at all. They gave their lives for their country, and their brothers and sisters. Nothing can ever degrade that. The facts on the ground changed and that has nothing to do with the sacrifices made there previously.

Wars are fought.

Battles are won.

Battles are lost.

The battlefield is a living breathing ever changing monster.

You can not value people's service based on what where they laid their lives down for their country. They made the ultimate sacrifice for what they believed in.

This is not the first piece of ground to be lost, retaken, lost, retake....etc......and it wont be the last.

God bless and keep the fallen and help those of us who survived, or live free because of it, cherish and protect their memory and not let it be blighted or faded by current events.

We have to separate our sacrifices and successes from physical areas. They(our soldiers) sacrificed for a mission goal, but more importantly their fellow soldiers, not Ramadi. No area can be held forever. What worries me is that town will never know peace. Under ISIL it's probably one of the worse places on earth to be right now.

It doesn't degrade what we did there. I was there from 2006-2007 with 1-37 AR BN...Task Force Bandit. We had hard days and good days. Lots of sacrifices. It was my toughest deployment ever. Will never forget what we did there and how proud I was to be a part of their history."Bandits do not fail those with whom they serve."

The problem with the issue of Iraq, to include Afghanistan is that we here in the US apply our beliefs of what nation should and should do be to an area where Tribes beliefs rule. It is tribal warfare and land will be lost and recapture per the dictates of the tribes ability to fight, so we either stay there dictating and fighting for them or we let them be and learn from our sacrifice or go back and sacrifice again. Iraq is a barren land where nature dictates survival of the fittest which is contradictory to democracy; no one will cooperate in survival mode.

I was in Mosul before the first elections were held. We lost soldiers there too. I would like to say that fall of Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul is a darn shame but the fighting men did their job and did it well back then, it's the current administration/leadership that has degraded the value of the overall military and sacrifices everyone has made.

Degraded? No. Pissed? Yes

Hmm... Didn't a lot of US military members say this would happen if we pulled out of Iraq before they (the Iraqis) were ready to control it on their own???

No, it doesn't, but I'm sure it confounds those who survived that campaign and the families and friends of those who didn't. Those brave men and women did what they were told, when they were told and beat back the Sunni aggression in '05-'06. It took a while, and we paid for it dearly in blood. Ultimately, at least then, we were successful.

It's frustrating to see and hear what's going on there now with directionless leadership and an amateurish, at best, foreign policy. It won't get any easier, and I hope and pray the Coalition, such as it is, can regroup, refocus and re-engage in what will certainly be a very bitterly-fought campaign on the banks of the Euphrates River.