Ramadi - the Other Video

Watching this for the second time I realize it's far too good to be just an update.

Just go. Enjoy.

Update: Background from the LA Times:

Two Indiana natives stationed in Ramadi with the Army National Guard have made the Middle East response to the Mid-West response to the West Coast response to the SNL viral-hit rap video "Lazy Sunday."

Dressed in fatigues, staff sergeants Matt Wright and Josh Dobbs twirl machine guns and rap about insurgents, their GPS system, the general store on the army base and Jell-o.

General store? Never heard of him.

I've eaten at the Pizza King though. Not the one in Muncie, the one in Indy.

Ramadi - the Video

This video of troops in Ramadi comes highly recommended by some folks who should know.

Specifically, some troops who were wounded there. Mrs G and MaryAnn spent the day yesterday visiting them. MaryAnn sends this email today:

This happened to come on last night while I was there with those two Currahees that had just come in.

Although it wasn't their particular unit, they were both completely transfixed. The one kept elbowing me and saying, "see, it's just like that", and other stuff about the weapons, tactics, etc.

If they say it's the real thing, I guess it is. And it's well done; I love the music.

It's certainly not sugar-coated.

Somewhat related: Soldiers’ Angels Ship 5,000th Backpack To Help Wounded Soldiers In Overseas Hospital

Update: Via comments, don't miss this Ramadi video.

You Might Be a Liberal

Around the blogosphere I think you'll see numerous examples of this quiz. Apparently, according to the original author, the closer you adhere to a rigid orthodoxy expressed therein, the more liberal you are.

The reality is that Rush Limbaugh has duped you into believing you are a liberal.

If you grasp the absurdity of it without further explanation, you are an actual Liberal. I doubt we can reclaim the description any time soon though, Rush's influence has pretty much ensured that.

Update: The overlooked part of Atrios post is that "liberals" also are required to participate in the daily two minutes hate. He even found a target who could be related to Emmanuel Goldstein.

I know, it's a joke. But I don't think Atrios caught that extra depth to it. Consciously, that is.

Visiting With Our Lord and Savior in Lynchburg

John McCain recalls his youth:

"It's a pity there wasn't a blogosphere then. I would have felt much at home in the medium."

He'd have been a milblogger, of course.

His leadup to that line suggests he considers himself much too old and wise for such endeavors today.

And I Shouted Out "Who Killed the Kennedys?"

It's been one week since the London Times published the story of the murder of Atwar Bahjat. Within hours some serious questions were raised about the accuracy of the report, questions to which the Times has offered no response. The only additional information published thus far on their web site is a letter from a reader expressing outrage over the brutal murder. It would seem the Times is standing by their original story.

I've seen no conclusive evidence either way. It's possible the Times does have a video of the murder that no one else has seen, and that it is very similar to another killing in another video. It's also possible the Times was the victim of a cruel hoax, and that the reporter who knew Atwar Bahjat was duped by the power of suggestion into believing the man killed in a low-quality video was her.

It's also possible that other motivations are guiding their actions - and that they are perpetrating or advancing the hoax. Since the venerable Times offers no words at all on the topic, we are left to draw our own conclusions.

This is the truth (for many of us all the truth we need): Atwar Bahjat is dead. She was kidnapped and murdered. The man in the widely circulated video is dead, he was kidnapped and murdered.

The Times story has undeniably raised the public profile of both killings, perhaps of all such killings worldwide. But not surprisingly, the response of said public has been mixed.

At least, not surprisingly if you've been paying attention. A few weeks ago "some" rushed to support and defend videotaped remarks made by journalist Jill Carroll condemning the US invasion of Iraq, and attacked those who suggested she may not have been well treated by her captors. If they felt any sense of shame upon learning she made those comments with a gun to her head and later renounced them they chose not to acknowledge it.

More recently the New York Times and the Associated Press felt compelled to rush to the defense of Abu Musab al Zarqawi (perhaps the man responsible for Carroll's kidnapping and Bahjat's murder) when the US released captured video outtakes from his latest propaganda film.

And last week several commenters here and elsewhere (including the London Times) were quick to cite the US as bearing the ultimate guilt for the butchering of whoever that was in that grisly video.

If you're one of those folks you've probably deeply rationalized your behavior already. By all means, feel free to share that in the comments below. But if you cheered when first hearing Jill Carroll's "confession", and agree that Zarqawi's incompetence with weapons should in no way diminish his iconic status, or feel that after all it was you and me is the answer to the question "who killed Atwar Bahjat?" then you might want to take a few precious moments for some internal self inspection to determine exactly where you stand in the war on terror.

To Zarqawi, the guy who wrote Jill Carroll's script, and that guy with the knife in that other video the answer is obvious.

Why We Fight

Today's Washington Post has a front page article on the experiences of troops returning home from Iraq. A few excerpts:

Civilians. After the war, they seemed so different, no matter how many war movies or how much CNN they had watched.

Sometimes, they'd ask something so crazy there just wasn't any way to respond, such as when a friend asked Monika Dyrcakz, "Did you go clubbing in Iraq?"

"Some people have no idea," she said.

Sometimes they said: I support the troops but not the war. Or: Do you think we should be over there?

Which is such a dumb question, Tanner, the Army captain, would think. Soldiers don't make those decisions. They do what they're told. They bitch and moan, sure. But when the call comes, they pack their bags and go, knowing they may not come back.

But Tanner doesn't say all that. Instead, he responds this way: "Oh, so you were over there? Because you said, ' We .' Because, I mean, I know I was over there."
<...>
Jon Powers came home and "swore I would never go back to Iraq until they build a Disney World in Baghdad." But then he thought about how he and his soldiers used to deliver toys and clothing to the orphanage. He thought about how the children had given them something back: a respite from the war. The soldiers would take off their gear, put down their weapons and join the children's soccer matches.

Not long after coming home, the former Army captain knew his work in Iraq was not finished. So he helped start a nonprofit, War Kids Relief, that helps Iraqi children. That's his new career.
<...>
Greg Seely came home on leave in October 2004 with 200 fellow soldiers. They were walking through the Atlanta airport, when, one by one, travelers dropped their bags and started clapping. Soon there was a spontaneous crescendo. The applause of strangers. A moment he will never forget.

"The media talked so much about how the American people don't support us," he said. "But they do."

The whole thing is well worth a read.

The story also offers this description of the nation to which they return:

It is not a United States unified behind the war effort, such as in World War II. There's no rationing, no sacrifice, no Rosie the Riveter urging, "We Can Do it!" Nor is it the country that protested Vietnam and derided many vets as baby killers.

The United States that Iraq veterans are returning to is relatively indifferent, many said. One that without fear of a draft seems more interested in the progression of "American Idol" than the bombings in Baghdad. Sure, there are the homecoming parades, the yellow-ribbon bumper stickers, the pats on the back -- they continue as troops arrive back home.

But for many vets, those moments of gratitude were short-lived or limited to close friends and family. Soon they were joined by bitter impressions of a society that seems to forget that it is living through the country's largest combat operation in more than 30 years.

I've only been in the US once since 2002 - so I'll have to accept that as accurate. Other than the reporter's unsupported claim of bitterness on the part of the vets, I hope it is. Americans able to go about their daily lives in peace is exactly what we are fighting for. Sounds like we've achieved victory on that front.

Update: Read this too.

Thousands Rally Against U.S. Troops

When I first saw the headline above in the Early Bird I actually thought the story might be from New York City. My second guess was Baghdad.

I was wrong:

SEOUL -- Thousands rallied on a downtown Seoul boulevard yesterday to protest a plan to relocate American military bases, the largest anti-U.S. demonstration in the South Korean capital this year.

According to police estimates, about 6,000 people rallied to protest moving the Seoul-based American military headquarters and some other bases to Pyeongtaek, about 40 miles south of the capital.

The relocation has been a main target of anti-U.S. activists here. They claim the project is part of a U.S. scheme to position its troops where they can be deployed quickly to possible conflicts outside the Korean Peninsula.

In perspective, the population of Seoul is about ten million, meaning .06 (point zero six) percent were outraged enough to hit the streets. (Assuming all the protestors were from Seoul.)

But GI Korea (who has been following this closely for obvious reasons) says:

This is just a warm up for the hatefest that is sure to come later this weekend in Pyeongtaek.

Similar things were ongoing when I was stationed there in the late 80s/early 90s. But back then the protesters were demanding that the troops move out of Seoul, which is part of the reason we are doing so today.

Less than fond memories: My son was in pre-school at the time. Besides fire drills they had tear gas drills, in which they learned how to respond in the event the prevailing winds blew any such riot control agents into the building. (Hit the floor, cover mouth and nose with handerkerchief, low crawl out.)

Moms, of course, had to make sure the kids always brought their hankies to school.