Today will always have special significance for me. Last year on this day, I was still checking my fingers and toes to make sure they were all there after being hit by an IED.
Now, let me say right off the bat that it wasn't really bad. I'm not a hero, nor am I wearing a Purple Heart. But the experience was still life changing.
July 31st, 2006 was the first day of a routine 3 day mission for my platoon. Four trucks from 3rd platoon, plus a radio jammer truck, would scout ahead of the rest of our company from Al Asad to Trebil, Jordan, and back. We had been doing this for three full months, and were starting to do reasonably well.
My truck, an M-1117 ASV, or armored security vehicle, was in the lead. An ASV is like a mini-tank, with lots of armor and a turret mounted machine gun and grenade launcher. We had been told in training that it would hold up to a good sized IED, but we hadn't actually seen one get hit yet. Our job, as we moved along a four lane divided highway, was to look for IED's or components along the sides of the road. We cleared the route ahead of the 150 or so tanker trucks that we were escorting, so that they could travel at top speed.
We were going about 35mph, which is too fast to see stuff on the road in time to stop. Our main job as the lead truck was to call out anything suspicious and let the other trucks slow down and look at them. As we crested a hill about 2 hours from the town of Rutbah, I saw a tire hanging on a fencepost, about 25 yards off the road. This was highly suspicious for us, as the terrorists used highly visible objects as 'aiming stakes'. Essentially, the idea was to put an aiming stake in line with the IED and the triggerman, so that they could better hit a moving target.
As I saw the tire, I toggled my radio to call for the next truck to slow down, and I was just looking at the side of the road near the tire when the IED exploded. All that I really saw was a flash of light, and we felt the shrapnel hitting the side of the truck. Training took over, and I yelled at my driver to hit the gas and clear the area, in case there was more to come. There wasn't, and we couldn't go far anyways, as the two tires on my side were thoroughly shredded. I called over the radio that were hit by an IED, which was actually redundant since all the other trucks had a great view of the blast, and asked my guys if they were hurt.
PFC Percival, who was riding in the back seat after his truck had broken down, was screaming that his leg was hit. After realizing that I was ok, that was the worst moment, thinking that one of my guys was wounded. We slowly stopped the truck, and the gunner, SPC Kirkpatrick, moved back to help Percival. As best as we can tell, the pain in Percival's leg was caused by the shock wave hitting the hull, which his leg was sitting against. If you think of those little perpetual motion balls that people have on their desks, you can imagine the force of the IED blast moving through the armor of the truck. We were told later that the IED was 4-130mm mortar rounds, which makes it a medium-large sized IED for our area. The guys behind us described the fireball as about the size of a house.
As my heart rate dipped below 200, we double checked everyone in the truck, since shock can cause you to not realize you are hit. The other trucks with us surrounded us for security, and the LT started to organize a search for the triggerman. I got out of the truck and talked with my boss, SFC Price. He looked me over to make sure I was ok, as I had done with my guys, and then we took a look at the ASV. It was pitted with shrapnel damage, including one big chunk on the turret. The tires were peppered with small and large holes. But that was it.
As the medic looked over Percival to make sure he was okay, he also took a look at me because I had a pounding headache (possibly stress induced!). The next day, my guys and I stayed on base as our truck was getting looked at. All they ended up having to do was replace the tires. But I had a problem.
My headache had generated a treatment report by the medic, which was in turn forwarded up the chain of command. We had been briefed before the deployment that the Army would notify your family if you were dead or wounded. Our wives were told that a phone call meant it wasn't bad, but a knock on the door was. I had heard of guy's families being officially notified by the Army just for being seen by a medic, even if they weren't hurt. So I worried that my wife would get a phone call saying I had been hit by an IED even though I wasn't really hurt. I tried to use a phone on base, but they weren't working. So the news that she had been hoping not to hear had to come over email instead. Here's what I sent-
Sorry I can't get to a phone for this, but I want you to hear from me before the Army calls. We got hit by an IED yesterday. I AM FINE!!! My guys and I are all fine. I wont be able to get to a phone until we get back tomorrow, but I will call as soon as I can so you can hear my voice and know that I am alright. I came away with a fair sized headache, but that is it. The medic looked me over, which is why you might get a call from someone with the Guard office. I am fine! The new truck I have been bragging about did the job. It caught all the blast and stopped it cold. Nothing got in the truck. We have to change out two of the tires and it will be ready to drive again tonight. I did get a nifty souvenier though, a nice chun of shrapnel from the tire. I was thinking of wearing it on a chain around my neck, or would that be too much of a cliche? Seriously, though, I am fine, and I will still be home in less than a month for leave. I love you and I will call as soon as I can. Dave
Just like it happens in the movies, telling someone not to panic usually causes more panic. My wife told me that several strong adult beverages were consumed after getting my email, and she didn't sleep until she heard my voice a day later.
In retrospect, I count myself as lucky. Lucky to have been assigned to an armored vehicle, lucky that my driver didn't panic and roll the truck, and lucky to be able to say I took an IED blast in Iraq and walked away from it. And lucky to be sitting in a hotel room a year later, with my kids and wife sleeping, as I imbibe some adult beverages myself and write this post.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Good news from Iraq
Today's Stars and Stripes has a story about the Marines from Camp Korean Village looking for oil pirates around Rutbah.
A year ago, Rutbah was our biggest hotspot. The closer you got to the city, the more likely it was to find ied's. Now, with the huge shift in local support in Anbar for the Coalition, the Marines are looking for ordinary criminals, instead of insurgents.
This is the sort of progress that will be thrown in the crapper if we pull out of Iraq suddenly.
A year ago, Rutbah was our biggest hotspot. The closer you got to the city, the more likely it was to find ied's. Now, with the huge shift in local support in Anbar for the Coalition, the Marines are looking for ordinary criminals, instead of insurgents.
This is the sort of progress that will be thrown in the crapper if we pull out of Iraq suddenly.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Good news from Iraq...
...doesn't come any more well put than Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette. Reprinted in it's entirety (I hope this isn't a violation of blogger rules) because it is impressive to see what you will never read in the main stream media.
July 24, 2007
A day's Work
Greyhawk
While you were sleeping, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were busy:
Monday, 23 July 2007 Three Iraqis freed, their captors detained
Monday, 23 July 2007 Iraqis take lead in island clearing operation
Monday, 23 July 2007 Allons Soldiers render medical aid to Iraqis after VBIED blast
Monday, 23 July 2007 Truck Bomb destroyed during Marne Avalanche
Monday, 23 July 2007 12 al-Qaeda terrorist facilitators captured
Monday, 23 July 2007 Coalition Forces kill 9 terrorists, detain 8 and destroy weapons caches
Monday, 23 July 2007 Warlords find EFP cache
Monday, 23 July 2007 Combined operation nets cache find in Jamia
Monday, 23 July 2007 Suicide car bombers miss target, kill 3 civilians, wound 13 others
Monday, 23 July 2007 Soldiers search for missing comrades leads to discovery of weapons caches
Monday, 23 July 2007 Task Force Marne Soldier died of wounds
Monday, 23 July 2007 Soldiers attacked during combat logistics patrol
Monday, 23 July 2007 IA Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain al-Qaida Terrorists linked to U.S. casualties
Monday, 23 July 2007 Search nets seven terrorist suspects in Bulayj
Monday, 23 July 2007 IA, U.S. Special Forces detain alleged terrorist finance chief in Ninewa Province
Monday, 23 July 2007 ISF, U.S. Special Forces detain five suspected extremists
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Insurgents target ambulance
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces detain suspected Al Qaeda cell leader near Taji
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Coalition Forces Detain Two Suspected Weapons Smugglers
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Coalition Forces kill one terrorist, detain 14 suspects
Not a bad day's work from hard working soldiers. (And there are more stories here. And there are even more stories that aren't - stories that time and security considerations won't allow.
Then, while they were sleeping:
Haditha Marine Father has a Conversation with John Murtha
Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice.
On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had a courteous conversation. I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Mr. Murtha avoided answering the hard questions and I was unable to press him for the answers. I wanted the conversation to remain amicable and decided to let him speak and avoid a heated confrontation.
At no time during the dialogue would Mr. Murtha acknowledge the impending exoneration of my son. <...>Mr Murtha believes combat operations in Iraq have put an enormous strain on our Armed Forces. The stress of combat situations has led our troops to kill innocent civilians. I pointed out to Mr. Murtha, “Our Haditha Marines are innocent until proven guilty.” It seems he is again denying our Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. <...>I questioned Congressman Murtha as to his statements of 17 May 2006. On national television, in front of millions of Americans, he stated “Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” I asked him why he denied these Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Again the Congressman used his experience to side step the answer. Mr. Murtha stated his intentions were to point out the stress our military was under in Iraq. He replied we would not win the hearts of the Iraqi people by killing women and children. I again snapped, “Our Haditha Marines have not been convicted of killing innocents and are innocent until proven guilty.”
Daily Kos:
But do I still support the individual men and women who have given so much to serve their country?
No. I think they’re a bunch of idiots. I also think they’re morally retarded. Because they sign a contract that says they will kill whoever you tell me to kill. And that is morally retarded.The New Republic:
We were already halfway through our meals when she arrived. After a minute or two of eating in silence, one of my friends stabbed his spoon violently into his pile of mashed potatoes and left it there.“Man, I can’t eat like this,” he said.“Like what?” I said. “Chow hall food getting to you?”“No—with that fucking freak behind us!” he exclaimed, loud enough for not only her to hear us, but everyone at the surrounding tables. I looked over at the woman, and she was intently staring into each forkful of food before it entered her half-melted mouth.“Are you kidding? I think she’s fucking hot!” I blurted out.“What?” said my friend, half-smiling.“Yeah man,” I continued. “I love chicks that have been intimate—with IEDs. It really turns me on—melted skin, missing limbs, plastic noses . . . .”“You’re crazy, man!” my friend said, doubling over with laughter. I took it as my cue to continue.“In fact, I was thinking of getting some girls together and doing a photo shoot. Maybe for a calendar? ‘IED Babes.’ We could have them pose in thongs and bikinis on top of the hoods of their blown-up vehicles.”My friend was practically falling out of his chair laughing. The disfigured woman slammed her cup down and ran out of the chow hall, her half-finished tray of food nearly falling to the ground.
Daily Kos:
According to the July 30, 2007 issue of The Nation magazine, damning photos of a U.S. Soldier using a spoon to literally scoop out the brains of a dead Iraqi and pretending to eat the gray matter were recently acquired.
Of course, everyone is appropriately appalled and make all claims of disgust and finger-wagging. Research shows, however, that such unacceptable behavior happens more often than the United States military wants you to know.
When it comes to training killing machines, the military really does create “an Army of one.”
The list of serial killers and mass murderers borne from the military is astounding.
(Notice Michelle Malkin's screen capture - a disclaimer paragraph that wasn't in the original piece appears by magic in the text...)
And here's the referenced story from The Nation:
Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States in an effort to investigate the effects of the four-year-old occupation on average Iraqi civilians. These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts. <...>This Nation investigation marks the first time so many on-the-record, named eyewitnesses from within the US military have been assembled in one place to openly corroborate these assertions.If not the first, at least the first since John Kerry fled Vietnam.
The Nation contacted various anti-war groups to find veterans willing to make such claims:
To find veterans willing to speak on the record about their experiences in Iraq, we sent queries to organizations dedicated to US troops and their families, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the antiwar groups Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War and the prowar group Vets for Freedom. The leaders of IVAW and Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of IAVA, were especially helpful in putting us in touch with Iraq War veterans.I doubt any Vets for Freedom members contributed atrocity tales - those guys would have had the courage to act while still in uniform.
That Nation hit-piece was by Chris Hedges. His semi-disguised public relations campaign for Iraq Veterans Against the War also appeared in the LA Times earlier in the month:
AFTER FOUR YEARS of war, most Americans still remain sheltered from the day-to-day realities of the occupation of Iraq, especially its effects on Iraqis. With reporter Laila Al-Arian, I spent the last few months interviewing 50 combat veterans, and in thousands of pages of transcripts, they told a brutal story.
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.
That this many stories on the same theme appeared in so many leftist publications nearly simultaneously over the past week is as coincidental and unrelated as the multiple operations American and Iraq soldiers performed yesterday. We'll look at motivation tomorrow.
*****
"Tomorrow" for me comes with this disclaimer. Astute observers will have noted that my "day's work" listed above actually stretched over two days. That was one day in my world - I worked from 4PM Sunday until 5 PM Monday without a break. Then, instead of going out and killing Iraqi babies I went back to the tent and wrote a song to my wife via flashlight.
So see you tomorrow, whenever that may be.
In the meantime, sleep well, America.
July 24, 2007
A day's Work
Greyhawk
While you were sleeping, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers were busy:
Monday, 23 July 2007 Three Iraqis freed, their captors detained
Monday, 23 July 2007 Iraqis take lead in island clearing operation
Monday, 23 July 2007 Allons Soldiers render medical aid to Iraqis after VBIED blast
Monday, 23 July 2007 Truck Bomb destroyed during Marne Avalanche
Monday, 23 July 2007 12 al-Qaeda terrorist facilitators captured
Monday, 23 July 2007 Coalition Forces kill 9 terrorists, detain 8 and destroy weapons caches
Monday, 23 July 2007 Warlords find EFP cache
Monday, 23 July 2007 Combined operation nets cache find in Jamia
Monday, 23 July 2007 Suicide car bombers miss target, kill 3 civilians, wound 13 others
Monday, 23 July 2007 Soldiers search for missing comrades leads to discovery of weapons caches
Monday, 23 July 2007 Task Force Marne Soldier died of wounds
Monday, 23 July 2007 Soldiers attacked during combat logistics patrol
Monday, 23 July 2007 IA Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain al-Qaida Terrorists linked to U.S. casualties
Monday, 23 July 2007 Search nets seven terrorist suspects in Bulayj
Monday, 23 July 2007 IA, U.S. Special Forces detain alleged terrorist finance chief in Ninewa Province
Monday, 23 July 2007 ISF, U.S. Special Forces detain five suspected extremists
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Insurgents target ambulance
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces detain suspected Al Qaeda cell leader near Taji
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Coalition Forces Detain Two Suspected Weapons Smugglers
Sunday, 22 July 2007 Coalition Forces kill one terrorist, detain 14 suspects
Not a bad day's work from hard working soldiers. (And there are more stories here. And there are even more stories that aren't - stories that time and security considerations won't allow.
Then, while they were sleeping:
Haditha Marine Father has a Conversation with John Murtha
Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice.
On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had a courteous conversation. I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Mr. Murtha avoided answering the hard questions and I was unable to press him for the answers. I wanted the conversation to remain amicable and decided to let him speak and avoid a heated confrontation.
At no time during the dialogue would Mr. Murtha acknowledge the impending exoneration of my son. <...>Mr Murtha believes combat operations in Iraq have put an enormous strain on our Armed Forces. The stress of combat situations has led our troops to kill innocent civilians. I pointed out to Mr. Murtha, “Our Haditha Marines are innocent until proven guilty.” It seems he is again denying our Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. <...>I questioned Congressman Murtha as to his statements of 17 May 2006. On national television, in front of millions of Americans, he stated “Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” I asked him why he denied these Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Again the Congressman used his experience to side step the answer. Mr. Murtha stated his intentions were to point out the stress our military was under in Iraq. He replied we would not win the hearts of the Iraqi people by killing women and children. I again snapped, “Our Haditha Marines have not been convicted of killing innocents and are innocent until proven guilty.”
Daily Kos:
But do I still support the individual men and women who have given so much to serve their country?
No. I think they’re a bunch of idiots. I also think they’re morally retarded. Because they sign a contract that says they will kill whoever you tell me to kill. And that is morally retarded.The New Republic:
We were already halfway through our meals when she arrived. After a minute or two of eating in silence, one of my friends stabbed his spoon violently into his pile of mashed potatoes and left it there.“Man, I can’t eat like this,” he said.“Like what?” I said. “Chow hall food getting to you?”“No—with that fucking freak behind us!” he exclaimed, loud enough for not only her to hear us, but everyone at the surrounding tables. I looked over at the woman, and she was intently staring into each forkful of food before it entered her half-melted mouth.“Are you kidding? I think she’s fucking hot!” I blurted out.“What?” said my friend, half-smiling.“Yeah man,” I continued. “I love chicks that have been intimate—with IEDs. It really turns me on—melted skin, missing limbs, plastic noses . . . .”“You’re crazy, man!” my friend said, doubling over with laughter. I took it as my cue to continue.“In fact, I was thinking of getting some girls together and doing a photo shoot. Maybe for a calendar? ‘IED Babes.’ We could have them pose in thongs and bikinis on top of the hoods of their blown-up vehicles.”My friend was practically falling out of his chair laughing. The disfigured woman slammed her cup down and ran out of the chow hall, her half-finished tray of food nearly falling to the ground.
Daily Kos:
According to the July 30, 2007 issue of The Nation magazine, damning photos of a U.S. Soldier using a spoon to literally scoop out the brains of a dead Iraqi and pretending to eat the gray matter were recently acquired.
Of course, everyone is appropriately appalled and make all claims of disgust and finger-wagging. Research shows, however, that such unacceptable behavior happens more often than the United States military wants you to know.
When it comes to training killing machines, the military really does create “an Army of one.”
The list of serial killers and mass murderers borne from the military is astounding.
(Notice Michelle Malkin's screen capture - a disclaimer paragraph that wasn't in the original piece appears by magic in the text...)
And here's the referenced story from The Nation:
Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States in an effort to investigate the effects of the four-year-old occupation on average Iraqi civilians. These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts. <...>This Nation investigation marks the first time so many on-the-record, named eyewitnesses from within the US military have been assembled in one place to openly corroborate these assertions.If not the first, at least the first since John Kerry fled Vietnam.
The Nation contacted various anti-war groups to find veterans willing to make such claims:
To find veterans willing to speak on the record about their experiences in Iraq, we sent queries to organizations dedicated to US troops and their families, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the antiwar groups Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War and the prowar group Vets for Freedom. The leaders of IVAW and Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of IAVA, were especially helpful in putting us in touch with Iraq War veterans.I doubt any Vets for Freedom members contributed atrocity tales - those guys would have had the courage to act while still in uniform.
That Nation hit-piece was by Chris Hedges. His semi-disguised public relations campaign for Iraq Veterans Against the War also appeared in the LA Times earlier in the month:
AFTER FOUR YEARS of war, most Americans still remain sheltered from the day-to-day realities of the occupation of Iraq, especially its effects on Iraqis. With reporter Laila Al-Arian, I spent the last few months interviewing 50 combat veterans, and in thousands of pages of transcripts, they told a brutal story.
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.
That this many stories on the same theme appeared in so many leftist publications nearly simultaneously over the past week is as coincidental and unrelated as the multiple operations American and Iraq soldiers performed yesterday. We'll look at motivation tomorrow.
*****
"Tomorrow" for me comes with this disclaimer. Astute observers will have noted that my "day's work" listed above actually stretched over two days. That was one day in my world - I worked from 4PM Sunday until 5 PM Monday without a break. Then, instead of going out and killing Iraqi babies I went back to the tent and wrote a song to my wife via flashlight.
So see you tomorrow, whenever that may be.
In the meantime, sleep well, America.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Random Reflections on Being Home
I should organize my thoughts into some coherent format, but lately my thoughts are scattered all over.
I came home to a new house, since my wife moved us from Chaska to Owatonna. I'm still in awe of her accomplishment, since selling and buying a new house is traumatic for a couple, all the more so for (temporarily at least) a single mom.
My house is on a corner lot, so front and back are relative terms. Front to me can mean facing either street.
I haven't met any of my neighbors.
I do the bulk of the cooking in our house, and I enjoy the heck out of it. My new kitchen is twice as large as the old, and I have no idea where anything is.
My kids now sleep upstairs, and my wife and I sleep on the main floor.
I can use the bathroom without leaving the building.
I can shower without wearing flip-flops.
Food is now conveniently located in a device called refrigerator. I pick what I want, cook it, and then eat it. No citizens of India have been involved in the food preparations.
Stuff falling from the sky is no longer called incoming. It is referred to as rain. It still freaks me out when it comes in the middle of the night.
I no longer have to look at dead animals by the side of the road for wires coming out.
I have to decide what to wear, rather then calculating how little of a PT uniform I can get away with.
I haven't cleaned my weapon in over a week. In fact, I haven't even carried one.
Instead of 10 channels of AFN, I now have 549 channels to choose from. I can record a show and watch it later. But how do I decide what to watch?
There are way too many light switches in this house.
Couches are much more comfortable than the $7.95 PX folding camp chair.
Beer tastes good.
Snoring makes my wife crabby.
My wife's car doesn't have padlocks or combat locking doors,
Traffic doesn't come to a halt when I get on the freeway.
Beer tastes good.
Milk here is real, has no expiration date, and is not shelf stable.
My family and I continue the adjustment process, and life goes on.
I came home to a new house, since my wife moved us from Chaska to Owatonna. I'm still in awe of her accomplishment, since selling and buying a new house is traumatic for a couple, all the more so for (temporarily at least) a single mom.
My house is on a corner lot, so front and back are relative terms. Front to me can mean facing either street.
I haven't met any of my neighbors.
I do the bulk of the cooking in our house, and I enjoy the heck out of it. My new kitchen is twice as large as the old, and I have no idea where anything is.
My kids now sleep upstairs, and my wife and I sleep on the main floor.
I can use the bathroom without leaving the building.
I can shower without wearing flip-flops.
Food is now conveniently located in a device called refrigerator. I pick what I want, cook it, and then eat it. No citizens of India have been involved in the food preparations.
Stuff falling from the sky is no longer called incoming. It is referred to as rain. It still freaks me out when it comes in the middle of the night.
I no longer have to look at dead animals by the side of the road for wires coming out.
I have to decide what to wear, rather then calculating how little of a PT uniform I can get away with.
I haven't cleaned my weapon in over a week. In fact, I haven't even carried one.
Instead of 10 channels of AFN, I now have 549 channels to choose from. I can record a show and watch it later. But how do I decide what to watch?
There are way too many light switches in this house.
Couches are much more comfortable than the $7.95 PX folding camp chair.
Beer tastes good.
Snoring makes my wife crabby.
My wife's car doesn't have padlocks or combat locking doors,
Traffic doesn't come to a halt when I get on the freeway.
Beer tastes good.
Milk here is real, has no expiration date, and is not shelf stable.
My family and I continue the adjustment process, and life goes on.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Honor
Less than 12 hours since arriving home, and I find that I am forced to defend my honor, and that of every US soldier and Marine in Iraq, from what appears to me to be another fraud.
From Greyhawk at the MudvilleGazette comes a story from the New Republic. It is supposedly the diary of a soldier stationed in Baghdad, and it recounts some awful stuff.
Now, I will be honest with you, I haven't read the whole article, because it is for subscribers only. But Micheal Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard has the breakdown, and I have to say my first reaction was to pull out the bulls**t card.
First, I never saw an instance of soldiers in Iraq digging anything, let alone the outlines for a combat outpost, or COP. First off, even small COP's are larger than any house in the US. The notion of US soldiers digging thru the hard pack in Iraq is silly-we have engineer units for that. And if the engineers aren't available, we would call KBR or even the local sheik before passing out e-tools.
Second, even my least intelligent soldiers could identify, at a glance, the uniform of any female on base. Army ACU's, Army DCU's, Army mechanic's coveralls, Marine cammies, Marine flight suit, Marine mechanic's coveralls, it didn't matter. Natural curiosity was the main factor, but my guys desire to not say something stupid in front of a higher rank was a close second. The thought that these guys would poke fun at someone who could, for all they knew, be a US general, is patently absurd. And in black and white, military personnel carry weapons, while almost all of the civilians do not. Someone who he "saw every day" would be categorized quickly on this basis alone.
Third, while I don't doubt the black humor contained in the story, I do doubt that the US military would have someone obviously disfigured by an IED on a US base. My experience was that the coalition gets wounded troops out of country fast, not only for medical reasons, but for morale. Wounded troops make soldiers wonder and worry. A person disfigured as described in the article, if in theater, would be well known and described to all the troops so as to avoid the awkward situations that were described. I can easily hear the warning coming from my battalion CSM, thru my company 1SG, thru my PSG, down to me-there's a local Iraqi who is disfigured, don't you f***ing stare or you'll spend the day in the front leaning rest.
Fourth, while you and I might call them Bradley Fighting Vehicles, joes that drive them call them BFV's, or Brad's. Brad's are a light armored gun platform crossed with a infantry carrier. They do NOT take to cornering out buildings with ease. This more than anything was enough to make me disbelieve the story. A Brad could, in theory, take out a corner of a building and still continue, but there is plenty of stuff on the outside that will break. Like turn signals and headlights and mirrors. Any accident has to be accounted for. The Army always has to have someone to blame, even if only for paperwork purposes.
Stray dogs in Iraq are numerous, and I don't discount joes killing them on purpose. At Trebil, killing stray dogs with your rifle was almost a duty responsibility. But killing them by running over them with your Brad means washing the remains off, which is difficult since washpoints are hard to come by in Iraq. In 16 months, I had the privilege of washing my truck just once. Otherwise, the smell quickly becomes a problem.
And as to the notion that a young soldier wore a 'trophy' human skull on his head, well, I can only speak for my unit, but such a person would have been quickly squashed. We put up with a lot from our guys in Iraq, from bad attitudes to poor performance after our extension was announced, but no one in my unit ever put up with the disgusting desecration described. Any NCO worth his stripes would have stomped on that soldier or reported it. Any officer worth his salt would have smoked the guy senseless, and then given him to the NCO's for his real punishment. Either way, the story rings hollow to me.
And lastly, the soldier seems to revel in the announcement of his own twisted deeds. Let's keep in mind that we aren't talking about a soldier reporting on his buddies, embarressed to describe his own involvement. We are talking about a soldier who seems proud to display his own ignorance, who describes his own actions without any remorse. A soldier such as this is hardly fit to critique or represent the war effort in general. If this account is true, we are in fact talking about a soldier who has comitted and covered up numerous violations of the UCMJ, and would likely face lengthy jail time. Yet he freely shares his stories with the media. Surely there are soldiers who can confirm or deny his story.
Truthfully told, a soldier's stories of war crimes can be the welcome light of day in an area of perpetual darkness. But a soldier must accept the benefit of doubt against him, since the overwhelming number of troops have behaved exactly as we expect US troops to behave in combat. But even if you stipulate a 1% chance of US troops being as depraved as was described, you are looking at about one thousand troops in Iraq in that category, spread out thru the entire country. But to get away with any of this, you have to further stipulate that 30 ( a platoon's worth, at minimum) were all stationed together, and that the officer and senior NCO in that platoon were co-conspiritors. If you can believe all of this, then I would strongly encourage you to purchase 5 tickets for the next Powerball drawing, and quit your job on the assumption that you will win. I think I have worse odds of being wrong than you do of being right.
From Greyhawk at the MudvilleGazette comes a story from the New Republic. It is supposedly the diary of a soldier stationed in Baghdad, and it recounts some awful stuff.
Now, I will be honest with you, I haven't read the whole article, because it is for subscribers only. But Micheal Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard has the breakdown, and I have to say my first reaction was to pull out the bulls**t card.
First, I never saw an instance of soldiers in Iraq digging anything, let alone the outlines for a combat outpost, or COP. First off, even small COP's are larger than any house in the US. The notion of US soldiers digging thru the hard pack in Iraq is silly-we have engineer units for that. And if the engineers aren't available, we would call KBR or even the local sheik before passing out e-tools.
Second, even my least intelligent soldiers could identify, at a glance, the uniform of any female on base. Army ACU's, Army DCU's, Army mechanic's coveralls, Marine cammies, Marine flight suit, Marine mechanic's coveralls, it didn't matter. Natural curiosity was the main factor, but my guys desire to not say something stupid in front of a higher rank was a close second. The thought that these guys would poke fun at someone who could, for all they knew, be a US general, is patently absurd. And in black and white, military personnel carry weapons, while almost all of the civilians do not. Someone who he "saw every day" would be categorized quickly on this basis alone.
Third, while I don't doubt the black humor contained in the story, I do doubt that the US military would have someone obviously disfigured by an IED on a US base. My experience was that the coalition gets wounded troops out of country fast, not only for medical reasons, but for morale. Wounded troops make soldiers wonder and worry. A person disfigured as described in the article, if in theater, would be well known and described to all the troops so as to avoid the awkward situations that were described. I can easily hear the warning coming from my battalion CSM, thru my company 1SG, thru my PSG, down to me-there's a local Iraqi who is disfigured, don't you f***ing stare or you'll spend the day in the front leaning rest.
Fourth, while you and I might call them Bradley Fighting Vehicles, joes that drive them call them BFV's, or Brad's. Brad's are a light armored gun platform crossed with a infantry carrier. They do NOT take to cornering out buildings with ease. This more than anything was enough to make me disbelieve the story. A Brad could, in theory, take out a corner of a building and still continue, but there is plenty of stuff on the outside that will break. Like turn signals and headlights and mirrors. Any accident has to be accounted for. The Army always has to have someone to blame, even if only for paperwork purposes.
Stray dogs in Iraq are numerous, and I don't discount joes killing them on purpose. At Trebil, killing stray dogs with your rifle was almost a duty responsibility. But killing them by running over them with your Brad means washing the remains off, which is difficult since washpoints are hard to come by in Iraq. In 16 months, I had the privilege of washing my truck just once. Otherwise, the smell quickly becomes a problem.
And as to the notion that a young soldier wore a 'trophy' human skull on his head, well, I can only speak for my unit, but such a person would have been quickly squashed. We put up with a lot from our guys in Iraq, from bad attitudes to poor performance after our extension was announced, but no one in my unit ever put up with the disgusting desecration described. Any NCO worth his stripes would have stomped on that soldier or reported it. Any officer worth his salt would have smoked the guy senseless, and then given him to the NCO's for his real punishment. Either way, the story rings hollow to me.
And lastly, the soldier seems to revel in the announcement of his own twisted deeds. Let's keep in mind that we aren't talking about a soldier reporting on his buddies, embarressed to describe his own involvement. We are talking about a soldier who seems proud to display his own ignorance, who describes his own actions without any remorse. A soldier such as this is hardly fit to critique or represent the war effort in general. If this account is true, we are in fact talking about a soldier who has comitted and covered up numerous violations of the UCMJ, and would likely face lengthy jail time. Yet he freely shares his stories with the media. Surely there are soldiers who can confirm or deny his story.
Truthfully told, a soldier's stories of war crimes can be the welcome light of day in an area of perpetual darkness. But a soldier must accept the benefit of doubt against him, since the overwhelming number of troops have behaved exactly as we expect US troops to behave in combat. But even if you stipulate a 1% chance of US troops being as depraved as was described, you are looking at about one thousand troops in Iraq in that category, spread out thru the entire country. But to get away with any of this, you have to further stipulate that 30 ( a platoon's worth, at minimum) were all stationed together, and that the officer and senior NCO in that platoon were co-conspiritors. If you can believe all of this, then I would strongly encourage you to purchase 5 tickets for the next Powerball drawing, and quit your job on the assumption that you will win. I think I have worse odds of being wrong than you do of being right.
Home At Last!!!!!
650 days after leaving, I am finally home. Not the home I left, of course, but home none the less.
I've been out of touch with the internet for a while, so I'll try to recap the last 3 weeks.
We first had to leave Al Asad, which meant selling anything you couldn't pack, and living out of a rucksack for a while. After 8 months, even an 8x17 box begins to feel like home, so it really does feel like leaving.
We flew into Kuwait for temporary housing until we had a flight ready to take us home. Kuwait was a small touch of freedom, with a McDonalds and permission to wear PT gear most everywhere. We still carried weapons and ammo, but Kuwait is not Iraq, and we started to relax.
From Kuwait City, we took a civilian flight to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Though most people will roll their eyes at airline food, I scarfed it down as though it were a 4 course meal at a 5 star hotel. Even though we travelled in uniform, I wondered how a flight attendant must think twice about seeing pistols, rifles, and light machine guns being carried on board. In this day and age when a fingernail clippers or a bottle of soda is a security risk, we carried a company's worth of small arms.
Stepping off the plane in Wisconsin was a remarkable experience. The sight of huge swaths of green grass took my breath away. Equally remarkable was the sky. The sky in Iraq, especially during the summer time, is almost always cloudless, but I never realized what a pale shade of blue it was. The bright blue of the sky, together with the intense green of the grass, made me feel that I had been living the past 15 months in a black and white movie, and was suddenly seeing color for the first time. We were greeted by several generals and high ranking soldiers, and a contingent of local officials, but to tell you the truth I can't recall a single one. It felt as if I were dreaming, and I didn't want to wake up.
The next 8 days at Fort McCoy saw us through a wide range of emotions. In addition to processing returning soldiers, McCoy also trains soldiers headed overseas. So we saw the grim yet determined faces of men and women who were just beginning their tours. We also heard their field exercises in the distance, and there was not a man who didn't flinch the first time we heard outgoing mortars and small arms fire (blank ammo, but it still sounds real). We experienced our first taste of beer in many months, which caused some rowdy drunkenness, but also a lot of tension release, like a diver decompressing from the crushing pressure of the deep sea. We said goodbye to some of our soldiers that had joined us from other states or units. And we marveled at the concept of getting up in the night to use a bathroom located in the same building.
This morning, we woke up at 5am, though I'm not sure how many of us actually slept at all. The familiar routines of cleaning the barracks and packing our gear flew by as if I was in a daze. Once on the bus, we found entertainment in the billboards and towns we passed. The high price of gas seemed all the more strange for a group who haven't paid for a gallon of gas in two years. A few times I wondered if our bus would tip over when someone called out an attractive young woman, and everyone rushed to one side of the bus to see. The car fanatics clucked over new models of cars out since we left, and we recreated Pavlov's experiment with salivating dogs as we passed our favorite fast food places.
After a bit of a snafu, our two buses were joined by escorts from the State Patrol, and a couple of dozen motorcycles from the Patriot Riders and the American Legion. As we crossed every county line in Minnesota, we picked up a new escort from the local sheriff. Just outside of Owatonna, our procession turned into a parade with hundreds of motorcycles leading us, and thousands of people lining our route. Our luxury coach bus included tinted windows, so I'm not sure if the folks we passed saw us waving back, or how many of us had to turn away as we were overcome with emotion.
When we finally arrived at the Owatonna Armory, we had to wait a few minutes as the crowd of hundreds made way for our buses. Despite our extended absence, we are still soldiers and we still had to do what soldiers do-stand in formation. After a wonderfully brief blessing from the chaplain, and the equally short remarks by our commander, we heard the word we were waiting for-
DISMISSED!
In the chaos of the huge crowd it took me a few minutes to find my family. I had to call my wife on her cell phone before we could find each other. Most of the next few minutes are a blur in my mind even now, but hugging my kids and kissing my wife are memories that will stay with me until I am old and gray. The sacrifices and hardships of the last two years seemed at once a small price when an older gentleman in a VFW uniform, WWII or Korea Vet by his age, shook my hand with a tear in his eye and thanked me for keeping his family safe. I've never been more proud to wear the uniform.
More to follow on the grand entry into my new home-that is a post in itself. And I will add some pictures when I find where I packed my camera.
But Scott at Powerline has a word from the uncle of SSG Paul Dellwo, a man I found to be a good friend and great mentor these last two years, about our homecoming.
I've been out of touch with the internet for a while, so I'll try to recap the last 3 weeks.
We first had to leave Al Asad, which meant selling anything you couldn't pack, and living out of a rucksack for a while. After 8 months, even an 8x17 box begins to feel like home, so it really does feel like leaving.
We flew into Kuwait for temporary housing until we had a flight ready to take us home. Kuwait was a small touch of freedom, with a McDonalds and permission to wear PT gear most everywhere. We still carried weapons and ammo, but Kuwait is not Iraq, and we started to relax.
From Kuwait City, we took a civilian flight to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Though most people will roll their eyes at airline food, I scarfed it down as though it were a 4 course meal at a 5 star hotel. Even though we travelled in uniform, I wondered how a flight attendant must think twice about seeing pistols, rifles, and light machine guns being carried on board. In this day and age when a fingernail clippers or a bottle of soda is a security risk, we carried a company's worth of small arms.
Stepping off the plane in Wisconsin was a remarkable experience. The sight of huge swaths of green grass took my breath away. Equally remarkable was the sky. The sky in Iraq, especially during the summer time, is almost always cloudless, but I never realized what a pale shade of blue it was. The bright blue of the sky, together with the intense green of the grass, made me feel that I had been living the past 15 months in a black and white movie, and was suddenly seeing color for the first time. We were greeted by several generals and high ranking soldiers, and a contingent of local officials, but to tell you the truth I can't recall a single one. It felt as if I were dreaming, and I didn't want to wake up.
The next 8 days at Fort McCoy saw us through a wide range of emotions. In addition to processing returning soldiers, McCoy also trains soldiers headed overseas. So we saw the grim yet determined faces of men and women who were just beginning their tours. We also heard their field exercises in the distance, and there was not a man who didn't flinch the first time we heard outgoing mortars and small arms fire (blank ammo, but it still sounds real). We experienced our first taste of beer in many months, which caused some rowdy drunkenness, but also a lot of tension release, like a diver decompressing from the crushing pressure of the deep sea. We said goodbye to some of our soldiers that had joined us from other states or units. And we marveled at the concept of getting up in the night to use a bathroom located in the same building.
This morning, we woke up at 5am, though I'm not sure how many of us actually slept at all. The familiar routines of cleaning the barracks and packing our gear flew by as if I was in a daze. Once on the bus, we found entertainment in the billboards and towns we passed. The high price of gas seemed all the more strange for a group who haven't paid for a gallon of gas in two years. A few times I wondered if our bus would tip over when someone called out an attractive young woman, and everyone rushed to one side of the bus to see. The car fanatics clucked over new models of cars out since we left, and we recreated Pavlov's experiment with salivating dogs as we passed our favorite fast food places.
After a bit of a snafu, our two buses were joined by escorts from the State Patrol, and a couple of dozen motorcycles from the Patriot Riders and the American Legion. As we crossed every county line in Minnesota, we picked up a new escort from the local sheriff. Just outside of Owatonna, our procession turned into a parade with hundreds of motorcycles leading us, and thousands of people lining our route. Our luxury coach bus included tinted windows, so I'm not sure if the folks we passed saw us waving back, or how many of us had to turn away as we were overcome with emotion.
When we finally arrived at the Owatonna Armory, we had to wait a few minutes as the crowd of hundreds made way for our buses. Despite our extended absence, we are still soldiers and we still had to do what soldiers do-stand in formation. After a wonderfully brief blessing from the chaplain, and the equally short remarks by our commander, we heard the word we were waiting for-
DISMISSED!
In the chaos of the huge crowd it took me a few minutes to find my family. I had to call my wife on her cell phone before we could find each other. Most of the next few minutes are a blur in my mind even now, but hugging my kids and kissing my wife are memories that will stay with me until I am old and gray. The sacrifices and hardships of the last two years seemed at once a small price when an older gentleman in a VFW uniform, WWII or Korea Vet by his age, shook my hand with a tear in his eye and thanked me for keeping his family safe. I've never been more proud to wear the uniform.
More to follow on the grand entry into my new home-that is a post in itself. And I will add some pictures when I find where I packed my camera.
But Scott at Powerline has a word from the uncle of SSG Paul Dellwo, a man I found to be a good friend and great mentor these last two years, about our homecoming.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
465
As I perused the internet today, I noticed a lot of people talking about the date, 07-07-07, and the good luck they think will come with it. For me, July 7th, 2007 marks 100 days plus 1 year in theater. We are now down to the last few days, hopefully no more than a week, and then we start the journey home. A brief stop in Wisconsin for the 3 P's, poking, prodding and paperwork, known as demobilization. And then we will be back at Fort Living Room, and back to our lives. But our lives have changed so much.
For starters, I'm not going back to the home I left, since I don't live there anymore. And the 2 year old and the 5 year old I left behind are now soon to be 4 and 7. Two years is a big amount of time in anyone's life, but so much more so for a child. My wife tells me happily that they can now get up, turn on the TV, and get breakfast by themselves, leaving her free to lounge in bed on a weekend morning.
Family and friends have all been living their lives for the last two years, and though I keep up on most of it, it seems at times more like a soap opera that I follow. I know the names and faces, but I have as much ability to interact in their lives as I would if I were watching them on TV. Events that would cause joy or sorrow when I am at home, like a birth or death in the family, are now part of the story line that I ofton forget, and have to ask my wife about.
And obviously I have changed as well. I started this deployment as a fairly new sergeant. I'm now a combat veteran staff sergeant. I've spent two years training and looking after the eight other guys in my squad. It will be a interesting time transitioning to being a dad again. My wife has already ruled out giving my kids pushups as punishment.
But one thing that hasn't changed is my commitment to this war. When we talk about 'the war', most people are talking about the war in Iraq. But to me the war in Iraq and the War on Terror are interchangeable, since they are one in the same. The war in the Pacific was 'the war' for most of our Navy vets, but it was part of the larger conflict we call World War II.
Politics aside, they guys who tried to kill me and my men here in Iraq are the same people that have been attacking the US for the last 25 years. It's becoming politically incorrect to call them what they are, but whether you want to say Islamic terrorists or Muslim extremists, they are men who either swear allegiance to Al Qaeda, or have a common cause with them. Men who would revel in killing me, a US soldier, but would find equal joy in cutting off the heads of my children. That, in my mind at least, makes them simply and clearly my enemy. I feel that we are long past the time where we could hope to contain such madmen. We need to seek them out wherever they hide, and kill them.
But folks back home seem to be forgetting what this war is about. I understand the arguments against the invasion of Iraq, even though I don't agree with them. But regardless of what happened then, the simple truth is that we are here now. The enemy we have been fighting openly for the past six years is here in Iraq. It is a sound tactic in war to attack not only targets that your side needs, but to defend targets that the enemy needs as well. It would be worthwhile for us to be in Iraq just for our goals, such as removing Saddam from power and spreading freedom and democracy. But even if those goals were unobtainable, it would still be worthwhile to be in Iraq to deny AQ a new base of operations. And AQ themselves have stated clearly that Iraq is the center of the fight for them.
Most of us like to think we live in times that are unique, having never happened before. But history of course repeats itself. President Lincoln fought tooth and nail to keep the Union fighting, especially in the first half of the war, when it seemed that the Confederate Army could do no wrong. FDR used every ounce of his personal wit and charm to cajole, threaten, and plead to keep the US on the path to victory in WWII.
So I find myself coming to the end of this deployment yet feeling like the job is unfinished. The looming showdown in Congress about the war in Iraq makes me fear that everything my men and I have shed blood and sweat for will be for nothing. I fear that Congress will make the convenient, lazy, and frankly cowardly choice to start pulling the troops out just as the job is nearing completion.
The past two years have seen over a third of Iraqi provinces transferred back to local control. The surge has brought order from the chaos that was Baghdad. AQ still manages spectacular bombings, but these are the exception to the daily life now, not the norm. And here in the Anbar province, the local Iraqis have risen up and joined with the coalition to make AQI a nearly extinct animal. Where once Zarqawi roamed almost unhindered to slaughter civilians and kill US troops, he is now dead and those who worked for him have fled Anbar. Yes, I know the critics will say that they have just moved elsewhere in Iraq, but they have lost their local support, their supply lines, and their freedom of movement in the great open desert. Moving somewhere else means starting from scratch.
There are still problems to be sure. But critics forget that it is not up to the US to solve all of Iraq's problems. Rather, we are here to get them to the point of being able to do it themselves. So even though my tour in 'the war' is almost done, the fight to win in Iraq will go on from home. I've spent most of the last decade and a half being politically aware, but now I am moving towards being politically active. Heaven only knows where it will lead, but I'm sure it will be an interesting journey.
For starters, I'm not going back to the home I left, since I don't live there anymore. And the 2 year old and the 5 year old I left behind are now soon to be 4 and 7. Two years is a big amount of time in anyone's life, but so much more so for a child. My wife tells me happily that they can now get up, turn on the TV, and get breakfast by themselves, leaving her free to lounge in bed on a weekend morning.
Family and friends have all been living their lives for the last two years, and though I keep up on most of it, it seems at times more like a soap opera that I follow. I know the names and faces, but I have as much ability to interact in their lives as I would if I were watching them on TV. Events that would cause joy or sorrow when I am at home, like a birth or death in the family, are now part of the story line that I ofton forget, and have to ask my wife about.
And obviously I have changed as well. I started this deployment as a fairly new sergeant. I'm now a combat veteran staff sergeant. I've spent two years training and looking after the eight other guys in my squad. It will be a interesting time transitioning to being a dad again. My wife has already ruled out giving my kids pushups as punishment.
But one thing that hasn't changed is my commitment to this war. When we talk about 'the war', most people are talking about the war in Iraq. But to me the war in Iraq and the War on Terror are interchangeable, since they are one in the same. The war in the Pacific was 'the war' for most of our Navy vets, but it was part of the larger conflict we call World War II.
Politics aside, they guys who tried to kill me and my men here in Iraq are the same people that have been attacking the US for the last 25 years. It's becoming politically incorrect to call them what they are, but whether you want to say Islamic terrorists or Muslim extremists, they are men who either swear allegiance to Al Qaeda, or have a common cause with them. Men who would revel in killing me, a US soldier, but would find equal joy in cutting off the heads of my children. That, in my mind at least, makes them simply and clearly my enemy. I feel that we are long past the time where we could hope to contain such madmen. We need to seek them out wherever they hide, and kill them.
But folks back home seem to be forgetting what this war is about. I understand the arguments against the invasion of Iraq, even though I don't agree with them. But regardless of what happened then, the simple truth is that we are here now. The enemy we have been fighting openly for the past six years is here in Iraq. It is a sound tactic in war to attack not only targets that your side needs, but to defend targets that the enemy needs as well. It would be worthwhile for us to be in Iraq just for our goals, such as removing Saddam from power and spreading freedom and democracy. But even if those goals were unobtainable, it would still be worthwhile to be in Iraq to deny AQ a new base of operations. And AQ themselves have stated clearly that Iraq is the center of the fight for them.
Most of us like to think we live in times that are unique, having never happened before. But history of course repeats itself. President Lincoln fought tooth and nail to keep the Union fighting, especially in the first half of the war, when it seemed that the Confederate Army could do no wrong. FDR used every ounce of his personal wit and charm to cajole, threaten, and plead to keep the US on the path to victory in WWII.
So I find myself coming to the end of this deployment yet feeling like the job is unfinished. The looming showdown in Congress about the war in Iraq makes me fear that everything my men and I have shed blood and sweat for will be for nothing. I fear that Congress will make the convenient, lazy, and frankly cowardly choice to start pulling the troops out just as the job is nearing completion.
The past two years have seen over a third of Iraqi provinces transferred back to local control. The surge has brought order from the chaos that was Baghdad. AQ still manages spectacular bombings, but these are the exception to the daily life now, not the norm. And here in the Anbar province, the local Iraqis have risen up and joined with the coalition to make AQI a nearly extinct animal. Where once Zarqawi roamed almost unhindered to slaughter civilians and kill US troops, he is now dead and those who worked for him have fled Anbar. Yes, I know the critics will say that they have just moved elsewhere in Iraq, but they have lost their local support, their supply lines, and their freedom of movement in the great open desert. Moving somewhere else means starting from scratch.
There are still problems to be sure. But critics forget that it is not up to the US to solve all of Iraq's problems. Rather, we are here to get them to the point of being able to do it themselves. So even though my tour in 'the war' is almost done, the fight to win in Iraq will go on from home. I've spent most of the last decade and a half being politically aware, but now I am moving towards being politically active. Heaven only knows where it will lead, but I'm sure it will be an interesting journey.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Done
Yesterday, the 4th of July, was the last day of the last mission for me. It felt good to be coming back in the wire for the last time. Now, short of some freak accident on the plane, I will be coming home safe to my family.
My wife, of course, worried more about this one last mission than was really necessary. In truth, it was no more dangerous than the other 90 or so. But even us 21st century Americans with out gadgets and incredible technology still believe in luck, both the bad kind and the good kind. So I can't criticize her too much for being so worried. And I suppose when you look at the war through the eyes of someone back in the States, it's understandable. All the folks back home hear is car bombings and the number of US troops that were killed. They don't hear that the Anbar province, where I am, has turned from night into day. Where once the Medevac choppers were a daily sight, they know make a couple overflights a month. But even if I fell fairly safe here, my family back home just concentrates on the fact that I am in Iraq, and guys are getting killed over here.
Many people have wondered how the modern media might have changed the Civil War or WWII. I think we would have lost both of those wars with today's media. A Times reporter who personally opposed the war would have asked President Lincoln how he could call Gettysburg a victory with so many dead American boys on the field. Nightline would have done a special expose about the failure to properly plan Operation Market Garden, and call for the dismissal of the top generals in charge.
I've done the job I was given in Iraq. Securing convoys from Jordan to Al Asad and elsewhere, keeping my men and myself alive, and going after AQI whenever they give us the chance. Over 160,000 other US troops are over here, doing the job. But we may still lose the war because of the media and the politicians back at home. So I wonder if my job is really done.
My wife, of course, worried more about this one last mission than was really necessary. In truth, it was no more dangerous than the other 90 or so. But even us 21st century Americans with out gadgets and incredible technology still believe in luck, both the bad kind and the good kind. So I can't criticize her too much for being so worried. And I suppose when you look at the war through the eyes of someone back in the States, it's understandable. All the folks back home hear is car bombings and the number of US troops that were killed. They don't hear that the Anbar province, where I am, has turned from night into day. Where once the Medevac choppers were a daily sight, they know make a couple overflights a month. But even if I fell fairly safe here, my family back home just concentrates on the fact that I am in Iraq, and guys are getting killed over here.
Many people have wondered how the modern media might have changed the Civil War or WWII. I think we would have lost both of those wars with today's media. A Times reporter who personally opposed the war would have asked President Lincoln how he could call Gettysburg a victory with so many dead American boys on the field. Nightline would have done a special expose about the failure to properly plan Operation Market Garden, and call for the dismissal of the top generals in charge.
I've done the job I was given in Iraq. Securing convoys from Jordan to Al Asad and elsewhere, keeping my men and myself alive, and going after AQI whenever they give us the chance. Over 160,000 other US troops are over here, doing the job. But we may still lose the war because of the media and the politicians back at home. So I wonder if my job is really done.
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