Starbucks and the war. (Full Version)

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1RottenJohnny -> Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:25:56 AM)

I received this from a friend of mine currently on tour in the Persian Gulf. I thought I would share it with everyone and open the floor to a conversation regarding the war if anyone is interested. Let me just say that I'm glad I don't drink coffee.

Starbucks Coffee

"Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because
they wanted to let them know how much they liked their
coffees and to request that they send some of it to
the troops there.

Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for
their support in their business, but that Starbucks
does not support the war, nor anyone in it , and that
they would not send the troops their brand of coffee.

So as not to offend Starbucks, we should not support
them by buying any of their products. As a war vet
writing to fellow patriots, I feel we should get this
out in the open. I know this war might not be very
popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we
don't support the boys on the ground fighting
street-to-street and house-to-house for what they and
I believe is right.

If you feel the same as I do then pass this
along, or you can discard it and no one will never
know. Thanks very much for your support of me, and I
know you'll all be there again when I deploy once
more.

Semper Fidelis."
Sgt XXXXXXXX
1st Force Recon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO



topcat -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:40:46 AM)

M. Rottenjohnny-

Hoax alert-

I just checked throuhg some irregualr channels-

1st recon is NOT currently in that region

Their company Gunnery Sgt report that they do get some starbucks, but it may be coming from other channels that corparte sponsorship, and that he hasn't heard of any such request and denial, not on his watch- and he'd know- he learned from the best <wink>

Stay warm,
Lawrence
Sgt, USMC, ret



Guest -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:41:27 AM)

the dangers of the internet:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/starbucks-iraq.htm

that said, thanks for your service. :)

Mod 5



sweetpleaser -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:41:41 AM)

Damn Liberals--oops, I am one.[:-] I think that is terrible. I never agreed with the war either but believe in making life as easy as possible in these conditions for the poor soldiers over there. Starbucks has the resources to send loads of coffee over there. Shoot, the girlscouts even send cases and cases of cookies!!! Starbucks should be ashamed of themselves!! JMO.


OOps: I was writing this while Topcat's and Mod5's posts were showing up so I did not read them. Scratch most of what I said.[&o]



quietkitten -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:43:02 AM)

considering how many corporate internet hoaxes are out there, I tend to take these things with a grain of salt.



onceburned -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:43:12 AM)

yep, snopes.com has it pegged as a hoax too.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp



Guest -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:47:41 AM)

Snopes.. that was the site I was looking for. Thanks

Mod5



Atavist -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 9:50:35 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: 1RottenJohnny

Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for
their support in their business, but that Starbucks
does not support the war, nor anyone in it , and that
they would not send the troops their brand of coffee.


I seriously doubt the authenticity of the alledged Starbucks response above. No billion+ dollar company could be that stupid, even if they do disagree with the war. This looks like more right wing political bs to me.



1RottenJohnny -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 10:01:33 AM)

OOPS! I guess I better get my shit straight! Sorry folks. I see also that I need to clarify that my friend is in the Navy and not the Marines.

Thanks for the info, Topcat and thanks for your service!

Well Mods, you may as well kill this thread.




NATI -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 10:01:49 AM)

I am no great defender of gigantic billion dollar corporations. And starbucks in particular has earned my enmity for driving numerous small coffee shops out of business. But that sounds like a hoax. Still, starbucks [:'(] No thanks.



ProtagonistLily -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 10:33:49 AM)

quote:

considering how many corporate internet hoaxes are out there, I tend to take these things with a grain of salt.


Perhaps...

But if you could send me $10,000 to cover my Euros that are locked up in a bank account oversease, please by all means contact me. ~WG~

Lily (who's of course kidding)



quietkitten -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 10:34:28 AM)

I am on my way to the bank as we speak!!!


[:D]



topcat -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 10:57:36 AM)

on A bit of a tangent, from my cousin 'Major Mickey/Ma'm' on board a flattop in that region:

quote:

...All the usual bitchin aside, things are pretty good, here in the rear with the beer- and the starbucks! Some angel just sent us a case of the houseblend and we are actually rationing it- all the swill you can bear (except for us stickmen- we are still limited to three cups a day, grumblegrumble), but only two mugs of the good stuff a day. Currently, private reserves are trading at 1 lb Starbucks for 1 carton of Reds

-From a private email dated 12DEC04


My friends-

I do not support our current foreign policy- and neither do any of the four members of my family currently on active duty in the USMC. For that matter, when I was a Marine during the Reagan Years, my motto was 'ours is not to wonder why-ours is but to shoot the guy'. No one can be as deeply opposed to risking the lives of our young men and women as someone who's had to look someone's parents in the eye and say "we killed your child'.

That said- I urge you- I implore, I beg- Don't ever confuse supporting our troops with supporting the war. These kids are in a special hell that no civilian can ever comprehend- even the ones that are no where near a frontline, even the ones that serve in peacetime. A moments gratitude, a drink in a bar, a kind word in a random letter from a highshool student is a treasure beyond counting to these people so far away from all they have known.

There are a few 'adopt a unit' resorces avialible on the net. Use them. I write to my old unit (though none of my current marines were out of diapers when I was platoon Sgt of their unit<g>), my cousin Micheles squadon, and my cousin Chris's squadbay, as well as to my family members indidually, once a month- at minumum. I write a boilerplate form letter in Word, adding to it as I go along, and when it is ready, I cut & paste it inot outlook, personalise it for the indidual units, and shoot it off.

I usuallly get about thiry responces every month- most of them boil down to 'thanks', and they often get me more than a little tearful. For me- it's still part of the healing process from my four years, now nearly twenty years gone, and it's my peenace for my failures as a leader, but for anyone- it is a good deed.

No one in the military joins to be thanked for it- but we owe then thanks, regardless. Do your part- live free, and enjoy. bitch about the goverment, the liberals, the system, whatever-

But never for get that it's some twenty year old kid in a ditch on the side some road, horney, rude, half-witted, tired, un paid and over stressed and wiping his budies brains off his rifle, ready to get up and do his job again, that gives you the freedom that is like the air you breathe- unseen, un commented, and utterly irreplaceable.

Stay warm,
Lawrence

Ps- my apologies for the rant- got a little carried away<g>.



proudsub -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 11:46:02 AM)

quote:

Don't ever confuse supporting our troops with supporting the war.


Great post Lawrence. My daughter is studying Occupational Therapy and she had to do a project in a retirement home. She had the residents write letters to the troops. (It was my suggestion but don't tell her prof.)[:)]



happypervert -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/23/2005 5:39:34 PM)

For some reason this reminded me about another e-mail about the war which should look familiar to anyone that has ever seen one of those Nigerian scam letters
--------------------------------------

I am George Walker Bush, son of the former president of the United States Of America George Herbert Walker Bush, and currently serving as president of the United States Of America. This letter might surprise you because we have not met neither in person nor by correspondence. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential business transaction, which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to an account requiring maximum confidence.

I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek your assistance in acquiring oil funds that are presently trapped in the Republic Of Iraq. My partners and I solicit your assistance in completing a transaction begun by my father, who has long been actively engaged in the extraction of petroleum in the United States Of America, and bravely served his country as director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

In the decade of the nineteen-eighties, my father, then vice-president
of the United States Of America, sought to work with the good offices of the president of the Republic Of Iraq to regain lost oil revenue sources in the neighboring islamic Republic Of Iran. This unsuccessful venture was soon followed by a falling-out with his iraqi partner, who sought to acquire additional oil revenue sources in the neighboring Emirate Of Kuwait, a wholly-owned U.S.-British subsidiary.

My father re-secured the petroleum assets of kuwait in 1991 at a cost of sixty-one billion u.s. dollars ($61,000,000,000). Out of that cost, thirty-six billion dollars ($36,000,000,000) were supplied by his partners in the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies, and sixteen billion dollars ($16,000,000,000) by german and japanese partners. But my father's former iraqi business partner remained in control of the Republic Of Iraq and its petroleum reserves.

My family is calling for your urgent assistance in finding of the president of the Republic Of Iraq and acquiring the petroleum assets of his country, as compensation for the costs of removing him from power. Unfortunately, our partners from 1991 are not willing to shoulder the burden of this new venture, which in its upcoming phase may cost the sum of 100 billion to 200 billion dollars ($100,000,000,000 -$200,000,000,000), both in the initial acquisition and in long-term management.

Without the funds from our 1991 partners, we would not be able to acquire the oil revenue trapped within Iraq. That is why my family and our colleagues are urgently seeking your gracious assistance. Our distinguished colleagues in this business transaction include the sitting vice-president of the United States Of America, Richard Cheney, who is an original partner in the Iraq venture and former head of the Halliburton oil company, and Condoleeza Rice, whose professional dedication to the venture was demonstrated in the naming of a Chevron oil tanker after her.

I would beseech you to transfer a sum equaling ten to twenty-five percent (10-25 %) of your yearly income to our account to aid in this important venture. The Internal Revenue Service of the United States Of America will function as our trusted intermediary. I propose that you make this transfer before the fifteenth (15th) of the month of April.

I know that a transaction of this magnitude would make anyone apprehensive and worried. But I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. A bold step taken shall not be regretted, I assure you. Please do be informed that this business transaction is 100% legal. If you do not wish to co-operate in this transaction, please contact our intermediary representatives to further discuss the matter.

I pray that you understand our plight. My family and our colleagues will be forever grateful. Please reply in strict confidence to the contact numbers below.

Sincerely with warm regards,

George Walker Bush



1RottenJohnny -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/24/2005 2:36:20 AM)

Let me start by saying, up front, that I support the war. I have very mixed feelings about the way it has been executed but they are solely focused on our leaders, not our troops. Given my own family's lengthy military history I could never consider the notion of blaming a blood covered kid for the failures of decisions he had no voice in and I'm in anguish over every coffin I see carried off a plane with a flag draped over it. We have similar reminders in our own home.

Memebers of my family have fought, literally, in every conflict this country has ever been involved in. From the Revolutionary War to the Persian Gulf. We know death as well as anybody can. Have I put on a uniform and made the pledge? No. My father served in Korea and he never wanted his children to face that same horror. He knew Vietnam would become what it did and he made sure we stayed in school and out of the military. Maybe that makes me some kind of hypocrite. I don't know and I don't care. This is how I feel.

Do I think George has fucked it up? Yes.
Do I think different policies in the past could have prevented this? Yes.
Do I think oil is a factor? Yes.
Do I think there are secret agreements, a shadowy shake of hands, the subliminal nod of the head? Absolutely.

I'll be the last one to say there aren't people making money off the blood of our soldiers but I'll be damned if I'll ever be convinced that it's the REASON we're at war.

My country has been attacked. Period. And now someone has to pay.

Ever since I've been a kid I've heard the screams of "Death to America!" on the nightly news. I never wanted to beleive we could be that hated but now that I've aged and matured I know why we are.

That doesn't excuse 9/11.

Those old enough to know what I'm talking about also know that generations of people in the Middle East have been taught that America is the "Great Satan" and must be destroyed. Sometimes just to help keep a royal family or religious zealot in power.

Maybe we deserve some of that hatred. Nonetheless, you haven't seen our youth marching in the streets screaming the same kind of things directed at them. You didn't see our government purposely manipulating our kids to believe everyone in the Middle East was evil prior to the attack.

We allowed them to come here despite the hatred trying to show them we didn't feel the same way and some of them used it against us.

Do I blame all the Arabs? No.
Do I hate the Arabs? No.
Do I want to see the entire Middle East destroyed over this? No.
Do I think we have the right to make ANY kind of claim on their property for ourselves? No.
Do I even want the fuckin' oil? HELL, NO! Keep it. This is America! We can find another way!

But the leaders of those countries bear the same responsibility as those who committed the crime because they fostered the hatred for their own uses.

Adolf Hitler?

Osama Bin Laden is a given. He's gotta die. I won't be satisfied until I see his head on a pike staked out in the front yard of the White House.

But what about Iraq?

I don't like the war. But it has to be done. We gave Saddam the weapons he used to kill the Kurds and the Iranians. We bear that responsibilty. But now it's time to clean up our mess and try to redirect this to a better place.

We owe the rest of the world nothing less.

I'm sorry our soldiers are getting wounded and killed.
I'm sorry we've killed even more innocent civilians.
I'm sorry it's come to this.
But it's come to this.

We either fight or we let them do it to us again.

I've given blood.
I've written letters.
I've tried to help the families of my friends who are over there.

What have you done?

I don't know if my thanks really means a damn to a soldier who's stared death in the face but I give it to them every chance I get.
I don't know if my thanks really means a damn to a parent who's kid has been killed fighting a war they don't support but I give it to them every chance I get.

To every soldier out there who sees this and wonders if the sacrifice you make means anything to me...
Thank you for having the courage to do what the rest of us can't.
Thank you for risking your life for people you've never heard of and will never know.
Thank you for bearing the unbearable never knowing why you are asked to do it.
Thank you for going into harms way in places we never see, never hear of, and never know about.
Thank you for everything.

And for the truly honored (soldiers and parents)...
Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice so that maybe, just maybe, the world will finally find ultimate peace.

1RJ

P.S. For those of you on this board who see this and say to yourselves "What's up with this guy?", thank you for letting me get this out of my system. I'm sorry I had to rant.



ShiftedJewel -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/24/2005 4:26:48 AM)

~~Wipes a tear from her eye~~

Bravo Johnny, Bravo

Jewel



Shayna -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/24/2005 4:48:40 AM)

quote:

P.S. For those of you on this board who see this and say to yourselves "What's up with this guy?", thank you for letting me get this out of my system. I'm sorry I had to rant.


Deep, heartfelt passion is something to admire :)







pantera -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/24/2005 6:11:18 AM)

Sounds like the work of Caribou Coffee to me!


I support the troops, I support their mission. If you think about it, you can not support the troops and not the war. You may CARE for them, you may wish them the best, but to really support somebody you have to support the cause.


I love coffee, but I make my lattes at home every morning. I take the $2.75 (or whatever it is now) that the latte would cost me every day, save it, buy Starbucks stocks with the money, and then hope that many people won't make their lattes at home. :)




Atavist -> RE: Starbucks and the war. (2/24/2005 6:46:15 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: pantera

I support the troops, I support their mission. If you think about it, you can not support the troops and not the war. You may CARE for them, you may wish them the best, but to really support somebody you have to support the cause.


I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the men and women that willingly risk their lives in the armed services. In a country where it sometimes seems we're surrounded by governmental/corporate mediocrity and incompetence, the armed forces are one of the few institutions that simply get the job done. Having said that, the military is a tool of American foreign policy, a policy decided upon by our civilian leadership. They are implementors, not policy makers.

So, although I strongly support the troops in Iraq and elsewhere, in general, it doesn't necessarily follow that I or anyone else has to support a particular cause if its based on a flawed policy.

BTW, I did support the US invasion of Iraq, unfortunately the current administration bumbled it from the start.



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