Parents of Jonathon Cote Speak Out

east amherst wrote:

hes still alive and i have faith that he will come home. the people who are negative on this blog are completely out of line and should be ashamed to say things about someone they dont even know. keep your horrible opinions to your self. my thoughts and prayers are with the cote family.

Very, very well put ! I could not agree more. My thoughts and prayers as well are with the family of Jonathon Cote !

If George Bush hadn't have gone into Iraq, Jonathon Cote would be here with us. He would be safe and sound and with his family. I hope and pray this young man comes home to his family. I can't imagine what they are going threw and I pray I never have too. I think this country had an obligation to look for the 5 men that went missing. They certainly didn't stop them from being there! We as a nation have let down the Cote's and for that I feel so bad!

Candy Apple wrote:

<quoted text>
If this was a civilian crime then the Iraqi police and government should be handling this situation. It's not up to the US Military or the US government to handle civilian crimes in Iraq. We have enough on our plate. I feel very sorry for this family and I do hope that Jonathon is safe somewhere but to expect the US government to get involved hardly seems realistic. Once you leave the borders of the US there is no guarantee of protection from our government unless you of course are under US government orders to be in Iraq. Jonathan was there as a private contractor and he was a victim of a civilian crime per you. I'm sorry I don't see what this has to do with our military or our government under the circumstances.

And exactly what does ANYTHING that happens in Iraq have to do with the US? <your answer here> And WHY is that?
Iraqi police and Gov't?
I'm just going to laugh at that one.
What do you do if the Iraqi police were involved in the kidnapping? WHY is there even an American involved in a "civilian" crime in the country of Iraq to begin with? Were these men vacationing there?
Some of you take the stance that all of these contractors go over there for the money. Did it ever occur to any of you that some of these prior military "kids" saw / experienced things over there that made it difficult for them to come home and forget about it? Did it ever occur to you that they went over there to help out their country or the soldiers / friends still over there? Did it ever occur to you that they were doing jobs the US military SHOULD be doing but don't have the resources for? It's not always about money, so try and let go of that BS propaganda that has you assuming that's why these prior military members go over there. NONE of you can give a valid reason for a country to abandon citizens who serve it other than politics and money... and we all know how important that stuff is in the overall scheme of things. Those are chickensh#* excuses used by cowards and the ignorant to wash their hands of complicated messes that shouldn't exist to begin with. If you can't "see what this has to do with our military or country" then you are either not thinking it through all the way or just simply refuse to open your eyes.
Do you remember that military convoy that "got lost"? Remember how it was on the news EVERY night? How they looked for them until they found them? How the female soldier was rescued? etc.
I don't recall any $ exchanging hands in that situation.
Are these men who are over there risking their lives less important because they aren't wearing a uniform (anymore)?
I also read a comment earlier about $ being used to fund terrorist agendas.
DON'T even get me started on that BS. The US Gov't itself has done WAY WAY MORE than its share to outfit the entire region with weapons.
Iran, Israel, militant groups... and the list goes on.
It was his choice to go over there?
Right back at you with "It was <name>'s choice to join the military".
For any point you can make, I have three I can counter with where a similar situation was handled differently.

I'm sure some of you have valid opinions.
I'm sure this post will irritate a few people and come across as an attack. I apologize for that, it's not meant to be. It is simply a response from an angry onlooker who can't believe how some people try to excuse lives away because they aren't fully informed or haven't thought the situation through all the way.

First of all, and most importantly, I would like to extend my prayers to all of the families involved.

Next I would just like to comment on something that boggled my mind when I first saw it.

I caught a newscast about this on television and in one segment there was an ex FBI member or something like that. I recall him saying something about himself being head of a private company that dealt with situations like this and that if the Cote's or other families had come to him and hired him to get the hostages back that he would have been able to do it.

He went on to say something like, because they didn't, things probably wouldn't turn out very well. Again this isn't a quote but just a summary of what he said.

He came across like the families made a mistake by not contacting him or his group and that if things turn out poorly, their failure to do so was the main reason.

To that ignorant, insensitive gentleman, I would like to offer up a gigantic Fah Q!

What an arse, telling suffering, wondering, mourning families that if anything happens to their husbands or sons that it's their fault.
I could go on for hours, but that will have to do.

Arse.