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You are looking at Iraq, from on high, a birds-eye view (but the bird is a satellite, so you've got a great view...)
Let's zoom in a bit and see what we can see... look - over there...
Coalition forces positively identified a foreign terrorist killed in an operation Tuesday in Musayyib as a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq member. Abu Usama al-Tunisi was in the inner leadership circle of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and was a likely successor to him. Al-Tunisi was the military emir of Baghdad’s southern belt and took over the role of emir of foreign terrorists when al-Masri became the overall leader.And there...Al-Tunisi facilitated foreign terrorists and helped equip them for improvised explosive device attacks, car-bombing campaigns and suicide attacks throughout Baghdad. Foreign terrorists conduct most of the high profile attacks in Iraq. Over 80 percent of the suicide attacks are conducted by foreign terrorists.
During an operation Sept. 25, Coalition forces targeted al-Tunisi and other al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders. Credible intelligence from several previous operations led Coalition forces to the location of a known al-Qaeda in Iraq meeting and supporting aircraft attacked the time sensitive target. Al-Tunisi and two other terrorists were killed during the attack.
Task Force Marne AH-64 Apache helicopters responded to an improvised explosive device strike Sept. 24, killing the four extremist militants responsible.And over there...
A concerned citizens group alerted Coalition Forces to the location of a weapons cache Sept. 25.And there...
The concerned citizens approached Soldiers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, who were providing overwatch along a main route, and told them they knew the location of a cache.
Soldiers followed the concerned citizens to the site. The cache consisted of two 60mm mortars, one Chinese rocket-propelled grenade launcher, one 57mm projectile, a Russian PG-7M infantry anti-tank launcher, three Iraqi OG-7 RPG launchers, seven rocket-propelled grenades, three blasting caps, 24 feet of yellow detonation cord, a spool of command wire, 4 ounces of PE-4 bulk explosives, two empty fire extinguishers, one four-foot steel pipe and a blue barrel for storage.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has installed and handed over to Iraqi authorities a compact water treatment plant in Dhi Qar Province in Southern Iraq.Busy, busy days...The Iraqis "have signed for the facility and it's operational," said Navy Cmdr. Michael Lang, officer in charge of the Adder Area Office of USACE's Gulf Region South district.
Now we begin to zoom a little closer... closer... closer...
There, somewhere near the Iranian border you see something small. Drop in a little closer and you see it's two guys, sitting on a Pelican Case, waiting in the middle of the desert with weapons at the ready and their armor and helmets nearby. (One of them isn't me.) It is hot, and the wind is blowing without cooling, occasionally picking up dust from a few yards away and tossing it at their faces. They aren't easy targets, though. They see it coming, they casually turn their heads and wait for it to pass.
"Want to hear some music?" Asks one.
"You got an mp3 player in here?"
"iPod."
"Do it."
They stand. He flips the latches on the case and opens the lid, rummages for a minute inside, then pulls out the player and hands it to his partner. "You have speakers too, right?"
No answer, just a bit more digging, and out come the speakers. "If this doesn't bring them" he says, "nothing will."
They had been waiting for a helicopter, and had tried various rituals usually guarenteed to bring any awaited conveyence. They had lit cigars. They had gone to the port-a-potty. They had removed their armor.
All had failed.
Going to the trouble of setting up the portable entertainment system was close to their last hope. And sure enough, before the sounds of music even began the sound of distant rotors was heard.
"Well that worked." He put everything away. They quickly donned their armor and helmets and jammed in ear plugs as the now-visible birds circled the pad, kicked up dust, and landed. The gunners hopped out and opened doors for a handful of passengers who disembarked and headed to vehicles waiting on the side of a dirt road and drove off, raising more dust.
Now ready, the two would-be travelers stood and waited for the signal to board. It never came - the gunners hopped back on and the birds lifted off, circled again, and flew away. The noise faded.
Some locations have passenger services at their helipads, with people with radios who can sometimes tell you what's going on. Instead of all that, this one had dust.
One glanced at his watch. "That had to have been our ride. There couldn't be more flights out here today."
"What?"
They removed their ear plugs. "I said, I guess we'll hear some music after all."
"Wait - I hear rotors." He was right. Two more 60s flew into view. They did touch-and-go's for about 15 minutes, then go'd for good. As the noise faded, the wind gusted again, and dust blew.
They removed their armor and helmets and sat down again on the case, where the iPod remained. "By the way, I want to thank you for bringing your stuff in this case. Standing out here would suck." They drank warm water from clear plastic bottles. "How hot is it?" One asked. "It's only about 105. Funny, that really doesn't feel hot, does it?" "No." And it wasn't bravado - it really didn't feel hot. "Summer ended earlier this week, you know."
In the distance, rotors. They remained seated. The helos appeared as dots, then grew, then landed a few feet away on the pad. "They're going to shut down."
"What?"
"THEY'RE GOING TO SHUT DOWN. I CAN TELL BY WHERE THEY'VE LANDED. IF THEY WERE JUST GOING TO PICK US UP AND LEAVE THEY WOULD HAVE STOPPED OVER HERE."
The noise of the engines changed, grew quieter. The rotors slowed. They removed their ear plugs again.
"Hey, they're shutting down!"
"Don't worry. They're going to get lunch. (points to watch) It's lunch time. But this one's our ride." The DFAC, however, was a mile walk away.
The crew hopped out. "Hey, I know these guys. I'm going on out there." He wandered out onto the pad, where the crew had begun eating a picnic lunch beside the aircraft. "Gentlemen," he said, "mom says she'd appreciate it if you get junior home safely."
"I don't know man, an awful lot of dust blowing around out here... we can't see sh..."
"Naah, don't worry about it. There wasn't any dust 'til you guys got here and stirred it up." He lied, while the orchestra in his head began playing the theme to Lawrence of Arabia.
To one of the gunners: "How's flying?" The question was supposed to be
about flying conditions on that particular day, but the answer was about what it's like to fly the skies of Iraq every day:
"You know, it's not bad. We fly a lot, and it gets tiring some times. But I've seen things most people never will. The Mother of all Mosques, the crossed swords, the ruins of Babylon..."
He envied him that. Two trips to Iraq, and he'd seen none of them. he'd seen a lot of open desert, but none of the sites.
The crews finished eating, a fuel truck pulled up and fed the helos, and they loaded up and flew away.
- Round three:
WASHINGTON - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case brought by a Marine from Connecticut against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition in the case.Thus far charges against four Marines involved in the case have been dropped. According to the AP,Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, from Meriden, is suing the 18-term congressman for alleging "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" by unnamed soldiers in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha
The investigating officer overseeing the Haditha case is expected to recommend soon whether Wuterich should stand trial.U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer...
...did not set a date for Murtha's testimony but said she would also require him to turn over documents related to his comments.It's beginning to look like Murtha is a cold blooded liar."You're writing a very wide road for members of Congress to go to their home districts and say anything they choose about private persons and be able to do so without any liability. Are you sure you want to do that?" Collyer said, adding later, "How far can a congressman go and still be protected?"
Collyer said she was troubled by the idea that lawmakers are immune from lawsuits regardless of what they say to advance their political careers.
No comment from Murtha yet. However, earlier this month,
JEFF GANNON: In May 2006, you said that Marines killed innocent Iraqis citizens in cold blood at Hatitha. A year later, some of them have been exonerated. At some point are you going to apologize to these men?In reality, charges were dropped before any trials even began.REP. MURTHA: The trial's not over yet.
JEFF GANNON: You've spoken out before. You went on national television and called these men "cold blooded killers."
REP. MURTHA: The trial's not over yet.
And just cause it warms my heart to see my fellow GIs use him as a punching bag...
I'll never get tired of that one.
A just-on-time nominee for the Ignorant Media Putz of the Month award.
Never heard of that award? I just invented it.
So, who's this guy's competition? (I actually have one in mind, I'll see if anyone else provides the same name...)
We could have a "congressional" category also, but it would be hard to pick a "winner". I suppose we could have a "Story of the Month" category too...
Commando: On the Front Line is insight into the making of a Royal Marine Commando and, for the first time, follows the recruits onto the front line in Afghanistan.
Here's an opportunity for compare and contrast.
Blogger, "In Training", an American married to a Royal Marine Commando, critiques Episode 1, you can watch it at her site.
What I find intriguing is that the film-maker, Chris Terrill, didn’t just film these troops, he joined them, undergoing the same gruelling 32 weeks’ training , winning his green beret, before joining them in action. He followed the recruits to the front line in Afghanistan and right into the heat of battle.
While the other recruits wielded guns in Afghanistan, Chris sticked to shooting with his camera. “I was very excited about going to the front line. But the reality of what I was about to face really came home when I had to sit down and write what are called my ‘death letters’.“These are letters to loved ones only to be read in the event of my being killed. Having to write to people that you love as if you’re dead is not easy and can be extremely upsetting. That’s when it hit me that this was not just another filming adventure.
“When I started going out on patrols it was a bit like being in a feature film. But when the bullets started to fly it suddenly got very, very real – especially when they whizzed past your ears.
Chris talks more about his grueling training here
The training was even more hellish than I expected: high rope climbing; abseiling; speed marching; “yomping”; lung-bursting underwater swimming; soul-destroying assault courses; and close quarter combat lessons that taught us how to tear windpipes out of throats and rip genitals from between men’s legs. This was in addition to increasingly demanding survival exercises in extreme conditions with limited rations and even more limited sleep. It was relentless and unforgiving: most of us were injured – many badly enough to have to leave. Some never came back. I got off lightly with a dislocated finger, a ruptured tendon in my left bicep and a rotator cuff and clavicle so badly inflamed that I have since had to have surgery. The fruit of my efforts and pain? Well, I am proud to say I won my green beret, now my most prized possession, but I would not have done so if I had trained in isolation. I only managed it because I became part of a band of brothers who willed me on, as I did them.
If Hollywoods types would undergo the rigorous training with our American troops or had the fortitude to spend just a small bit of time with them on the frontlines, we wouldn't have such trash in our theaters. But I suspect that would impede on their ugly anti-military, anti-American smear campaign.
Update: Uncle Jimbo has more
FORT LEWIS -- Kaylee Sharp-Henderson had been silent much of the morning, and now she was avoiding, with all her 8-year-old might, directions to write down what made her feel sad. Or angry. Or scared.Around the table, the other children in her group bent their heads over their construction paper and made furtive lists with colored markers.
When they were finished, Tina Saari, the group leader, handed each child a small tin of Play-Doh.
Kaylee wadded the clay into a ball.
"This is the Iraqi that killed my dad," she said, her voice rising as her fists pummeled the clay into a flat pancake. "I hate you, I hate you. I hate you."
The other children hammered at their own piles of clay, and in a flurry of pounding, they smashed out feelings of grief only the smallest casualties of war could know.
Each of them had lost a parent or a sibling in Iraq or Afghanistan. For some, like Kaylee, the loss was only a few months ago. And for many of them, this was the first time they had been able to share that experience with others who knew what it felt like. On Saturday, 62 families, most of whom had lost soldier sons based at Fort Lewis, gathered to share their emotions and look to one another for ways to survive the knock on the door.
The grief camp was organized by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that offers resources and peer counseling to grieving military families.
Michael Yon is headed to Basra to report how things are going since the withdrawal of the British. He has his thoughts on that and has high hopes for Iraq
He landed in Baghdad this morning
Michael also talks about an extraordinary man, CSM James Pippin who was shot in the tibia, shattered his tibia only four months ago, and he’s already returning to Mosul. Michael's first mission with James Pippin can be found here.
In February, CSM James Pippin wrote an open letter to the American people. It was shortly after that when Pippin was shot in the leg.
We win every time whenever they stay and fight. But mostly, they hit us, then run away and blend into the crowd. We’re winning a day at a time. And we are taking the fight to them.I would rather fight them where they live as opposed to quit the fight here only to have it come back to my home. I also realize we may very well get attacked on our own soil while we fight here. That, I believe is imminent. But as long as we continue to stay engaged with terrorists in their home countries, we remain proactive instead of totally reactive.
Most Americans say, “I support the troops.” “Supporting the troops” is far more than sending a care package, or shaking a service member’s hand, or tying a ribbon on their lapel. Supporting the troops should also be backing our mission.
People back home may not realize how effective this enemy is using the media as a weapon. Every time some talking head gets on the TV and shouts anything negative about this war, it motivates our enemy, who interprets dissent as weakness and who uses our free press against us. That is exactly how “the terrorists” win. For the Terrorist does not have to defeat us, he just has to outlast us.
I am disappointed in the way the American people in general seem to have lost their resolve since 9-11. When I hear that over half of America’s citizens believe this war is a lost cause, I think that is a tragedy. Less than 2/100ths of 1 percent of our own citizens have ever served in the armed forces, which means most Americans don’t have a clue about our military.
The media does not tell all the good things happening in Iraq. They rarely, if ever, report the successes of our Armed Forces. This causes our citizens, most of whom will never cross an ocean in their life, let alone fight in this or any war, to think we are losing and to believe we can’t win.
In case you missed it the first time around you can read full letter here
It's been around for a while but worth it.
Just listen
South Dakota native Dustin Evans has co-written a song from the perspective of a soldier writing home from the front lines of war.
Hotel Tango: A Soldier's Perspective
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Fallen Patriots Fund.
Columbia University alumni, Matt Sanchez, shares the rules for Columbia students during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit on Monday, Sept. 24th.
Via email:
Dear GS students,Yesterday, a number of student leaders met with President Bollinger to
address concerns about the campus visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad
on Monday, Sept. 24th, as part of the World Leaders Forum
http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/. We know this is a controversial
event and we encourage you to read President Bollinger's statement on
this invitation to Ahmadinejad to speak on campus:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/07/09/sipairan.html.As with all Columbia University World Leader Forums, attendance at this
event is limited and reservations must be made through an on-line
reservation system on the World Leaders Forum website:
http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/. This event, which is limited to
600 audience members, was filled within one hour of being posted on the
website; 80% of the seats for this event were reserved for students.
Students leaders asked President Bollinger and his staff if there was a
way to broadcast the forum on campus and if there would be a way for
students not in attendance to submit questions for the Q and A section
of the forum. The university is now exploring ways that this forum can
be viewed more widely on campus by members of the university community.
Also, the university has made arrangements for students to submit
questions in advance of the forum on Monday. Anyone wishing to submit a
question may do so by e-mailing to the following address:
worldleaders@columbia.edu. We suggest that you identify yourself as a
Columbia student when submitting your question. We have been told that
questions will be randomly selected and asked at the forum along with
those questions from the audience members in attendance. More
information about this will be posted on the World Leader website later
today.Dean Stellini from the GS Dean of Students Office will be sending out an
email later today or this weekend concerning student protests that are
planned for Monday related to this event. The administration of the
university and the Office of Public Safety are working closely with
student groups to facilitate these protests. We want to take this
opportunity to remind students of the University Rules of Conduct:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/facets/0708_appendices.pdf The Rules of
University Conduct (Chapter XLIV of the Statutes of the University)
provide special disciplinary rules applicable to demonstrations,
rallies, picketing, and the circulation of petitions. These rules are
designed to protect the rights of free expression through peaceful
demonstration while at the same time ensuring the proper functioning of
the University and the protection of the rights of those who may be
affected by such demonstrations. The Rules of University Conduct are
University-wide and supersede all other rules of any school or division.
All University faculty, students, and staff are responsible for
compliance with the Rules of University Conduct. Copies of the full text
are available in FACETS: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/facets/ and at the
Office of the University Senate, 406 Low Memorial Library.Given the heighten level of security expected on campus on Monday due to
this event and two additional World Leader Forums, we want to remind
students to make sure to have their Columbia i.d.'s on hand.Mary McGee
Dean of Students and Associate Dean of Faculty
On behalf of the Dean of Students Office
Columbia University School of General Studies
"We have been told that questions will be randomly selected "
That should interesting.
As one commenter said : "We can only hope this little twerp trips, falls, and breaks his freakin neck on the way. Cross my fingers , legs and eyes!!!!"
I second that, crossing my fingers and toes.
From INDC Journal currently in Iraq
1st Lt. Travis Manion spoke to his father via satellite phone from a dusty Iraqi Army barracks in downtown Fallujah. Manion and his fellow Marines with Military Transition Team (MiTT) 30 - advisors to the 3-2-1 Iraqi Army - had recently watched a DVD of the movie "300," and it made an impression. He told his dad that for the Spartans, there was "no greater honor" than to die fighting for one's country and its freedoms. He expressed frustration that many Americans didn't understand that's what he and his Marines were doing in Iraq.
Sadly Travis received that honor.
"Our Iraqi counterparts were a short distance away at their vehicles. Travis's fire allowed them to remount and attempt to maneuver around to the flank. Our Marine vehicles provided cover and suppressive fire for us. Travis's only concern was the safety of our wounded and his fellow Marines and Iraqi soldiers. He continued to fire his weapon and maintain his position, even when additional insurgents appeared on the rooftops to our sides, firing down into us. [He] maintained his fire into the group of insurgents with the sniper.""Our Iraqi counterparts maneuvering two blocks to the side encountered an IED and were stopped. I believe Travis was reloading his grenade launcher when the sniper next fired. [He] was struck directly in the side, just above the armor plate. The bullet severed the main vein from his heart and exited the other side. The other Marine and I, the only uninjured personnel on the ground, moved to Travis and pulled him back to a covered position. We alternated, one of us attempting to provide first aid ... while the other continued to engage the enemy. We continued to fight and provide first aid for several minutes. Travis died at 1525 Iraqi time (0725 east coast) on 29 April 2007."
Travis Manion was an inspiration to many.
In addition to his fellow Marines, many Iraqis who served with the young lieutenant were distraught at Manion's passing."The American people must know we too lost a close friend and brother this day," said Iraqi Army Col. Ali Jafar, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Iraqi Brigade, who previously spoke at Manion's memorial service. "May his family know we too lost family, and we share their loss, our loss."
Iraqi soldiers have since named a combat outpost after Manion.
Please read the full story of Travis, find out what an amazing young man, a Marine, he was.
Via Rusty Shackleford:
Widow of Luke pilot lashes out at mediaRusty says:Days after an al-Qaida-linked group released a video showing the body of a Luke Air Force Base fighter pilot killed in Iraq last year, his widow lashed out at the national media, accusing it of politicizing and using the images to erode public support for the war.
Ginger Gilbert, making her first public comments since the video emerged last week, said Tuesday that she couldn't remain silent after watching media coverage of a "disturbing video" of the corpse, identification card and crash site of her husband, Maj. Troy Gilbert.
"When media chooses to use Troy's plane crash as a political catalyst to generate anti-war sentiment, it only serves to degrade the moral integrity my husband possessed and the morale of those still selflessly serving," Gilbert said at news conference at Glendale's Falcon Dunes Golf Course, across from Luke.
"Every time the press lends credibility and significance to terrorist propaganda clearly designed to erode public support or questions the validity of our brave soldiers' selfless acts of service and the war itself," she added, "it only serves to damage our country from within its own borders and embolden those who would do us harm."
The general theme of the video is that the reason Troy Gilbert and other Americans are dead is because of Bush's "deceit". "Why was Gilbert killed?", a masked man on the video asks, "And the reason is Bush!".Additional thoughts on this later, time permitting, but for now, ladies and gentlemen, al Qaeda's "Working Paper for a Media Invasion of America" was first exposed here. Followup reports are here and here.
(Tell your friends.)
Slate's "Explainer" David Sessions, answers your question about the news. Today he set out to debunk John McCain:
Yesterday, John McCain told supporters in Iowa that U.S. soldiers are "carrying 40 pounds of body armor in 130-degree temperatures."For reasons unknown, it's important to him to prove McCain is wrong about that temperature claim. He cites climate records from the US Air Force...
...the highest temperature ever recorded in Asia is 124 degrees—in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. So, how hot does it really get in Iraq?That's right - but Sessions is wrong.The temperature never breaks 130 degrees, according to official climate records. A 2007 Air Force Weather Agency report on Iraq's summer weather also marks the record at 124 degrees, with mean highs for July and August at 110 degrees. And Iraq is always dry, so the heat index won't be much higher than the actual temperature.
Jeff Emmanuel waves a BS flag, arguing (as near as I can tell) that
a. Humidity is sufficient to cause a heat index higher than the temperature
and
b.
"A soldier in 40-50 lbs of armor AND ammo AND long sleeves and pants AND helmet AND gloves AND knee pads AND boots who is carrying a rifle AND carrying 10 lbs of water IS "a solid object." Furthermore, said soldier DOES operate on "heat-conducting surfaces like sand, concrete, or asphalt," NOT "in a ventilated location" -- oh, and is either standing or moving while doing so, as well."which, like the climatological data, is also right. But in fairness, McCain didn't say the weight of the armor makes it seem like the temperature is 130 degrees, he said it was 130 before the armor went on. Likewise, he wasn't talking about a "heat index".The effective temperature to a soldier here is much more like 145-150 degrees during the peak of summer -- not 130 or 124.
There's also a discussion of cheap thermometers poorly placed, yadda yadda yadda. Disregard that for now, while I provide the actual solution, and make left and right happy in this instance and we can all go forward and live together as one, in harmony. It's a simple explanation, trust me on this one...
Official temperature is taken IN THE SHADE, using very damned expensive equipment. Official temperatures for Baghdad (taken by US Air Force meteorologists at the Airport in the shade) in late July and early August peak in the late afternoon between 115-120 EVERY DAY - IN THE SHADE. The record temperature in the shade is indeed 124 degrees. Now that September is here it's a bit more variable, highs ranging from as low as 102 to about 108 over the past week or two. In the early morning hours we shiver as the temperatures plunge into the upper 70s.
Did I mention the shade part? Out in the desert or the middle of a city in the direct sunlight in July? Or in the back of a closed vehicle or an aircraft? There it's really hot, and 130 on a cool day, maybe.
But here's what I call hot: when you step out of a porta potty after a 5 minute visit into the direct sunlight of a July afternoon in Iraq and think "gosh it's nice and cool out here" - then you know that inside that porta potty was the HOTTEST EFFING PLACE ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH.
Anyhow, in case I wasn't clear, Jeff is right in saying Slate's "Explainer" is wrong - but now you know the rest of the story.
Like I said, trust me on this one. (Stupid people will argue, folks who know me will laugh...)
A final thought: 120 degrees is HOT. Wear armor and run a few miles in it and we can talk about hot. In fact, 110 is HOT. Hell, three days of temperatures around 100 in any city in America will kill a certain percentage of the popultion. Still, if anyone can explain why it's so important to prove that soldiers aren't really experiencing anything hotter than 120, be my guest. Maybe that's a question best left to the Explainer.
And another update:
UPDATE: As much as I hate adding to something after claiming "a final thought" - it just occured to me that maybe, just maybe, this is a lesson in why one shouldn't attempt to draw conclusions from studies of Iraq done in America based purely on statistics...
(part one here - but this episode is a stand-alone, so feel free to jump right on in...)
Another Sunday Morning Coming Down
Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.
-- Johnny Cash, Sunday Morning Coming Down
My Sunday morning wasn't like that. I did get up and have breakfast - but I passed on the NA beer. Afterwards I wandered over to the barbershop and pulled my number (68). I already knew about how long that wait would be - the day before I had tried and failed.
On that previous attempt I'd pulled my number then wandered around the area for a bit. I realized I had no cash in my pocket so I hit the px. Picked up something small so I could get cash back at the checkout. The line wrapped around two walls of the store - I figured I was going to miss my chance for a haircut, but since I couldn't get one without the cash I waited and made it through the line. Fortunately, the "No Cash Back at this time" sign wasn't on display at the register (it usually is) so I scored a 20 - the max.
Then I wandered back to the barber shop. They were nowhere near my number, so I wandered over to the Internet cafe. The computers were all full, and the waiting list was 12 people long. So I wandered on back over to the barbershop. It had been an hour since I pulled my number (68) and they were up to number 48. But my time was up.
But anyhow - back to Sunday. Sunday mornings for me are slow - I can sleep in til about 8 then take my time getting things done, laundry, room cleaning, etc. I got up and went to breakfast. Afterwards I wandered over to the barbershop and pulled my number (78). I knew I had at least an hour before I needed to come back for a progress check, so I headed for the showers. They were closed for cleaning. So I modified my strategy on the fly, wandered back to the hooch (we only had to stay in tents for the first 4 months here) and picked up my laundry, took it to the KBR laundry facility, filled out the paperwork, and headed back to the barbershop.
Those actions described now brought my cumulative walking distance to about 2 miles of foot travel on four inches of gravel (try it sometime!), and the sun was edging higher in the sky. One hour after pulling my number I asked some of the guys in the cluster waiting outside the door what number they were up to. "70" was the reply. I had 78 - almost there. And you won't believe it but the day got even better - there was a chair available in the waiting area. Another half hour and I was in the actual barber chair. Five minutes later my hair was cut.
You're probably thinking to yourself, "wow - that's more good fortune than any GI could have in Iraq in one day" - and you're right.
Went back to the hooch, grabbed my stuff, and headed for the showers. The cleaning crew was done, the faucets were shining, and in I went. I turned the water on and nothing came out of the spigot. No water, so no shower today - but I did have a spiffy new hair cut. To finish the full squared-away look I'm required to cultivate by regulation and years of habit I pulled my triple bladed razor from my shaving kit and ran it across my face and neck - sans water and shaving cream and lubricated only by a thin layer of rapidly-drying sweat. Back to my hooch to put my uniform on (up til now I'd been wandering around in PT gear with a shoulder-holstered 9, a look that is common only here) and then I took the mile walk to work. By the time I got there I was sweating enough that I could convince myself the effects of the shower would have worn off by then anyway.
So anyhow, along the way, for some reason, I started whistling "Sunday Morning Coming Down."
Got an email picture of my wife with another guy today.
It was President Bush.
I'm jealous.
Of him.
I said as much to Bill Roggio. "How can you be jealous?" He replied. "He's got the most thankless job in the world."
"He had his picture taken with my wife" I replied.
But the President and I both got to chat with Bill over the weekend.
GIs bitch (See above). It's the nature of the job. When you actually do have one of the most thankless tasks in the world you get the right to do that. Give one a chance and he'll (or she'll) tell you everything that's wrong with their world, their rater, their commander, their first sergeant, the General, their branch of service, their deployed location, their home station, Iraq, Afghanistan, America, congress, the President, war, peace, food, and their favorite football team's current strategy. (Regardless of current won-loss record.)
So last time I crossed paths with the re-enlistment NCO I recognized him as someone who would have insight as to how much that matters.
"How's business?" I asked. "Good", he replied.
"No problems?" I prodded.
"Well, yeah. I've got to convince people to wait and reenlist next month instead of this one. I've already met my goal for this fiscal year."
A lot of people think it's the cash bonuses, but really it's the free food and cheap haircuts, I'm sure.
Enlistments are looking good too. Small wonder the IVAW crowd is planning an attack.
So yeah, President Bush and I have something else in common - we both chatted with Bill Roggio over the weekend. I picked up Bill from MND-C headquarters and took him off for a GI tour of Camp Victory.
Fortunately, this didn't happen to us:
Coalition Forces attacked at Camp VictoryIndirect fire means rockets or mortars, by the way.Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
BAGHDAD – One third-country national was killed and eleven Coalition Forces members were wounded Sept. 12 in an indirect fire attack on Camp Victory.
The incident is under investigation.
Anyhow, I showed him the BIG PX with all the obscene amenities, then the Iraqi Bazaar with the memorial to the Iraqis who worked there who've been killed. After that, lunch at the DFAC - we both had the made-to-order stir fry with everything. Then to the DVD store - Bill bought 300. Not 300 DVDs, the movie 300. I got 3:10 to Yuma (meh). Guess we were all about the threes. Afterwards I drove him "home" - he had a flight to catch to elsewhere for a day or two.
He's a good guy. Can't wait to have a beer with him some time down the road.
Don't know what might come of it, but I will tell you he set off looking into this story that everyone else has missed:
Major General Lynch: Just over two weeks ago, soldiers from our 3rd Brigade Combat Team conducted a raid on a militant house in the town of Nahrawan, which is about 20 miles east of Baghdad on the east side of the Tigris River. They arrested one of our division's most valued targets, high-value targets, and he acted as a link between Iran and the Jaish al- Mahdi militia. He was the main Shi'a conduit in that region for getting Iranian EFPs and rockets into Baghdad, and his capture was a big blow to that network.Of course, had all 46 of those rockets gone off, you'd have damn well heard about it. But they didn't, so no win for the bad guys, no news in the papers, and no one but Bill tracking the story down.
When we found him, we also discovered an insurgent video they were making that showed 46 Iranian rockets lined up to be fired at one of our U.S. forward operating bases. In fact, some of those rockets shown in the video actually fired and hit some of our bases on the 11th of July, killed one of my soldiers and wounded 15 others.
<...>
And this -- as I talked about the attack on FOB Hammer, there were 46 Iranian rockets lined up with Iranian timers to kill my soldiers out on FOB Hammer. And luckily, a great UAV operator was flying his UAV around, he saw those Iranian rockets, he turned to his leaders and said, "Hey, I think we got this problem." A leader sent ground forces out there, and bigger than Dallas, there's the rockets, and we were able to disconnect those rockets before they fired.
<...>
We're also bolstering the government of Iraq's efforts along the Iranian border. My soldiers are working with the Iraqi border security force, training them and helping them. There is one point of entry into Iraq from the Wasat province -- into the Wasat province, and Iraqi border forces check trucks making that crossing. In the near future, 2,000 Republic of Georgia soldiers will secure six checkpoints, allowing us to thoroughly inspect every truck crossing along the main westbound route towards Baghdad. So every truck that comes into the Wasat province, from Iran into Iraq, will be stopped and searched in total by these great soldiers from Georgia.
Want some understanding of President Bush's references to his father's service in WWII and our current warm relationship with Japan? Read Flyboys 
I only mention that because it's a topic that came up at the milbloggers' meeting with President Bush, last week, and it seems to be one that a lot of the ultra-Leftists are obsessed with.
I'm pretty damn proud of the lady who's very quietly done more work than anyone in history to bring the voices of deployed troops to the people they serve. (And very quietly done a lot for the wounded troops, too.)
And I thought this was a good quote from the President (bold emphasis added) - thanks, Mrs G!:
I really did not have a question for the President anyway but wanted to comment that reading hundreds of milblogs every morning, that the troops are stating the same things that General Petraeus conveyed during his report and that I found it appalling how he was treated by congress and how he was accused of "cooking the books". That the troops see the progress and the reduction in violence in most areas and General Petraeus passed on their thoughts honestly. The president was adamant when he said, "I will do everything in my power to support the troops and their families” and I believe he means it.There's a lot more impugning of integrity going on in the aftermath of that. And it's not directed at Generals.He did express that he was very upset with the Move-On.org ad. If anyone should be attacked, it should be him, it is his policy, Petraeus was only giving the report they asked for. When he became President he knew what he was getting into, "I don't mind people attacking me . . . that's politics . . . but I do mind people impugning the integrity of our generals." He also said that he did not want to bash the media, that is when I said “that's what we were here for, to correct them when they have facts wrong and keep them in line”, my only line in the meeting. Not really the one I wanted to leave with, but oh well.
I guess that's what you earn when you wh*re-blog for a corrupt regime.That would be a comment at the Washington Post, by someone called phoebes1, inspired by someone named Dan Froomkin...Hope it was worth it, Ms Greyhawk. People are dying and getting maimed in part because of your work.
The Mrs couldn't stick around DC to watch the anti-war protests last weekend - she had to leave right after the meeting to make it home in time to help with the unit fund raiser. Via email:
Did get back very late, constant flight delays that caused missing other flights, wound up sitting on a plane for 3 hours on the tarmac. Was not pleasant. I also got to be one of the lucky random people pulled aside for a thorough body pat and baggage search. My 5'1 and 3/4" frame must have looked ominous to them ;-)I'm not certain, but I expect the funds raised will go towards the Christmas Party. Since most of their husbands will be in Iraq it shouldn't cost too much this year.Got home at 2:45am then got up at 4:30am to help out with unit fund raiser, which was successful. Haven't got total $ made yet, but I think we did well.
Speaking of thankless jobs, Bill...
Over at a blog called Sadly No, they really don't like you: "Bill Roggio at The Long Pig War Journal…well, let’s let Big Boy Jammies report it" - which they didn't.
At the Washington Post, Dan Froomkin really, really didn't like anyone...
Bush didn't have to go out of his way on Friday to endear himself to his guests, who had been screened for sycophancy.But then, he can't even avoid counting the total number of hours the President has spent in Iraq and then making fun of the bases where he spent them..And as their ensuing blog posts make clear, they lapped up even his most timeworn talking points and hoariest stories.
During his most recent trip, two weeks ago, Bush was on the ground for seven hours, never leaving the confines of a military base known as Camp Cupcake, a heavily fortified American outpost for 10,000 troops with a 13-mile perimeter.Actually that was al Asad Airbase in Anbar - good to know that one is so safe they call it Cupcake. Can't wait 'til my post is that sweet.
Froomkin inspired a host of Post readers (like the lovely and witty phoebes1) to go off the deep end - the editors, publisher, and fellow "journalists" must be proud.
If you want to really plumb the depths of the Toilets on the Left-Wing Information Sewer, try the comments at Think Progress.
At least the Columbia Journalism Review liked the Bills.
Now, bloggers aren’t New York Times reporters...Actually, none of the bloggers were carried away by the atmospherics - they simply noted said atmospherics as part of a full report. But those who would feed the ignorati simply chose not to cut and paste anything beyond that from the meeting. If any of them were to examine the actual questions those bloggers had for President Bush, they'd notice a theme...In case we needed a reminder, this is why the blogworld is not yet a viable substitute for actual journalism.
It should be noted that Bill Roggio and Bill Ardolino, two bloggers who joined by teleconference from Iraq, are conspicuous for the substantive reports they delivered of the meeting, and seem to be the only attendees who weren’t carried away by the atmospherics of the event.
“…With the current blurring of the lines between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the unwillingness of the American people to fight the current war, how do you get the American public to support the current and future conflicts?”In short, what matters to milbloggers is public support to the war they completely understand, and in which they are very much involved."Mr. President - you talk about and clearly believe in the "Long War" and that it's the President's job to see "over the horizon" and beyond the next Gallup Poll. How are you going to set the conditions so that your successor will continue the fight - regardless of who wins the election?"
"after watching the original 9-11 "Today Show" broadcast in real time and that the experience had left him, wondering whether his petition to the nation had been strong enough in terms of calling citizens to duty?
I can’t remember exactly what I asked the President because I was choking up having just mentioned my good friend SSG Stevon Booker who died in front of me in Iraq.The WaPo readers got a good chuckle out of that quote. But if you are far, far, removed from the reality of the war on terror - say, if you're a "columnist" or "blogger" interested only in the political gain you can get from a war (for instance, you use "conservative blogger" as interchangeable with "milblogger" in your report of a White House visit by an Iraq vet, the wife of a guy currently serving in Iraq, a citizen of Baghdad, four other veterans and one American civilian) you're not going to notice that these are people who are in the war. If you do notice that inconvenient truth, you'll recognize it as a distraction from your witty ad-hominems and avoid it like the plague. (Though the phoebes1's might not appreciate learning they'd been tricked into insulting spouses of deployed troops just so you could get your jollies.) Think it through a little farther and you might even come to realize that maybe, just maybe, a message was being sent regarding exactly where military people think someone could be doing a better job.
But since "have them read a few of the hundreds of milblogs that have been written from front-line troops in the war on terror" is one possible answer, you damn sure don't want that message to get out.
It would scare you shitless.
Next: Dry Skies and Thunder
It was surreal, to say the least, I think some of the others have used this description as well. We gathered in the Roosevelt room adjacent from the Oval office an hour before our meeting to be briefed, get video com set-up, checking mics, while at the same time, giving the “Baghdad Bills” a hard time on their choice of attire. T- shirts, baseball caps and unshaven. The President also chided them at the end of the meeting.
The anticipation of meeting the President was far more nerve wracking than actually meeting him. Matt joked before hand that he wasn’t sure if Mohammed would be able to go the whole meeting without a cigarette. I worried I’d have to excuse myself during the meeting to go to the ladies room after gulping down an extra large white chocolate mocha coffee from Starbucks. But after the President entered the room, worked his way around the table, shaking hands and sitting comfortably in his chair, we all immediately felt at ease. He thanked us for coming and acknowledged it was the "first time a president had met with bloggers at the White House". It was history in the making. This alone was awe-inspiring and I did have to concentrate hard to keep from having an idiotic grin on my face thru out the meeting, especially since we were all discussing serious issues.
Unfortunately, I did not get to say much since the President gave very long but thought provoking answers to the important questions given him, starting with the Baghdad Bills, and going around to a few others. We only had an hour, and there were 10 of us, and The President is a busy man. It didn't matter, really, it was an honor to be there and just being there was saying something.
Bill Roggio from A Long War Journal, currently embedded in Iraq, asked, “…With the current blurring of the lines between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the unwillingness of the American people to fight the current war, how do you get the American public to support the current and future conflicts?”
You can find his less condensed question and the President’s answer here.
Bill Ardolino from INCD Journal, currently embedded in Iraq, asked, “What influence or leverage is being applied with the national Iraqi government to ensure that such assistance is delivered to the province? And note that the desire for support is tempered by the local belief - incorrect or correct to whatever degree - that the central Iraqi government under Maliki is compromised by Iranian interests.”
You can find the Presidents response here.
BlackFive mentioned that he had an embed headed for the Philippines to join a Special Forces unit there, which evoked a surprised look from General Lute.
John of Castle Argghhh! asked "Mr. President - you talk about and clearly believe in the "Long War" and that it's the President's job to see "over the horizon" and beyond the next Gallup Poll. How are you going to set the conditions so that your successor will continue the fight - regardless of who wins the election?"
His wife, Beth, She who Must be Obeyed, was there at the Whitehouse too but the Whitehouse staff kept her busy with a personal tour of the Whitehouse during our meeting. She also got to say hello to Barney the First Dog. How cool is that?
CJ at A Soldier’s Perspective had made a comment regarding the troops but I just could not write fast enough and have a poor memory, so I’ll update this section later.
Update: Seems CJ could not remember his question either, but for good reason. Find out why here.
NZ Bear was able to comment on his efforts with the Stand By the Mission petition. He emphasized the success they have had and the way they've been able to do their part via the petition to push back against Move-On's libel against General Petraeus by giving Americans a way to express their support for the general and our troops, and the President of course welcomed the news.
Ward Caroll representing, Military.com and Defense Tech, then asked "after watching the original 9-11 "Today Show" broadcast in real time and that the experience had left him, wondering whether his petition to the nation had been strong enough in terms of calling citizens to duty?
The president paused for a moment and then replied that he believed the nation had responded. "Volunteerism is up nationwide," he said. "I'm headed to Quantico after this meeting to speak to a group of Marine second lieutenants, men and women who are joining the fight in spite of what they hear in the polls."
About that time the Chief-of-staff Josh Bolten poked his head in and the President asked, "Is the copter here?" Our signal that this meeting was quickly coming to an end.
Like myself, Steve Schippert with The Tank and Muhammed from Iraq the Model, did not get time to ask our questions. You can find Steve’s thoughts of the day here and if and Muhammed puts up a post I’ll up date this section as well.
I really did not have a question for the President anyway but wanted to comment that reading hundreds of milblogs every morning, that the troops are stating the same things that General Petraeus conveyed during his report and that I found it appalling how he was treated by congress and how he was accused of "cooking the books". That the troops see the progress and the reduction in violence in most areas and General Petraeus passed on their thoughts honestly. The president was adamant when he said, "I will do everything in my power to support the troops and their families” and I believe he means it.
He did express that he was very upset with the Move-On.org ad. If anyone should be attacked, it should be him, it is his policy, Petraeus was only giving the report they asked for. When he became President he knew what he was getting into, "I don't mind people attacking me . . . that's politics . . . but I do mind people impugning the integrity of our generals." He also said that he did not want to bash the media, that is when I said “that's what we were here for, to correct them when they have facts wrong and keep them in line”, my only line in the meeting. Not really the one I wanted to leave with, but oh well.
We were then escorted into the Oval office for individual photos. Cj was hoping to get one behind the desk, but no such luck. After photos, the President then exuberantly slapped Presidental coins in each of our hands. Here is where we got to personally meet and shake the hands of Tony Snow on his last day, his replacement Dana Perino and Stephen Hadley. Then President headed out to Marine one.
We stepped onto the Portico outside the Oval office and watched him step onto Marine One headed for Quantico. He turned and waved goodbye to us then to the press that was waiting on the Whitehouse lawn. A few reporters curiously glanced our way, which we found quite amusing, as I’m sure the President did.
After he left we were led into a hall where, we could use the restrooms, finally, goodbye to the extra large white chocolate mocha coffee. CJ reminded Vanessa our hostess, that when he used Saddam's toilet that it was solid gold and that they "may need to update" the Whitehouse toilets. It was duly noted.
My overall impression of the President is he is very intelligent, focused, engaging and genuine. He sincerely believes in the message of freedom and the necessity of this fight for victory because they “will follow us home otherwise”. He also truly believes the war is "winnable."
I wish it were Greyhawk that had been there, I think he could have added much more and he deserved it but I’m glad I got to go. Out of the mouth of littlest Greyhawk, "that must have been AAAAAAWESOME!" ...and it was.
UPDATE: The Washington Post did a story on us here.
It was an honor to be among the MilBloggers invited to speak with the President, for a hour, on the various issues of the war and letting us express our concerns. I find this difficult to put this experience into words and I hope with some catch up sleep they'll come to me. I finally arrived home at 2:45am (should have been 9:00pm) but spent much of my traveling sitting (4hrs) on the tarmac while storms passed. Then I had to get up at o' dark thirty to participate in a fund raiser for my husband's unit. Couldn't let down the Colonel's wife, she was counting on me. Needless to say I'm exhausted and need time to process everything.
For now read my friends that joined me:
BlackFive
John of Argghhh!
A Soldier's Perspective
Steve Shippert
Ward Carroll - Defense Tech
NZ Bear
Mohammed of Iraq the Model
And via VTC:
Bill Ardolino
Bill Roggio
White House staff present were:
President Bush
General Lute
Kevin Sullivan
Mark Pfeifler
Dana Perino
Tony Snow.
My best description for now is surreal. Details here.
A trip down memory lane - some of Greyhawk's favorite posts from two tours in Iraq.
September 23, 2004
On Leaving
Greyhawk
I awoke in the quiet watches with my youngest in my arms, wondering what I might say to her and her brother and sister and their mom and knowing I was done with sleeping for this night.
Here is why: Some must go to fight the Dragons. And if you think such things don't exist then it must be I read you the wrong sorts of stories when you were young.
If you ask only why I and not some other than I can tell you this;
Listen
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
The President of the United States said that when I was very young. Now some will tell you that such thinking is out of fashion these days and that the causes we turn our energies to are unjust. I can tell you only that I don't think so, and that I'm quite certain the dragons themselves would raise such concerns were we to give them voices.
This is for us all: Have faith, not fear. Trust God. Stand fast, be strong.
For me the time is here to leave precious things behind for just a while, and that cost is not too great to bear. After all, what things could be called precious if not worth any price?
For you it's simply time to be brave, as so many of your friends have. Think about this: Without bad there could be no good. Hard times pass. Be kind to one another in every possible way; lift the burdens that others bear and I think you'll find your burden's lighter too.
Worrying helps nothing, try not to do it. Don't feel bad when from time to time you do. And please do fun things and enjoy doing them - you owe me nothing more than that.
And never tell me anything's too hard.
Take pictures.
Write.
Smile.
See you soon.
(Postscript: "On Leaving" was made into a song by the band 3dB Down in 2005, and can also be found in the Book "The Blog of War")
September 28, 2004
The Eyes of the Undefeated
Greyhawk
The trees sag. I mentioned it to another guy in the truck on the way to the chow hall at another camp, he'd noticed it too.
"It's the heat" He said. "You'd sag too if you stood in that all day."
Droopy trees.
Did I say chow hall? Here's your Iraq Faq of the day (Iraqui Faque Du jour, as the French might say, were they here): It's a dining facility. DFAC, for short, pronounced DEEFAK. Now you too can pose.
I saw it first thing early this morning, headed for the shower tent and noted the droopy state of the trees. One of the first things I noticed in country was the number of trees. Not a lot, but more than expected. Then the droopiness of them.
They look defeated. Maybe they're a good metaphor for a war-torn land. They stand, but they look pathetic in some ways, beaten down. Like you could topple them if you leaned against them. But still they stand, so you respect that. In little oasis groves here and there through camp they stand, now with folding chairs arranged around their bases - the designated smoking areas.
No smoking in the tents of course.
And the tents themselves? Droopy. You need a bit of slack in your tent, it has to give a little, and it's fabric, after all. So it sags.
There you have it, camp saggy. Drooping tents and trees. Standing there for a moment taking it in on the way to the shower tent in the cool of the morning that name occurred to me: Camp Saggy, Iraq.
And hours later driving to lunch I find a couple other guys who noticed that saggy look too. Not everything slouches though, I'll get back to that in a minute.
Because it seems that more than a few pundits in America would have you believe otherwise. I'll summarize their main points here:
"Iraq is a failure, we're headed in the wrong direction, "ground truth" is different then what the current administration would have you believe, the troops are demoralized, it will be impossible to hold elections in Iraq as scheduled..."
On and on, ad nauseam. Now through the elections expect a 40-day relentless barrage of this sort of thing, from many quarters, and from some individuals who should know better. And (que the "insurgents") expect a different sort of barrage to result over here. Everyone I've spoken with does.
Small wonder if the troops that move among these drooping trees, that sleep within these sagging tents, that sweat beneath this burning sun, aren't beginning to droop a bit themselves. Those same pundits would certainly have you believe it's so.
But here's what I noticed in the DFAC today: young faces. Young determined faces. Not much older (but far wiser and much more mature) than the crowd at a high school lunch room. You can tell without asking what these guys think. They look you in the eye. And if you can stand to look back you'll see into the eyes of the undefeated. There is no quit here, no early out, no cut and run. These are young men with an ugly job, America's finest sent to do our worst and best, and they make me feel old and inspired all at the same time.
So here is the first impression of your fine young sons: They walk straight and tall with heads held high in this war-torn world, in this sagging land. I wish you who can only read of defeat trumpeted in your newspapers or on your TVs could have walked among them and seen this for yourselves.
I read where someone said George Bush and Dick Cheney are the only people in America who think Iraq is going well. That may be so, but I don't believe for a minute they think it's a picnic.
And I saw 300 young Americans in Iraq today who didn't look like quitters.
June 29, 2007
Fathers' Day
Greyhawk
Just finished reading Virtual Light, an early 90's sci-fi book by William Gibson. Gibson is credited with creating the "cyberpunk" sub-genre; I'd read his Neuromancer trilogy some time ago and enjoyed it.
Virtual Light is the first book of another trilogy, but I don't know if I'll bother with the rest. It's not bad, but the setting is the "near future" - and that future is now, or close enough to now that it becomes obvious that the future was not quite so bleak as full enjoyment of the story would require.
That of itself provides interest - but of a sort that wasn't the author's intent. I suppose there could be another sub-genre of science fiction: the bleak future that didn't happen. Watch almost any pre-Star Wars sci-fi films of the 70's - Silent Running, Soylent Green, Logan's Run, et al - and you'll see examples what I mean.
Of course, one can't consign such stories into that category ahead of time, right?
And anyhow, perhaps the authors were just off by a few years in timing. We still have a future in which any number of things can happen.
For instance, did you know the Earth was getting hotter?
*****
An autobiographical bit:
In 1967, Gibson went to Canada "to avoid the Vietnam war draft", appearing that year in a CBC newsreel item about hippie subculture in Yorkville, Toronto. He settled in Vancouver, British Columbia five years later and began to write science fiction. Although he retains U.S. citizenship, Gibson has spent most of his adult life in Canada, and still lives in the Vancouver area.
This reduces my enjoyment of his work not one bit. I read Virtual Light by flashlight over several nights, just before dropping off to sleep here in my tent in Iraq.
*****
I don't get enough sleep, though. Mostly that's due to long hours. But some days aren't so busy. One Sunday I almost went to bed early - it was Father's Day, in fact. I'd already read and replied to the emails from the kids who really aren't kids any more, and was about to log off and call it a day.
Then into my inbox popped a message from my brother in the states: I'd been invited to view an online album of photos from our niece's wedding.
The event had been planned for a year, at least, and even when I first heard of it I knew I couldn't go - knew I'd be in Iraq on that day.
*****
Our family scattered around the country, my parents' generation and my own. None are left in my hometown, and that wasn't my parents' hometown anyway. Since the third generation is now starting out on their own, we'll see if the trend continues.
"Where are you from?" I'm asked from time to time. If you're looking for a place that defines me, the answer is "I'm not sure."
But from time to time the family gathers, and this time the gathering wasn't far from the fictional setting of Virtual Light. Sometimes I'm there, this time I wasn't. But here was my chance to be there in a virtual sense, after the fact.
Who'd have thought such things were possible, just a few short years ago?
So I clicked the link in the email, and waited while 200+ thumbnails made their agonizingly slow appearance on my screen... Who are these old guys hanging out with the beautiful girls I've known for years? And who are these young adults who look so much like the kids who used to visit Grandma's? ... I'd have to click through for the full version for answers. Those loaded slowly, too.
So much for sleep. I wouldn't miss this for the world.
*****
I think I've already mentioned a memorial at headquarters. I saw a new face among the collection of photographs of the fallen the last time I passed by, as I do every time. This time, "... killed by indirect fire".
"Indirect fire" means rockets or mortars, launched in the general direction of camp. Most land in the middle of nothing, others don't. Here was one that didn't.
I did not know this person, who was on a base other than mine. But like all the faces, hers looked familiar. Like family.
Such is life on the FOB.
*****
The first picture I saw from the virtual wedding album was one of family at a table. My older brother, the father of the bride, was not among them. But on a shelf in the background, I saw his picture. A picture in a picture, small, visible only upon clicking the thumbnail for the larger image, and waiting and waiting for the pixels to make their way from California through the lens of a digital camera then through cyberspace to me in Iraq. Though his photograph in the background was small it was recognizable to me because it was a college yearbook photo, a copy of which hung proudly on a wall in my parents' home in my hometown, when it was there.
He was in college through the last few years of the Vietnam war. I can remember my being concerned he could be drafted. That was a possible future, but it didn't happen. Instead he graduated, got married, and got a job doing something with computers out in some place people started calling Silicon Valley...
Years later and years ago, I visited him at his home in California. I was returning from two years in Korea, on my way to an assignment near my hometown where one member of my family still lived. Our younger brother, who was getting married a few months later, to a girl who looked the same when I saw her in photos on Fathers' Day this year.
A couple years later the three of us got together in California. Good times.
On one of those visits out West he gave me some paperback books he'd finished reading. Among them, Virtual Light, by William Gibson. I can't recall if he'd given me his opinion of it - probably not.
But years later and a few months ago I was packing to come to Iraq, and grabbed a couple of books off my shelf for the trip. That was one of them.
And a couple months later and a couple weeks ago I clicked through pictures from my older brother's daughter's wedding, sent to me by my younger brother via cyberspace.
*****
No matter how many works of science fiction prove faulty at predicting a disastrous future, people will eagerly consume the next pronouncement of doom. There's a market for such things. There are people who thrive on imagining a future hell.
In the 70's it was nuclear war, overpopulation, pollution, and numerous other threats to all mankind that distracted our attention from that which was truly important. By the early 90's it was the economy, stupid, that was going to bring us down.
*****
Sacrifice: some of us miss family weddings and other big events, others die from indirect fire.
Others get to leave early:
Him: You've been stationed in Germany, right?
Me: Yes...
Him: Ever been to Landstuhl?
Me: Yes. Shit, you heading that way?
Him: Yes... doc says I've got a tumor.
He was worried about his future, he knew I'd been in Germany, and he needed my advice: "So, what's there to do over there?"
He's heading your way, MaryAnn. I told him to say hello for me.
*****
So, on my last trip out to California - unbelievable to me now it's been over ten years - I had a conversation with my older brother and his then teen-age daughter.
"She wants to ask you something". He said.
She was quite solemn, and quite serious.
"When the time comes and I get married, if Dad can't do it, would you walk me down the aisle?"
She wasn't just worrying needlessly about the future. Her father had cancer, and though he preferred to say he was "living with cancer", he was also dying from it.
Such things matter. Such things are non-trivial, and not to be taken lightly. I am the father of two daughters myself, and I know.
I told her I'd be honored.
*****
He died on Christmas Eve, 1996, and left a wife and two daughters. From her wedding pictures I saw in Iraq on Father's Day, 2007, the wedding held on the weekend that included his birthday, they are all quite beautiful, and he would be proud.
*****
May you sleep well tonight, wherever you are. Elsewhere rough men ride, and tomorrow will be a fine day indeed.
Tending Distant Fires
Greyhawk
Far from hearth and home, watching
Cold alone but not alone
On distant shore and only wanting
Safe return and little more
What tales we'll tell
When that time comes
When tales can be told
When things grim
Seem far away
When other fires go cold
Some distant sunset, vision fading
Memories remain
And tired eyes gaze 'pon folded flags
While distant drums beat their refrain
Saluting fallen friends whose names
And youth will never fade
Here's to those on other shores,
for them live well, the price is paid
- Christmas, 2004, Baghdad
(See also: "I am Going to Die Well")
May 24, 2007
The Free and the Brave
Greyhawk
After effects of the Toby Keith concert: Wrote this country music song while driving around in my humvee. Maybe later I'll work out the guitar part and record.
Over in America, home of the free
Land of unlimited opportunity
People in the streets protest whatever they can
While over in Iraq and Afghanistan
The brave, far from home, are standing tall
and toeing the line, so they can have it all
Some like to complicate it but it's simple to me
They're making noise and we're making history
Osama'd like to think that we can't get it done
And some would like to tell you it's time to cut and run
Me I like to finish something once I've begun
And I don't think I'm the only one
Here making history, hearing the noise
of things that divide, things that destroy
Things you'd never ever want to see on your street
Things you might call the price of defeat
So excuse me if I come home a little annoyed
if while I was making history you were making noise
We're making history
They're making noise
We're facing the fire
They're playing with toys
Nobody ever said
That it would be easy
They're making noise
While we're making history
- Greyhawk
Iraq, May 2007
And it ain't over, as they say.
New stuff to follow - every day.
Hope to see you back soon!
Am I the only one that gets a mental image of a group of people sitting around a table trying to reach Harry Houdini for advice on universal healthcare when reading that?
Or wonders if they need modern telecommunications systems to maintain their network?
Other than that, they aren't funny.
And by the way, Jim...
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) also participated in the conference call, telling activists that any military success in Iraq is "unworthy of the sacrifice of military families.".
"And Congressman Moran, 200 of your constituents just returned from Afghanistan. We never got a letter from you; we never got a visit from you. You didn't come to our homecoming. The only thing we got from any of our elected officials was one letter from the governor of this state thanking us for our service in Iraq, when we were in Afghanistan. That's reprehensible. I don't know who you two are talking to but the morale of the troops is very high."
Moran - who is one of the few congressmen supporting Charlie Rangel's call to restore the draft - responded quickly: "That wasn't in the form of a question, it was in the form of a statement. But, uhh... let's go over here." And he took the next question.
Or not.
Iraq Is Ratings Drag for Katie Couric
NEW YORK (AP) - If some people thought traveling to Iraq and Syria was a ratings stunt for Katie Couric, it didn't work out that way.I've heard that her reports were well done and well balanced. I haven't seen them - more by circumstance than choice. But at the time I read her earliest blog entries on the trip (of which I was extremely harsh in my own review ) I wondered if - having seen what she had in her first hours here, - she would depart as an advocate of the "troops home now" faith. (No one of good conscious who has been over here could leave as an advocate for abandoning the people of Iraq.)The "CBS Evening News" tied a record low with just under 5.5 million viewers last week, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Last week and Memorial Day week are the two least-watched CBS evening newscasts since at least 1987, and probably far earlier.
From what I've heard since, she did a very capable job. W. Thomas Smith had time to watch and review:
In a world where reporting war and providing frontline analysis is often slanted, skewed, and just plain wrong, Katie is doing it right. Not perfect to be sure: Iraq is simply too difficult, and military operations (both static and rolling) are usually far too complex for observing journalists to fully get their arms around. But either CBS’s producers on this project have real defense-sense, or Katie has made the decision to avoid any preconceptions she may have previously held about the war and instead report life as she sees it in the trenches.So, why no viewers? More specifically, why would Katie in Iraq (just days ahead of General Petraeus' key report) draw fewer viewers than Katie in America? (Hopefully this eliminates any Katie-bashing in the comments).
Here's what CBS says: "CBS said it wasn't surprising, and argued that last week's numbers were artificially deflated because of U.S. Open coverage." - But I'll offer an alternative. It's related to a point I made here before: no one reads deployed milbloggers. When you think about it, it's amazing - the story of the century, and folks are tuning out all over.
I have a few thoughts as to why this is so, but just thought I'd toss it out for open discussion first.
Is doing a special on Rick Rescorla. It's on NOW. Quick go watch it.
By that, I mean this:
If you see a senator or representative close to you, I encourage you look them up and ask them what they think about the MoveOn.org ad and what they’re going to do about the money they’ve received. Might I suggest that returning the funds to MoveOn would be an unsatisfactory response; the money would be better spent on something like the Wounded Warrior Project.The list is at the first link.
Not as many from 2006, compared to '04. Guess the cash isn't flowing in to MoveOn quite like in the old days. Good thing the Times gave them a huge discount on the ad.
From Baghdad, on September 11, 2007:
As I write it's 16:45 my time. In America it's Tuesday, September 11, 2007.
And it's 8:45. Six years ago that was the last minute of peace before the beginning of the war on terror.
Six years later, how many people know why Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States? It's not a difficult topic - he stated the reasons himself in his 1998 fatwa. Americans were in Saudi Arabia enforcing sanctions against Iraq. It's just that simple, boys and girls.
First, for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples.That last was a reference to Bill Clinton's February "almost attack" on Iraq. His actual attack didn't come until later in the year, after Congress passed the Iraq Liberation Act.If some people have in the past argued about the fact of the occupation, all the people of the Peninsula have now acknowledged it. The best proof of this is the Americans' continuing aggression against the Iraqi people using the Peninsula as a staging post, even though all its rulers are against their territories being used to that end, but they are helpless.
Second, despite the great devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people by the crusader-Zionist alliance, and despite the huge number of those killed, which has exceeded 1 million... despite all this, the Americans are once against trying to repeat the horrific massacres, as though they are not content with the protracted blockade imposed after the ferocious war or the fragmentation and devastation.
But back to Osama, whose bold moves earned him earned him high praise in '98 from ABC TV's John Miller: "In America, we have a figure from history from 1897 named Teddy Roosevelt. He was a wealthy man, who grew up in a privileged situation and who fought on the front lines. He put together his own men - hand chose them - and went to battle. You are like the Middle East version of Teddy Roosevelt."
Osama was also convinced he could win because Americans couldn't sustain a battle.
There's a beautiful blue sky over Baghdad today.
Ramadan begins soon, too. Once the new moon appears in the sky...
September 11, 2008:
I missed the anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq this year:
August 7, 1990: US troops arrive in Saudi Arabia, launching Operation Desert Shield. Two naval battle groups, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Independence, are also in the area by August 8.So shame on me.Osama bin Laden is outraged by the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, considered the cradle of Islam, and begins to write treatises against the Saudi regime.
Sure, I could claim it started on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, but what the heck - let's blame America first. Osama bin Laden certainly did.
And if you're like me, this date is seared, seared in your memory:
February 24, 1991: The ground portion of the war in Iraq begins. On February 26 Iraqi troops began retreating from Kuwait, setting fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they flee. One hundred hours after the ground campaign started, President Bush declared a ceasefire; Kuwait had been liberated.And the world rejoiced. Within weeks Americans saw the Troops Come Home. Me? I had a similar feeling to the one I had in 2003 when I saw the small crowd gather in Firdos Square: This is not over.
Most Americans probably never knew the troops never really did come home from Iraq. (Who can blame them? There were parades on the TeeVee, fer chrissake.) From 1990 on, Americans remained in Saudi Arabia "enforcing the sanctions" and every once in a while making something in Iraq go "boom". In America, throughout the first decade of the war in Iraq the only thing that really went "boom" was the economy (except in '93 the World Trade Center...
Agents and bomb technicians of the ATF, FBI, and the NYPD Bomb Squad responded to the scene of the blast. An ATF bomb technician subsequently located a vehicle identification number on an axle found at the seat of the blast and believed it belonged to the vehicle that delivered the bomb. Identifying the vehicle led law enforcement officers to the Ryder truck rental where the vehicle had been rented by Mohammad Salameh, one of Yousef's co-conspirators....but they got the guys who did that. Of, then a building in Oklahoma that got everyone worried for a few hours about Muslim terrorists - but it turned out to be a stupid white guy).On March 4, 1993 authorities announced the capture of Salameh. The same day, Salameh's arrest led police to the apartment of Abdul Rahman Yasin in Jersey City, New Jersey, which Yasin was sharing with his mother, in the same building as Ramzi Yousef's apartment. Yasin was taken to FBI headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, and was then released. The next day, he flew back to Iraq, via Amman, Jordan.
By September 11, 2001 - over ten years after the start of the war in Iraq - it was at last obvious that the only choices for leaving Saudi would be through Baghdad or straight home.
Sing along...
(First verse here)
2007: "People of America: the world is following your news in regards to your invasion of Iraq, for people have recently come to know that after several years of the tragedies of this war the vast majority of you want it stopped. <...> It would benefit you to listen to the poignant messages of your soldiers in Iraq, who are paying -- with their blood, nerves and scattered limbs -- the price for these sorts of irresponsible statements. Among them is the eloquent message of Joshua which he sent by way of the media, in which he wipes the tears from his eyes and describes American politicians in harsh terms and invites them to join him there for a few days. Perhaps the message will find in you an attentive ear so you can rescue him and more than 150,000 of your sons there who are tasting the two bitterest things:If they leave their barracks, the mines devour them, and if they refuse to leave, rulings are passed against them. Thus the only options left in front of them are to commit suicide or cry, both of which are from the severest of afflictions. So is there anything more men can do after crying and killing themselves to make you respond to them? They are doing that out of the severity of humiliation, fear, and terror which they are suffering.
1998: Osama bin Laden: After our victory in Afghanistan and the defeat of the oppressors who had killed millions of Muslims, the legend about the invincibility of the superpowers vanished. Our boys no longer viewed America as a superpower. So, when they left Afghanistan, they went to Somalia and prepared themselves carefully for a long war. They had thought that the Americans were like the Russians, so they trained and prepared. They were stunned when they discovered how low was the morale of the American soldier. America had entered with 30,000 soldiers in addition to thousands of soldiers from different countries in the world. ... As I said, our boys were shocked by the low morale of the American soldier and they realized that the American soldier was just a paper tiger. He was unable to endure the strikes that were dealt to his army, so he fled, and America had to stop all its bragging and all that noise it was making in the press after the Gulf War in which it destroyed the infrastructure and the milk and dairy industry that was vital for the infants and the children and the civilians and blew up dams which were necessary for the crops people grew to feed their families. Proud of this destruction, America assumed the titles of world leader and master of the new world order. After a few blows, it forgot all about those titles and rushed out of Somalia in shame and disgrace, dragging the bodies of its soldiers. America stopped calling itself world leader and master of the new world order, and its politicians realized that those titles were too big for them and that they were unworthy of them. I was in Sudan when this happened. I was very happy to learn of that great defeat that America suffered, so was every Muslim.
August, 1996: Al Quds Al Arabi, a London-based newspaper, publishes a Fatwa by Osama bin Laden. Its title "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places" is a reference to Saudi Arabia, where US troops have been stationed since the Persian Gulf cease fire, enforcing the "no-fly zone" and other sanctions on Iraq.Excerpt:
Today your brothers and sons, the sons of the two Holy Places, have started their Jihad ...Few days ago the news agencies had reported that the Defence Secretary of the Crusading Americans had said that "the explosion at Riyadh and Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not to withdraw when attacked by coward terrorists". We say to the Defence Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! and shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place on 1983 AD (1403 A.H). You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly marines solders were killed. And where was this courage of yours when two explosions made you to leave Aden in lees than twenty four hours!
But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order- you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu.
Aug, 2007:House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told CNN in an interview Thursday that the surge in Iraq "has not accomplished its goal"Jun, 2007: Top US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that his Iraq troop "surge" policy was a failure.Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.
"As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.
April, 2007: Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said yesterday that the Bush administration's "surge" strategy in Iraq is doomed to fail and criticized Gen. David H. Petraeus for offering what he called an overly optimistic assessment of the situation on the ground.February, 2007: Al-Qaeda's deputy leader has described the US plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq as a gamble that is bound to fail.In an audio tape posted on the internet on Tuesday, Ayman al-Zawahiri also criticised the Democratic Party for not changing US policies.
<...>
He said: "The people chose you [Democrats] due to your opposition to Bush's policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss, and it appears that you will take part with him in the defeat."
<...>
He also said that “the people cooperating with the United States in Afghanistan and in Iraq would be abandoned by the Americans once they fail, the same way they did in Vietnam.”
I told the Iraqi commander, Captain Baker, that it was important that Americans see this; he took me around the graves and showed more than I wanted to see. He said the people had been murdered by al Qaeda. I made video of him speaking, and of the horrible scene. The heat and stench were crushingly oppressive and broken only by the sounds of shovels as Iraqi soldiers kept digging.This photo was taken just near the disinterred graves of Iraqi civilians murdered by al Qaeda. As this photo was made, Captain Baker’s soldiers were still digging out the bodies nearby. The stench from the graves was horrific. The children had been decapitated. The term “al Qaeda” is used here, because Iraqi police, soldiers and civilians said al Qaeda had taken the village of al Hamira and done this. Most of al Qaeda in Iraq consists of Iraqis, not foreigners. Even the animals had been “murdered.” I saw these things with my own eyes, recorded them with my video and still cameras, and provided the map coordinates and names of American and Iraqi officials. Media ignored this massacre until pressure mounted from home to report it.
General Petraeus to the men and women of Multi-National Force-Iraq, September, 2007:Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:
We are now over two-and-a-half months into the surge of offensive operations made possible by the surge of forces, and I want to share with you my view of how I think we're doing. This letter is a bit longer than previous ones, since I feel you deserve a detailed description of what I believe we have — and have not — accomplished, as Ambassador Crocker and I finalize the assessment we will provide shortly to Congress.
Up front, my sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas of Iraq. The result has been progress in the security arena, although it has, as you know, been uneven. Additionally, as you all appreciate very well, innumerable tasks remain and much hard work lies ahead. We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field.
We face a situation that is exceedingly complex. Al Qaeda, associated insurgent groups, and militia extremists, some supported by Iran, continue to carry out attacks on us, our Iraqi partners, and the Iraqi civilians we seek to secure. We have to contend with the relentless pace of operations, the crushing heat, and the emotions that we all experience during long deployments and tough combat. And we operate against a backdrop of limited Iraqi governmental capacity, institutions trying to rebuild, and various forms of corruption. All of this takes place in a climate of distrust and fear that stems from the sectarian violence that did so much damage to the fabric of Iraqi society in 2006 and into 2007, not to mention the decades of repression under Saddam's brutal regime. Tragically, sectarian violence continues to cause death and displacement in Baghdad and elsewhere, albeit at considerably reduced levels of 8 months ago, due, in large part, to your hard work and sacrifice together with our Iraqi counterparts.
In spite of these challenges, our operations — particularly the offensive operations we have conducted since mid-June — have helped produce progress in many areas on the ground. In fact, the number of attacks across the country has declined in 8 of the past 11 weeks, reaching during the last week in August a level not seen since June 2006. This trend is not just a result of greater numbers of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces; it also reflects your determination, courage, and skill in conducting counterinsurgency operations. By taking the fight to the enemy, you have killed or captured dozens of leaders and thousands of members of Al Qaeda-Iraq and extremist militia elements, you have taken many of Al Qaeda's former sanctuaries away from them, and you have dismantled a number of their car bomb and improvised explosive device networks. By living among the population with our Iraqi partners, you have been holding the areas you have cleared. By helping Iraqis reestablish basic services and local governance, you have helped exploit the security gains. And by partnering closely with Iraqi Security Forces, you have been strengthening Iraqi elements that will one day have sole responsibility for protecting their population. Indeed, while Iraqi forces clearly remain a work in progress, Iraqi soldiers and police are very much in the fight, and they continue to sustain losses that are two to three times our losses.
<...>
As I noted at the outset of this letter, over the next few days, Ambassador Crocker and I will share with the U.S. Congress and the American people our assessment of the situation in Iraq. I will also describe the recommendations I have provided to my chain of command. I will go before Congress conscious of the strain on our forces, the sacrifices that you and your families are making, the gains we have made in Iraq, the challenges that remain, and the importance of building on what we and our Iraqi counterparts have fought so hard to achieve.Thanks once again for what each of you continues to do. Our Nations have asked much of you and your families. It remains the greatest of honors to serve with you.
Sincerely,
David H. Petraeus
General, United States Army
Commanding
Update - 2008: When I got home from Iraq, I recorded this song and made the video for which this post served as a "storyboard".
Ahem...
In the July 16 report, two soldiers with the 2nd Infantry division, Corporal Joshua Lake and Specialist Michael Vassell, spoke candidly about their experiences in Iraq.That position has been noted:"We got grenades going off. We've got an IED blowing up your vehicle. And then you're expected to go back in those four to six, four to five hours and get, and relax to come back out and do another six hours," Lake said. "You don't have time, you just don't have time to do it."
"Because we have people up there in Congress with the brain of a 2-year-old who don't know what they're doing. They don't experience it," Vassell said. "I, I challenge the President or whoever has us here for 15 months to ride along, alongside me. I'll do another 15 months if he comes out here and rides along with me every day for 15 months. I'll do 15 more months. No, I - they don't even have to pay me extra."
It would benefit you to listen to the poignant messages of your soldiers in Iraq, who are paying -- with their blood, nerves and scattered limbs -- the price for these sorts of irresponsible statements. Among them is the eloquent message of Joshua which he sent by way of the media, in which he wipes the tears from his eyes and describes American politicians in harsh terms and invites them to join him there for a few days. Perhaps the message will find in you an attentive ear so you can rescue him and more than 150,000 of your sons there who are tasting the two bitterest things:So who said it? Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Jon Soltz?If they leave their barracks, the mines devour them, and if they refuse to leave, rulings are passed against them. Thus the only options left in front of them are to commit suicide or cry, both of which are from the severest of afflictions. So is there anything more men can do after crying and killing themselves to make you respond to them? They are doing that out of the severity of humiliation, fear, and terror which they are suffering.
Nope, Osama bin Laden.
Sucks to be you, Joshua.
Update: Clarification from Newsbusters: "Specialist Michael Vassell, not Corporal Joshua Lake, made the comment cited by bin Laden." Still sucks to be Joshua. In fact, it sucks even worse - one of America's greatest enemies in history quotes his pal and pins it on him.
Spc Vassell is African-American, which helps explain the remainder of bin Laden's comments regarding service in Iraq:
It is severer than what the slaves used to suffer at your hands centuries ago, and it is as if some of them have gone from one slavery to another slavery more severe and harmful, even if it be in the fancy dress of the Defense Department's financial enticements.Osama's inspiration for that bit was Charlie Rangell (D-NY):
[Rangell] called the war “morally wrong” and said “it goes even beyond the brutality of slavery and the lynchings.”
Seriously, a copy of this one needs to go to every GI in Iraq.
By the way, Osama's been pretty consistent over the years.
1996:
Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place on 1983 AD (1403 A.H). You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly marines solders were killed. And where was this courage of yours when two explosions made you to leave Aden in lees than twenty four hours!1998:But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order- you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu...
John Miller, ABC: Describe the situation when your men took down the American forces in Somalia.Osama bin Laden: After our victory in Afghanistan and the defeat of the oppressors who had killed millions of Muslims, the legend about the invincibility of the superpowers vanished. Our boys no longer viewed America as a superpower. So, when they left Afghanistan, they went to Somalia and prepared themselves carefully for a long war. They had thought that the Americans were like the Russians, so they trained and prepared. They were stunned when they discovered how low was the morale of the American soldier. America had entered with 30,000 soldiers in addition to thousands of soldiers from different countries in the world. ... As I said, our boys were shocked by the low morale of the American soldier and they realized that the American soldier was just a paper tiger. He was unable to endure the strikes that were dealt to his army, so he fled, and America had to stop all its bragging and all that noise it was making in the press after the Gulf War in which it destroyed the infrastructure and the milk and dairy industry that was vital for the infants and the children and the civilians and blew up dams which were necessary for the crops people grew to feed their families. Proud of this destruction, America assumed the titles of world leader and master of the new world order. After a few blows, it forgot all about those titles and rushed out of Somalia in shame and disgrace, dragging the bodies of its soldiers. America stopped calling itself world leader and master of the new world order, and its politicians realized that those titles were too big for them and that they were unworthy of them. I was in Sudan when this happened. I was very happy to learn of that great defeat that America suffered, so was every Muslim. ...
Need someone with ULTIMATE MORAL AUTHORITY to declare that American troops in Iraq are thugs committing heinous atrocities against the civilians?
With extraordinary honesty, these veterans — medics, MPs, artillerymen, snipers, officers and others — revealed disturbing patterns of behavior by American troops: innocents terrorized during midnight raids, civilian cars fired on when they got too close to supply convoys and troops opening up on vehicles that zip past poorly marked checkpoints, only to discover that they'd shot a 3-year-old or an elderly man. The campaign against a mostly invisible enemy, many veterans said, has given rise to a culture of fear and even hatred among U.S. forces, many of whom, losing ground and beleaguered, have, in effect, declared war on all Iraqis.Need someone to act as a uniformed "honor guard" in a mock-ceremony "honoring" the troops who are actually just innocent victims of the capitalist war-monger invasion of Iraq?
Well, power to the people, right on! - the IVAW is there for you, too, man!
Meanwhile, a motley crew of antiwar groups, including Iraq Veterans Against The War, CODEPINK, ANSWER, and MoveOn.org, are organizing a week of demonstrations in Washington beginning September 15. The "mobilization" will be kicked off with a "Die-In," sponsored primarily by ANSWER and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)... "The die-in will be led by an Honor Guard of Iraq Veterans Against the War who will simulate a 21-Gun Salute before taps is played to initiate the die-in."
Need some guys to lend much-needed credence to your protest of wounded troops at Walter Reed? Dial 1-800-IVAW, baby!
Bruhns spent several Friday nights outside the main gate to Walter Reed in 2005 with the terrorist supporting Marxist front group Code Pink after the group became notorious for taunting wounded soldiers with signs like "Maimed for a Lie" and "Enlist Here and Die for Halliburton."Need some veterans to show up and publically praise your "courage" for advocating surrender in the war on terror?Bruhns is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. IVAW called our soldiers in Iraq war criminals in testimony before the World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul, Turkey in 2005. The tribunal endorsed the terrorists in Iraq and their killing of American soldiers.
Bruhns is currently featured in a pro-surrender ad by Votevets.org that was directed by Oliver Stone.
The IVAW will be there for you!
A long time anti-war activist and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) member Reppenhagen - although he hails from Manitou Springs, Colorado, is often called upon to make appearances posing as an audience member during John "Jack" Murtha speeches and appearances. Following Murtha's declarations, "audience members" will be invited to address the congressman. Reppenhagen will be one of the first, announce his status as a veteran of Iraq, and praise Murtha for his courage.As long as you're willing to take a big ol' shit on the efforts of American troops, the IVAW will be there to wipe your ass and call it roses!...Another such planted soldier at that meeting was "Sgt. John Bruhns, 29, of Philadelphia" - who, in an amazing coincidence, also appears in the Nation's article, revealing the terrors of house raids:
As the Alpha Company team leader, Sergeant Bruhns was supposed to be the first person in the door. Skeptical, he refused. "So I said, 'If you're so confident that there are a bunch of Syrian terrorists, insurgents...in there, why in the world are you going to send me and three guys in the front door, because chances are I'm not going to be able to squeeze the trigger before I get shot.'"So...
As Sergeant Bruhns ran security out front, his fellow soldiers smashed the windows and kicked down the doors
(Note: some reimbursement for travel expenses may be required depending on recent donor generosity; consult your local precinct committee chair for scheduling.)
On mid summer nights in Baghdad it stays hot even after the sun sets, as the breeze dies and a day's worth of heat radiates out from the rocks and the pavement and the concrete walls - the garden of stones in which we live in Iraq. But mid-summer is past, and though the hottest part of the day is still hot the duration is diminished, and the moment when the outside feels bearable comes earlier in the night. Pausing for a moment outside tonight I felt a warm desert breeze that didn't induce a sweat - the temperature had fallen to a mere 99 degrees, and it was only 10:30 PM.
There are new faces in the DFAC these days. Tents that were empty are now full. Lines that were long are now longer. There are new faces in the mirrors above the communal sinks. But for every new face there's one about to depart.
You can spot the new guys from a ways away. Their uniforms are a slightly newer shade. Get a little closer and other details become clear. Sharper edges. Bare right sleeves (the combat patch is earned almost immediately, but rarely issued before 30 days in.) But there's something else they've got - a way they move through the crowds. They haven't yet blended into the background, they stand out, they swagger, they exude confidence and pride, because yea verily they are the baddest sunsabitches in the valley. They are ready to get down to business.
They are here to win.
A few reports of what the old crew has been up to in Iraq over the past week - none of which will be in your newspaper:
Six terrorists killed, 25 suspects detained, al-Qaeda network disrupted
Golden Dragons detain five suspected insurgents
MND-B Apache crews engage RPG firers
2nd IA Soldiers capture confessed ‘key AQI financier’ in Nineveh
Al-Qaeda leader killed, 18 suspected terrorists detained
Troops detain 16 suspected Shia extremists
16 suspected car-bomb cell members captured during Operation Nijmegen III
VBIED emplacer caught in the act, previous attack video found
Iraqi Army, U.S. Special Forces detain extremist death-squad member
Kadamiyah car bomb kills 5 civilians, injures 15
Coalition Forces destroy explosives, kill two terrorists, detain 10 suspects
Coalition forces kill one, detain two in search for smugglers of Iranian weapons
Iraqi Army, U.S. Special Forces dismantle al Qaeda in Iraq cell, detain 46
Iraqi Army, U.S. Special Forces detain AQI leaders near Kirkuk
Operation Gecko: Concerned citizens lead Coalition Forces to cache, destroy militia safehouse
MND-C Apache crews destroy al-Qaeda safehouse
Operation Hit and Run results in eight detained
Iraqi Army stops car bomber from attacking bridge north
Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain militant extremist leader, ten others
Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces kill one insurgent, detain 17 others during Jazirah Desert patrol
Stryker Soldiers capture three suspected AQI terrorists
Coalition forces disrupt al-Qaeda network, detain five suspects
Iraqi Security, Coalition Forces detain 16 suspected terrorists
Citizens turn in weapons cache to Wolverines
Iraqi Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain 36, destroy three large weapons caches
Seven detained in raid southeast of Baghdad
Coalition Forces liberate nine Iraqis, kill eight terrorists
14 terrorists killed, 6 suspects detained near Muqdadiyah
Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition detains 16 suspected extremists
Transfer of Diyala security headquarters marks milestone
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“And let me be clear, the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda said to these tribes we have to fight al Qaeda ourselves. It wasn’t that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords took peace here, created a temporary peace here.” - Sen Chuck Schumer, September, 2007
AR RAMADI, Iraq November 26, 2006(That's just the first verse. The second is here.)Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the Abu Soda tribe in Sofia Nov. 25. In response, Coalition Forces provided support to the Abu Soda’s fight against Al Qaeda.
“The American’s have come to the aide of the Abu Soda tribe. They have understood the dire situation [that the Abu Soda are currently battling the Al Qaeda], because [the Americans] see it as a fight against a common enemy,” said Sheikh Ahmed, Sheikh of Abu Resha.
After establishing positive identification, Coalition Forces conducted air strikes and fired artillery at Al Qaeda forces attacking the Abu Soda Tribe.
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The Abu Soda and Abu Mahal are both members of the Sahawat Al Anbar (Awakening Council) started by Sheikh Sittar of the Abu Resha tribe.
