t.f. boggs

New Website!

2007-06-30T10:32:00.001-04:00

So I have finally finished the new website I have told people about for several months now. I am not officially announcing it until Monday the 1st (whatever that means) but for the few readers who may see this post before then head on over to www.voxveterana.com and check it out. I am going to leave this site up as an archive but I do not plan on posting here anymore so add the new site to your blogroll instead of this one.

How Much More?

2007-05-03T13:55:00.001-04:00

Concerning the recent debate about the Pentagon’s choice to severely limit milblogging I take a stand somewhere between Hugh Hewitt and Joe Carter. Here is why.

In WWII the Nazi’s were significantly effective in using propaganda as a tool for the destruction of Europe’s Jews. A common misunderstanding of the Holocaust is that it was perpetrated solely by the Nazis, and they alone are to blame. The fact, however, is that almost everyone in Europe got into the game of killing, or at least took part by deporting their Jews to be killed by the Germans. Why the participation? Well one of the reasons was because of the massive propaganda machine that Germany employed. Headed by Joseph Goebbels, who had the title of Minister of Propaganda, the propaganda machine was responsible for espousing the hatred of the Jews on a large scale. Every day Germans were exposed to countless posters, radio broadcasts, newspapers etc. that told of the inferiority of the Jews in some fashion or another: they were biologically inferior, they carried disease, and they were whatever was wrong with society. After awhile these messages began to take a toll on the non-Jewish population, and even reached across the seas to America.

My point in saying this is that the Germans were hugely successful in their campaign to exterminate the Jews because they were able to convince others of their point of view. The Nazi government realized the role that media played in their realizing their goals and went full force into fighting their battle on both the ground and in the minds of the European population. Would they have been as successful, able to kill 6 million Jews, if they kept their ideas about Jews to themselves? No. They needed the cooperation of other nations in order to do so. Thus begins my point about the milblogs being essentially shutdown.

As I noted in my blog at Blogworldexpo.com the US military is overwhelmingly capable of winning a ground war against any enemy. But what we aren’t capable (for lack of something of which I am not able to put my finger on) is winning the minds of people across the world as to the rightness of our war on Islamic extremism. If we could somehow get the truth out to the world about what is really going on in Iraq (i.e. not just Baghdad) I am willing to bet that people would immediately question their previously held notions about the war.

For some reason post-WWII USA has been seemingly incapable of convincing others that the wars we fight are the right ones. No matter what we fight against we are wrong and they are right. Look no further than the current war in Iraq. What rational being could possibly be sympathetic towards the extremists in Iraq? How could anyone possibly not see that we are fighting pure evil? In order to convince others of the truths on the ground we need a media blitz. Notice I did not say we need a propaganda machine like the Nazis did, the truth will suffice for us. If we were able on a large scale to share what is going on in Iraq, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we would win people to our cause in droves. Winning the support of the world would then allow us to do what is necessary to win the war against Islamic extremism by giving us the tools necessary to do so i.e. divesting from terror supporting countries, seeking alternative fuel sources, military support etc.

Now I believe, although not unconditionally, that milblogs play an essential role in getting the word out about Iraq and Afghanistan. In my time as a milblogger deployed to Iraq I would often receive emails thanking me for telling it like it was. I realized then my limited role in getting the real information out, but whatever I could do to help I wanted to do. Although some say that it isn’t the job of soldiers to fight the war on the ground and the war against the MSM at the same time I disagree. Who better to do so than those who know what is really going on? We aren’t that tied up that we can’t contribute in other ways than simply being trigger pullers.

Of course there is the argument about OPSEC (Operational Security) and it isn’t altogether a bad one, but, and this is a big but, milblogs by in large are not the perpetrators of OPSEC. The people who go on Facebook and MySpace are the ones who are free with their info. Do we need some regulation as to what soldiers can share? Yes we do. But where should this regulation come from? I say that it should come from the squad level where SGT’s are in charge of their own people. Not in censoring everything, but rather, in checking in on, and informing their subordinates of what is acceptable. A military wide policy is not necessary if individuals would just do their job.

My final statement is that it is vital to our winning the war on extremism that we get the truth out to the world. The military is not doing so right now and are suffering as a result. If the Pentagon is not going to let soldiers tell about the situation then they need to get people in there who will, and from the looks of things they are making that harder and harder by the day. It is high time for the Pentagon to wake up and look at the role the media has played in the past in winning over people’s hearts and minds. This is not an issue about free speech; this is an issue about winning the war, plain and simple. Sometimes I wonder about our country and whether or not we have the will to do what it takes in order to win. Are we really interested in seeing how far we can hamstring ourselves before we lose the support of the entire world?

***UPDATE***
So it looks like my intial reaction to this whole thing was right: the military hasn't really changed its policy and someone just overreacted. However, whatever the case may be my post still stands on its own, and I still believe in everything I said above. The military is still in it in a bad way when it comes to the spread of information. I think they need to figure out a way to make it easier for embedded reporters to get the story out like Michael Yon and Bill Roggio have been doing. Coincidentally Pentagon staffers, should you want some advice feel free to email me as I would love to talk. I have chatted with some people there already and they just don't get it. You need some fresh ideas, and hey, I already have a dress uniform. Call me.

Not quite retired...

2007-05-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

In response to the shocking news that the Pentagon has banned milblogs I wrote a response for my buddy Rick at Blogworldexpo.com which was subsequently linked by Hugh Hewitt. However, the blogfather, in his link to this site, called me "Retired Milblogger T.F. Boggs". Now I know it has been super sparse lately but trust me when I say that I am all but retired. The new site is just waiting to be coded and loaded (I've said that before) before it is up and running. If you're new to the site welcome and hang in there, the new site is coming and it won't dissapoint.

And So...

2007-04-10T13:32:00.000-04:00

And so the new site is almost completed. I imagine I'll upload it to the web sometime towards the end of the month. When I do I'll post a link to it here. I have another writer on board to write with me and am trying to convince one more so it won't be all T.F. this time around, which coincidentally should make it much better.

Initial Thoughts

2007-03-17T16:05:00.000-04:00

I came, I saw, I drank some coffee and then some beer. I guess I didn't really know what to expect coming down to D.C. for the counter anti-war protest termed Gathering of the Eagles. Whatever it was the reality of the day definitely did not match up.

For starters the anti-war group ANSWER and their cohorts seemed to have an unusually small turnout. Perhaps I feel this way because their exploits are always given too much media coverage but their group was really lame. Actually I can't say only bad things about them, they did have some great music playing on their supierior sound system. I guess if you become accustomed to protesting you figure out how to do it well. But I get ahead of myself.

The Gathering of the Eagles saw a great turnout of veterans and military supporters. The day was cold and the ground was muddy from the night before, but the Eagles stayed out the whole day to show their support despite the lack of media coverage that the anti-America group was enjoying. There were a few cameras rolling near us but they only wanted to catch the heckling going on outside the gates to our area. Since I can only take so much of chanting, heckling, and crazily dressed commie-pinkos I left the gathering before too long.

What I realized before I left has changed my viewpoint about the anti-war crowd. I realized that they don't necessarily outnumber us, and they definitely don't out think us (not one of them could participate in a rational argument). The only reason they enjoy so much attention is because they are so outrageous that the media covers them. So instead of solely blaming the anti-crowd (anti-war, anti-democracy, anti-truth, anti-rationality etc.) I blame the media as well. When we approached the protest site today media vans lined the road around the anti-crowd but were nowhere to be seen near the Gathering of the Eagles. Why? I don't know so I can't tell you, but what I do know is that it is a joke. I am sure whatever they put on the TV will be an exaggeration so don't buy the hype. Nothing out of the ordinary happened today no matter what the TV tells you.

What did happen today was a bunch of people from across the country came to D.C. in support of the military and our president. They made an impact on each other if not on the media. So I leave D.C. feeling better about our chances winning the war in Iraq after seeing the lame anti-crowd. If they are our only opposition then we are okay.

Back In Action

2007-03-14T15:26:00.000-04:00

After a small hiatus I am back in action. The winter quarter of school is all finished up and I somehow emerged unscathed. The new website is almost ready (I've said that before) and I have been writing a few posts for it that I hope will go over well. Until that happens though you can catch a sighting of T.F. at the Gathering of the Eagles in D.C. this upcoming weekend. This will be my first time attending an anti-war protest so I am sure I’ll have something to say once it is all said and done. Oh, and incase you were wondering I will not be protesting the war, but rather, just taking pictures and people-watching.

If you decide to attend I’ll be the guy with the pinch cap and pipe. Hope to see some of you there.

What Have I Been Doing?

2007-02-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

So some of you are wondering why I haven’t been posting much lately and rightly you should. I think a bit of explanation is in order in response to this comment:

“Great job, but where's the new stuff? I mean, I know it takes you army guys a while to think things through, but seriously...”

Well besides figuring out how to live as a civilian and growing a beard, I am taking 27 credit hours this quarter, working on completing the new website that should be out soon, writing some posts for the new site, doing interviews for radio and TV, and I just took the LSAT in order to apply for law school this year. I know it isn’t the same as fooling around with planes and eating steak and lobster everyday in the rear Chicpilot, but it’ll do;)

But seriously though, I have been chomping at the bit to tell you exactly why the defeatist democrats, who utter such things like Iraq being “the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country” as Harry Reid did, are as anti-American as you can get. (Where was I when Iraq surpassed even Vietnam as the worst foreign policy mistake ever?)

I have been wanting to defend soldiers against such lowlifes as William Arkin, James Walcott, and Matt “I played a soldier on TV” Damon, but it will have to wait for the new site.

If you guys stay with me through the thin posting times it would be much appreciated. Meanwhile visit Michael Yon, Bill Roggio, and Buck Sargent who are all doing ample posting.

New Media In Action

2007-02-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last week I did an interview with Mark Finkelstein for his show rightAngle. He just posted the video online at his site so follow the link and watch the show. Any compliments on my overcoming my "You know" ness are welcomed.

I look forward to doing interviews in the future with Mark so I'll be sure to keep you guys informed when I do.

Support This Man

2007-02-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

I have long admired Pat Dollard for his willingness to leave his prosperous life behind and stay with the marines in a very dangerous part of Iraq. I am eagerly anticipating his documentary and think it will greatly aid our nation's perspective of the war. If you haven't heard of Pat or watched the trailers for his movie be sure to check out his site.

Pat needs some financial help right now so go over to his site and contribute. As if contributing to a good cause wasn't enough you get a great shirt along with your contribution. I personally can't wait to wear the shirt here at school and will document what happens when I do. If you happen to not want the shirt but want to contribute anyway, send the shirt my way and I'll make sure it gets to a deserving soldier, but whatever you do help out the guy if you are able to.

*Pat has nothing to do with this post by the way. I wrote this on my own accord.*

10 Things I’ve Learned at School (so far)

2007-02-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

1. There is no truth.

2. One great piece of literature can change the world.

3. Truth doesn’t matter, that is of course unless it applies to fiction.

4. Bush is quite possibly the antichrist. Not an antichrist, but possibly The antichrist.

5. Never admit you are in the military unless you do not want to be taken seriously again.

6. It’s better not to think on your own. Just follow what your teacher tells you.

7. Driving sucks when the only possible thing that might blow up on you is some 18-year-old girl you almost hit because she stepped into the street while talking on her cell phone, while arguing with her parents that her bank account is low, while being 20 minutes late to class, while wearing really ugly snow boots, and all the while wearing jogging pants that would have been appropriate for the weather but have long ceased to hold any functionality since they have been cut off just below the knee.

8. Terrorists would all lay their weapons down if they just understood how to read fiction sophisticatedly.

9. If you don’t read the New York Times you cannot have an accurate grasp on what’s going on in the world.

10. The single greatest tragedy to happen in the United States in the past 37 years was the Kent State shootings on May 4th 1970.

There is still much for me to learn but I think this list is a good start. Oh and just incase you are wondering there is no possible way I could come up with these on my own, I am not that creative.

Good Article

2007-01-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

First off sorry for the lack of productivity on my site lately. School is kicking my butt with regards to free time so I haven't been posting too much. I have several posts in the works but for now I have a link to The Captain's Journal where you will find an excerpt from my radio interview with Hugh Hewitt last month contributing to an overall argument against the rules of engagement (ROE) in Iraq. The Captain puts together a good argument against the constricting ROE that we had to face in Iraq so visit his site and let him know what you think.

Just Doing My Part

2007-01-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

I often wonder why it always takes socialist scumbags to awaken me to the fact that there are a lot of lowlifes out there willing to take advantage of other people. Cue Appeal For Redress. I am just doing my part to spread the word about this so called "grass roots campaign" so don't credit me with this one, Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette is the one doing all the work. Visit the link above to see Greyhawk's original article.

Although I didn't discover this story I am going to add a new thought to it by referring to this as my generations first "Swiftboat Cause" as I am sure there will be more. Those of us in the military who are tired of being taken advantage of need to speak up and be the real grass roots organization that Greyhawk refers to.

So the guy who the people behind Appeal For Redress say started the website is a navy veteran who joined in 2004 and is now out. You may be wondering what this guy did while he was in the navy as I did when I first started reading about him. Well turns out he was an onboard photographer who also spent his time fixing up offices and making sure things worked properly. While others will not question a veteran's right to voice their opinions I will. What possibly does this guy have to add to the discussion on whether or not we should be in Iraq? This guy, as far as I can tell since all the links talking about him have been changed or removed from the web (most likely in the past day or so) never made it off of the ship into Iraq. Now if he wants to be ideologically opposed to war than that is fine I suppose (although I would disagree with him there too) but on the website it says "Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price." How the hell would this navy photographer know that? Now of course this guy is just a front for the organization but don't you think they could have found someone more qualified? Is this the best these people can come up with?

So what everyone should do is spread the word to as many people as they can. Send Greyhawk's article to your local representatives so they won't buy into this crap when it comes across their desk. I'll keep people updated as I hear more but be sure to keep checking back with Mudville Gazette.

Help A Soldier

2007-01-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

Some folks are above shamless self promotion...I'm not. Go over to this site and vote for the best milblog so your favorite military author can win some money. Just so you know if I win any money (highly unlikely) it will go towards the creation of my new website. You will basically be doing yourself a favor because you will get to enjoy the fruits of your own labor in voting for me. Thanks.

Yeah I Don't Get It Either

2007-01-13T23:17:00.000-05:00

After checking my site meter earlier today I learned that a number of people were coming my way via Mary Katharine Ham's website at Townhall.com. I decided to check out why they were doing so since Ham has never linked to me before. When I got to her site I watched a little video that she made that quotes me during it. I don't really know why she quotes me because what I said doesn't fit with the point she is trying to make. I am also quoted alongside the likes of some of my favorite people like John Kerry, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid just to name a few. Now I don't know whether Ham was trying to cast what I said in a negative light but after watching the video several times it seems that way to me. Of course that may not have been her intention with the video but the video is poorly done and devoid of any real meaning so the point was hard for me to grasp.

So why did I respond you may be asking? Well I just didn't want people coming to my site thinking that I support what those democratic senators said. Don't blame me for the video, I'm just an innocent bystander. Go check out the video and tell me what you think because maybe I am way off base here.

*Update* Mary Katharine Ham emailed and said she didn't mean for it to be negative in any way. No harsh feelings Miss. Ham just wondering.

I Just Got Iraqed Upside The Face

2007-01-13T15:50:00.000-05:00

My apologies to those of you who happened to see a post of mine that was up for about 20 minutes on Thursday night. I took the post down after giving it some thought and think I made the right choice. For those of you who didn't see it a little bit of explanation is warranted on my part.

The post was my initial reaction to the news from this
article. The article is about the Pentagon's new policy regarding deployments for the Guard and Reserve. Have a look for yourself.

“Until now, the Pentagon’s policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members’ cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months.”

My initial reaction was obviously not very positive but since then I have calmed down and realized that I might as well get mad at the weather. There is nothing I can do about anything the army does. So if they need me to deploy again then so be it, I just thought I would go ahead and volunteer for my last tour so I could have some assurance about the course of my future. Silly me.

On the bright side maybe I'll be able to provide everyone with news from the front again sometime soon. I won't be holding my breath but you guys are welcome to.

Two Articles

2007-01-10T21:18:00.000-05:00

By no means am I the first to share the links to these two articles but they accurately portray how I feel so I thought I would link to them so people could understand where I am coming from with a lot of my thoughts. The first article was written a week ago by J.B. Smith who served in Iraq from 2004-2005 and can be found here. The second article was written by Jed Babbin at the American Prowler (linked to in my blogroll by the name The American Spectator) and is called The A-Team?

I just figured if you are like me you could use some good reading now and again. Enjoy.

Why A Troop Increase Isn’t That Bad of an Idea

2007-01-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

Lots of talk has been made lately of the majority Republican idea of sending more troops to Iraq in an attempt to quell terrorism once and for all. Democrats (most of them at least) want us to pull out of Iraq and come home so that not one more soldier will die, or something like that. My real guess at what the democrats want is for the troops to come home so John Kerry will stop putting his foot in his mouth when he refers to them thus making potential voters angry. So here we are with two options but still without a real plan so if I may offer my two cents on the topic we’ll see if we can’t clear up a few issues.

As you already deciphered from the title of this post I am in favor of a troop increase and think it will help enormously as long as the troops are put to good use. My support for a troop increase stems from some of my experiences while in Iraq on my second yearlong tour with the army.

The town I was based in was somewhat of a model for all Arab Iraqi towns. I say Arab Iraqi towns because a true model for Iraq would be that of the Kurdish areas but since Arabs do not play nicely with Kurds we’ll take what we can get. Sometime before I arrived there the town I was in was a haven for terrorists. Due to the effort of many brave American and Iraqi soldiers the town had been cleaned up and was for the most part about as safe as you can get in Iraq. Since the town was safe, reconstruction efforts were able to get underway which in turn allowed the inhabitants of the city to see the benefit of not allowing terrorists to operate in their midst. It is simple mathematics: 2+2=4 and no terrorists=better quality of life.

When water starts flowing and schools start opening up, among many other things, people realize that we are not the Great Satan that they once thought we were. They understand that we really are there to do as we said we were four years ago. We don’t want their oil; we want to make it flow better. We don’t want to indoctrinate their kids; we want to open up schools so they can learn and make their own decisions. We only need the time and cooperation of the local population to make these things happen.

With more troops in Iraq I believe we would better be able to secure towns and allow reconstruction to happen on a larger scale. I mentioned that we cannot simply send more troops into country with the hopes of everything magically getting better but that they must be put to good use. Much has been made about the Rules of Engagement (ROE) being too strict thus hamstringing our troops from adequately doing their job and I agree. I have mentioned several times before about instances when I thought twice about doing something simply because I was worried if what I was going to do fell within the limitations of the ROE. While soldiers need to learn and memorize the ROE, the ROE need to be relaxed if we ever hope of truly crushing the terrorists. We need to be allowed to walk into any Mosque at any time to search it since they have generally been places for terrorists to hide their weapons caches. We need to come up with a standardized set of rules for Iraqis to follow when around soldiers so that anything out of the ordinary will be easily recognizable. These suggestions among many possible others should go into effect along with any troop increase that might happen in Iraq.

More troops is only part of the answer, and while it is a major part, we also need to fix the ROE. Fighting wars by political means has never worked in the past and it will not now. We need to let our war fighters do their jobs and that means having the politicians in Washington sit out of the meetings when the new ROE are drawn up. So by all means send more troops to Iraq but make sure they are helping to secure Iraq so that all Iraqis can see the benefits of the greatest democracy in the world at work and perhaps gets some notions of their own and follow in tow. That is what we want in Iraq after all isn’t it?

Back At Liberal U

2007-01-04T17:09:00.000-05:00

I do not know why I would ever be surprised by the goings on at a major university but for some reason I am now. After attending the first day of classes I visited a local bookstore to purchase my textbooks and I noticed several class reading lists that consisted solely of books bashing the Bush administration. Titles like State of Denial , The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth From 9/11 to Katrina, War on the Middle Class, and The World is Flat adorned the bookshelves and kids were rushing to get their copies. Books by Cornell West and other hate-America lefties were assigned reading and I cringed as 18-year-old students fresh out of high school plopped down their money in order to be indoctrinated by their far-left professors.

After my book buying experience I was all set to meet with a professor whom I hadn’t seen since I left school almost two years ago for Iraq. Now to be fair this professor is a friend of mine and is a great teacher but what she said to me within the first minute of seeing me confirmed the fact that I’m not in Kansas anymore. After we said our pleasantries she asked me the same thing that everyone always wants to know:

“So are you going to have to go back to Iraq?”

She said this with a hint of trepidation in her voice and when I explained to her that the earliest I would have to go back would be sometime late 2008 if at all she breathed a sigh of relief and said:

“Phhewww. By then we will have a democratic president in office so you won’t have to worry about it. If by some crazy chance Bush was elected to a third term you know you would be going back.”

After I shrugged off her ridiculous concern that Bush might somehow gain office for a third term considering it is law that presidents can only serve two terms (although admittedly Bush does have superpowers since he caused Hurricane Katrina) I found it funny that she thought I must feel the same way as she did. I can guarantee that it never crossed her mind that I would feel differently. After she was finished speaking I just smiled politely-the smile that I do when I know there is no reason to argue-and told her that I didn’t really mind my deployments and actually had a great experience. However, I am sure that this part of the conversation went somewhere off the left side of her brain and bounced around the walls of books until it found it’s way out the crack at the bottom of the door.

The reason teachers (not all teachers just to be fair) feel this way is because they live in a little academic bubble and are surrounded by like-minded peers. I don’t have a solution to this problem but if you know a young college student point them in the direction of websites that share real world information (hint: info not found in a college newspaper) the likes of which I have linked to in my blogroll. A little outside perspective can go a long way on a college campus.

Joys of Blogging

2007-01-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

So I realize that I haven’t posted for a while and for that I apologize. I just got back from my cross country media blitz consisting of one radio show interview and am currently packing up the car to go back to school. The next chapter to my “back from war” life is starting and I have to say I am excited to get on with things.

After appearing on the Hugh Hewitt show last week on which I had the opportunity to talk with many of the big milbloggers out there I ran out to Las Vegas with a blogger friend of mine and had a great weekend. A year ago when I started my blog I never would have thought that I would have done half of the things that I have done because of it. I consider myself lucky to have done the things I have since then and hope to continue on with blogging. With that said I hope to come up with a new website and finally get away from blogger. I have big plans for the future and I just ask everyone to stick with me in the meantime. I will continue to post at this URL and will be sure to let everyone know what’s going on with the new site.

So Happy New Year everyone, thanks for reading and I hope you continue to stop by. I’ll be back soon.

Listen In

2006-12-18T01:49:00.000-05:00

In lieu of a better post I just wanted to mention that I will be “appearing” on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on the 27th of this month. If you live in an area that broadcasts his show be sure to tune in but if you don’t go here to find out how you can listen. I believe I will be on for the whole show so call in and say hi if the spirit moves you.

Where do we go now?

2006-12-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Since I have expressed my disdain for the “findings” of the ISG I suppose I should offer my opinion on what course I believe our military should take to win the war in Iraq and against the greater war on terrorism in general.

First off when we find ourselves engaged in a war our military are more often than not the ones fighting it. Unless things have changed in the past three weeks since I left Iraq there weren’t any politicians on ground clothed with body armor patrolling the streets looking for the bad guys. My point being that in war we should let the war fighters fight the war with their guns and steely knives not the politicians. America cannot afford to hamstring it’s military any longer with senseless limitations.

I am not the first to make this point but the ISG offers no course for victory in Iraq. The ISG instead discusses what they think would be our smoothest course of action for pulling out of Iraq. Who said pulling out of Iraq is our only course of action? I guess considering our recent history with Vietnam, Beirut, several embassy bombings, Mogadishu, the first bombing of the WTC and the USS Cole to name a few we have been accustomed to either non-action or quitting the fight too soon.

A true Iraq Survey Group would not have been comprised of men like Baker and Hamilton but rather, men like General Norman Schwarzkopf and General Tommy Franks for their ability to make tough decisions. Along with these men a group of soldiers who had recent experience on the ground would serve as no nonsense advisors. We would need soldiers of all ranks and jobs in order to fully grasp the big picture. As I have noted before it is often hard to obtain the real picture from high-ranking officers alone so a true mix of all types of soldiers would be ideal. Throw in some educated Iraqis and a group of Iraqi soldiers who are risking their lives to save their country from falling into the hands of the terrorists and I believe my version of the ISG would come up with much more sensible recommendations than Baker’s ISG did.

The most important key for victory is to counteract the negative press coming out of Iraq. Terrorists know that to beat America they must do it on the nightly news and not on the battlefield. As things stand right now no terrorist organization or terrorist supporting country could even hope to hang with our military in battle. From my own experience I believe the terrorists are merely keeping up the fight in order to wear down the resolve of the American people. My company traveled the roads of northern Iraq and we often encountered roadside bombs but never were any of our soldiers injured. The IEDs were small and merely an annoyance. I often wondered why anyone would risk their life to place such a small bomb that had no hope of injuring anyone besides themselves and I came to the conclusion that as long as bombs were going off the news would report on them and the American people who don’t know any better will think that chaos continues to reign in Iraq.

I am not against changing our course in Iraq but I am against cutting and running. With a realistic plan for victory composed by the very men and women who are doing the fighting combined with a media who was behind our efforts I believe a victory would not be long behind. If our military was simply allowed to do their job and not be hamstrung by politicians 5000 miles and a world away Iraq would be a much different place.

What we should and should not do: An Authoritative Voice...

2006-12-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

After watching the Iraq Survey Group press conference today I am a firm believer that all politicians are idiots. Okay well not all of them but they all have a problem understanding reality. If any politician is reading this now feel free to email me and we’ll go out for coffee and I’ll further explain. But I digress.

The Iraq Survey Group’s findings or rather, recommendations are a joke and could have only come from a group of old people who have been stuck in Washington for too long. The brainpower of the ISG has come up with a new direction for our country and that includes negotiating with countries whose people chant “Death to America” and whose leaders deny the Holocaust and call for Israel to be wiped from the face of the earth. Baker and Hamilton want us to get terrorists supporting countries involved in fighting terrorism! If I am the only one who finds something wrong with that then please let me know because right now I feel like I am the only person who feels this way.

Not only are the findings of the ISG a joke but the people who led the group (Baker and Hamilton) treat soldiers like they are a joke. One of the main recommendations of the ISG is to send more troops to Iraq in order to train Iraqis so they can secure their own country, but they don’t feel that we are doing a good job of that right now because training Iraqis isn’t an attractive job for soldiers to do because it isn’t a “career advancing” job. As someone who trained Iraqis from time to time I take personal offense to this remark. In my experience soldiers clamored for the chance to train Iraqis. Any soldier who doesn’t think training Iraqis is worth their time because it isn’t a “career advancing” job shouldn’t be part in the war on terror plain and simple.

What the group desperately needed was at least one their members to have been in the military and had recent experience in Iraq. The problem with having an entire panel with no one under the age of 67 is that none of them could possibly know what the situation is actually like on the ground in Iraq. Now I concede that it is possible to have a good understanding of things as they stand in Iraq but unless you interact with the people of Iraq and spend a year or years of your life on ground you cannot possibly have a complete picture of the situation.

We cannot appease our enemies and we cannot continue to cut and run when the going gets tough. As it stands in the world right now our enemies view America as a country full of queasy people who are inclined to cut and run when things take a turn for the worse. Just as the Tet Offensive was the victory that led to our failure in Vietnam our victories in Iraq now are leading to our failure in the Middle East. How many more times must we fight to fail? I feel like all of my efforts (30 months of deployment time) and the efforts of all my brothers in arms are all for naught. I thought old people were supposed to be more patient than a 24 year old but apparently I have more patience for our victory to unfold in Iraq than 99.9 percent of Americans. Iraq isn’t fast food-you can’t have what you want and have it now. To completely change a country for the first time in it’s entire history takes time, and when I say time I don’t mean 4 years.

Talking doesn’t solve anything with a crazed people, bullets do and we need to be given a chance to work our military magic. Like I told a reporter buddy of mine: War sucks but a world run by Islamofacists sucks more.

Back Home

2006-11-24T00:09:00.001-05:00

I finally made it home a week and a half ago and have been thoroughly enjoying some time off. I have seen most of my family and friends and have enjoyed simply being in America. Being home feels completely normal to me and I haven’t even thought about Iraq one iota. The transition from soldier life to civilian life has been seamless and I rather prefer it that way, I suppose it can be chalked up to my crafty veteran status since I seem to do this every other year.

The last couple weeks in Iraq at times were pretty lame and I doubt I ever had that much free time. We played cards and watched football biding our time before we boarded the plane out of Iraq. Not all was completely unexciting as we narrowly avoided an ambush on our last mission just days before we left country. We were delayed two days in Kuwait when five different dogs smelled something “fishy” on our plane and I swear the beer in Ireland made us intoxicated at a quicker pace then I ever remembered before. It seemed as if everything was working against our coming home. Kiss my butt terrorists you’ll have to try harder than that.

But now I am back and life is good for the time being. Everything here seems to have taken on a new significance and I appreciate things a lot more. Of course I did this before and the feelings do fade with time so I’ll enjoy the taste of real food and the thrill of making my own decisions while they are still new. I have told countless people that it feels completely normal to be back home and that I am doing fine “really I am, don’t worry about me.” Everyone looks at me with a concerned stare just to make sure I am really telling the truth I guess.

I’m taking it easy for now but I’ll head off to school next year and see if I can finish up my three and a half year degree in my seventh year. “There are lots of people who go to school for seven years Tommy, they’re called doctors.” Once completed I think I just might get myself stuck in school for another three years to learn about those pesky things called laws. Who knows maybe there will be another deployment thrown in there? But who am I kidding, with a House and Senate controlled by the democrats we’ll probably be worrying too much about how to put everyone on welfare and see to it that no one has to pay for health care. I survived bullets and bombs now let’s see if I can survive a country where Nancy Pelosi is third in command.

So for the time being I am trying to figure out what exactly I’ll be doing with my blog. As soon as I find out I’ll let everyone know so rest assured, I know that is probably first and foremost on your minds right about now so I’m just looking out for you. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. If you have some time take a minute to think about how well we have it in America. I can’t even begin to list them but playing golf in a free society is right near the top.

A Last Few Thoughts

2006-11-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

Since I am only a few days away from leaving Iraq I haven't had much time to access the internet let alone follow the news. When I finally made it to a computer I found out that a lot has been going on in the last few days that concerns me to an extent. In light of those events I'll add my two cents although most of what I am going to say people will probably already be able to guess.

First, John Kerry has been and continues to remain an idiot. There isn't really much left to say on the subject that hasn't already been said. He constantly puts his foot in his mouth and is an embarrassment to America. Whether or not he intended his comment to insult those serving in the military is not the question, because even if he didn't, the end result is that he did. Kerry often touts the fact that he served in the military in Vietnam and thinks that it gives him a pass to continually talk as if he is a lifelong member of the "I-can-make-fun-of-the-military-because-I-am-a-member-of-the-club" or something. In my eyes Kerry revoked his "cool pass" with the military long ago and is no longer immune to criticism when he makes jokes about those who serve. Are there stupid people in the military? Yes. Are there smart people in the military? Yes. But there are also stupid people in college. I would much rather be around truck drivers and welders in the military for the rest of my life instead of having to dwell among the people at universities and the ketchup-heir-wooers of the world in all of their infinite wisdom. What John Kerry doesn't understand is that the people in the military are genuine people unlike the leaders of the democratic party he hangs out with. John Kerry is so far removed from reality that his jokes don't even make sense. He is nothing but an embarassment and the fact that he even draws so much attention when he does something stupid amazes me.

Moving on, elections are coming up in a few days and I have a plea for all voters: Do not let the events in Iraq in the next few days affect the way you vote. Our enemy is a calculating foe and has timed some major attacks right before elections back home in order to scare people away from voting pro-victory. We need leaders to continue to fight terrorism wherever it may be found and right now that place is Iraq. Our enemy knows Americans are a weak-kneed people and is counting on more bloodshed to scare them into voting for the cut and run party. Don't do it though. We need the right people in power to see that we continue to fight so that we can win and show the world we aren't scared to follow through with what we know is right. Enough said, I'll leave the details for you to find out on your own.

I'll share an analogous story with you. The other night I was on the road and our convoy happened upon a donkey in the middle of the road and he wasn't going to move for anything. We drove right at him going 50 miles an hour and he didn't flinch. This donkey was impeding our ability to make progress so we swerved to avoid from hitting him. He stayed in the middle of the road for the entirety of the convoy and never moved. Being experienced soldiers we knew that we needed to press on and continue the mission despite the efforts of the donkey to stop us dead in our tracks. We eventually made it back to base safely and laughed about the whole incident.

Take what you want from the story but all I ask is that you don't let the donkey impede our progress any longer.

That is all I have for now but stick around as I have several posts planned in the near future. I know most soldier/bloggers do not continue to blog upon arriving home but I plan on doing so, so continue to check out my blog. Also stick around to see if I can will myself to make a video blog that I have been thinking about making these past few days.

All You Ever Wanted To Know And More

2006-10-27T02:01:00.002-04:00

So here it is in all it's glorious longness. I was vain enough to interview myself and will probably have other milbloggers thinking about me as they always have: "Yeah he is all right I guess but I think he is stuck on himself." I hope you enjoy.

From your observations do the Iraqi people have the ability, desire, and personal integrity to govern themselves totally on their own?

This is a tough question to answer right now. I in no way pretend to have all the answers but I will do my best to explain how I feel about the Iraqis ability to govern themselves. I do not believe they are ready to govern themselves in a way similar to how we do in America. I believe there is a serious lack of education in Iraq among the general public and this would hamper their ability to govern themselves in such a way that we would see as adequate. There are some decent people here and I have met several myself but on the larger scale there are too many problems with this country right now for Iraqis to govern completely on their own. With Iranian influence, fear of al qaeda, and a general dislike between Sunnis and Shias, Arabs and Kurds, and Muslims and Christians, I do not believe everyone would be treated equal under an Iraqi leadership. Without equal treatment for all and without a competent army and police force many problems would arise that we can only guess at right now.

However, I believe given time and an understanding by the world at large that "new" countries will make mistakes in the early stages of government I think the Iraqis would figure things out over time. I do believe it will take them longer than most but then again we didn't figure things out ourselves for quite some time.

How does your experience in Iraq comport with U.S. media accounts of the situation over there? What are the gaps in information that we're not getting?

I have written about the media many times and don't have much new to say on the subject but I do not believe the MSM presents the whole picture of Iraq. If the world only sees the carnage in Iraq then the bigger picture certainly is not making it out. There are many cities here that are making great strides and their efforts often go unreported. If the media really want to get the big picture across they do not need to be afraid to report on positive stories. I understand that it can sometimes be hard for them to travel around and accurately gauge the general feel in Iraq but I believe it is their job and if they want to be taken seriously they need to make an effort.

The gaps in info can often be found in the writings of milbloggers like Bill Roggio, Michael Yon, Buck Sargent at American Citizen Soldier, and writers who travel to Iraq like Victor Davis Hanson. Those who come to Iraq in search of the truth will find it and if they don't have stings attached such as many reporters with major companies do, I think it will be easier for them to tell it like it is.

How do you gauge the attitude of the Iraqis toward Americans? Are most of them hostile and uncooperative?

I do not want to pigeonhole all Iraqis so I can only talk about the ones I have come in contact with. The majority of Iraqis I have been around have been hesitant at first in their dealings with Americans but once they come to know us they open up and are mainly friendly with us. Of course some of them will not want to deal with us and will be uncooperative as a result but I don't believe this sentiment runs throughout Iraq. The Iraqis I have been around, Iraqi army, police, and translators have all had a somewhat positive attitude about the direction their country is taking. Of course they probably had a positive attitude towards Americans prior to my meeting them hence their joining in the fight so my view is somewhat skewed.

What is the mindset of our troops in Iraq? Are they disturbed by the naysaying from some quarters about the war? How do they feel about being there and possibly returning later?

The mindset of our troops here is probably not what most Americans think it would be. Many soldiers are not politically minded and don't give much thought as to why they are here or what the consequences of their actions are. However, with that said there are still idealistic soldiers who understand the fight they are in and are doing their best to win the fight against terrorists who want to see America fail. I for one am one of those soldiers and know several others who share the same sentiment.

As far as returning later I would say most soldiers have accepted it. Whether or not they are happy about it is a different question but there still are a majority of soldiers reenlisting. There are also soldiers who continually volunteer to come back. For instance there are a couple of soldiers in my unit who will be volunteering for a third tour as soon as they can. These guys might just be war junkies but they do feel that they are doing something positive with their lives so their motivation isn't all bad.

What do you look forward to MOST about getting home?

Good question. I think just getting on with life. I do want to get back to reality and enjoy some of my twenties in the states though. That will probably be good enough.

What will you miss the most about Iraq?

Making a difference I suppose. Being here makes us feel like we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. It gives us an outlook on life that many kids our age back home don't have and I think when I get back to the real world I will miss having so much in common with such a tight group of people. Everyone loves being part of a community.

What would you say is the most challenging task you have faced to make a difference since you have been there?

Making it through the monotony of army life. It isn't all action over here as any soldier could tell you and there is quite a bit of down time (depending on your job that is). Added with the BS that we have to deal with apart from our jobs and spending a year here can be a trying experience.

What are your plans after you get back, short term and for the future?

First I plan on finishing up my undergraduate studies which I should do come summer time and then possibly enrolling in law school. I don't want to be a lawyer but do see myself making an attempt at politics later on down the road. I want to make a difference in this world and I think I am better equipped to do that outside of the military. Now if I can just find some people to vote for me then it might make things easier.

How has the second tour in Iraq changed your life? For better? For more difficult?

I am lucky not to have a family of my own back home or this second deployment would have been much more difficult. I admire the men and women who can have a family back home and come over here and serve honorably (there is a difference between simply coming here and serving honorably). I for one would never want to have to do it but am thankful for those who do. As far as changing my life I suppose that is has given me a better outlook on the world that I wouldn't have had if I would have just stayed in the states and went about my own business. I was able to travel at a young age and be a part of something that I consider great, one that history will look back favorably upon, and am thankful for the opportunity to have been able to help out people in need. I believe this last deployment helped me grow up in a way I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I also saved a good it of money that will come in handy later on down the road.

Who are some of your heroes? (famous, not famous, historical, not historical, family, military or a colleague?)

I don't have any specific heroes but I do find heroic those who can stick with it when things get rough. I admire hard work and dedication but as far as heroes I don't look to any one person. All human beings have faults so while I might pick and choose traits to emulate from certain notable people I don't find myself standing in awe of anyone.

Did you meet any Iraqis who were Christians and did you have a chance to discuss it with them?

To my knowledge I never met and Iraqi Christian.

As non-military, what is the one or two things that we can do (besides not asking stupid questions!:) for (the collective) you as you return? Handshake and a thank-you? Free meal at a restaurant? Etc

I might catch some flak for saying this but soldiers don't need free stuff, although it is nice once in awhile, but rather, just a handshake and an expression of sincere thanks. If you say something like "Thank you for taking the time out of your life to help others and make the world a safer place" that would be great. We know many people support us and we do hear about it.

What would you consider your most important accomplishment as a Soldier during both tours of Iraq?

That is a tough question because I did so many important things in Iraq. There was the time I performed Chinese Fire Drills around my truck as a friend and I were traveling 55 mph down the road, then there was the time I went tubing with some Australians in the Euphrates, of course the time I was gunning naked in a turret in 40 degree weather...oh there are so many. If I was to pick one though I guess it would have to be keeping my sanity intact after all the crap I have had to deal with.

I wonder, assuming in the next few years you settle down with Mrs TF Boggs and in a few more years have little TF Boggers and TF Boggettes, how do you think (when they are old enough) a discussion about the work dad did in freeing and securing Iraq will go? And what do you see Iraq looking like when you have that discussion?

I guess that all depends on whether or not my kids are child prodigies. If they are then I will probably tell them before they hit high school and become too smart for my lies but if they aren't then probably when their teachers start telling them about the history of the Iraq war according to CNN. By that time I believe Iraq will have some form of functioning government that is able to supply decent water, decent electricity, and basic sanitation services for their people. I think that terrorism will have died down to a very small degree but will not be completely gone. They will be about as good as an ally as France is to us but will be a harmless country to the world. Basically I see them not being where we would like them to be but in a place that we can settle for.

What did one snowman say to the other?

Is that a carrot in your pocket or did you just forget to put your nose on today?

Why did you go into the Reserves or is it National Guard and not on active duty? Is it a fear of commitment? Also, what is your beef with the 101st?

I joined the army reserves because I wanted to continue to attend college while serving at the same time. I figured I would be deployed since I joined after 9/11 so it wasn't a fear of commitment. The active duty life never really appealed to me, nothing against those who choose it though. I am glad that there are people who want to be in the military for a career it was just never for me. As far as the 101st goes I have nothing against them I just mentioned in my last post that I don't believe they did a very good job securing Baghdad but that belief comes from what I have heard and read so I might be way off the mark. (I am assuming by your name that you were a rakkasan, am I right?)

What do you think about the lancet study claiming 650,000 deaths since the war began?

I apologize for not having read about the study but I did hear it mentioned several times. I don't buy into it but that is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth. I think if 650,000 people really died since 2003 I would have seen a lot more dead people than I did. 650,000 people don't exactly disappear.

When are we gonna have some beers?

As far as buying me some beers I am all for it just send me a plane ticket and I'll be out for the free beer as soon as I can. That goes for anyone, if you want to buy me beer just send me a plane ticket to where you are and I'll hop on the next plane. But seriously as soon as I can make it out your way Rick you can buy all the beer you want.

How do the Iraqis you work with see the situation? Do they speak of the violence afflicting parts of their country?

They honestly don't talk about it too much. They occasionally mention that one place or another is dangerous and they would die if they went there (because of their affiliation with us and the Iraqi army). They never really get into the meaning of it all and keep it really surface level. I imagine a lot of this is simply because of the language barrier but I can tell on their faces that it distresses them and they are concerned about their country.

If so, do they offer any opinions/ideas on how to turn the tide?

The only Iraqi I talked with that offered ideas on how to turn the tide was the general I interviewed a few months back. He said that the men of Iraq need to step up and secure their own country and if they don't nothing will ever change. He also said that they need to be willing to sacrifice their time and effort to better their country for the future and I imagine if more Iraqi men felt like him then things would slowly but surely change.

I want to know what would you say to the Americans who have become indifferent to our returning troops?

I would say that they are so wrapped up in their own lives and sick of seeing the war on TV night after night that they have quit caring. I guess it is their right to be indifferent so I wouldn't say much to them, except that I believe it is their duty to research the war and find out exactly how they feel about it since I believe what is going on in Iraq affects everyone in America. I also believe some people simply don't know how to say thanks to soldiers so I wouldn't blame everyone for not doing something but if someone doesn't have any appreciation for returning soldiers then I think they are simply ignorant.

Will you be voting to "Stay the Course" or "Change the Course" on Nov. 7?

If I had an absentee ballot (which by the way is kinda hard to get in the desert) I would be voting for victory in Iraq. Now if by "Stay the Course" you mean Republican and by "Change the Course" you mean Democrat I would be voting to "Stay the Course" since those who want to "Change the Course" are more often then not defeatists and don't have the gall to stand up for anything. So again I would vote to "Stay the Course" and not "Change the Course" unless of course by "Stay the Course" you mean only playing one golf course for the rest of my life and by "Change the Course" you mean playing different courses from time to time. If that is the case then I would definitely vote to "Change the Course" and not "Stay the Course." But as it stands now I would vote to "Stay the Course."

Would you please define what you mean by faithful?

Someone who continued to read my blogs after they realized that I was just a dumb kid from Ohio who started this blog just to score chicks.

What prompted you to blog?

My dad told me I should do it because Hugh Hewitt would realize I was the man and put a link to me on his site by June. But what my dad didn't tell me was that Hugh Hewitt would then take it down a month later for some reason. I blame my father for the whole thing. Hugh you are off the hook, it isn't your fault because you never promised me anything.

Did you have a role model, a standard set by another blogger that you wanted to meet?

Nope, I actually never read blogs until I started my own. Sorry for the lame answer.

Will you continue to blog from home or have you groomed someone still stationed in Iraq to be your eyes and ears while you are stateside?

I will continue to blog from home inshallah. I never did find someone to groom to be my heir apparent but then again Buck Sargent is still here in Iraq and I am sure if you asked him he would admit that I had a profound affect on him. So be on the lookout for Boggs stateside.

You now have the opportunity to go anywhere in the world! Where will it be?

I want to go to Tanzania off the coast of Australia in the summer time. I tried to go for my leave this year but it was winter there so I had to pick somewhere else to go.

What do you want your first meal at home to be?

Some type of food would be the best for me (mom is that you?)

What would you say to a young(er) person contemplating signing up for a branch of the military in these times?

I would say "Great! Hop into my car and I'll drive you to the recruiter myself. We'll get the papers signed today and you'll be off to basic before you know it." On a serious note I would encourage them to do so because I feel it is a duty of able bodied individuals who also have the right mindset to handle the military. I would tell them that it has changed me as a person and helped me to mature at a time when many people I know still live night to night watching The Real World and whatever show Paris Hilton is on. The money is good, you get fed for free, free clothes, free travel...what is there not to like.

Would you really do it ALL again?

Hmmm. If I had a different job and I felt I was going to be able to make a difference then yes. I would want to skip all the pre-training we have to go through before we come here but I do think I would do it all over again. Some people have to sacrifice for the betterment of the world and I don't mind doing so. I didn't really have anything else going on anyway.

Are we 'winning' the war?

Great question. If you could define winning and war for me and I could answer you according to your own definitions then perhaps yes. I do believe we are and we will continue to do so until we pull out of here.

When did you first realize you were gay? Is that the reason you joined the Army, to be around all that glistening man meat for 24/7/365?

The first time I realized I was gay was when...wait a minute you are trying to trick me aren't you? On a serious tip the privledge of being around so much "glistening man meat" for an extended period of time is only another reason I would encourage youngsters to join up. I may not be gay but I sure can appreciate a dirty, sweaty, smelly army guy like only another army guy could.

And, why can't you be as cool as Buck Sargent over on americancitizensoldier.blogspot.com?

Now I know you are toying with me. The mere mention of anyone ever being as cool as Buck Sargent is simply preposterous. No one will ever be able to achieve the level of awesomeness that Buck has in such a relatively short amount of time. You might have well asked me why I am only the second most popular milblogger on the internet or why Blackfive doesn't include me on their blogroll, those are questions only God knows the answer to.

Congrats on making it all the way through.

Ask Away

2006-10-22T04:28:00.001-04:00

A faithful reader suggested to me in an email the other day that it might be fun to post an interview of myself just like I used to do with other soldiers in my unit (which by the way I failed miserably at continuing). So I am asking that if you would like to see this happen then post your questions in the comment section of this post and I will answer as many as I can and post them in a few days. If not then just stay away from my blog for the next week or so. Any and all questions will be answered...okay well at least considered. Ask away.

Time Is Getting Short

2006-10-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

Leaving the wire one last time

With only three or so weeks left till I return home I am having some of the same thoughts I had at the end of my first deployment. While I am ready to go home and get away from the army for a while I feel a bit hesitant about leaving Iraq. It may sound funny to an outsider but part of me wants to stay here and continue doing my job, although admittedly a smaller part of me wants to stay this time than I did the first time. I suppose the best way to explain my feelings would be to say that I don’t like leaving a job halfway done. I would like to be able to come over here and see through what we came to do till the end but with our forces seemingly committed until at least 2010 I know that isn’t a reality.

Just when we started to feel like we had all aspects of our job down pat the time has come to pick up and leave. Months and months were invested in our training and figuring out our job. Mistakes were made in abundance but now we are to the point where we can seemingly run down the road without problem. Sure we have our minor mishaps but for the most part we are an experienced crew operating as the army wants us too. If a convoy could be a thing of beauty ours are. Okay that last statement might be over the top but you get where I am going.

I guess there in lies the rub with the way the army conducts deployments. In today’s world there would be public outcry if soldiers were deployed to a war zone for years at a time like they were in previous wars (just look at the outcry that followed the announcement about the 172nd Stryker Brigade having to extend a few months). The problem though is that it takes close to a year for soldiers to become completely comfortable with their job. With this war, where no conceivable end is in sight, it wouldn’t be possible for soldiers to remain in theater for the duration. The army must allow breaks for soldiers in order for us to maintain our sanity. However, when an experienced unit leaves their area of operation a new unit must make all the same mistakes again on their own to the disappointment and frustration of the local population. We are pretty much damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Nothing is ever perfect especially in the army, but hey who does it better than we do?

When my unit first arrived in country the unit we replaced made sure we knew not to travel in one particular town where a previous unit had mistakenly killed some people and the whole town turned on them as a result. The actions of the units before us directly affected an aspect of our mission and we had to pay the price as a result of others mistakes. I don’t want to make the case for units staying longer in theater, as I don’t want to have to do it myself, but those who are good at what they do (172nd) pay the price for those who aren’t (101st and 4th ID in Baghdad) which leads to resentment.

Correct me if I am wrong, as I am sure a lot of people will, but from what I have seen reserve soldiers care about the quality of the job they do more than active duty soldiers do. Of course this is a sweeping generality as I have no way of gauging all units but from my personal experience in my little corner of Iraq this is what I have seen. When we arrived in country we were left with a motor pool full of broken vehicles. We had barely just enough vehicles to hit the road with and often had to fix broken down vehicles out on the road. Our maintenance section put in 24-hour days trying to get our fleet back up and working and should be awarded a medal for their hard work that now has us working with almost 100 percent of our equipment. Now that we are leaving we have been working tirelessly making sure the unit replacing us has not only working vehicles, but a clean and orderly motor pool, TOC, trailers etc. Although we sometimes complain about the extra work we have to do that the active duty unit we replaced failed to do for us we realize that the mission must continue after we leave and therefore must do our part to ensure that we don’t screw the new unit like we were screwed.

Okay well I have strayed from my original topic and therefore must apologize to all of my English teachers of the past. So we are counting the days now and are finally in the teens. With only three weeks left I find myself reflecting on the experiences of the past year. When I do so I tend to think only about the good stuff and leave the bad stuff by the wayside. I did the same thing shortly after returning home from my first deployment. For some reason I can never remember all the things I bitched about or hated while in country. Instead the stories that come to mind are overwhelmingly positive. I remember when I was just a FNG trying to find the chow hall, or whatever you people in the real world call the place where you eat food. I remember hitting the road for the first time and looking forward to a year of traveling the roads of Northern Iraq. I always loved doing the things that non-military types never get to do-shooting at stuff while driving down the road, watching stuff blow up on the side of the road, talking to Iraqis about women, and lying down for bed in an open prison in Baghdad watching tracers fly through the air over my head.

When I really give it some thought I think I’ll miss this place. Iraq has been my home for two out of the last three years. I am more at home here then I am in America. I told the story before about last Thanksgiving but I think I’ll do it again because it accurately describes what I mean. Last Thanksgiving I woke up at 4:30 am on the ground in Kuwait after a few hours of sleep and then rolled over and ate my favorite MRE: Cajun Beans and Rice. It seemed perfectly normal to me and I didn’t give any thought about Thanksgiving back home. I wasn’t home sick rather, just looking forward to the day of shooting that lay ahead. Now I find myself worrying about what awaits in America. Will I be able to readjust to college life? Will I remember how to function with regular civilians? When will I learn to stop cussing and looking out for people to shoot? What will I do now that I have to pay for food and gas?

Whatever I face I know it is just a matter of time before I am back to complaining about the things we complain about in America i.e. the weather being too hot, nothing being on TV, and having to pay too much for gas ( at least I think that is what people complain about.)

I am writing this as it is raining outside. The first time it rained here was a day or so after we got here last year. Time to pack up and leave for the last time (fingers crossed!).

Victor and I

2006-10-11T18:08:00.000-04:00

Well congratulations are due to me for making it into a Victor Davis Hanson column entitled “Traitors to the Enlightenment” this past week on his blog The Private Papers. He mentions how T F Boggs “keeps even the pope safe and the continent confident…” That is indeed high praise from one of my favorite authors isn’t it?

Okay, okay, okay so Victor wasn’t talking about me but he did mention my good old home state of Ohio.

“Those in an auto parts store in Fresno, or at a NASCAR race in southern Ohio, might appear to Europeans as primordials with their guns, “fundamentalist” religion, and flag-waving chauvinism. But it is they, and increasingly their kind alone, who prove the bulwarks of the West. Ultimately what keeps even the pope safe and the continent confident in its vain dialogues with Iranian lunatics is the United States military and the very un-Europeans who fight in it.”

I cannot claim to be a NASCAR fan but I am from Ohio. So maybe VDH didn’t have me personally in mind when he wrote the column but I bet I would make it in to his gross generalization about those who are working to protect the world from terrorists.

While I was in London on leave in August I found myself talking to a London cop that I was hanging out with for the night after downing one too many pints. As I looked around the bar I again saw what kept striking me as odd for the whole week or so I was in London: there was an absence of males that looked like “real men.” I turned to the cop and said:

“You know what, I haven’t seen anyone that looks like a real man in London.”

He looked at me for a second and then spoke: “What do you mean?”

“Well everyone has a stupid little mohawk-type deal going on with their hair and they wear tight form fitting clothes that accentuate their butt. They all look prissy to me.”

I doubt this was the best way to win over my guide for the night but I imagine he brushed it off with a thought that I was just a dumb American. I guess I must have forgotten he was a European male or something. I could really care less though and as the night progressed he seemed to forget about my comment anyway. We shared drinks and swapped stories until he left me wandering alone in downtown London at 3am miles from my hotel. Come to think about it maybe he didn’t forget about the comment.

Perhaps VDH is right, maybe all the men in the military are very un-European. Maybe that is why I only saw Justin Timberlake-like metrosexuals in London. The longer I stayed in London the more I missed America. Conceivably the men in London threw me off keel since I have been around military guys for so long and am used to smoking, cussing, belching, and lewd behavior.

Oh if only all men could be like military men then our world would be safe from terrorists but not from bad behavior.

The editors of Maxim would rule the country and Marlboro and Camel would be the different political parties. We would drink coke instead of water, dip instead of brushing our teeth, Febreze instead of wash clothes, work out instead of work, and play video games instead of read. Oh what a country!

Like it or not these are the types of guys that fight everyday for the freedoms that Americans enjoy. We may not win any politeness awards but that is not what you want of your fighting force entrusted with the task to kill the bad guys. Let us watch NASCAR and talk cars all the while skirting around books without pictures and workouts that don’t involve weights.

All this is said in order to prove me very un-European, but from the looks of it I doubt you would have confused me otherwise.

One more for good measure.

A Problem That Needs To Be Fixed

2006-10-02T11:48:00.000-04:00

Looks scary out there, I'll just stay in my trailer.

Of course there are numerous things I believe the army could fix or simply do better but there is one major problem that I believe that needs to be fixed right away. In the 30 or so months I have spent deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since February 2003 I have never heard a word out of anyone’s mouth in the army from the brigade level down about why we are fighting in Iraq. We receive numerous classes about how to behave while in country but nothing about why we are in country to begin with which leads me to believe our chain of command is not concerned about their soldiers having a clue why they are here or not. Whether or not this is the case is not what I am concerned with, it appears that way and since perceptions are a reality for a lot of soldiers I believe it needs to be addressed.

Let me get something straight before I continue though; I believe we have good reason to be in Iraq and I am content fighting for the reasons that put me here i.e. Saddam was dangerous, he expressed a want for nuclear weapons and whether or not he had them he was actively seeking them, he used WMD’s against his own people before, he violated UN sanctions etc. etc. yadda yadda yadda. The list goes on and on, and like I said is satisfactory for myself and a number of other soldiers, but I believe that most soldiers don’t have the slightest clue why they are really here. Whether this fault is completely their own or partly the fault of their chain of command is up for debate.

Why do I believe that most soldiers don’t have a clue why they are here you may be asking? Well I hear them talking about it all the time. “We are only here for the oil, to avenge Bush’s daddy, to try and take over the world” insert any loony reason you want into this sentence and they have probably said it. These beliefs are not only echoed by lower enlisted soldiers but I have also heard complete confusion or just plain wrong assumptions for our being here from senior enlisted NCOs and officers. These beliefs are not only unfounded on my fellow soldiers’ parts but also intellectually irresponsible and lazy on the part of their leaders. Leaders in the army have many responsibilities toward their soldiers and I believe one of those responsibilities is mentoring them on the why and not just then when and how.

To outline the problem more specifically I believe there is almost no understanding of why we are fighting in Iraq on the company level (i.e. each individual unit). We carry out our job day in and day out without ever hearing how we are affecting the war cause with our efforts. If we were only presented with the big picture once in awhile I think we would have more motivation to complete our job the best we are able to. I understand the job of most soldiers is to do rather than to question but I don’t believe that is an excuse to go about our jobs ignorant of the overall picture. If our leaders took the time to sit us down and talk to us about why we are in Iraq as often as they do about sexual harassment or finance we would have a much better understanding of why we are fighting.

I am willing to bet a large sum of money that most soldiers in WWII knew exactly what they were fighting for. They went to Europe and the Pacific with the knowledge that if they weren’t successful they would be facing the consequences of a Nazi dominated Europe on one side and a power hungry Japanese threat on the other. Of course it would be easier to fight a uniformed enemy like we did in WWII than to do what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan where everyone looks like an enemy, but this is precisely the reason why we need a better understanding of the big picture in order to stay motivated and keep up the fight.

I accuse myself of being guilty in the past of championing only the good of what is going on in Iraq. I have argued against polls that have come out stating that a majority of soldiers simply wish they could leave Iraq now and go home and I feel now that I would be wrong to do so again. While I do believe that if it came down to the brass tax most soldiers would agree that we should not cut and run right now I do not believe the majority of soldiers could give you a detailed description of why we are fighting in Iraq other than saying something like “we are doing it for the Iraqi people so they can be free.” Giving the Iraqi people a chance at freedom is a great and honorable thing but it is not the only reason why we are here.

This problem perplexes me and I wish I could do more about it. Of course I spend my time trying to educate fellow soldiers if they want to listen but I usually cannot get passed my first argument before someone calls me a Bush lover and asks me if I want to listen to some Toby Keith while drinking Coca Cola and eating apple pie. I liken the problem to the problem America has with poor voter turnout for elections. I do not believe everyone should vote since most people are misinformed or simply ignorant about which candidate to vote for and it is the same with soldiers and their opinions about the war. Most soldiers don’t take the time to watch the nightly news let alone read about what is going on outside their trailer. Most soldiers’ opinions don’t mean squat and shouldn’t because they don’t have a mind for anything other than their work. If a convoy to a base that needs fuel desperately to carry out helicopter missions in order to catch bad guys gets scratched due to bad circumstances so be it, more time for them to watch TV. If we only had a better idea of the consequences of our actions we wouldn’t feel this way. I don’t mean to make it sound like all soldiers could care less or don’t have brains but the reality is that some of them don’t.

So what do I believe we should do about the problem then? I think we should start training soldiers on all aspects of their deployment. If they are going to be stationed in Baghdad then we should explain to them what is going on in Baghdad and what our military leaders hope to see happen in the future. We should also explain to each unit how they figure into the plan for the future and give them constant updates about how what they are doing is affecting the outcome of the plan for the positive or the negative. This training should not be conducted individually by every unit but rather, by a team of army approved speakers that could travel around and/or compile power point slides, videos, and fact books to hand out for units to provide for their soldiers. This would probably be the only way the army would be able to control what information is being put out to soldiers and would mirror the way in which they disseminate information already so it wouldn’t be a big change.

We could also prepare soldiers at home station before they deploy by giving them a history of the region and the conflict we are in. By doing so false information and rumors would be stopped dead in their tracks before soldiers got into country and started talking to friends and family, and in some cases the media, and spreading the lies they hear from other soldiers.

All soldiers don’t have to believe in what they are fighting for but at the very least they should be educated about the reasons why their leadership has asked them to fight in a foreign land. With more education only comes more understanding and that is never a bad thing. Until the army takes this problem seriously I believe more soldiers will look back on their time in the desert as a good but unnecessary experience.

In The Mind of a Soldier

2006-09-28T21:40:00.000-04:00

When I returned home from my first deployment I faced a slew of questions from seemingly everyone I came in contact with. Everyone wanted to know if it was hot, sandy, did I kill anyone, did anyone in my unit die or get hurt, am I okay, do I have bad dreams at night, is my hair falling out because I was around too much depleted uranium? The question that struck me as the most odd was “Was it scary?” Several people asked me if it was scary or if I was ever scared during my time in the sandbox. I had never thought of life in Iraq as scary so the question made me pause for a minute before I answered: “Uh…nope.”

Some people reacted to my answer with wide eyes and the reply that they would most assuredly be scared if they were in my position. “Oh I couldn’t imagine being so far away from home with all that bad stuff going on.” Really, well maybe that’s why I was there and you weren’t. What people often fail to recognize about soldiers is that we aren’t afraid, sure some anxiousness comes into play at times but I wouldn’t call it being scared. We train and train to do our jobs and when we finally get to do them it is the same as mechanic fixing a car, a garbage man picking up the trash, or a teacher delivering a lesson each day. The people in those professions don’t wake up each morning wondering if they might die that day and neither do we. We might face a bit more of a chance of getting shot or blown up then they do but it is all part of the job. I think they call them occupational hazards.

So what exactly do we think each day? Most soldiers debate what player they should bench on their fantasy sports teams, what new pictures to put up on their Myspace page, how many days they have left till they go home, or what exciting topic they are going to titillate their readers with next (okay that last one was just me). My point is that we think about the same things as people do back home it’s just that we are doing so in a different time zone. Sure getting blown up might briefly cross my mind once or twice a week but it is a passing thought and goes as quickly as it comes. Why think about that stuff? If it happens it happens, what am I going to do about it? What are you going to do about getting in a car wreck besides taking the only necessary steps you can?

Admittedly these thoughts change and occur more often depending on a soldier’s job but the fact is no one in the military gives it much thought except the extremely morbid. Thinking about death too much would only hamper our ability to do our jobs. If each time I drove through a city I worried about getting hit with a car bomb or an IED I wouldn’t be able to focus on my driving. We do occasionally get hit with IEDs but that is no reason to fear them every time we are on the road. I find myself having a hard time explaining this feeling in words right now. How can I not be scared of that which might kill me each time I leave my base? I imagine these feelings might change if anyone from my unit had died on the road but so far no one has.

Lets try another example. If the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6th 1944 were too scared to do their job then they wouldn’t have broken through the Nazi defenses that day. Sure some if not all of them were scared but too much fear only hampers one’s ability to do their job. Soldiers look at their work as a mission that needs to be accomplished in order for the greater good of the operation they are participating in. If they don’t complete their job then it will hurt others and possibly place the overall mission in jeopardy. To do that would be complete failure and we cannot let something like fear overcome us when there is a job to be done.

Shame also plays a big role in motivating soldiers to move past their nervousness in order to get the job done. In basic training this idea is put to use over and over by drill sergeants. “Private if you don’t make it up that rope your ass is going to be mine! Your gonna let your whole platoon down!” At least for me I know the thought that millions of soldiers have done the same thing I have done in the military (and much worse in times past) motivates me to do my job when the going gets tough. I remember a particular time in basic training when I was at the end of a long ruck march and I thought it would be easier just to quit then complete the last couple miles. Then a thought of shame crept into my mind as I remembered all of the less athletic kids than I that I knew completed the very same training.

Whether wrong or right, or rather, just merely chauvinistic thinking on my part I have never dropped out of an army PT run that a female was in. I cannot let myself drop out while a girl is still running no matter how bad I may be hurting. Very stupid I know and chastise me accordingly but my point is that most soldiers, male and female, think along these same lines. We cannot simply quit when others are counting on us. We cannot be afraid when our jobs call for steadfast dedication.

I imagine I’ll get the same questions when I return home in a few weeks. Civilians yearn to know what it is like for deployed soldiers even if they don’t know the right questions to ask. My advice is to stay away from general questions like “So what was it like?” and “So did you like it?” What was what like and did I like what? Try and connect to the soldier and ask questions about their job or the area they operated in. “Now I understand you were in northern Iraq, how was the weather compared to the more southern cities?” or “What kind of problems did you encounter each day while doing your job?” These types of questions will lead the soldier to remember certain stories and from there they will probably open up about some real experiences they had.

It wasn’t until several months after I was thoroughly sick of answering any and all questions that people had of me that I started to open up on my own about certain things I did. Given a bit of time to myself I finally felt like talking about my deployment and was met with more accepting ears when the stories came out willingly on my part. I doubt I could say the same for all soldiers but I felt like it was my duty to tell people what life in Iraq was really like because I found that most people had no clue what was going on. Times have obviously changed from 2003 but many people know nothing more than fighting is still going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. I once had a girl back home ask me what an IED was and that was this year.

So go ahead and ask away because you’ll easily be able to tell if your question is dumb by the look on the soldiers face. Remember there are no dumb questions only stupid people.

Apology Of My Blog

2006-09-18T12:16:00.000-04:00

Ok so here’s the deal: I am not a “front lines” type of soldier who happens to be stationed where all the reporters and news cameras are. I am just your run of the mill soldier doing a job that doesn’t make the headlines unless something goes wrong. I am right near a major city, Mosul, which just happens to be a place where all the news cameras have left hence no one hears much about it anymore. I have my opinions of course and like to share them with anyone willing to listen. My blog has and remains to be a collection of thoughts and opinions from the “common” soldier. As I have noted before I am not a “cool guy” soldier doing “really sweet” stuff that books and movies are written about. Perhaps the only book you would ever read about someone like me is if I wrote one.

I regret the decisions that lead me to my current job because I know I could be better used elsewhere. I often struggle with the daily grind of the army because it really isn’t my cup of tea. I like serving in the military but the menial jobs that make up so much of the military just don’t do it for me. If I would have known better, or just known someone who knew better, I would have followed a different path in the army and would probably have done something that would have allowed me to send Jihadists to paradise each day. Now that I have spent 2 1/2 years on deployment though, I often wonder if I would have the energy to do it all over again performing a new job.

My blog has always been from the perspective of someone who is in the theater but not on center stage. I think I have always been a little down stage right which doesn’t lend my blog that air of “freaking awesomeness” that others might have who tell tales of running to and fro from the shower under raining down mortars, or those who sit and contemplate life in the midst of a firefight. I came, I saw, I drove a truck. I had my share of non-regular-civilian-world occurrences but nothing that many other soldiers hadn’t already gone through themselves so I didn’t find it pertinent information to share with everyone. There are a number of blogs out there where people can read this type of blather all day long and I didn’t want mine to be another one of them.

I started my blog with the intention of sharing the truth about what is going on in Iraq as I see it and how it relates to me. I have a particular interest in politics and some of my focus has been there also. I tend to be sarcastic because I believe the world needs a little sarcasm with all of the serious idiocy going on today. I wish I had a more central role in the war right now so that I might better be able to share with everyone the truth on the ground, however, all viewpoints need to be shared and are of value to the overall picture. If everyone blogging were and infantry soldier, or a company commander for instance, the whole picture wouldn’t make it out. I believe that milbloggers in theater have a unique opportunity to share real time updates and give readers an on the ground insight into the fight. I liken milblogs to the letters soldiers have written in past wars and believe they will have an historical significance in the future for anyone wanting to learn about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I would and do encourage soldiers with half a brain to write about their time here in country and value what they have to say more than most of what the media does. I have never accepted any help or advertisements to my blog in order to remain independent and above reproach from haters.

I by no means pretend that I have all the answers about this war. There are a lot of people who use me as a way to vent their criticisms about the Bush administration and their handling of the war. Have we made mistakes in Iraq? Sure. Have we made positive strides in Iraq? Yes. I do not think it is or was possible for the government and military leaders to predict all of the problems and exact outcomes of our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan every step of the way. The belief that such a thing is possible and the blame that follows as a result is unfounded and dangerous. Hindsight is 20/20 especially when Americans are dying. If only our government was as perfect as everyone expects it to be and the soldiers on ground were physically and mentally capable to handle every problem that came their way despite an unwillingness to cooperate on behalf of those they are helping and with the negative criticism coming from every angle from the armchair generals back home.

My friends and I have a saying here that goes “Don’t talk about it, be about it.” Most people love to talk big boy talk like “Oh yeah well if I was there I would do this and that and nobody would hold me back.” Or “If I was president I would do this and that and everything would be just peachy.” The problem with those people is that they have words with no actions and no qualifications. I can sit in my room on Saturday and yell at Ohio State’s football coach all I want and tell him he needs to bench this player and give more time to that player but until I invest the amount of time into doing his job that he has I have no room to talk. Sure I can comment as a fan all I want and have the right to do so but when I start thinking that I know better than he does I start to overstep my bounds.

I have always believed that the war in Iraq was the right war at the right time. I have constantly defended that belief and I don’t see it changing any time soon. Despite all I have seen and read I still agree with this war, maybe not everything we have done along the way but the fact that we did it in the first place. I believe that over time we will see achievements on par with what we hoped for at the outset of this war but things take time and we need to allow them to unfurl before we damn them as failures. As I have said many times before patience is a virtue that is seriously lacking in the world today. Perhaps the guiltiest among us are the politicians that represent us. Politicians are so worried about not rocking the boat that they lose sight of doing the right thing. Their main concern seems to be doing what will keep their constituency happy so they can keep their jobs not what will be best for our country in the long run.

I am a pro-victory conservative and want nothing more right now than to see our country do the right thing in Iraq and Afghanistan, which in my opinion is to stay and get the job done. We are at a pivotal point in our history and the world, as usual, is looking to us to do the right thing. Other countries might not agree with us but they sure rely upon us to clean up the messes in the world. We are often damned when we do and damned when we don’t. The good thing about the operations we are in is that we are not in them alone. The help we receive from other countries is often downplayed and underreported by our media but is of immense importance especially in Afghanistan where we would be lost without them.

When all is said and done I don’t think I nor anything that I said was in any way more important than anyone else. I am just here to share my thoughts with those who want to listen. My only hope is that I have given some insight into the life of a deployed soldier and have helped people understand what it is like in Iraq. I think the reason that I am unique is that I am happy to be deployed to this god-awful country helping people who often aren’t thankful. I believe in what I am doing and am glad to have had the opportunity, twice, to act on my beliefs and not just sit at home and talk about them. I am not a mindless drone doing as ordered, I think for myself and form my own opinions all the while doing the job I am supposed to do. I realize I am only a pawn in the larger scheme of things but also realize that without pawns there would be no defense.

I will continue to bring it to you throughout the rest of the time I am in Iraq and hope to keep writing on my return home. I ask that you read my blog for what it is worth and for those haters out there quit blaming everything and anything on me. I am fighting for what I believe in, what are you doing?

Random Thoughts

2006-09-13T11:37:00.000-04:00

I couldn’t figure out a topic for a new post and I had quite a few ideas floating around in my head so I decided to write about them all inadequately.

Inquiring Minds want to Know

So what is the problem here in Iraq and how should we fix it? Good question, ask God.

This Doesn’t Look Like You

I went to chow the other day and when I showed my ID to get in I had to take it out of my wallet so the soldier at the door could physically inspect it further. Now despite the fact that I was properly wearing an army uniform with a M-16 strapped on my back, and the fact that I am a white male in my mid twenties, I had my ID rubbed by the fingers of another soldier to make sure I was who I was claiming to be. In my opinion the terrorists have already won and should be sought out and killed solely for me having to have my ID rubbed by the dirty thumbs of a door guard to the chow hall.

I noticed the same thing when I was at London Heathrow airport while on leave. I saw an 80-year-old woman in a wheel chair and a 4-year-old boy being physically searched while Arab men weren’t selected to undergo an intensive search. I think they used their frequent flyer terrorist cards that day. “Fly with Terror Airways: Where your 13th flight is search free so pack accordingly. Non-Arabs are too scared to profile you and we won’t either. Terror Airways: We fly to die.”

The End of the World set in Mosul

Mosul looks like a scene out of Terminator 2 after the robots have taken over, either that or something akin to a small Mexican ghost town. I only drive through during the night so I don’t see the hustle and bustle of the day but if I imagine having people in the streets doesn’t spruce up the town too much. At least they could do is pick up the rubble and fix the gaping, truck-swallowing holes in the roads. Really is that too much to ask, heck I bet if you asked we would even provide you with the equipment and pay you to do it yourselves.

Rock and Roll Iraq!

We had a heavy metal concert here the other night and I could hear the “singer” screaming a half-mile away, great way to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqis guys. I remember on my first deployment when the MI guys would play heavy metal to “torture” the bad guys at our prison. Nothing like treating our Allies to something they hate that they can’t escape from. But then again the same argument could be made for the crappy quality of bootleg movies we have to endure here.

I seem to remember the theme song from Barney and Sesame Street were also favorites of the prisoners when they went on their 24-hour music binges.

Abu Gharibites and Their Cries For Help

So the prisoners at Abu Gharib want us back huh? What’s this about the Iraqi guards beating them and not feeding them? I seem to remember a story about a boy who cried wolf one too many times and no one in turn wanted to listen to him when he was crying for real. Let the prisoners wallow in their misery. Is it wrong for human beings to suffer? Yes. But when they do so as a result of doing something wrong than so be it. Maybe if the MSM picked up this story than the whole world would know how well we treat our prisoners. Even if Lindy England and gang were in control the prisoners would be afforded much better care than their own people give them. For Iraq to come into the 21st century, hell the 20th century, they need to learn how to treat human beings with dignity and respect but it is obviously not happening at Abu Gharib now.

Abu Gharib is near and dear to my heart since I was there before the dog leashes and sand bag hats. I think we should have been much harder on the prisoners than we were. Now I wasn’t a guard there so I can’t tell you exactly all that went on but if the prisoners now are calling for us to come back and bring the aid workers with us then I can deduce that we took it easy on them. Heck look at the four star treatment we afford the terrorists at Gitmo. For me to be able to have 3 squares a day and mandatory available prayer time I had to join the army, all these guys had to do was something bad and they were rewarded. I say free Lindy England and bring her back to be head warden at Abu Gharib because I bet the prisoners who cried out against her would be welcoming her back with open arms.

England Akhbar, England Akhbar!

My Conspiracy Theory is They Don’t Have Brains

Are conspiracy theorists seriously still at it with the 9/11 stuff? They supposedly have a few “scholars” on their side now that are saying “Things just don’t add up. There is no way the metal in those buildings could melt and cause the whole structure to fall.” All these scholars assure me of is there are some nutjobs who are good at studying and earning degrees. Give it a rest. You are not important enough for the government to want to fool all the time. Let me let you in on a little secret-there really isn’t a country named Iraq. A handful of soldiers have been posing for pictures for 4 years now in the same Hollywood studio they used to “broadcast” from the moon (which coincidentally doesn’t exist either.)

Launch The Propaganda

Even during Vietnam people had more patience with the war for a longer period of time and with greater casualties than they do now with Iraq. How quick the American people lose heart and how shortsighted they are. Some things in life take time and completely changing a country from the ground up is one of them. Things like this don’t happen overnight and we rightly shouldn’t expect them to do so. Everyone wants a concrete date when things will be better or when all the soldiers will be pulling out of here. The let’s-just-cut-our-losses-and-get-the-hell-out-of-here-crowd want to leave now and leave Iraq to it’s own devices but that isn’t the way we operate these days. We got ourselves into this and we will, or should I say I hope, stay the course until we finish the job.

The terror machine, or whatever we call the bad guys these days, has us beat on one major front: propaganda. We can’t even manage to encourage journalists to write about the positive in Iraq without being accused of misleading the public. The terrorists have been misleading everyone from day one and for some reason people believe them over us. What is wrong with this picture? Why are people so easily deceived? Why don’t more people believe the scores of returning veterans who say Iraq isn’t anything like what people see on the news? “Well they don’t say that on TV and they are the professionals. Why would I believe someone who spent a year on the ground in Iraq working intimately with the local populace?”

I’m off now to save the world from terrorism so have a good one. See you next time.

A Day In The Life

2006-09-06T18:11:00.000-04:00

I drive a truck. Among the slew of other glorious jobs I perform truck driving is one of them. I never intended on driving trucks in the military but Uncle Sam saw fit to retrain a lot of us last year to fill the need for supply haulers in Iraq. So here I am the last two months of my deployment back out on the road in a big army semi. It is a broken down piece of crap that looks like it came out of the losing end of a monster truck show. The bumper is cracked, the brush guard doesn’t fit right, the seat belts are temperamental, my headlights choose to alternate between various stages of working and not working, and I’m lucky if something doesn’t go wrong each convoy.

By no means is my job held in high esteem. I am not driving a 25-ton beast of a Stryker vehicle nor am I in a cool looking tank with a giant gun coming off the top of it. No one looks twice as we drive down the road in our trucks. If my truck ate wine and cheese it would do so out of a box and an aerosol can.

So just what is it like to be a truck driver in Iraq you may be wondering? Well since we don’t get much airtime in the news (unless we’re dying) I’ll go ahead and share with everyone about a day in the life of a truck driver in Iraq.

Me Doing What I Do Best: Smiling

Long story short we spend our off days from the road getting our trucks ready for the road. For example we check the tires, belts, fluids, and the general drivability of our trucks. We make sure nothing is wrong with the truck that will get us into trouble out on the road. Most of the time this goes well but something always manages to go wrong that we can’t predict before hand. A tire might hit a pothole and pop or a whole wheel hub might crack and fall off under the weight of the added armor intended to protect us from IED’s but never intended for in the original design of the trucks. The extra weight of the armor leads to a lot of problems with these trucks but is a necessary evil since it ultimately helps to save our lives.

Once our trucks are ready to go, and the time has come for a mission, we prepare to go out on the road by getting the latest intel for the area we are traveling in and rehearsing just how we are going to go getting to our destination. We leave time to discuss what we will do if a truck breaks down or gets hit by an IED or if we happen to come under fire. Once finished we climb in our trucks and ready to leave the base.

The thing about being a truck driver in the military is that it is not a glorifying or attention grabbing job. We aren’t fighter pilots blazing through the air, we aren’t kicking doors in with our steely knives looking for bad guys, and we definitely aren’t jumping from airplanes behind enemy lines in the dark of the night. My uniform has my name on it and not a bunch of cool guy patches that let everyone know how badass of a soldier I am. Not that there is anything wrong with anything of these things, we are often jealous of these guys and the cool stuff they get to do. The thing about our job is a lot of the aforementioned guys think we are crazy to be out on the roads in Iraq with little security driving in slightly up-armored vehicles. We pretty much go out every night and take our chances with what we are going to encounter along the way. I often wonder why we couldn’t just train monkeys to do our job because it sure isn’t that hard.

While on the road we are taught to look around and scan our field of vision for anything that might go boom in the night. As hard as we may look there is just no way to find everything out there especially with how trashy some of these cities are. If we really wanted to turn things around on the roads in Iraq we would invest in the broken window policy that helped Rudy Giuliani turn around New York city. We would clean the streets up and fix all of the roads and curbs. Every time they were blown up we would be back out there fixing them so that if anything looked out of place we would know it. But with the roads in such disrepair and trash strewn everywhere it is hard to tell rubble from bomb, not that we really even could at 45 miles an hour and if we were to slow down it would enhance the chances of causing damage when we were hit. Now I honestly don’t believe such a policy as fixing all the roads in Iraq is even feasible but I do think it would be a good solution if we were able to do such a thing.

Once out on the road we travel at our predetermined speeds and intervals and just sit there hoping not to get hit with a bomb. It is much like being on a “hot” base and hoping not to get hit with a mortar. There is really nothing we can do to avoid getting hit with an IED besides taking the necessary precautions to eliminate unnecessary damage by doing such things as wearing our seatbelts and keeping our body armor on. We often sit in our trucks bumbling down the roads and have conversations that go something like this: “Yeah I saw the Buckeyes win last week yeah that was a great ga--oh look at that trash in the road I hope it isn’t an IED. Don’t blow up, don’t blow up, don’t blow up. Okay we are passed it now. So yeah it was a great game on Saturday.”

We are used to the game by now so we just go on with our daily business without sweating the small stuff. If something blows up, as it has, we do what we have to do to get out of the area and continue on with the mission. We can’t stop to go and find who tried to blow us up and we often times have no clue which direction to shoot in if there is even anyone out there to shoot at. Like I said we by no means have a glorifying job. All we are supposed to do is drive our trucks to the designated spot and nothing else.

Just so you know I really exist

Once we make it to our destination we drop our loads and try to rest for a while before we turn around to do it all over again. Such is the life as a truck driver in the army. We perform a necessary job and the war effort wouldn’t move ahead without us but you are not likely to see us in the news or any movies made about us in the near future. We definitely don’t do our job without complaining but we do get the job done, anyway else and it simply wouldn’t be the army. We get to travel around Iraq and that is good enough for us. At least we aren’t stuck on our bases wondering what is going on outside the wire. We get to go out there and “experience” it first hand and feel like we have accomplished something each day when we have a successful convoy. We are the driving force behind much of what goes on in Iraq. We supply fuel, food, ammo, supplies, vehicles etc each time we hit the road and without us the planes wouldn’t fly, the Strykers wouldn’t drive, and the “cool guys” wouldn’t have vehicles do infiltrate with. C’est la vie.

I’m Back and Ready To Leave Again

2006-08-31T02:11:00.000-04:00

As I stepped off the plane in Kuwait City after 2 weeks of leave I was hit with a wave of hot sandy air and I remembered why I hate the Middle East. Of course I am glad that I am here helping the Iraqi people but I long for the day to get back to America.

I spent several days traveling on Qatar Airways to get to and fro from the UK and hope to never ride on a plane with Arabs again. Racist statement? Nope. You just gotta trust me on this one. To be fair the plane was full of Arabs, Indians, and Asians. All of them were loud, obnoxious, and generally rude. I was constantly amazed at how the bickered between each other, pestered the stewardesses, and treated those around them. I am not sure why they behaved this way but it was all rather childish and unbecoming of grown adults.

I was already on edge traveling as I was taken off my British Airways flight that was supposed to arrive in London Heathrow Airport the same day as the other British Airways planes were supposed to be blown up by terrorists. I was subsequently placed on a Qatar Airways plane, which right before I got on the plane I heard one of their other planes was hijacked coming out of Jordan. From one jihad plane to the next I supposed. “If you Arabs don’t start behaving yourselves we are gonna revoke your privilege to ride on planes and you'll have to walk to Mecca.”

Every Arab on the plane was a possible terrorist to me and I suppose all of the other passengers. Sorry it has to be that way and until little old white women start hijacking planes I am going to continue to focus my attention on 18-40 year old Arab men. Although I am sure the little Asian guy that kept rubbing himself all over me while we were standing waiting to get off the plane posed more of a risk then any of the Arabs did. “Um I don’t think I can get pregnant but I sure don’t want to find out. Please remove your body from my backside before you meet the backside of my hand.”

One thing fun about riding on Qatar Airways was the GPS controlled Mecca tracker. At anytime you could access the TV in the chair in front of you or look up to the big screens in the middle of the plane and find out what exact angle you needed to pray in order to be pointing toward Mecca. "This is your Captain speaking, please remember that no one is allowed to pray in front of the emergency exits and if you have a problem with sitting by the exit let that American boy have your seat because I know he wants nothing more than to be the first one off this plane, thank you and have a good flight. We'll arrive at our destination in seven hours inshallah." I think maybe all the terrorists have their own version and it is called the Iraq Tracker. It points them towards Iraq and shows them the closest mass of innocent civilians trying to live their lives in peace.

After 4 hours of security checks at the Middle Eastern wing at London Heathrow with lots of heavily armed Bobbies (“Um hey can I have one of those automatic weapons please?”) I boarded the plane from London back to Kuwait where I would then get a flight to my base in Iraq. Once on the plane I was surrounded by Arabs, which was okay because the seat right next to me was empty…or so I thought. After an hour or so of flying bliss the Arabic man one seat away from me thought it would be a good idea to move right next to me so that a lady could have his seat and her baby could lay down next to us. Great idea Ahmed. So now I have to cramp up while his feet are on my lap because he just has to sit cross legged and the kid in front of my has to put his seat all the way back in my lap. After an hour of this I decided to take measures into my own hands. “Stewardess, bring me a bottle of Scotch please.” I must have downed all the alcohol on the Muslim flight. That made things more tolerable and I even started to laugh about the situation 4 glasses later.

All in all I had a great time on leave and it has rejuvenated me to be able to endure the end of my second year in Iraq. I look forward to writing for the rest of my time here and hope I can find some decent things to talk about. I am definitely not excited to be back here and am looking forward to the day when Iraq is something I did and am not doing. Not to sound too down but the little taste I had of civilian life in London has got me wanting to go back home where the girls are pretty, the grass is green, and the planes don’t have to hand out complimentary socks so that Arabic man’s bare feet in your lap can stay warm during the flight.

More Moral Than God, Part 2 (last)

2006-08-24T22:54:00.000-04:00

You may wonder what motivated me to bring ‘religion’ to a blog devoted to one soldier’s honest appraisal of a war against a religiously motivated enemy. I mean, isn’t one set of fanatical religious ideas enough of a problem? Why pour gasoline on a raging fire? What could I hope to accomplish by bringing Christianity to the discussion other than to renew the passions that resulted in the Crusades?
Actually, I hope and pray that this war never comes to that, not that it’s very likely it could. My reason, conscious or not, had more to do with what I regard to be the undermining of America’s effort to defend itself by purported Christian groups. My church, the Presbyterian Church USA, has taken the official position that the war in Iraq is "unwise, immoral and illegal". To the extent that this position influences its members and conflicts the conscience of soldiers and their families, it serves to work against America’s ability to defend itself from a proven dangerous enemy. This foe is intent on the destruction of non-Muslim nations as a necessary step toward achieving Muslim dominance throughout the world. That Christians would make themselves a liability to any nation wishing to defeat this evil (if you object to this terminology, see previous post), I believe, is to misrepresent God himself. In terms of the Ten Commandments, this falls under #3- taking the Lord’s name in vain (and you thought that one just applied to what you utter when you miss the nail and hit your thumb).

I ended the last post citing some teachings of Jesus that seemed to suggest he condemned all forms of war or even self-defense. I intended to begin this one by balancing those statements with others Jesus made that seem to suggest the opposite. Several commenters have done that for me. One of you astutely offered Matt.10:34, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Now, you don’t have to student of the Bible, let alone a New Testament scholar, to recognize that this statement seems at odds with what most everybody knows about Jesus. How can that statement not contradict Matt.5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Perhaps you have better answers to that than I have but here are a few thoughts.
1) What does it mean to ‘make peace’? Have you ever gotten into a "fight" with a loved one that resulted in things ultimately being resolved for the better? Wasn’t that making peace by one party pulling out the sword? By analogy to the U.S. Civil War, who ultimately was the peacemaker- Lincoln or Lee? Both? Neither? (I don’t know the answer but my money’s on Lincoln).
2) Jesus was known for his acute awareness and promotion of "heaven". He continually asked his hearers to consider their "spiritual" or "eternal" life and not just their "physical" life. Which realm did he have in mind when he uttered these words? One, or the other, or both?
3) To what extent is Jesus using hyperbole? After saying that to look on a woman lustfully is to have committed adultery, he goes on to say that if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Good advice? Or is he using strong language to make a point? (Hmmmm, maybe that’s why God made me left-eye dominant.)
Its fairly clear from the context that when Jesus says we are to turn the other cheek, he is teaching that we are not to seek revenge, not that we aren’t to defend ourselves (or others). Paul seems to make this point in Rom.12:17-19 when he says "repay no one evil for evil" and also "never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God". Between these thoughts is found this, "If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all." Now sometimes ‘peace’ doesn’t depend on you, such as when your home is invaded and your family threatened, or when hijacked airplanes are flown into your office buildings. I’m sure many people want payback. I’ll be happy with deterrence. Unfortunately, the only way to deter some people is to kill them.
What other clues does the New Testament (the second half of the Christian Bible) give us? The story of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:30-37, indicates that the suburbs of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus weren’t immune to violent crime. Even with big, bad Roman soldiers providing the Pax Romana. It might not have prevented his mugging, but the man in the parable might have benefitted from another bit of advice Jesus gave his disciples, about the time that it was getting dangerous to be identified with Jesus- "And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one." JESUS SAID THAT? Must’ve been hyperbole. Peter must’ve missed the nuance then because what do we find him doing in the garden of Gethsemane the night Jesus was betrayed? Packing heat! (John 18:10) Now its clear Jesus didn’t approve of Peter whacking off the guy’s ear, and it was nice of Jesus, according to Luke, to put the severed ear back where it belonged, but from the context, it’s clear Jesus’ anger with Peter was that he lacked faith in Jesus to believe that Jesus had the situation under control. Interesting, isn’t it, that if Jesus was the proto-pacifist, after 3 years of hanging with Jesus, Peter would still be carrying a sword?!?
One more consideration from a New Testament perspective which caught my eye several years ago when all this became more than a theoretical matter. Luke 3 tells us about John the Baptist, whom Jesus called "the greatest of those born of women." Given that John and Jesus were both teachers in the rabbinic tradition (that is, teachers of Torah, Jewish doctrine and law) its fairly safe to conclude a great similarity in thinking. Anyway, a soldier asked John the Baptist, "And what shall we do?" The question was asked in response to John’s admonition to "prepare the way of the Lord" by "bear(ing) fruits that befit repentance." John’s answer to the soldier was "Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages." If doing what soldiers do, defending their nation by killing their nations enemies, was an offense in God’s eyes, surely John would not have said, in effect, ‘be a soldier but have high ethical standards." John recognized the need of a society for soldiers, just as a functional society needs tax collectors. Jesus, I believe, endorsed John’s answer, as did Luke in recording this and the early church in receiving this as Holy writ.
This brings me to my final argument. Most non-Christians, and I believe the majority of Chr.s, preeminently think of Jesus as kind of an extra-terrestrial who walked among Jews but taught like Plato. He is seen as ethereal, not truly connected to this world, and as one whose message was 99% heavenly/ 1% earthly. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus was a Jew, born in the line of King David and therefore an heir to the covenant which God made with Abraham. The descendants of Abraham (the Israelites, later, the Jews) were not the Amish of today, or the Puritans of yesteryear or the Ascetics of ancient Greece. Though their covenant with God required a distinct lifestyle from the polytheistic cultures around them- they were still very much part of the world. They lived, moved about and participated within the same Mediterranean culture as their neighbors.
The culture that the Hebrews developed, practiced and refined was functional and had the strength to remain intact through the millenia against the forces of absorbtion and disintegration. It was founded on Moses and the Ten Commandments. It was a society that sought no conquest beyond the land promised them by God. It was rich in culture, in agriculture, in learning, in religious devotion, in the prizing of ethical behavior (if not always practiced) and in a highly detailed system of justice. It was very this-world oriented with actually only minimal regard for the afterlife (this was developed late by sects such as the Pharisees). The common dream of the Israelites was to have a vine and fig tree, to beat their swords into plowshares and to enjoy the mercies of God. It was as enviable a society, in concept if not in actuality, as history records.
But in a fallen world, violence abounds. To survive meant to protect oneself from wild animals, from marauding enemies without and from the criminal within. Killing was differentiated from murder early on (Gen.9:5-6). Family defended family (Gen.14, John 15:14). The Book of Judges is about the Spirit of God anointing individuals to conduct war for the preservation of Israel. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says "to everything there is a season,.... a time for war and a time of peace." Israel had to take possession of the promised land by conquest. Usually the attacks were made by the Canaanites; after Joshua they often became agressive (preemptive). There was compulsory military service and a command structure to the military. [Could God have given them the land by other than violent means? Sure. Did he? No.]
It is the clear teaching of the Old Testament that God used violent defeat as a corrective for Israel’s waywardness. Seems harsh but without maintaining their covenant with God they would have ceased to be an identifiable people. Without taking up the sword they would have simply ceased to be a people.
Every writer of the Bible, certainly the O.T. but also the N.T. (which, for the Christian, are simply divisions of the same book), had a profoundly Hebraic perspective on life and the world. In other words, the O.T. is the foundation for the New. Therefore, the most important single source for understanding the N.T. is the Jewish Scriptures, the O.T.
The apostle, Paul, states that "the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body" (Eph.3:6). For Christian Gentiles, Israel’s history is their history. In the early Church, Jews and Gentiles claimed a common spiritual ancestry with the Hebrews of old.
Which brings me back to Jesus. Christians believe he was not merely a Jewish carpenter/rabbi, but a Jew he most certainly was. He knew Judaism like Tiger Woods knows golf. "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." One can find parallels in Rabbinic literature to a high percentage of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus was the first to say "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", right? Wrong- Leviticus 19:28.
There’s an historical reason why the early Christians- Jews and Gentiles- parted company with the Jewish community but it was not due to a rejection of them by Jesus. His repeated call for Jews to ‘repent’ was not a call to convert away from the ancestral Jewish faith but to become renewed and restored in God’s forgiveness within that same community. The major question confronting Peter, James, John, Paul and the 1st century Church was not whether Jewish believers in Jesus could belong to this new, Spirit-born community but whether Gentiles could, upon repentance from sin, belong to a totally Jewish community.
My argument is, you can disconnect Jesus from the Jews if you want to, but you’d be going against all the evidence. The role of the appropriate use of force in the preservation of the Jewish people, throughout its biblical history, is built into the warp and woof of its society. We would be hard pressed to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob if not for the Bible and the God we find therein, treats force in the suppression of evil as a necessity. It is beyond ludicrous to me, that Jesus would have any other view than that of his ancestral people and his Father, God. For followers of Christ today, to condemn this biblical precedent, is to me, the height of arrogance and a misguided attempt to be MORE MORAL THAN GOD.

More Moral Than God, Part 1

2006-08-20T22:32:00.000-04:00

Well folks, that was a bit of an exciting week for us Sgt TF Boggs fans, wasn’t it. For TFMom and I, that was the first time we’ve ‘seen’ our young’n in 9 months or so. He didn’t look particularly malnourished to me. His mom was happy he didn’t need to have any incidents of ‘soldier-potty-mouth’ bleeped. When he started his first answer with “Wellll Neil,...”, I thought he might have taken the advice I gave him earlier in the day to have a pint of Guinness one hour before the interview. Got to love the compliment he paid Cavuto at the end. Never hurts to suck up a little, agreed?

Just got an email today from him, the first since his network debut. It was not, as I expected, telling us that he’d signed with the William Morris Agency, but rather that “he’s having a blast”. The weather in Scotland has been 17-19 C (low 60's for us). Nice change of pace, for sure, but I hope his system can take the shock of end-of-August Iraq that he’ll be experiencing in a week or so.

We were somewhat worried, when Buck Sargent (www.americancitizensoldier.blogspot.com) got extended with his unit, that Tim’s might also get extended. His reply to that was, “Don’t think they really need battle-hardened main gate guards, Dad.”

Thanks to everyone for the grand conversation you all were having. I hated to end it with a new blog, but feel free not to respond to the actual post and free-associate merrily away.

I sort of promised the Sarge that, during this time while he’s gone and I’m minding the store, I would attempt to lay out an argument for this war from a Christian perspective. That is, I would try to present as compelling a case as I can for why a Christian has strong reasons to be in favor of what America is attempting to do in response to the declared imperialistic intent of radical Muslims to destroy the non-Muslim world.

I don’t mean to state a just-war theory that would be found philosophically cogent by the intellectual crowd. I believe that truths that matter most ought to be capable of being explained to and understood by any intelligent 12 year old. I also don’t think such an argument should be found compelling only to Christians but to anybody who has not given away the common sense he was born with in exchange for the muddled mush of post-modern thought. If you don’t think, for instance, that a hatred of your enemy that exceeds your love for you children is evil and wrong and self-destructive, then we don’t speak the same language. If you believe you have both a right and a duty to kill fellow human beings because they don’t believe in your God, then you have determined that human discourse is irrelevant and impossible.

It saddens me to increasingly find that Christians too, have been brainwashed by the effects of post-modernism to the point that they can’t recognize the difference between good and profound evil. In Scott Peck’s book People Of The Lie, he tells of different case stories of such people; people that all suffered from extreme narcissism. One set of parents gave, as a Christmas present to their only son, the rifle used by his older brother to commit suicide. When Peck asked them why they would do such a thing they had no clue as to the inappropriateness of the ‘gift’ and replied, “Why not, it’s a perfectly good gun!”

If you can’t see the difference between 1) an Israeli doctor who treats Arabs and Jews in his emergency room as equally deserving his care and 2) the terrorist who soaks the nails in rat poison before packing them in a suicide belt to be strapped on the body of a retarded teenager and sending him to a pizza parlor; or between the two societies that each come from and by which each are regarded as great and moral persons, then you have lost something crucial to your humanity. Are all Americans, all U.S. soldiers, all Israeli’s always morally good people? No. Are all Palestinians, all Arabs, all Muslims morally bad people? No. Is there at present a fundamentally moral difference between the two cultures out of which these two sets of people come? Very definitely- yes!

If you can no longer see these distinctions or if you think that I am too simple to grasp that life simply is not that black and white, then I say “fine. We are at an impasse and our ways of reasoning are incompatible and further discussion is a waste of time for both of us. This may be sad but it’s a fact. Have a great life!”

My plea is to those who can and do make these distinctions.

So, I think the question is, How can Christianity not be incompatible with warfare?

Sorry for the double negative but the presumption today is that Christians ought to be passivists. Jesus, after all, was the one who said- “Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt 5.39) He also said- “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matt 5.9) And also, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt 5.44) How can these and other similar sayings not decide the matter and the answer is, Christianity IS incompatible with war?

Well, class, I think that’s enough for tonight. See you back here in a couple days. Feel free to discuss....

Live From London

2006-08-15T13:50:00.000-04:00

So the people from the Neil Cavuto show on FOX News finally tracked me down and I'll be doing an interview for Neil tomorrow on his show (Aug 16th) from 4-5pm EST. Be sure to tune in and check it out. Here's hoping I don't make a complete fool of myself.

**Update**

I know some of you already know this but for those of you who don't and who didn't see my interview on FOX you can view it either at FOX or at You Tube. Thanks for those of you who brought these sites to my attention and also for posting the video at You Tube. Enjoy!

Desultory Post

2006-08-13T15:34:00.000-04:00

The ‘bored soldier’ has made it to his destination and is enjoying the sights and sounds and refreshments of the mother country. Bauer’s whereabouts are currently not known. What follows is another broken-bat single from your pinch-hitter, TFDad.

desultory\DES-uhl-tor-ee\, adjective 1)Jumping or passing from one thing to another without order or rational connection.

Had to look this word up the other day. Its one of those words I’m sure I’ve read a hundred times but can’t recall ever looking it up. Who wants to go get a dictionary when its easier to look at the context and guess what it probably means. Or maybe there was a time when I looked it up and for a time knew what it meant but now I forget. My favorite saying is, "I’ve got a good memory, its just short." Since I say it about every day, there’s no doubt its my family’s least favorite saying of mine.

Anyway, ‘desultory’ (which also means, ‘disgression", but I digress). When I discovered what it meant, I thought- "Exactly. That perfectly describes my current sense about the various things flittering about my mind that somehow seem connected, but probably only in a way that would be comprehended by a daily user of medicinal marijuana." Which by the way, my church- the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church in the USA)- recently voted at General Assembly to approve, right after apologizing for previously passing a Divestment From Israel statement (which they continue, I guess, to pursue) and after backing away somewhat from their previous endorsement of partial birth abortion and after affirming the standard for ordination that precludes avowed, practicing homosexuals, though the ‘Peace, Unity and Purity Report’ was adopted which will make it easier for churches so wishing to ordain avowed, practicing homosexuals (not, heaven forfend, that there’s anything wrong with that). The upside to this is that on the golf course, when I use an expletive deleted to describe my satisfaction with a shot, I can apologize by saying, "Forgive me, I’m a Presbyterian and I’m under a lot of stress", and all heads nod understandingly.

"At any rate," he said desultorily. Let’s start with this thwarted plot to blow up British planes either a) over water so the evidence is irretrievable, or b) over New York, LA, Boston, or anywhere except Dearborn Michigan. I haven’t yet read a coherent account of this whole thing, and probably won’t anyway, but it seems to have begun to unravel when the Pakistani Intelligence (I won’t do it, but any Muslims care to say, "Is that an oxymoron"?) got hold of two British muslim suspects. Apparently they spilt the beans (more on this in a minute) which led to the identification of the rest of the ring, which was put under surveillance and, as we know, were eventually arrested.

I’m no expert on these things but it seems I’ve heard that Pakistan’s intelligence services have a bit of a reputation for disdaining the disapproval of Human Rights Watch. Might we suppose that due to this reputation, the two unlucky bad guys- Nabeel and Umir (or perhaps Assan and Waheed, or Abdullah and Muhammed) might have thought it the better part of wisdom to cooperate than to see whether they, Nabeel and Umir, are as tough as they’ve always prayed to Allah they would be. Or might we suppose that the Paks beat the living tar out of them for the sheer sport of it (they are, after all, Euroweenies. Who among us could have resisted just one whack with a 2 X 4 upside their heads) and then called in the stenographer. I didn’t spend last night in a Holiday Inn but I’ve been watching a lot of poker on ESPN and I’m betting there was some "rough interrogation" involved.

Back in January, I believe it was, Christianity Today had as its cover story, "Why Torture Is Always Wrong". Besides the shoddiness of their logic, not to mention their misunderstanding exactly what the Bible does and doesn’t say about these matters (ever wonder what Peter was doing with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane?), they assumed as fact the common myth that torture never produces actionable information. I sent them my copy of ‘Guarding Tess", starring Shirley MacClaine and Nicholas Cage. I suggested the editor and his staff watch it some afternoon and discuss whether they really know enough about these matters to make such bold statements. (Of course, maybe they’re all Presbyterians and the lack of knowledge or actual expertise is not a factor in deciding whether to shoot their mouths off.) The little prick never acknowledged my letter or my gracious gift.

Gitmo. Have you heard of how much fun it is to guard these (fill in the blank) and thought , "How could I get a job like that where you’re subjected to having feces and urine thrown at you and you can’t do a damn thing about it?" I can tell you that if the BoredSoldier ever worked Gitmo and had that happen, his mother would organize all the other mothers and they would knock Cindy Sheehan on her code pink ass to get past her to the Top Brass at the Pentagon to give them a little much-needed reality check. Really, how many votes would a politician loose that refused to get exercised by one of those Marine drill sargents I saw last year at Paris Island (I swear they don’t make biceps that big in the NFL!) explaining in his own inimitable way, that Achmed ought to behave a little better as a special guest of the U.S. of A. I understand that doing the suicide belt thing might have a certain appeal for one itching to meet one of those 72 year old virgins, but I don’t think a half hour with Sgt Rock is quite as appealing. In fact, I can’t imagine that it would take more than 72 hours to solve that problem!

After 3,000 civilians and 2,600 or so of our fighting men and women lost so far in this war, not counting the many hundreds lost before we admitted we were in a war, how many more will it take before this country accepts this prescription. Don’t doubt for a minute that we will gladly take the gloves off and untie the hand we’ve tied behind our backs when we reach that number.

Is it 10,000 more? A hundred thousand? Or will it take a larger number such that its too late?

Here’s an idea that I read Michael Reagan come up with recently. He said if he were President, his first act would be to get rid of all embedded reporters. His second act would be to declare a news blackout on the war for 6 months. He asked a Lt Col. how long he thought it would take to end this war if that were to happen. The Lt Col said, "30 days!"

What Makes Tim Tick

2006-08-10T15:07:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody. TFDad filling in as threatened.

For some reason that now escapes me, I thought some insight into Tim (aka Sgt TF Boggs) might be of interest, at least to those of you who have come to appreciate his writing and have become his internet friends. First, a heartfelt word to you from his family- we really appreciate the kind things you have done for Tim and the supportive comments you have made to him, not to mention the many prayers you have said to God on his behalf. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We really appreciate all of you. As you know, this is Tim’s second deployment to Iraq. It has been much less stressful for us, probably for many reasons. But one reason certainly, is this blog. Tim has wanted to maximize the experience of this deployment, which is likely to be his last. I think this blog has enabled him to accomplish that by allowing him to share with you what he sees, what he has come to understand based on what he has seen and what he thinks we must know and do to win this fight.

Before I get to the question, WMTT?, there’s a somewhat easier question- What Ticks Tim Off? Many things, I assure you. His old man is terminally cranky so how could he help but have a long list himself? Certainly one thing that’s near the top of that list is being embarrassed by his parents, which includes but is not limited to- fussing over him. And so, let me here say to Tim, "Tough darts. Maybe you should have thought about that before giving me your blog password!"

So, WMTT? This is probably the fundamental key to Tim- he likes interesting things, especially interesting people. He doesn’t mind solitude but he hates boredom.

Tim had a pretty standard midwestern city-upbringing. He played sports, mainly baseball, though he dabbled in golf, boxing, soccer, football (flag in college) and basketball. He hunted and fished and shot guns more than most city kids, but a lot less than country kids. He was lucky to have an older brother. He really liked acting in school theater and having fun friends. (I am sure he will find the theatre while in London.) He still loves Shakespeare.

I managed to get him into bars to hear great musicians that I thought might not be around when he was older. (I was right about a couple- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Warren Zevon are no longer with us.) [This, by the way, is a great way to demystify alcohol- get your kids around adults who drink without getting stupid. Sorry Buck.] His musical tastes remain pretty eclectic- Van Morrison, Zevon, Dylan, all the blues greats, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong and, my personal favorite- hip hop crap. Black kids would try to copy his dance moves. (OK, that’s bull, but not by much.)

Last year he put a nitrous oxide unit on his VW, so I guess you could say he likes fast cars.

Tim loves to read. Shakespeare, philosophy, history, American literature. He’s got an English/Philosophy/Religion major going at his university, if Uncle Sam would just let him finish. He loves teachers that know what they’re talking about and make it interesting. He hates political correctness and professors who don’t know half what they think they do. He’s an anti-frat guy (his flag football team were the ‘Master Betas’). He detests liberal white guilt and refuses to walk on eggshells and because of that, has more black friends than most white people do.

Even while going thru the trials and tribulations of youth, Tim read the Bible from front to back and over again. He did so, I think, realizing that the God found described in its pages, is the God before whom we live, now and forevermore. This didn’t make him a wimp or a prick. It did make him someone who knows what love is, and how to hate injustice. I think that pretty much describes his politics, too.

I think the reason I wanted to write this is for Neatie, whose son is thinking about joining the military. There’s a lot of idiots who belittle our troops and assume ridiculous things about them. I happen not to think Tim is a special case. Oh, he’s special to his family but then they all are, aren’t they. But, excluding the terminal buttheads who are in the military just as they are in any large organization, the soldiers and marines I’ve met are pretty typical of any sample of young Americans that want to actually do something with their lives and are willing to take risks to see that it happens. The remarkable thing about this current crop of military personnel, is that they either enlisted or reenlisted after 9-11-2001. In my book, this puts them on par with those who answered the call of WWII. I don’t know where to look to find greater reason to hope for the future of America, and indeed the world, than to these young men and women who are VOLUNTARILY serving our country and are the finest AMBASSADORS America could hope to have.

So, Neatie, if your son decides to enlist in any branch of the military, be extremely proud of him. If you’re a person of faith, put your money where your mouth is and trust that God can take as good care of him in enemy territory as back home. We have seen a couple of Tim’s friends die in innocuous circumstances here at home while Tim’s been deployed. Don’t focus on the danger but on the majesty of life. Without ‘sheepdogs’ such as police, firemen & soldiers, we’d all live in anarchy. What sane person would want that?

And thanks for raising a kid that has enough of a positive view of America to even be considering this decision.

Goodbye…For The Time Being

2006-08-05T12:55:00.000-04:00

At last it is time for me to take a break from the desert. I am gearing up to go on my two weeks of leave and have to say that I am pretty excited to escape from reality if for only a brief time. Leave is reserved only for soldiers in the Army as we are the only branch in the military to stay in the combat zone for longer than six months at a time. Anywhere from the third month up until the tenth month in country we are allowed to travel anywhere in the world on the government’s dime. Thanks to all of those taxpayers back in the states. I’ll drink one to you next week.

Most soldiers choose to go home for their leave but not I. I figure since I don’t have a Mrs. Boggs or some little Boggs’ running around I’ll go check out some part of the world other than my little corner in Ohio. I’m off to the UK for two glorious weeks of going here and there to drink tea and warm beer (or is it ale?) If you are out and about in the UK I would be more than happy to let you buy me a dinner so just let me know.

Any and all suggestions as to what I should do while I am there are welcome. I have never been to the UK so let me know if there is anything that I simply shouldn’t miss.

Fear not faithful readers I will not be leaving you completely alone for I have a guest blogger in line to take over for me-my father. He has some great stuff lined up for the next couple of weeks so be sure to check back often and while you are here leave him a comment and then link to his posts.

Peace I'm outta here.

An Unfortunate Truth

2006-08-01T17:46:00.000-04:00

A lot of people ask me what I think about what is going on in Israel right now and how I feel about their actions. I guess they want to know the viewpoint of a soldier who is fighting in a similar war in the same region. I don’t think my opinion on the matter holds much more weight than anyone else’s but I do have strong feelings about what is going on. The short and skinny about my beliefs is that I think Israel is a peace loving nation that is doing what it has to do to protect itself from a people who want to see it, along with all it’s people, destroyed. Jewish people have been mistreated for one reason or another wherever they have lived throughout history and now that they have their own country it is no different. They afford non-Jewish people the same rights they enjoy while no Arabs are willing to do the same for them. I believe some of the hatred for the Jews to stem from jealously on the parts of other nations who could only wish to be as successful as the Jews are. They have turned a desert wasteland into a booming country while the lands around it still languish years behind. Of course I could go on and on but this post is not about how I feel about Israel, instead it is about the conversation I had today with the Iraqis I work with about Israel.

The conversation started when one Iraqi army soldier told me that: “Israel is trash.” As I choked on some water I asked him to repeat himself. He said again “Israel is trash, they kill babies and women.” I tried to prod him and ask him exactly what he meant but due to the language barrier some random words like Lebanon, kill, bomb, and civilians had to suffice for his explanation.

Later on in the day when our interpreter came back I asked him what he thought about Israel right now. I respect his opinion much more because he is a college educated man and has spent three years with Americans so he knows how we operate. I was disappointed though when he echoed the same thoughts as the soldier.

He began by asking me what I thought of Israel so I told him about the history of the Jewish people and also about what they are up against now. I covered the highlights from Abraham to the Holocaust and touched on their wars from 1948 on. I must have talked for five straight minutes before he said “But do you really believe all that?” I should have figured something like that would come out of his mouth but it caught me by surprise. How do you convince someone of your point when they think everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie? I responded by explaining to him that I am always up for a good argument and that I hope he doesn’t feel different about me because of my beliefs about Israel and that we would still be friends after our talk was done.

With that understood I started tackling sensitive subjects such as Iraq’s expulsion of Jews and Arabs hatred for all Jews and those who support them. I explained to him that Hamas does not want “Palestinian” land back but rather, they want the extermination of all the Jews and won’t be happy with anything less. I told him about Arafat’s denial of the peace plan offered to him by Clinton and the ensuing terrorist activity that took place instead. His response to all of this was typical of the Arabs I have come in contact with: “But they kill babies and civilians and stole the land from the Palestinians.” He gave no thought to the millions of Jews slaughtered over the years and couldn’t see past the inevitable deaths of civilians that come along with any war. I told him that if terrorists would quit hiding behind civilians than they wouldn’t die. I don’t think he understood.

Our conversation came to a close when the next shift came to relieve me from my post. I know neither one of us was satisfied and were probably equally dissatisfied with each other. As I walked away I wanted to excuse him for his ignorance because of the piss poor education in Iraq. I wanted to blame Al Jazeera for the propaganda they show each day on TV. I wanted to blame everyone but the soldiers but at last I realized that the real fault lies with them. Until they learn to seek the truth instead of blindly hating Jewish people they will never understand why I could possibly support “baby killers” and “trash.”

What discouraged me most were the comments that the interpreter had about America’s support for Israel. He explained to me why Arabs hate America and why terrorists love to fight against us. To put it simply it is because of our support for Israel. If we can support trash we must be trash ourselves. If we can support those who “oppress” Arabs then we must want to oppress them too. If the majority of Arabs think as he does, which I believe they do, then I fear for our future influence in the Arab world. Of course we will have “allies in Iraq” but the general populous will probably never get behind us until the Jews are wiped from the face of the earth. It is as he said to end the conversation: “This is a problem that will never be solved.” He is right inasmuch as Golda Meir said “There will never be peace in the Middle East until Arabs love their children more than they hate Jews.”

Mid-post hiatus

2006-07-28T04:21:00.000-04:00

It’s hot. Across the world we are in the middle of global warming’s throws. Some places are hotter than others apparently. Parts of Europe are experiencing record highs and I saw on the news where California is using power in record numbers in order to escape the heat. People are dying from the heat and are complaining that it is the fault of those who failed to heed the calls from the Al Goreites in the world. If only we would have signed that damn Kyoto Protocol.

Now, as was the case on my first deployment, I can do nothing but laugh at the people who think 100 degrees Fahrenheit is hot (37.7 degrees Celsius for those more refined readers). I understand that not everyone has lived in the desert so I don’t expect those people to understand when I say that 100 degrees is refreshing. As I sat outside the other night when my power was out I thought to myself that “You know Tim it is pretty refreshing right now, I wonder how hot/cool it is?” So I went over to a thermometer and saw that it was 100, and oh what a cool 100 it was.

My first deployment was a far cry from what I am used to now. In 2003 there was nothing in our desert arsenal to provide relief from the overbearing heat. I slept on a cot in a tent in the middle of a southern Iraq desert. We had no AC, no fans, no nothing that was in the least bit comforting. I slept in boxers on three towels placed under each area where my skin touched my cot in order to soak up the sweat throughout the night. Each morning I arose with the sun and flies around 6am because it was too hot to sleep. One morning I stayed in my cot killing flies until 7am and when the hour was said and done I had killed 70 flies. I neatly piled them up and afforded them a proper funeral befitting the greatest of Athenian or Trojan warriors: I burned the hell out of them and sent a message to their compadres that I was no longer going to take their crap. I don’t think they got the message.

In 2003 there was a heat wave in France that killed some thousands of people. We read about it several times in the Stars and Stripes and each time could do nothing but laugh. I know it isn’t funny when people die but when they are dying from 97-degree heat and you are averaging 130 during the day it has to elicit some semblance of a smile. The hottest I saw it get in 2003 was 147 and that was on a thermometer right outside my tent. I wish I had the picture because I know there are going to be some skeptics out there.

With this most recent heat wave spanning the globe I once again am reduced to laughing. Ignorance is bliss they say and it is never truer when one thinks 100-degree weather is unbearable. Soldiers deal with 120 plus heat on a daily basis wearing 40-50 pounds of gear. Our body armor acts as an oven to intensify the heat so that each time we open our vests it is akin to opening the oven door to check on that Thanksgiving turkey. Blasts of heat wash over us and we quickly shut our vests so that our midsections are left alone to bear the brunt of what I like to call “The Body Armor Factor.” The BAF works something like wind chill does in the winter. You know when you hear the weatherman say something like “Well folks it is a cold one today. Your high will be 10 degrees while the low will be –5 with a –18 degree wind chill factor.” Well the same factor works in the desert. It may be 132 outside but inside your body armor it is closer to 150. Anyone want to lose that gut that seems to never go away? Do you have love handles that you would rather your lover never handle again? Sign up for the army and spend a summer wearing body armor. If you still have fat around your midsection after that I fear that you may need to visit your local plastic surgeon.

The great thing about this deployment compared to my first one is the trailers (chews) that we live in. I have my own AC that I control and have showers that I can take at the end of each day. The luxuries of home that some say make us too soft are what keeps us from going insane. I managed one year without a bed, real shower, good chow, AC, unbearable heat, etc. and I am glad that I don’t have to do it again.

So all your Brits and Californians out there take heart! You aren’t the only ones dealing with the heat. There are thousands of soldiers standing with you in your battle against the oppressive nature of God’s most recent wrath upon civilized humankind. I stand with you and say that enough is enough. Everyone join me in telling God that we will no longer stand for this kind of heat. We want San Diego weather and we want it now. This war would be much easier to fight in 70-degree weather. But until that day happens I will strap on a pair and keep my complaining to a minimum and realize that I am only doing this for a year at a time and the Iraqis live here for their whole life. No wonder they are so angry all the time.

In A Nutshell

2006-07-24T04:05:00.000-04:00

After my last post I conversed back and forth with my father about the position I took and whether or not he thought my argument was well thought out. I am not sure if we exactly see eye to eye but for the most part we are on the same page. He wrote this email that follows to me in response to my wanting to post another comment further explaining my point. In a nutshell this is exactly how I feel about things right now.

“You got me. I don't see how this clears up anything that wasn't already clear. I don't see where you can make your point any better than you did. People are either agreeing or disagreeing down party lines. If there's anything you might do, its let it be known what you think about the usual position of the anti-Iraq crowd- that its an illegal war, that we went there for oil, WMD or Bush's daddy, that we ought to be isolationists and nuke people that attack us, etc., etc.

I get so tired of people that can't see that we were attacked because we gave radical Muslims the mistaken belief that we're so soft they could bring us down. WMD, democracy in Iraq, and so on have always been icing on the cake to me. After 9/11, we needed to change course and bring somebody down from the malarial swamp we call the Middle East. I would have been happy, after the Taliban, to have attacked anybody over there- Saddam happened to be my favorite. Our doing just that was brilliant to my mind, then and now. I don't expect things to be easy and Bush, et al, NEVER said it would be. Our showing the Middle East, and indeed the world, that the consequence of thinking of attacking the U.S. is more than you should ever dream of bearing, was NECESSARY and has produced much of the fruit we could have hoped for. I think a big part of the reason that much of the Arab world is being relatively compliant about Israel aggressively defending itself, is that we have convinced the rational Muslims that continuing to oppose us is a bad idea.

We are in Iraq to change the mind of the world that Vietnam was the exception, not the rule, for America. We need to stay not just so the fledgling democracy in Iraq can get a real start, but so that the rest of the world knows that America has the will to defend itself and therefore that to become our enemy is to commit suicide. Peace thru superior firepower is part of it, but we need to demonstrate beyond doubt, that this new idea of asymmetrical warfare against the US is as stupid as taking us on conventionally. There are other potential enemies out there who are studying this war to discover how to undo us. If we are to have much of a future, we need to convince others that they are better off pursuing peace than war against us, and by extension, our friends (i.e. other non-totalitarian countries).

There are lots of radical Muslims left to convince. If we stop this war before we destroy or otherwise pacify most, if not all of them, the swamp will quickly become malarial again. The swamp must be drained. The leaders of Iran, one way or the other, must be brought down. Do that and I suspect the people of Lebanon and Syria will straighten out their countries. If not, we do it for them. After that, there are more in Asia, Africa and South America that need killed. If we take them on one by one, steadily grinding away, I think entire regions of the world will take ownership of the fight themselves, much the same as General Ali has in Qayyirah (or whatever its called). I think far from being a reason to come home, the number of our losses is among the reasons for staying with this fight. We keep figuring out more and more how to fight these guys efficiently, minimizing loss of life. There's a deployment plan that will help keep from burning our forces out and we need to rapidly implement it.

In this real world we live in, there are no options that allow us to solve these problems without some of our people sacrificing their lives. As a society, we should hope these come from our fighting forces. If you're not prepared to do this, then stay out of the military. For those that are, the rest of us need to impress the world with how we esteem and care for our war fighters. You guys should take the place sports heroes have in our society. Little boys should grow up hoping to be soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, before pursuing other dreams. Those of us who eschew this great calling, should live out our days with regret for only half lived.

I can see no other hope for the world to enjoy some measure of peace and stability. Is there another candidate for dealing with evil in the world that makes any sense?”

I am not sure why he hasn’t started his own blog yet as I think he has a lot of good things to say, but until he does I’ll continue to steal and post his ideas as if they were my own. As far as another way for dealing with evil I can only think of one: create a reality TV show called “Extremist Russian Roulette” and invite six new terrorists on each six week series and tell them that whoever survives until the next week will receive a lifetime supply of cell phones and detonation cord. The last man standing after each series gets to go onto the next series and so on and so forth.

Supporting The Troops…Or Not

2006-07-20T14:19:00.000-04:00

Many patriotic Americans want to say that it is impossible to support the troops while not supporting the mission they are currently undertaking. They think if you argue against the war there is no possible way that you can possibly appreciate the work soldiers do day in and day out. I disagree. I know my saying this will probably anger more than a few of my readers but bear with me and consider my reasoning.

Not too long ago I was a subscriber to this train of thought. I often wondered how people could support what we were doing if they thought what we were doing was wrong. It sounded like a logical impossibility to me. There is no way I could support someone while they continued to do something that I wholeheartedly disagreed with. That would be like supporting Nazi soldiers at concentration camps who didn’t necessarily agree with what they had to do but did it anyway because they were commanded to. How could anyone do such a thing?

Over the past couple of weeks though, I have come upon two individuals that have changed my opinion: Ben Stein and Cher.

Ben Stein has been a tireless supporter of troops and is almost unequaled in his admiration for the job troops do. He frequently posts on American Spectator and has several wonderful articles about his respect for troops. Here is an excerpt from his article titled Greetings From Rancho Mirage.

“And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills, going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.”

I doubt anyone can say it better than Mr. Stein does in that article. But while Mr. Stein supports the troops he also has some not so kind words for the President. In an article entitled “Keeping The Faith” he talks about Iraq being a mistake.

“Iraq was a mistake. And it’s turning out badly. We lack the national will to win this war. We had no good reason to be there in the first place. (Thank you, CIA.) We were supposed to not get into any more wars we did not absolutely need to be in. If we did get into them, we were supposed to go in with enough force to win. We screwed up every part of this and it’s a mistake.”

Cher is another example of someone who can tirelessly support the troops while continuing to disagree with their mission. I read an article about Cher the other day in the Stars and Stripes that mentioned how she became a spokesperson for Operation Helmet, which is an organization that supports getting better military helmets for soldiers. As a result of her involvement she has visited many wounded soldiers and plans a trip to Iraq in the future. In the article she expresses her admiration for soldiers but when asked how she could be for the troops and against the war she replied:

“I don’t have to be for this war to support the troops because these men and women do what they think is right. They do what they’re told to do. They do it with a really good heart. They do the best they can. They don’t ask for anything. They just do what they’re supposed to do. So, my beef is not with them at all.”

What makes Mr. Stein’s and Cher’s disapproval of the war while at the same time applauding the troops okay in my book is their unwillingness to undermine the war effort. There is a difference between disagreeing with the war on reasonable (or not so reasonable in most cases) grounds and disagreeing with the war while at the same time providing aid and comfort to the enemy like so many people do when they publicly denounce the war and America for fighting it.

Take for example people like Cindy Sheehan, John Kerry, John Murtha, Joe Biden and the whole slew of the anti-war crowd. They often purport to support the troops while at the same time undermining our efforts in the Middle East. By their actions and words-leading anti-war rallies that include groups such as Code Pink ANSWER and speaking out against the actions of troops, they encourage terrorists to keep up their fight. Code Pink and ANSWER, while claiming to be anti-war, are merely Communist front groups who wish ultimately to see the demise of democracy and capitalism. They do not care about the American soldiers fighting and dying each day in Iraq and Afghanistan they merely want to sow as much hatred towards the beacon of freedom and liberty that is the United States of America by using any and every controversy that might divide us. They aren’t particular if it gives them the hope that it might bring violent revolution to our streets.

These anti-American groups embolden the very people who are fighting against the troops that they claim to care about. When they take out ads in Iraqi papers, as Code Pink has done, to denounce the war they only show support and solidarity for the cause of the Islamofacists. Apparently these groups know their recent history. This type of “support” caused the Vietcong to keep up their fight until the American military withdrew from Vietnam and claimed defeat even though in every sense of military victory they were winning. The old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” no longer holds true. Sticks and stones will bounce off my body armor but the words of Americans will encourage our enemies and discourage our supporters to no end.

So while people like Ben Stein and Cher oppose the war but claim to support the troops I will welcome them with open arms. I disagree with their assessment of the war, as I am happy to be in Iraq fighting for peace and see a purpose for what we are doing, but I am thankful that they can appreciate what we are trying to do. As long as you are not actively seeking to undermine what we are doing here you are harmless. However, when you cross the line like Code Pink and ANSWER have done you are no longer a supporter of the troops: you are a corroborator with terrorists and are just as responsible for the blood of Coalition soldiers as those who pull triggers and lob mortars.

Oh So True

2006-07-18T16:18:00.000-04:00

"So again, we have almost up to the last instant trusted the newspapers as organs of public opinion. Just recently some of us have seen (not slowly, but with a start) that they are obviously nothing of the kind. They are, by the nature of the case, the hobbies of a few rich men. We have not any need to rebel against antiquity; we have to rebel against novelty. It is the new rulers, the capitalist or the editor, who really hold up the modern world. There is no fear that a modern king will attempt to override the constitution; it is more likely that he will ignore the constitution and work behind its back; he will take no advantage of his kingly power; it is more likely that he will take advantage of his kingly powerlessness, of the fact that he is free from criticism and publicity. For the king is the most private person of our time. It will not be necessary for any one to fight again against the proposal of a censorship of the press. We do not need a censorship of the press. We have a censorship by the press."

-G.K. Chesterton

This new millennium has been fraught with misrepresentations by the press. Talk to any soldier and you will hear the same. How many countless milblogs and soldiers have told you the truth is not being reported by the MSM? How has the current administration’s support for war been hampered by faulty reporting and blatant disregard for the truth? Why has the media been allowed to run roughshod upon the great Americans who sacrifice so much for our Constitution? What would have happened if the media reported this way in the
past? Why has so much hate been thrown towards Israel who is fighting the same battle as we are? Why do people have an insatiable lust to see the right side of the fight against terrorism lose? And therein lies the real question: Why is it so hard to see the truth at a time when it should be black and white?

Those who make sport out of cutting innocent people’s heads off are wrong. Those who use real torture (not like the games that took place in Abu Gharib) and mutilate bodies, by doing such things as sticking people’s genitals in their mouths, are wrong. Those who willingly murder women and children because they are too ignorant to make a point without terror are wrong. Those who murder Iraqis simply because they cook our food or cut our hair are wrong. Those who lob missiles into areas populated by civilians hoping to hit something are wrong. Those who use their religion as a reason to try and take over the world are wrong. Nothing gray about any of those statements, only black and white.

The media perpetuates ignorance among the American population because they fall into the trap of only reporting bad news. Also, as I have said before and will say again, they are ignorant of the subject matter they report on. How many ex-veterans are working in the MSM right now? Take away Oliver North and who are you left with? If non-military types are reporting on the actions of the military then they are bound to get their stories wrong. I wonder why the major news organizations don’t hire more military correspondents? Of course there are the retired generals that comment on television but where are military voices in print? I know several news organizations have made attempts at getting soldiers to do occasional blogs for them but nothing of any importance. What the public needs to hear is the truth-the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am not against showing death and destruction on TV but at the same time there should also be stories about growth and reconstruction. A nation is being rebuilt in Iraq and people are getting on with their lives but you would never know that from what you read in American newspapers or watch on American TV.

In the passage I quoted above Chesterton notes that newspapers have become the hobbies of a few who essentially censor what we hear by only reporting on what they want. I agree whole-heartedly with him although I would expand from “a few” to say it has become the hobby of the majority. If the MSM were truly objective we would hear from people all over the spectrum concerning the important issues of the day. No longer would we just have Hannity and Colmes where people from opposite sides of the spectrum argue in order to get ratings. We would have a group of people dedicated to spreading the truth. The news would sound something like “It was a typical day in Iraq today. In Ramadi there were several clashes between soldiers and terrorists leaving 20 terrorists dead and one soldier severely wounded. Mosul continues to get safer and safer each day and is gaining a lot of support from surrounding villages. Overall Iraq looked very much like a country dealing with rebuilding itself from the ground up. However, anyone who has been in Iraq from day one knows that despite occasional setbacks Iraq has improved leaps and bounds from the days of Saddam. The people of Iraq realize that life is tough now but they are thankful they will never have to live under the oppressive rule of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein. (End satellite feed)”

What we need in today’s world of instant news are journalists willing to do their job of reporting the truth. We don’t need uninformed beauties with their hair blowing in the wind telling us what has been scripted for them to say by others. We don’t need editors ripping the guts out of any good story up for print because it doesn’t fit their agenda. We need more men like Michael Yon who are going to report the good, the bad, and the ugly no matter what people will think of them afterward. We need men like Bill Roggio and Pat Dollard who will pay their way to a foreign country in order to report the truth. What good is our media if they are upstaged daily by amateurs who, at their own expense, travel to a distant country so that Americans can learn what is really going on in this crazy world of ours.

Like Chesterton said almost 100 years ago “We do not need a censorship of the press. We have a censorship by the press." If you really want to know what is going on in the world today you must read blogs. It is sad that is has come to not being able to trust the media but that is where we are now. It is not that the media always seeks to suppress the truth, they are just often times unqualified to give it to you.

I know I am often preaching to the choir here about the media, and I know I have done so often but I feel that it is important to know that you are not able to get the truth from the media. Maybe you can get some of the truth but overall the media is run by people who are unwilling to report on stories if they don’t properly fit into their agenda. Now if I can just figure out what my agenda is…

Crazies and the Letters They Write

2006-07-12T16:48:00.000-04:00

I am no stranger to occasional hate mail but I have received several emails lately that made me laugh. The thing about hate mail is that it inspires me to keep writing. I don’t exactly know what it is but there is something inexplicably fun about riling people’s feathers to the point that they take the time to write incoherent emails to you. It is almost as if they have nothing better to do with their time…

With that said I want to share a few exceptional letters I have received over the past couple of weeks. I’ll mention no names or give out email addresses but hope that the people that wrote them will read this post and send me some more hate mail.

Perhaps my favorite tactic used by the hate-mailers is the train of thought that “This person cannot possibly exist” when talking about milbloggers. I have heard several milbloggers say that they have been accused of nonexistence and it recently happened to me. I was scanning my sitemeter when I happened across a link from a forum for Backpacker magazine. Of all places I don’t know why I was being discussed on a forum for an outdoors magazine but maybe the people were outdoors when they read my blog. Someone mentioned that they thought I wasn’t real and that someone ought to investigate me further to make sure I wasn’t a concoction of some neocon. While they discussed the ontological hullabaloo surrounding T.F. Boggs I laughed out loud. “Why someone in the military who can read and write-Impossible!” cried the Murthacrat.

Everyone knows that people in the military: “Are nothing but cannon fodder serving with your body, but with an empty head” as another angry reader of my blog quipped to me in an email. The person who wrote me that carried on:

“I pity you. You are as brainwashed as a suicide bomber who thinks the best way to support his cause is to blow strangers up. Found any connection to 9/11 in Iraq, soldier? Found any WMD yet, sir? Found Jenna or Barbara Bush serving next to you, soldier? Go home now then!!! There’s no honor killing in the name of the Liar in Chief.”

Take a moment to digest the wisdom of that email.

One of the best things about blogging is that you are able to reach an international audience. I received an email from a man in France the other week that replied to my interview of General Ali.

“However, sorry to say, as to your activities in Iraq, well, I think you will not prevail. The tide of history is very much against you. Your venture was-or is-to bring freedom and democracy to a country with well over five thousand years of continuous history. 5000 years, sergeant!”

Whatever that means, he continues on:

“And now you come and propose democracy but trying at the same time to grab the only riches they have, oil. You are bound to fail, not by military defeat but by continuous small losses of human life and by the enormous cost of this venture. Sooner or later your politicians will come to the conclusion that all this is meaningless. Then you will return home…”

Frenchie continues on by alluding to Vietnam and ends the email with a nice cartoon that has the military portrayed by a giant turtle that he “imagines I’ll like.” How nice.

By far my favorite comes from an oh-so-informed Red Diaper Baby who chose to respond by commenting on my blog.

“…I suppose that the blogger thinks that al-Qaeada exists and believes other things the government tells him. That's his choice, but I do hope that he realizes his folly before the totalitarian takeover is complete. It's already chugging along at a steady pace…. In case you haven't noticed, the terrorists are not the ones killing the American soldiers.”

Quick someone nominate this guy for public office. I would tell you how he went on to allude that the Illuminati are finalizing their takeover of the American government in a push to consolidate the world into a global community with one currency in order to support the antichrist at his reawaking ceremony but that would only be some expert speculation on my part. I also want to take some time and thank him for letting me know that terrorists are not the ones killing soldiers. I suppose they are dying as a result of not getting the proper counseling needed in order to rid their brains of alien life forms that keep them from reaching their full potential. (Hat tip Tom Cruise)

What planet do people like this come from? It is actually quite saddening. On the surface level it is pretty funny but when you start to think about the thought process that goes on behind these ideas it is frightening. No terrorists? No al Qaeda? Are you kidding me? Who are these guys that we see here in Iraq everyday? Who have we been fighting? Is this some sort of drug-induced hallucination I have been on for the past 4 years? I knew that Bin Laden guy was fake, no one has a nose that big!

One consistency I have found in hate mail is the lack of coherent sentence structure. Case in point: an email I got in response to my letter to the NYT from a self-described

“72 yr.old retired janitor; served US Navy, 1952-56, never left the U.S. I was a Hospital Coprsman, Psychiatric Technician (orderly), have worked in V.A. system, Mclean Hospital (Belmont, Ma.) private psych hospital for 19 yrs. Trained at St. Elizabeth’s hospital near Washington D.C. (vomited on side walk outside white house and never knew where I was?) Chelsea Naval Hosp. 3 and a half yrs., Psych ward, Portsmouth Naval Hosp. (Prison Ward) 6 months. I went into the navy even with hearing loss in right ear. Puss was running out of my ear when they accepted me. They cured it by removing my tonsils at 18 yrs of age, day before Thanksgiving, Brainbridge Naval Hospital…”

I didn’t know I was accepting his resume. However, I couldn’t possibly make this up so you know I am telling the truth here. Emails like this one are priceless and immediately go into a separate folder where I stash emails that I want to save. What point exactly this retired janitor was trying to make still eludes me but lets look at his email further.

“…we attacked Iraq on false statements made by everyone in this administration, (This is a war for control of oil…Saddams best friends were/is the Bush #41 (George H. W.) (Poppy bush) drug lord of the world…the poppy trade (opium) has grown by more than 300% since we took over Afghan. The Taliban had almost got rid of it….I have never seen a president such as this so close to Hitler (even Nixon) did not come that close…I could go on with the bush family history that would knock your socks off…and why are we spending so much money on a new Embassy the size of Rome...we spend 9.7 billion dollars a day now…in Iraq. Take care of your self.”

Wow, just wow. “Oil, grumble, oil, grumble, Hitler, grumble, praise for the Taliban, grumble, rich pricks, grumble, have a good day Sgt. Boggs.” Aww thanks old man. I’ll have to admit this email almost had me convinced to join the dark side. The fact that he left me his home phone number kind of creeped me out but maybe I’ll visit him next time I shoot up some of that Bush-made heroin and am looking for a history lesson about the demonic Bush family.

I know there are millions of people in America that support the troops and what we are trying to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. These people have fully functioning brains that are capable of seeing the truth. The people that write hate mail are in the minority but at the same time seem to be coming out in larger numbers everyday. The internet has allowed everyone to share their opinion with the world whether or not it is an informed one. At a time when people are threatening others for what they write on their blogs we should all take the time out, moonbats included, to thank the soldiers that have made this type of expression possible. I gladly invite these hate-mailers to move to a country where the government doesn’t stand for dissent. If you like the Taliban so much go live under their rule. If Saddam was such a great guy go to Iraq and protest his trial. If there is no such thing as al-Qaeda come to Iraq and hang out in Baghdad, I am sure there are plenty of terrorists (or I mean totalitarian tools) willing to cut your head off to make a political statement.

Until then keep writing to me, I am always up for a good laugh.

Some Kinda Genius

2006-07-12T03:43:00.000-04:00

So Buck Sargent from American Citizen Soldier has another great post up today. Today he does something unusual for a milblogger and gives us a little poetry. Here is an excerpt:

Jundis and shurtas, Iraqi patrollers,
Shot down and blown up or pelted with mortars.
Security forces trained from the boots on the ground up,
Uncredited valor amidst body count roundups.

Foreign jihadists and tribal omertas,
Turn on each other, both routed, Inshallah.
Though Arab versus Arab and Muslim on Muslim,
Long driven by the Prophet mo (Peace Be Upon Him).

Shifty attacks from those dressed none more black,
Thy nature of the beast roaming free the Middle East;
Baghdad... Samarra... Fallujah... Ramadi...
Our rank and file hunters on insurgent safari.

Toting carbines and ‘fifties, 240s and SAWs,
Flashbangs and flex cuffs, and Kevlar and gauze;
Strykers and Bradleys, Kiowa gunships and tanks,
MREs, IEDs, Humvees... (no thanks!)

Though the instrument of warfare that 'ever dwarfs any gun,
To win the trust of the people once the battle is won.

For the rest of the post go visit his site, you won't be disappointed. Leave him a comment and wish him luck as he goes back home. Iraq will miss him.

Part II: Interview With An Iraqi General

2006-07-04T17:09:00.000-04:00

This is the second part of my interview with General Ali. As before I hope you share this interview with as many people as you can because all people need to hear the truth coming out of Iraq.

Do you think your soldiers have learned from American soldiers?

General Ali: Yes they have learned from the soldiers and so have I. I learned many things from the coalition forces.

What do you see as problems for the Iraqi army right now?

General Ali: The Iraqi army does not have clear leaders right now. This is bad. The coalition also supplies everything for us right now and the Iraqi government does not supply anything for us. We get fuel and uniforms from the coalition, but we do not have leaders checking what we need for the future.

When the Americans leave what will happen?

General Ali: No problem we will be able to take care of ourselves.

What would you say to the American people who think it was a bad idea for us to come to Iraq and whom think we should leave now?

General Ali: This message is from the terrorists. The terrorists encourage the media and they encourage the U.S. people. The U.S. soldiers who came to Iraq are heroes. The media do not convey the real picture of what the US soldiers are doing. Our problem from the very beginning has been the media. They think the U.S. soldiers just came to fight the Iraqi people. After this interview we will go to Qayyarah and help the people. We will talk with the people and do things for them. The U.S. media only show the bad to the U.S. people. And also the U.S. media is very bad, they are against the US people because they make sure only to show the bad and not the good of what the US heroes do here. They help the Iraqi people, they make projects, they make the Iraqi army and police, and make jobs here but the media does not show this. They only show car bombs, and they even change digital pictures to show Americans attacking Iraqi families (Haditha). The US people only see the bad they don’t see Qayyarah, only the dangerous areas. They did not see how the US soldiers shop in our market and meet the people and help the kids. They don’t see how the soldiers give gifts to the kids. The media do not show this, or how they do projects for schools, water, and roads. They only show the units that fight the bad guys and do not show the other units. This is a big problem. We fight the terrorists, and the terrorists are not just against the Iraqis but also against the whole world, all humans.

I want to say first hello to all the US people and second I need their trust and for them to encourage their soldiers who help us fight and also to encourage the Iraqi people. We need them to encourage the soldiers to do projects to help us. Encourage them to have a trust between them and the Iraqi people because we have a good future. Third I need them to believe me that the terrorists are down in Iraq. I only see terrorists on Al Jazerra, where are the terrorists? Show them to me! I go to Mosul by myself-no bad guys. I need to see terrorists. I have not been attacked in three years, except for once in April of last year and he only killed himself and did not hurt me. Where are the bad guys? We need the American people to know the truth.

Please tell the American people the terrorists are down. When we killed Zarqawi where were the media? They did not report on it. Where is Zarqawi?

At this point in the interview General Ali began speaking Arabic after my interpreter interrupted by saying Zarqawi went to hell. General Ali said in Arabic that Zarqawi went to the “historical trash bin.” Sounds good to me.

Do you think Iraq will look favorably upon American soldiers and what we have done here?

General Ali: This depends on the leaders of Iraq. If the leaders are good men and do good things for the Iraqi people then the people will believe him when he tells them about the Americans, they will trust him. But if we have bad leaders the people will not believe him. But if I work with the coalition and help make projects for the people then they will believe us. We will tell them “Look the terrorists destroyed all of these things, they killed civilians. But look at what the coalition did. They helped us.”
This picture will come in the future. We work to serve the people. God willing the story will be told right in the future about how the coalition helped the civilians. I am happy about our future and I think it is an excellent future.

What do you do for fun if you always work?

General Ali: I go home two days a month to see my family. I change the times I go home though. I do not have time to lie around. I see my family. I have 11 kids and one wife. I tried to get two wives but that didn’t work (chuckles).

Do you think it is a good idea for IA soldiers to protect their own villages and cities?

General Ali: Right now yes but not in the future. The U.S. army is from all over not just from Washington. We need to be like that. The most important thing now though is to encourage the people from the towns to protect their own towns. When the security becomes good we will change. We will send different units to different places. You can move my battalion to Basra, to Baquba, to Ramadi, to Nasariyah with no problem, just like the American army. But right now we keep the soldiers in their own area because their own people help them to find terrorists. Right now we do not have a real army. Right now we just find the terrorists. A real army comes from all the people.

Do you think Arabs and Kurds can work together?

Yes I have Kurdish and Arab soldiers in my battalion. We can work with Sunnis and Shiites no problem. We are one people and one army. My tribe is the military. I serve my country and do not wish to split up the army.

At this point I read to General Ali a note given to my by The Real Ugly American who asked me to share with him. The note is as follows:

“Americans support the people of Iraq. We want them to live in safety and freedom. When we hear news of Iraqis being killed our hearts break the same as when American soldiers are killed. People we love are fighting and dying beside you and your men. Do not throw away this precious opportunity that so few people in the world are given. History is calling on you and your men. Freedom needs you to be strong. The people of Iraq need you to be strong. The world needs you and your men to be heroes. May God bless you and your men”.

General Ali responded by saying “this is our hope too. My wishes and regards for this person and I am very hopeful for the future. I am sure we will get the victory”. He then asked me to ask him why Iraq is going to win against the terrorists.

Sgt. Boggs: Why are you going to win against the terrorists?

General Ali: Cause where are the terrorists!? Show me the terrorists!

At the end of the interview General Ali told me that the soldiers in his battalion call him “The Old Brother” because not only is he their commander but because he is a brother to them. After talking with this great man I understand why he is called “The Old Brother” because I feel that we are suddenly not so different anymore. He may be an older man who speaks a different language and lives on the other side of the world but we both yearn for freedom and are willing to give our lives for others. General Ali has my utmost respect because he is a lone beacon for hope in the midst of so many enemies of all faces that want to see him fail. He has single handedly changed the face of his town and given hope to all Iraqis that it is possible to stand up in the face of evil and prevail. If only there were more men like him in this world.

Interview With An Iraqi General

2006-07-02T13:56:00.000-04:00

I wrote a story for Michael Yon’s Frontline Forum a week ago about the town I am stationed in right now named Qayyarah. Qayyarah is a model for other Iraqi cities because it was once a haven for terrorists but is now safe enough for anyone to travel around in without fear of terrorists. The main reason for the safety of Qayyarah lies with one man: General Ali. He is a myth-like figure around our base and everyone knows his name. He is a strict military man but is the type of man Iraq needs so desperately right now. I hope people the world over will read this interview and learn just what kind of men are in Iraq right now willing to take control of their own country. What follows is the truth. It comes directly from the mouth of a man who knows intimately what is going on in Iraq and knows where Iraq has come from and where it needs to go. I intend to post the interview in two installments due to the length and urge everyone to bookmark this page and come back for the rest of the interview.

General Ali in his office

How long have you been in the military?

General Ali: I first went to the army in 1976, I became a staff brigade general in 1997. In 2001 I left the army because there were many problems between my tribe and Saddam’s regime. He fired many of the officers and put some of them in jail. I am one of the officers who was put in jail for ten months and afterwards I was put out of the army. When the coalition forces came to Iraq in 2003 I worked with the 101st (Airborne American army unit) in Qayyarah (*the town I am in now and where he lives) as an advisor. In 2004 the terrorists destroyed all of the Iraqi police stations and in that time the terrorists controlled all of this area. They controlled Mosul, south Mosul, and 40 km from where we are now. In that time no one came to help. All of the people and soldiers were scared and went home. I came to help and the Americans invited me to come command this battalion. The name of this battalion was the 102nd ING before they changed the name to the 1st battalion 3 brigade Iraqi army. At that time I only had eight soldiers with my battalion. They could not go out in their uniforms because they were scared of the terrorists. If they went out on a mission with the coalition they wore facemasks because if the terrorists saw them they would kill them. First time I started training my soldiers I made 1000 soldiers in my unit. After one month I went out on a mission with them and captured all of the terrorists leaders.

At this point I asked kind of jokingly, kind of seriously “Really, on the first time out?” He replied in all seriousness:

Yes the first time.

I worked day and night, 24 hours 7 days a week to clean my area because my area at that time was very dangerous. No one could move at that time, no market, no police, no Iraqi army. We continue to work with the Americans, we captured many bad guys, more than 800. We found caches we found mortars, many weapons. They attacked my house many times. They did not send messages to me but instead sent car bombs and mortars to my family. But I did not stop my mission. I encouraged my family but I did not go home. For three months I did not see my family, I stayed with the coalition to serve my country because my country needed me.

I was in this same position as battalion commander in 1987 during the war between Iraq and Iran which started in 1980-88. In that war I was injured 7 times and have 17 medals for courage. I did not go to Kuwait in 1991 because I did not believe in the old regime and also my tribe did not believe the old regime. He killed many people in my tribe from the military. But now that all the people believe me they work with me and help me.

As two local Sheiks sit across the room from us listening in on our conversation General Ali turns the conversation to them for a minute.

You see those two sheiks? They came to thank me because I made their area secure. They are very happy when they see the work being done in their area. When they see people working at night, people driving. Basra and Baghdad are dangerous but my area now is very safe. In my area the security is excellent. Now I can guarantee that you can go by yourself in your uniform with no armor, no helmet, no weapon, and I’ll give you my vehicle so that you can go to Qayyarah to shop in the market and come back to here and you will be safe. This happened because before the terrorists were in control there was no trust between the Iraqi army and the people. They just believed the terrorists but when I came I controlled this area and I had a meeting with all the sheiks and all the people and all the doctors and I made clear to them that all the terrorists and all the criminals were killers against Islam and they believed me and helped me. They gave me information and even caught terrorists and brought them to me. This is excellent. I told them that it was their job, that it was their country. All Iraqi people must fight the terrorists because it was not just the job of the Iraqi army. The terrorists were killing civilians and because of it the people believed me and they came to work with me.

How did Saddam treat you since you were in a different tribe than him?

General Ali: He was a bad guy against all of the Iraqi people not just my tribe.

Have you liked working with the American soldiers?

General Ali: Yes, yes, yes. They believe me and I believe them. All the soldiers that have worked here know General Ali. I invite them to my house to eat with me and to train with me. I know they came to help the Iraqi people. That is why I work with them, that is why I tell my people the truth about the coalition. Before they might have disliked the US army because they did not have the real picture of the soldiers. I told the people though how the US army fought for us and also how they did projects for us. They fixed the schools, made roads, and made many things for the people of Iraq. The people see how we caught the terrorists, how we made it safe, they see that is more comfortable then under Saddam’s regime.

Do you have a different picture of Americans now then before we came?

General Ali: It is the same for me because I know exactly why the soldiers came to Iraq. I am not a small officer (*Just incase: Brigadier General is a high rank in any army). I work with the soldiers day and night. If you work with people for three years you get to know them. You see them more than your family. You work with them more than your brother. I believe and like the soldiers. If they make mistakes I tell them because they are my friends. If they don’t know about the Iraqi people I tell them. I am a soldier and an advisor. Sometimes the soldiers did not know about the Iraqi people. I also told my friends about the soldiers: how they speak, how they shake hands, how they sit down with them. Which subject they speak on because I know the US army soldiers read before they came over here. When they came to help though they needed advisors. If there were other good advisors like me then there wouldn’t be terrorists. My people help me because they believe in me and like me. And when the terrorists came they did not believe the terrorists, they fought against the terrorists. When the terrorists came from Mosul, Ramadi, and from any other town the people would call me on my cell phone and tell me about them.

At this time in the conversation I mentioned to General Ali about the day before when I saw him coming in the main gate to our base with three terrorists in the back of a truck. He laughed and told me he received a tip from some locals and he and his men dropped everything they were doing and went out to catch the men. They were assisted by an American helicopter in the capture, which made it a combined effort. He explained to me that those same sequences of events happen often and exuded confidence in the efforts of his men and of his fellow townspeople.

The rest of the interview will be posted on Wednesday. In the second part of the interview General Ali shares his feelings about the American media, the future of the Iraqi army, and shares some words for the American people. Please spread the word about this interview. I believe what General Ali has to say needs to be heard by the whole world.

Check This Out

2006-06-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

I found a great video at Hot Air that I think everyone should watch. It parallels what I have been talking about in my last couple of posts. It is a good reminder why we need to be cautious with what we print for the whole world to see. I hope the editors of the NYT take a long hard look at what has happened in their own city over the past 16 years. I am a firm believer that if we forget history we are doomed to repeat it.

My Little Letter

2006-06-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Concerning the letter I wrote to Mr. Keller of the New York Times I have received quite a few emails and have been the subject of several online forums. Mostly people agree with what I had to say but there are others who criticize me for numerous things including fanning the flames of hatred towards the media, being over the top, not thinking clearly, and my personal favorite not being a real person who is in the military. All of the discussion has gotten me thinking about what I had to say in my letter.

Is my anger justified and am I over the top with some of my comments in my letter? Well that is up for you to judge but I think it is time for some anger on my part. Gone are the niceties with which I could treat people and actually would prefer to treat people. Why must I continue to act civilly while things are happening that I wholeheartedly disagree with? I think it is high time to get angry with people like the editorial staff at the New York Times. I’ll leave being “nice” to people who are scared to speak out or who have jobs to worry about. I for one am not scared to offend or anger others with my words. I am not running for political office at the time being so I don’t have to worry about votes.

Am I heaping hate and anger onto the subject of the NY Times, WSJ, and the LA Times decision to print secret information? I personally don’t think so. Anyone reading my blog can decide for themselves whether or not they want to be angry, they don’t need me to encourage them to do so.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau chief Doyle McManus, Hugh Hewitt tells Mr. McManus that I and fellow soldiers are angry over his paper’s choice to publish stories involving secret information and that we believe they directly affect our lives. Mr. McManus chose to respond with a typical response for someone who knows nothing about the military.

“Well, I respect Sgt. Boggs, and I respect what he's doing for our country. I think accusing newspapers of causing the deaths of soldiers over the last several years because of a story that was printed last week probably adds more heat than light to this discussion.”

What actually adds heat to the situation Mr. McManus is your paper’s choice to publish sensitive information. I am merely expressing what I and, from the comments I have received in the past two days, many Americans feel. And if you want light to come to the situation why don’t you and the rest of the editors who chose to publish the story come out and start answering the tough questions without placing the blame on people like myself.

The bottom line is that I am a 24-year-old sergeant in the army. I get angry at times especially when I am in the sun dressed like a samurai (thanks for the samurai quote Buck Sargent) in 115 degree heat for nine hours a day. The thing about me though is I blame no one for my being in Iraq. I joined the military on my own and did so after 9/11. I figured I would be deployed and am grateful for the opportunity to serve other people in Iraq. I do place blame upon people like the editors of the NYT, LAT, and the WSJ for making things harder on me while I am here. Just like the faulty reporting so far on the incident in Haditha involving the marines the words of reporters directly affect what happens on the ground here in Iraq. Emboldened by the major media sources in America, terrorists all over Iraq who might not have heard about incidents such as the one in Haditha, seek revenge for incidents that probably never happened. For people like the LA Times editor Dean Baquet, who wrote a defense of his paper’s decision to publish the article about the secret program on monday, to think that their publishing information about the Treasury Department’s program to track terrorist finances will have no effect on people’s lives is plain stupid.

“We sometimes withhold information when we believe that reporting it would threaten a life. In this case, we believed, based on our talks with many people in the government and on our own reporting, that the information on the Treasury Department’s program did not pose a threat.” –Dean Baquet

Whether or not the information revealed this past week will affect lives remains to be seen but like I noted in my letter money is a huge part of the equation for terrorists. Without money they would be unable to buy the supplies needed to attack us. If, as a result of their reading the story in one of their favorite (NYT, LAT, and WSJ) American papers, it is now easier for terrorists to escape the eye of our security agencies then lives will be in danger in the future and you can count on that.

Well here I am Mr. McManus, Mr. Keller, Mr. Baquet and anyone else involved in publishing the story. I do not hide my contact info, you can reach me at timfboggs@yahoo.com or if you are like some people who don’t think I am really in the army you can reach me at timothy.boggs@us.army.mil. If you want to know how I feel, if you want to talk to a person who your story directly effects, if you want to accurately gauge how your story has been received email me or send a reporter to interview me. I am not in the green zone but I am sure you can figure something out.

Letter to NY Times

2006-06-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

I recently wrote a letter to the NY Times in response to their decision to print information concerning a U.S. secret program designed to track financial transactions of suspected terrorists. I'll post the letter in full below. I urge everyone to write to the NY Times and their congressmen and let them know how you feel about the NY Times yet again sharing secret information with America's enemies.

The Times article can be found here.

Mr. Keller,

What ceases to amaze me about your paper is the lengths you are willing to go to make headlines and sell papers. Who cares if those headlines help the enemies of America, you guys are making money and that is what it is all about in the end right?

Your recent decision to publish information about a classified program intended to track the banking transactions of possible terrorists is not only detrimental to America but also to its fighting men and women overseas. I know because I am a sergeant in the army on my second tour to Iraq. As I am sure you don’t know because you aren’t in Iraq, and I am sure never will be, terrorism happens here everyday because there are rich men out there willing to support the everyday terrorist who plants bombs and shoots soldiers just to make a living. Without money terrorism in Iraq would die because there would no longer be supplies for IED’s, no mortars or RPG’s, and no motivation for people to abandon regular work in hopes of striking it rich after killing a soldier.

Throughout your article you mention that “ the banking program is a closely held secret” but the cat is out of the bag now isn’t it. Terrorists the world over can now change their practices because of your article. For some reason I think that last sentence will bring you guys pleasure. You have done something great in your own eyes-you think you have hurt the current administration while at the same time encouraging “freedom fighters” resisting the imperialism of the United States. However, I foresee a backlash coming your way. I wish I had a subscription to your paper so I could cancel it as soon as possible. But alas, that would prove a little tough right now since I am in Iraq dealing with terrorists financed by the very men you are helping.

Thank you for continually contributing to the deaths of my fellow soldiers. You guys definitely provide a valuable service with your paper. Why without you how would terrorists stay one step ahead of us? I would love to hear a response as to why you deemed revealing this program a necessity, but that will probably come as soon as the government decides to finally put you guys behind bars where you belong.

Tim Boggs
www.boredsoldier.blogspot.com

Keep pressuring the NY Times and your congressmen, it the only way anything might be done about this situation. Tell your congressmen that what the Times is sharing with the world is hurting American soldiers. Feel free to copy my letter in full and send it to your congressmen as well.

New Post at the Frontline Forum

2006-06-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

I have a new story on Michael Yon's Frontline Forum so be sure to check it out. The story is about the town I am stationed in and I hope to have more posts soon on my site talking further about it. I also have an interview in the works with the commanding Iraqi general of the area and it promises to be good. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for more to come about the great town of Qayyarah.

Media and the Military

2006-06-19T16:33:00.000-04:00

Some people chastise me for being too hard on the media when it comes to their reporting on military matters. They say that I am unwarranted in my criticisms and that I should be more careful because I influence hatred of the media in others.

Why exactly do I detest the coverage the media provides about Iraq and Afghanistan? Why do I often blame them for encouraging terrorists to continue fighting? Why is it that I believe most media types are unfit to report on the military? Why do I cringe when I watch the news and read papers? There is one simple answer for all of these questions: Those reporting on the military have no clue what they are talking about because they have never been in the military.

Now I can see many objections to my viewpoint. I can already hear people saying things like “Well journalists cover things everyday that they have no direct experience with.” And if you feel this way then you are somewhat right. Female reporters cover football every Sunday and I am willing to bet that they never played on an NFL team. Bob Costas covers the Olympics every few years and I am pretty sure he never actually competed in them. The difference between covering sports etc. and covering the military is that when covering the military people’s lives are on the line and the world’s opinion is a result of the news coming out of the war zone. If people who have no clue what it is like to serve in the military, to risk their life day in and day out, to shoulder a large burden at a young age all the while being judged by the world for every mistake or misstep then they cannot accurately report the news. Sure they can talk about the latest body count or bomb but can they explain why soldiers want to go home while still feeling a strong pull to stay in the war zone to ensure things continue to improve?

Dinesh D’Souza, a prominent conservative author and thinker who happens to be a man I admire greatly, said in an interview conducted early last year concerning Kerry and Bush that “If I was in a foxhole I’d take Kerry. But we’re not electing the president to jump in your foxhole. Who’s the better man is not always the best way to go.” D’Souza was talking about his choice to vote for Bush over Kerry because he felt Bush was a better leader although Kerry appeared to be the better man. What D’Souza could never know because he never served in the military is what exactly it takes to be a good military man. Although it isn’t part of my main argument I’ll share what I think it takes to be a good military man. What it takes to be a military man (and a good man in general) is someone who is selfless and willing to put other’s needs before their own while at the same time setting the example for them to follow (not coping-out after 4 months in country). Kerry embodied neither of these traits and therefore I would never care to share a foxhole with him, I am not sure if I could even share the same state with him. Also after serving in a confined area with people for an extended period of time you learn to recognize if other people have what it takes to endure when the times get tough and situations get rough. You’ll never know until you are there and until then all is speculation.

The MSM’s ignorance of the military leads them to make judgments that they aren’t qualified to make. When the media, in all their ignorance, makes judgments about how things are going in Iraq they are influencing the world. They have the world’s attention because they are in Iraq and if they are in Iraq they surely must know what they are talking about. Case in point: During my first deployment in 2003 I spent some time at the Abu Gharib prison right as it was opening for business. After I left a small element from my unit stayed there for another eight months. We left Iraq the week before the “abuse” story was released to the general public. I remember sitting in the den in my house watching as Dan Rather reported to the world about the “atrocities” that occurred in the prison. Forget the torture chambers that I walked through where blood was still splattered on the walls from Saddam’s happier days; there were naked Iraqis with dogs barking at them! Toward the end of the show Danny boy showed a couple pictures of dead prisoners and said something to the effect of “And here are some pictures of dead prisoners, we can only guess at how they died!” Oh really Dan, thanks for the expert reporting. My guess is that those prisoners either died from natural causes or died after getting shot by a soldier for rioting and trying to kill American soldiers as happened from time to time. Or maybe they were killed by their own people who often lobbed mortars into the prison in hopes that they would hit Americans.

I remember hearing another story about Abu Ghraib at the same time that the “abuse” story was making headlines. This lesser known story was about the terrorists who were supposedly targeting their own people inside their prison so that they wouldn’t have to live through the horrors of getting naked and having a female take pictures with them. Bulls$*t. The reason the mortars were killing the prisoners was because the terrorists couldn’t aim properly and just fired in the general direction of the prison and hoped for the best result. The media of course needed another sensational story to back up the already sensational one circulating on the nightly news. What better way to do that then to make something up all on their own. Who cared if it was accurate it sure sounded good.

My point is that media types who have no prior military service should be listened to with a cautionary ear. Yeah they might be able to explain to you generalities but they will never be able to get into the mind of soldiers. They will never be able to understand how their words hurt those they are trying to report about. They will never be able to know these things because they have never served. Heck, half the time they can’t even label pictures with military ordinance and machinery correctly. There are some good reporters and bloggers out there who have never served in the military but they are few and far between.

The part of winter quarter at school I was able to get in before I was deployed in 2003 I had a history teacher tell my class one day that if we ever wanted to get into politics then it would behoove us to join the military. He knew then, as all Americans know now, that military service can be used as a stepping-stone for other careers. I would urge all prospective media wannabes to join the military, whatever branch they want to, so as to gain an understanding for the military. If they do so then they will be much more able to accurately represent those who mean so much to our country.

Until the time comes when those reporting on the military have served themselves I will not cut the media any breaks. I don’t care who I offend because the media has offended me time and time again. I had a dream the other night that the media wanted us to win the war against terrorism and as a result started reporting the truth, but then I woke up and hit my head on the ceiling of my trailer and was reminded that like the media life sometimes sucks.

Double Standards

2006-06-08T03:46:00.000-04:00

Over the last few months I have slowly been changing my outlook on Iraqis. Sure there are plenty of great Iraqis who are just like you and I. They have the same wants, needs and cares as Americans do. Then there are Iraqis who have no idea what the world is really like and I cannot rest the blame solely on them. They have only had three years of relative freedom with which to get in touch with the 21st century. They were oppressed most of their lives and had little access to schools, libraries, outside television and Internet. What they did have access to was for the most part controlled propaganda and the knowledge they have as a result of that propaganda is the cause of considerable disagreements between them and I on issues that seem relatively clear to me i.e. what actually happened during the Iran-Iraq war. “Umm I think you guys have it wrong, Saddam didn’t kick the Iranians butts like he told you he did.”

On a daily basis I defend myself from an onslaught of Iraqis who want to trade me a bayonet for my digital camera. When I tell them that the camera is worth slightly more than their rusty bayonet they reconsider and tell me they will throw in an Iraqi flag with the bayonet. I then have to explain to them that even though it isn’t their fault their money isn’t worth the same as ours I am not going to trade something like that with them. “I am sorry guys but if I gave all of my stuff away for a 99.9% discount then I would go broke in a week.” “Ok Sgt. Tim me understand. No problem. I give you Iraqi flag for new boots.” Sometimes I can’t win for losing.

What has brought these thoughts to light recently has as much to do with Americans as it does Iraqis. Specifically the recent media blitzkrieg concerning the “Haditha incident” has prompted me to reevaluate my patriotic optimism. I am still optimistic about Iraq’s future but I am starting to see the many hurdles that will need to be overcome before we see our hopes for Iraq come to fruition. What Haditha has made me realize is that politicians and media back home place many of these hurdles in the military’s way. If the incident in Haditha was only treated like the many atrocities committed by terrorists against the Coalition forces then the world would know nothing about it. However, since we are held to a different standard it is on every newspaper’s front page. Remember the 54 straight days of front-page coverage on the New York Times of Abu Ghraib? Brace yourself for round two: Massacre in Haditha (NYT why don’t you save yourselves some trouble and set that as your heading for the front page for the next month.)

As a result of the incident in Haditha and the subsequent media blitz I, as every other soldier in theater, have had to go through sensitivity training to in order to avoid making the same mistakes again. Yes I know I am not supposed to murder innocent Iraqis and I know it is shameful to handcuff a man in front of his family. Great I got it, completely understood. That’s a good copy army training leaders out there, wilco, Sgt. Boggs out. Thanks for sitting behind your desks and dreaming this stuff up for us, we will forever owe you a debt of gratitude.

As I sat through three hours of Operation Kill Brain Cells the other morning I couldn’t help but think about the parties that Iraqis have thrown in the past celebrating the execution of American civilians and soldiers alike. Sure we might kill a few innocent people in a fit of rage after knowing that those very same civilians just got done watching terrorists plant the bombs that they knew were going to kill us but we don’t celebrate afterwards. We don’t take to the streets and hang the dead bodies from bridges while shouting praise to Allah. We don’t rush to the presses and burn copies of executions on DVD so that everyone big and small can watch in the privacy and relative safety of their own homes as we die on their screens. The fact is once we (all U.S. service branches) do these things, i.e. killing of civilians or playing dress up with prisoners, then it has dire consequences for our country as a whole. Media blowhards like Chris Matthews, Michael Ware, and Larry King spend countless hours debating the finer points of an event that they know nothing about. They blast the military and the current administration for anything and everything they can and I am sure they get a sick sense of pleasure from occurrences like the one unraveling with the marines in Haditha. Then every Tom, Dick, and Harry blogs about what “really” happened and what should happen as a result. As a result soldiers undergo hours of “sensitivity” training in order to learn how to not offend anyone who might be trying to kill us. Worse than the classes we have to sit through are the convoys we have to sit through on a daily basis, nothing goes boom in a classroom. We suffer casualties as a result of faulty reporting because it emboldens the enemy to go on the attack because they see that even our own country isn’t behind us. Thanks a lot Murtha, the blood of my friends is now on your head.

If I sound angry it is because I am. I am sick of the double standards applied to the military. “You must treat everyone with the utmost respect even though by doing so you are going to cause more problems for yourself.” Why do we seek to change Iraq from the ground up but while doing so treat it’s people differently then we do our own soldiers? Why does the world at large overlook the atrocities caused by Iraqis against American soldiers and civilians while at the same time jumping on the Bush administration at the slightest hint of foul play in Iraq? I have my own answers to these questions and the word “agenda” is included in each one of them.

As I sat in that class the other morning one of the teachers started asking questions about the army values and which ones were particularly important to us. The army has a set of values that they teach to each new recruit and that all soldiers are supposed to live by. They are represented by the acronym LDRSHIP (Leadership just incase), loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. The instructor asked several soldiers what values were particularly important to them and while they were answering I could only think of one that stood out above the rest for me: Loyalty. If only our politicians were loyal to their military then incidents like Abu Ghraib and Haditha wouldn’t be international catastrophies. If our politicians respected their military and had the personal courage to defend them even when the times got tough then things might get better. If politicians like Murtha only knew what selfless service was then they would put their own careers on hold while they did what they could to get to the bottom of incidents like Haditha before announcing to the world that they know the outcome before the trial has even taken place.

Luckily my mom never told me what most moms tell their children: If you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all. Thanks for leaving that option open for me mom.

Conversation Part 2

2006-06-01T06:33:00.000-04:00

Over at The Real Ugly American part two of my conversation with Iraqi blogger 24 Steps to Liberty is up. In the post he answers questions I posed to him. We plan to continue the conversation so be sure to stay tuned for more. Drop by TRUA and comment on the post. He is doing a great job with his blog and it is one you should add to your blogroll today. Be sure to tell all your friends too.

Of Marines and Congress"men"

2006-05-29T15:17:00.000-04:00

Lately a lot of media coverage has been directed towards the actions of a few marines in Haditha, Iraq last November. The marines killed 24 Iraqis after a roadside bomb hit their convoy on November 19th 2005. After the dust settled on that day 1 marine and 24 Iraqis were dead, and of the 24 dead Iraqis 15 of them were supposedly innocent civilians. Since then an investigation has been opened concerning the events and everyone has an opinion about what happened that day. Congressman, ex-marine, and failed human being John Murtha has already publicly declared that the marines killed the civilians “in cold blood.” All this before the trial has even taken place.

What you will not hear in the media and what no one but someone in the military could understand is that sometimes, and I am most likely hanging myself out to dry here, the killing of innocent people in a war zone is understandable. Now notice that I did not condone the killing of innocent people but instead I said that it is understandable coming from the viewpoint of someone who has served in a combat zone. In no way is killing an innocent person right, rather, it is a morally reprehensible thing to do. However, in the heat of the moment, when split second decisions mean the difference between life and death, your mind can become cluttered and the will to survive takes over.

Most of the marines there that day were on their third deployment to Iraq and most likely had seen their fill of death and destruction. I am speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has seen limited combat action but I also understand what it is like to venture back into a combat zone after making it out safely once before. On my first deployment I sought out as much adventure as I could possibly get, which wasn’t much. The whole year was a new adventure for me and was possibly the best time of my life. My second deployment has been much different though. I do my job without question but I often have feelings of restraint and at times simply want to make it back home in one functional piece.

The thing to understand about combat veterans is that they can grow tiresome of the day-to-day bullcrap that they have to put up with i.e. ever changing Rules of Engagement, an unidentified enemy, and the restraints placed upon them in the name of “winning hearts and minds.” Oftentimes it can become too much to continually watch your buddies die or get hurt when there is nothing you can do in their defense. Such is the nature of IED’s. When convoys are hit with roadside bombs there is oftentimes nothing that can be done at the moment. Terrorists or criminals, however you want to look at them, hide some distance away out of sight and detonate IED’s or even place the IED’s in such a manner that they are victim detonated i.e. land mines, trip wires, and laser beams. It is a frustrating situation when someone you know gets hurt and there is nothing you can do about it.

I imagine the marines that day were fed up with all of the aforementioned things. Sometimes it simply becomes too much to deal with day after day. Have you ever had a bad day at work and wanted to snap at the smallest thing? Have you ever been fed up with your spouse and snapped at your children as a result? Although not on the same scale as killing, these examples are much like what soldiers face daily. There is only so much you can expect of 18-25 year olds given the task to kill bad guys. When you were 18 did you have the benefit of a lifetime of experiences and wisdom? Do you think you would be able to watch your best friend die and then restrain yourself when you knew his killer was within a quarter mile of you?

And we wonder why the media is so incapable of reporting on such issues. Have they themselves lived through the things they are reporting on? Have they ever spent time in the military? Are they professional enough to report what happens day in and day out without interjecting their own opinion? Most of the time I would say no to each one of these questions. There are a few exceptional reporters but for the most part they fail miserably when it comes to military matters, and these past few years it is the military that matters whether you believe we should be in Iraq or not.

Now the likes of John Murtha and the rest of the pathetic lefties want to turn this incident into another Abu Gharib so that the president’s approval rating will drop even further and will give them an edge when they put up whatever pitiful candidate they can muster in 2008. The state of politics is so pathetic that politicians are willing to see the lives of heroic soldiers ruined in order to keep their job. They are willing to damage the reputation of America and make a mockery of it’s military in order stay in Washington.

I asked the Iraqis I work with the other day what they thought about the incident at Abu Gharib and they replied that is was a shameful thing. When they finished answering I asked them what they thought about Iraqis killing American contractors and then dragging their bodies through the streets and celebrating. They looked at me and replied that that was also a shameful thing. When I told them that Americans were horrified about the actions of the soldiers at Abu Gharib they looked bewildered and ashamed that their own people celebrated the death of American civilians. When are we going to start applying the same standards to the Iraqis that we do to our soldiers? Is it okay for them to kill our civilians while we bemoan even the accidental deaths of Iraqi civilians?

Is it too much to ask that our politicians defend their military when it sacrifices so much for them? Is it too much to ask that our government stand behind these marines when they need their help the most? Is it too much to ask that the marines be given a fair trial before lowlifes like John Murtha condemn them in the court of public opinion before their real trial even takes place?

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

As The Front Gate Turns

2006-05-24T02:35:00.000-04:00

As the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into countless convoys coming and going I spend my time figuring out ways to stay entertained at the front gate to my FOB. We have already exhausted the “icebox of death” game where we immerse our arms elbow deep in a cooler full of water and ice to see who can endure the freezing pain the longest. After a super soldier blew the previous record out of the water with a 30-minute submersion the elbow game took a back seat to the head submersion game. Unlike putting your arm in the water, doing so with your head provides some adverse results. Swollen head, throbbing eyes, and loss of balance are just a few of the side effects that result from placing your head in freezing water. So far no one can beat 31 seconds.

An old favorite of ours is the “How much would it take for you to…” or the “If you could-then…” game. This game can take various twists and turns. For example the other day I asked my buddy several questions including “How much would it take for you to lick both sides of the lock on the inside of the port-o-john door?” and “If you could punch a soldier of your choosing directly in the face but had to stay in Iraq for another month as a result of doing so, would you do it?” These questions oftentimes lead to hours of similar questions and are a great way to pass time while we sweat through the nametapes on our uniforms as I often do even though they have Velcro on the backside. If someone could seriously explain how I do this then I would be grateful.

The other day a convoy of British contract workers came up to the front gate and had to wait while I found out exactly where they needed to go. I got to talking to one of them and it turned out that we were at the same base during my first deployment. Apparently we hit it off well enough that he opened the back door to his truck and showed me his convoy essentials: One 20 inch television, one Xbox, and one black market Iraqi RPG. “There you go mate, I never leave home without them.” “Hmm” I thought to myself, “I bet this would be a great guy to hang out with.” So after finding where they were staying for the night I invited myself over and we ended up having a famous time together. Cheers mate!

The single best source of entertainment has and will remain to be the Iraqi army soldiers that we work with. Each day brings a few new soldiers to the front gate. Of course we have our regular “front-gaters” as I like to call them but the new soldiers are always the most fun to talk to. Just the other day we had an Iraqi soldier we called Creepy and for obvious reasons. One of the regular IA soldiers at the front gate described Creepy as schway mijnoon (a little crazy). Well after a spending a few hours with Creepy I came to realize that he was not simply a little crazy but as one of our interpreters said he was “officially crazy.” He talked on and on to us in Arabic and looked confused when we spoke English to him. He also took to meowing at one of my soldiers and if you were within close enough proximity to him you could bet your bottom dollar that you were going to get kissed.

My best Iraqi friend is a chubby 21-year-old sergeant named Ahmed. After spending hours wrestling, punching, and making fun of each other we settle down long enough to drink some chai before we go at it again. He is the type of kid that seems happy just to be alive. I have yet to see him without a smile on his face or a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I can never seem to get anything over on him either. Case in point: the other day he was going to open one of the gates to let a convoy out and had trouble getting the gate out of the broken latch. As I watched him struggle I said “Put some back into it fat boy!” thinking that he wouldn’t understand me. As soon as the words left my mouth he shot back “Oh you think me fat boy. Ok Sgt. Tim give me food. I fat I need food.”

Another IA friend of mine, Hamid, a self-described 32-year-old happily married man, is as funny as he is hairy. One day we were joking around about suicide bombers driving up to the gate and he said in the case of a suspicious vehicle he would search it for me so that it was he that would get blown up and not I. He said that it was his job and that he would gladly do it to save my life. I reminded him that it was also my job and that if he was going to die that I wanted to be there with him. I told him we could go to Allah together and continue to be friends in heaven. He agreed and we made it final with a hug.

The best interactions with the IA ensue when I can get a female soldier to visit the front gate for a while. Iraqis, and I guess Arabs in general, do not have the social interaction with females as Americans do. They have limited contact with women before they marry them and cannot be anywhere as informal with Arab women as they can be with American soldiers. When a female comes within site of the front gate or calls on the radio it is a matter of seconds before I hear about it from the IA. “Sgt. Tim bring her here!” I have two options in this scenario, 1.) I can lie to them and tell them that she has something to do and cannot come over or 2.) I can lie to her and bring her up to the front gate on false pretenses where I act as kind of a pimp-like middleman. As soon as the female heeds my call and comes over the IA begin yelling for a camera, which of course only I have so then I take on the role of photographer. Of course I am not in any of these pictures, which leads to a reverse Freudian jealously on my part. “Hey guys, I am over here. Anyone want a picture with me? Anyone?”

Hamid is the best with the girls and often says things like “Tim I was going Special Forces in a month, but now I cannot.” “Why is that Hamid?” I say. “I have given my heart to her (points to the girl of the day) and it will break if I leave to go Special Forces.” He then takes to walking around all day telling people that he is tired and clutches his heart prompting others to ask him what is wrong. When they ask him what is wrong he feigns being sick and tells them that he can no longer go on with life unless the girl of the day will marry him. Of course all of this is a ruse but it is fun nonetheless. If you girls out there are lacking attention then join the military and come to Iraq because you will get all that you can take and more from the IA.

All in all I continue to be amused while working at the front gate to my FOB. The job is menial but important nonetheless. I have probably given my “Hey everyone is a cog in the wheel” speech ten times in three weeks on guard duty and I am beginning to think I might have to give it to myself soon. I wouldn’t trade the interaction I have with Iraqis for anything though, and hold the communication with them of utmost importance. If I am able to somehow bridge the divide between our cultures, and come to new understandings, then I know I will have accomplished something great.

As I sat the other night talking to one of our local interpreters I was describing the joys of America to him. “Just think about getting in my car and driving wherever we wanted to. We could go to New York and I would show you the city. Then we could go to Washington D.C. and perhaps visit the Iraqi ambassador. After that we could go to Miami and you could see the ocean for the very first time.” He responded as he looked off into the distance, “I think, I think this is a dream that will never come true.”

I have a feeling that it will come true sooner than he thinks.

Oh The Army

2006-05-18T04:17:00.000-04:00

I have been holding off writing about the army in a negative light for some time now but I feel that my current situation warrants some type of discussion. First off let me make a few things clear. The army is a great institution and our country would be nonexistent without it. I consider myself privileged to be able to soldier it up for a few years. I feel like I have been allowed to join a group with a great history of men and women who have, throughout our history as a country, fought to preserve our way of life. With that said I want to voice a few concerns I have with the army.

A lot of people have a high-minded view of the military in general. Whether those people are ex-military or just plain old civilians they tend toward trusting those in the military, and while I don’t believe this is a completely unfounded belief I think that it is sometimes misled. People in the military are just people, plain and simple. We are the type of people you might see everyday in the work place, in school, or on the street. Those of us who are reserves and guardsmen are the people you see everyday and there is nothing really special about us. Granted we do a job that a lot of people are unwilling to do, or just plain not into, but other then that there is not much of a difference.

A week or so ago my father brought to my attention a post on Michelle Malkin’s website about American gang related graffiti in Iraq. He asked me what I thought about it and for the life of me I couldn’t come up with an answer. So what I thought, not everyone in the military is a model soldier fighting for high-minded ideals. There are people from all walks of life in the military including gang members, graffiti artists, wife beaters, racists, and as I like to call them “oxygen thieves.” Just because there are a few bad apples it doesn’t reflect on the army as a whole, of course that is unless you are a member of the MSM whereupon you would focus all of your attention on the acts of a few and draw irrational conclusions about the rest of the military.

So where am I going with all of this. Hmm not really sure but allow me for a minute to complain about the army. The army, like many civilian organizations I am sure, could be run much more effectively on the company level with less people. Example: My unit often times has to do PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services) on our vehicles. Well we send out 20 people to do what 5 people could do but since there are so many people it creates confusion and slows down the process but hey I guess everyone feels like they are doing something. Oftentimes in the interest of fairness and equal opportunity an incompetent soldier will be ordered to do a job that they are physically and mentally unable to do. This practice leads to resentment and anger on everyone’s part. But whether that soldier is competent or not they will still make the same amount of money as the next soldier. These oxygen thieves cause a lot of problems on deployment. When you have soldiers like these it forces you to become a mother or father instead of a squad leader or commander.

Of course since the military pretty much takes anyone who wants to join problems are going to rise concerning the day-to-day effectiveness of individual soldiers. This is a problem for officers as well. I know several company commanders who I swear got their job by hanging a sign around their neck that read “Have college degree, will command troops for food.” The problem with leaders in the reserves and guard is that they could literally work as a computer programmer by day but come deployment time be responsible for 150 soldiers’ lives. Not that there is anything wrong with computer programmers but when they go from the cubicle to the battlefield where people’s lives hang in their hands then their newfound power can and will go to their head.

I believe the military has its own vicious cycle that weeds out the good soldiers and encourages the less than great ones to stay. Those who would make great leaders and long time soldiers, in my experience, tend to get out after a stint or two with the military because they can no longer handle the moronic and monotonous nature of the military. I am often times amazed that our army is the best in the world. I guess that just goes to show how jacked up all the other ones are. On the flip side some of those soldiers who like to stay are the ones who can deal with the constant crap slung their way everyday. Example: The other night I went to bed at 12:30am after working 2-10pm. I was awoken one hour later only to find that some MP unit was conducting a “Health and Welfare” inspection of my company and I had to dump all of my stuff so they could sort through it to make sure I had no alcohol or porn. After an hour of snide remarks about how much junk food I had and how stupid I was to have a Star Wars chess set in my room I was ordered back into my room after complaining that I didn’t receive a receipt for a bayonet of mine that was confiscated. Then I woke up at 5:30 for PT, which of course was canceled but that fact wasn’t put out until we were all outside ready to run. Then I had to visit my company commander for a counseling statement, which for those of you who don’t know is like going to the principle’s office because you were suspected of smoking in the bathroom on lunch break but they cant really do anything because they have no proof. After going to the CQ in my PT uniform I was informed that the commander was not able to talk to me since I wasn’t wearing my work uniform. So I went back to my trailer and changed clothes and then headed back to the CQ. Once back I was in the “man’s” office for all of 48 seconds before I signed a piece of paper and walked out. This chain of events took up almost all of my morning. Of course our mornings are the only personal time that we have. Press rewind and play to see what the day after this one was like. This is a typical day in the military and really not even that bad compared to some of the things I have had to do.

I do not want to harp on the good people in the military because I know there are a lot of them (just apparently not around me) and they do great things day in and day out. I have a great amount of respect for people who can make a career out of the military and not lose their minds as a result. We need more people like them but with the army trending towards more rules and regulations while at the same time coddling new recruits and allowing them cell phones in basic training I fear for the future of our fighting forces. The army needs to find a balance between meeting its recruitment needs while at the same time avoiding the alienation of the ones it already has by treating them like children and spanking them when they get out of line.

Conversation at Ugly American

2006-05-12T04:02:00.000-04:00

My good friend The Real Ugly American has a post entitled "Iraqis and American Soldiers: A Conversation" on his site www.therealuglyamerican that you should be sure to check out. The conversation is between Iraqi blogger 24 Steps to Liberty (www.twentyfourstepstoliberty.blogspt.com) and myself. Be sure to go over and read what we hope will be a continuing thing between us. TRUA set the conversation up between the two of us and in the future hopes to have other people participate like Buck Sargent at www.americancitizensoldier.blogspot.com. Be sure to tell all your friends and leave some comments on TRUA's site.

Breaking Down Walls

2006-05-07T16:49:00.000-04:00

The past week I have been surrounded by 18-50 year old Sunni Iraqis and have lived to tell about it. In this racially profiling type of world that we live in these men are terrorists hell bent on the destruction of the Western world, but in my new world I have a different view of these guys. Who are these Iraqis you may be asking? My new best friends.

I changed jobs last week after my previous mission was handed over to civilians. I am currently working guarding my base and am surprisingly enjoying myself. I work with 3 other American soldiers and a handful of Iraqi army soldiers (IA). Part of my day is spent controlling the flow of traffic in and out of the base and the rest of it is spent hanging out with the Iraqi soldiers learning Arabic, drinking tea, and smoking hookahs. I joke around with the IA saying that we should call it school instead of work since we spend the majority of our day learning from each other.

I am not a big fan of my new job but the interaction with the IA and local Iraqis more then make up for the dullness of the work. I have met numerous local civilians in my area who are more concerned with getting rid of the terrorists in their neighborhoods then they are with their own safety. Each time they give us information to the whereabouts and activities of terrorists in our area they risk not only their lives but also the lives of their family. I work in an area where the IA are locally born and raised and the civilians do what they can to help the Americans root out the bad guys, and all of this in a Sunni town.

I know a lot of people would caution me not to put my complete trust in my new friends, and while I believe they are somewhat right, I would say that they would have to come to Iraq and see these guys for themselves. I have only been around the soldiers for a week and already I have wrestled with them in a guard shack, been beaten in an arm wrestling contest, shared food off the same plate, and smoked out of the same pipe with them. I joke around with them in Arabic and call them my brothers and they always reply in English with a resounding “Yes, very good.”

Because of the obvious language barrier with some of the IA our conversations are limited until one of the interpreters has time to translate for us. Most of the time the soldiers want to know if we have wives and children back home. When I tell them I don’t they want to know why and then question me about my age. I explain to them that if I didn’t spend the better part of the last 4 years in Iraq then I might have a better chance at finding a “Madame” as they say. They find it fascinating that we are able to date for long periods of time and can have more then one girlfriend before getting married. I guess I better get started finding a wife and having kids because if I come back here then I will be better able to relate. “Yes we don’t make enough, and yes my baby needs food too, and yes the wife wants new shoes and a purse too. Life is tough but we do what we can right?”

They are just as eager to bring me anything that I might need as I am to do the same for them. One soldier even invited me to dinner with his family and I look forward to going as soon as I am able to. They have the same gripes and complaints that American soldiers do: they are underpaid, underappreciated, and definitely know how to do things better then their commanders do. They complain about their food, clothes, and rules they have to follow. All soldiers are the same apparently.

Not everything about the IA in my area is hunky dory though. Most of the soldiers don’t like the Kurds or Shiites. They think the Kurds should leave Iraq and get their own country and are wary of the Shiites because they remember the long war against Iran that their fathers fought. They are extremely nationalistic and tend to look down upon foreigners in their country. However, I do encourage them by making fun of the Turkish workers here who can’t seem to fix things properly the first time and have to keep coming back again and again for the same problems.

Overall I enjoy spending my time learning about the Iraqi soldiers’ culture and lives. I enjoy their acceptance of my soldiers and I and am thankful that I am able to see them with my own eyes as people with cares and needs. They aren’t crazed terrorists like the media would have you believe. They want to make the most of the opportunity that they have right now. They realize that now is the time for them to decided their own fate and they are acting accordingly by showing bravery and courage in the face of certain danger. They are our allies and although they don’t agree with us on everything they do agree with us on one key point; freedom is the best answer and if Iraq is ever going to be truly free then they have to get rid of the terrorists in their towns and make a stand while they still can. Their future is in their own hands and from what I have seen so far I would say that their future looks bright.

Get Up Stand Up

2006-04-26T18:58:00.000-04:00

The battle raging the past few months concerning free speech (i.e. Muhammad cartoons) has gotten me thinking about what things are worth fighting for. Should we battle Islamic extremism in the world today? Should we fight for freedom of speech? Should we fight for freedom to be spread across the world to places that are unaccustomed to it? Should we fight to stop the production of nuclear weapons in countries like Iran? What exactly should we do as the sole superpower in the world today? Do we have an obligation, or even just a good reason, to fight for these things or should we just build a big fence around America and keep everything at bay for as long as we can?

I do not have the answers for all of these questions but I do believe in a few generalities that can apply to all situations. I do believe America should do what it can to promote freedom, liberty, and peace. For me this belief carries over into problems like Iran’s nuclear weapons program. For example if Iran gets a nuke then they will use it on Israel and eventually threaten other countries in order to spread their influence. A lot of America’s critics say that we are hypocritical because we have nukes but don’t want other countries to get them too. Well unlike America, Iran’s intention for their nukes would be to spread Islamic extremism instead of freedom like we want to. Relativism does not come into play here just because Iran thinks Islamic extremism is better and we think freedom and liberty are better. Democratic freedoms are better then an extreme religious rule any day of the week, no ifs ands or buts about it. Another one of my generalities is that I believe America has the right to kill those who threaten our country. Whether our enemies are terrorists or an entire army I believe we have the right to defend ourselves against all enemies foreign and domestic. The last generality and perhaps most important is that I believe we should protect the freedoms and way of life that our forefathers guaranteed for us in the Constitution and it’s subsequent Amendments. For as John Adams said: “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”

Appeasement

Natan Sharansky, a former senior government minister in Israel, says in his book Fear No Evil in which he recounts his experience in a Soviet jail after being arrested for requesting to emigrate to Israel (apparently an unacceptable practice in Communist Russia) that “To cooperate with the KGB would mean letting down our growing number of supporters in the free world and undermining their continued determination to help us.” In this passage Sharansky was explaining his resolve not to give the KGB any pertinent information concerning his arrest that could in turn be used against his friends and in general to the detriment of his supporters. Like Sharansky not wanting to talk to the KGB, Americans are in a similar situation: if we appease terrorists it is the same as cooperating with them. By not directly taking up a stance against them we help further their cause by letting it gain steam before doing anything about it. A pre-emptive strike like we made in Iraq is the only course of action for America to take right now against terrorism of all facets. Our very way of life is under attack and the longer we wait around to do something about it the harder it will be to defeat. In his book, The Gathering Storm, Churchill makes the point over and over that every appeasement of the Nazis was a missed opportunity to confront the threat at it smallest. When totalitarian threats are not confronted, it always comes to pass that they grow.

Many people would have you believe that you cannot prove a terrorist’s intent until after they commit an attack like 9/11. But lets think about this for a minute. If a burglar breaks into your house but has yet to steal something then are you able to discern his true intent by his mere presence in your house, or do you need to let him steal something and then leave before you understand completely what his true intentions were? Of course not!

Sharansky continues with the same outlook that “I knew that each time the KGB made a political arrest, it required permission from the political leadership. If I recanted, it would only make it easier for the KGB to receive permission to initiate new repressions and another round of arrests.” Each time we let the terrorists and those who support them get away with something (uranium enrichment for example) then we encourage them to do so again and again. If you let your kid get away with stealing a cookie one day and then slap her hand the next for doing so, she will most likely do so again hoping that she can get away with it like she did the first time.

Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward Men

Why can’t there just be peace in the world? People like the Christian Peacemakers (aka soon to be foreign hostages that we have to risk our lives to save) try to work for everyone just to get along and live in harmony, Muslims hand in hand with Americans, Palestinians hugging Jews. Well sort of, as long as you are an Iraqi Baathist and not an American, or a Palestinian and not a Jew you will get support from the “Christian” Peacemakers. Why there can’t be peace in this world is an easy question to answer. When two groups have diametrically opposed views like say for example Islamic extremists who think Allah wants all women to be completely covered and American women who are so liberated they think they should be able to go topless in public then there wont be any reconciliation between the two groups. This example is of course lame but I am sure everyone can think of a few better examples of the unavoidable culture clash that would ensue between Islamofacists and Americans (other then Ramsey Clark and John Walker Lindh of course). Perhaps a parallel between Nazi Germany and Jewish people could be drawn to mirror my point even better. Nazi’s wanted to kill all Jews while Jews didn’t all want to die. Is there any common ground where the two groups could find peace? No.

So it is for the reason that I believe peace will never prevail on earth that I think America must do what it can to ensure freedom in this world. This sentiment has and will continue to win America it’s fair share of critics but I invite all of those critics to come to Iraq and visit the many people tortured and oppressed by Saddam and ask them if they if they appreciate being free from his tyrannical rule. Ask the Kuwaitis if they are appreciative of America for freeing them from Saddam in 1991. Ask Jews if they are appreciative of the sacrifices Americans made to free them from Hitler. Ask the many immigrants in America if they are appreciative for the sacrifices Americans have made in the past in order to secure a free country where they could find asylum from their less than tolerant countries.

I think one thing that we have to keep in mind about Islamic extremism is that it is an ideology and should be treated as such. Islam is a religion; Islamic extremism is an ideology much like KKK members who call themselves Christians would be considered. We do not need to fear insulting regular Muslims by singling out Islamic extremists for criticism, that is of course if regular Muslims can tell the difference between themselves and extremists like regular Christians can differentiate between themselves and abortion clinic bombers.

Free Speech

These same sentiments (see Sharansky quotes above) apply to my feelings about free speech. If free speech is worth fighting for, and I believe it is, then we need to confront all opposition to it before it becomes to late. The First Amendment’s guarantee that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” ensures our right to say what we want, and in relation to the Muhammad cartoon controversy can actually be used to punish those who use their speech to threaten or provoke a fight between others like this guy below (that is if he was in America of course).

According to Eugene Volokh as quoted in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution: “There is, however, a small set of rather narrow exceptions to free speech protection.”

Speech that is reasonably perceived as a threat of violence (and not just rhetorical hyperbole) can be punished. Virginia v. Black (2003).

Face-to-face insults that are addressed to a particular person and are likely to cause an imminent fight can be punished. More generalized offensive speech that is not addressed to a particular person cannot be punished even if it is profane or deeply insulting. Cohen v. California (1971).

So if we as Americans want to draw attention to the fact that the prophet Muhammad is not off limits to talk about and in doing so offend Muslims by showing cartoons of Muhammad then so be it, we have the right to do so and should do so in an exercise of our freedoms. Forget insulting Muslims, if you are not a Muslim then you should not be judged by it’s tenets, much the same way as if you are not a Christian then you do not have to stand up to judgment based upon Christian teachings. If you are not trying to live by the rules of a certain religion then you should not be subjected to the punishments imposed by that religion.

Basically these are the thoughts that have been going through my head the past few weeks. Sorry about this not being a highly polished essay. Take it for what it is worth and know that your military has in the past, and is willing now to fight for what is right. Of course that is if we can convince our politicians to do the same. In today’s politically correct world where everyone is afraid of offending someone or some group we need a new breed of politician who can stand up for what is right with the intestinal fortitude needed in order to procure our way of life now and for future generations. We need to reward these politicians with our support and votes so that they can rest assured that their job is to do the right thing and not to please the most amount of people possible by saying the politically correct thing. We need more Dick Cheneys to tell people like Patrick Leahy to "Go f*#k yourself" when they truly deserve it.

Music From Heaven

2006-04-20T18:57:00.000-04:00

On my first deployment to Iraq I was stationed at a prison camp in southern Iraq. The invasion had just started and prisoners were coming in bunches. One of the main needs at our camp was for Arabic speaking translators that could assist the military with the handling of the prisoners. The translators were mainly from Kuwait but some were native Kuwaitis who were living as far away as London, England. The translators that came to our camp were not simply looking for work but instead were intelligent men who held jobs as engineers, scientists, and computer programmers. I happened to live right next to the translators and after a few weeks at the base I became good friends with a large number of them.

We would often get together at night when we had all finished our work for the day. Usually they would eat together and on the nights that I didn’t join them for dinner I would at least stop by to talk and drink tea with them. They all spoke English exceptionally well and loved to speak with some fellow soldiers and I in order to hone their English. We would play darts or horseshoes and often played volleyball well into the night. I even managed to spend a few days in Kuwait City with a couple of them. I relished the time with them because they would tell me about their lives and answer any questions that I had. Instead of our relationship being purely professional I know they considered me a friend.

Dowtown Kuwait City

One particular night I was sitting in a circle with about 7 or 8 translators and I brought up the topic of Desert Storm. All of them were over the age of 30 and were able to recall with clarity the events of 1991. One translator who was about 50 years old spoke up above the rest and told me of his harrowing story during the invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqi army until his release from prison several months after the war ended.

He recounted to me the initial invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqis with horror: “They roamed the streets and frightened everyone. They stole from and killed those who stood up to them,” he said. The sense that I got from him and the other translators was that Kuwait had changed overnight from a civil and ordered society to one of lawlessness perpetuated by Iraqi soldiers. All Kuwaitis were living in fear of the soldiers and were afraid to stand up for their rights for fear of being killed. These feelings lasted for Kuwaitis until one day as my friend described to me that they heard “music coming from heaven.” With a twinkle in his eye he recalled the day that he first heard the bombs being dropped by American planes. The sound of bombing, a sound that would frighten most people, was the music from heaven that he heard. For Kuwaitis the sound of our bombing meant that they would soon be free. Someone was coming to their aid; the world had not forgotten their plight.

Soon after the bombing started he told me that Kuwaitis felt emboldened to stand up to their oppressors. His brother-in-law felt the same way and tried to speak out against some Iraqi soldiers who were harassing him one afternoon. Unfortunately for him no American soldiers were in Kuwait yet and the Iraqis killed him. The bombing instilled in many Kuwaitis a false sense of security and unfortunately for my friends brother-in-law it cost him his life.

Right before American ground forces liberated Kuwait my friend went to his place of business one afternoon to find that most of his things had been confiscated by the Iraqis. When he went to complain to an Iraqi officer nearby he was handcuffed and sent to an Iraqi prison. He told me about the several months he spent in a dark, dirty, and damp cell with numerous other Kuwaitis who had been arrested along with him. At first he said it was hard for him to even breathe in the cell and it was some time before he became used to life in the prison. His family back in Kuwait assumed he was dead since he did not return home from work and was not allowed to communicate with them from prison.

When Iraq surrendered to America one of their promises was to release all of the prisoners they took during their time in Kuwait. Keeping in line with his character Saddam did not make true on this promise and it was several weeks later that my friend was released from prison. On the day that he was released he told me about the horror that awaited the prisoners in his camp. As the prisoners were led out of their cells they were split up into two groups: one group stood to the right and one to the left on the field outside of the prison. My friend went to the group on the left and they then bordered buses and were driven back to Kuwait, the group on the right were gunned down and buried on top of each other in a mass grave. My friend estimated that 3000 people were killed that day. Saddam used the release of those prisoners, among others held at different camps, to show the world that he was complying with the terms of his surrender. Since no records were kept indicating how many prisoners were taken and kept by Iraq it was easy for Saddam to lie to the world.

Downtown Kuwait with the Independence Tower in the background commemorating the Iraq invasion in 1990

My friend arrived home to find that his country was free of Iraqis and he was once again reunited with his family. He told me that he would forever be indebted to the Americans who came to his country’s aid when they needed it the most. He, along with the other translators, assured me that all Kuwaitis remembered what America had done for them and they praised us for trying to do the same for the Iraqi people. The look in his eyes that night has stayed with me to this day and whenever I question our motives in Iraq I remember that everything else aside we have given freedom to a people whom desperately needed it. Just like my friend who was locked away unjustly, the Iraqi people today have suffered enough for things they had no control over. I believe it is high time America and the world over began to hear stories from the people who have been affected positively by war. There are countless stories like this one but unfortunately most people have never heard them.

Milblog Wire

2006-04-19T11:06:00.000-04:00

So there is a new thing going on that is sweeping the country, well not exactly but it is going to be big before long. Uncle J at Blackfive has started a Milblog Wire that will act like any other news wire. Here is the description in his own words

"What is really going on in Iraq?

That may be the question more people want an answer to than any other. In a recent poll asking which institution is most admired, the military topped the list. We now have the stories straight from these folks who have boots on the ground, and who the public has a large degree of trust in.

The Milblog Wire functions like any other wire service, aggregating stories from the field and making them available for your readership. The difference is now it comes direct from folks the American public has a high degree of trust in, not an overseas stringer.The content providers for the Milblog Wire are serving military members, their former comrades in arms, and their friends and families.

We are not affiliated with the Defense Department or acting on it’s behalf. We are self-policing for accuracy and scrupulous in maintaining the confidence of the public. We offer the good news that is overlooked by the ambulance chasers and a firsthand glimpse into the world most people just read about. We also don’t shrink from reporting the difficulties and downfalls of our efforts. We will provide the full gamut of rich media reports from our correspondents."

I am only one of the milbloggers that will appear on the milblogwire and I am among good company. We need our readers to help get the word out so tell your local media all about it. They in turn can print anyone of the stories written by those of us who are participating while standard freelance writers fees apply. A percentage of all the money made will go to Soldiers Angels to help continue their great work. Please get the word out, we aren't in it for the money but rather, just to get the truth out about Iraq and Afghanistan.

More info can be found at http://milblogwire.com/. I have the link a little lower to the right because for some reason I cannot do intext links. If anyone knows how to link in the text for Mac users then please let me know.

Call To Arms

2006-04-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

There comes a time when like minded people need to stand up for what they believe is right. America is fighting today to battle Islamic extremism whose very beliefs threaten our way of life. Freedom of speech is under attack and if we hold it to be of importance in this great country of ours we need to fight back against those who wish it to be taken from us. I mentioned in my post “Advice for Soldiers” about C.S. Lewis’ book The Abolition of Man and how in that book Lewis writes about objective values. He writes further about Communists who wish to dictate to the world what they can and can't believe. The Communist leaders wanted to do away with God and in his stead place themselves as the new gods able to control the masses. Well today Islamofacists want to do the same thing. They want to dictate to the world exactly what they believe Allah wants us to do. They want to take away freedom of speech and in its place put Sharia (Islamic law).

Here in America something similar is going on albeit in different regards. I am thinking specifically about John Kerry and his recent creation of a “legal trust fund” to handle the costs associated with his lawsuits against the group known as the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth. Instead of this fund being purely defensive the sense that I get is that Kerry is using this fund as a preemptive attack on his enemies. Kerry's activities are actually a stealth war against those vietnam vets who have called him to account for his many lies over the years disparaging honorable men, which, if the truth be known, is a Machiavellian move to eliminate a thorn in his side which torpedoed his presidential campaign. Basically he is a bitter loser. Here is an excerpt from an article on the SV&PFT website:

VIETNAM VETERANS REACT TO JOHN KERRY’S
FORMATION OF LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

WASHINGTON,D.C.-- "Vietnam veterans will not be intimidated by the likes of John Kerry, " retired Air Force Col. George “Bud” Day said today, responding to news the Massachusetts Senator had created a legal defense trust fund to pay his on-going court battles against a group of highly decorated Vietnam veterans. "No matter how much money Kerry raises he can't buy his way out or hide his disgraceful betrayal of those brave veterans who gave their all in the service of America."

Col. Day added: "I'm sure he (Sen. Kerry) has many rich, veteran-hating friends. Maybe Hanoi Jane (Fonda) will pick up his legal bills. But, he's not exactly penniless. Why one of the wealthiest men in the Senate would expect others to pay his lawyers and use questionable Senate privileges against veterans he's wronged is shameful. Like everything about this character, it's phony, deceitful, and a sham."

Col. Day is the Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), a group of Vietnam combat veterans, primarily former POWs, who sued Sen. Kerry last year for "conspiracy and defamation" in Philadelphia Federal Court. Col. Day is the most decorated Air Force veteran alive, a Medal of Honor recipient, a veteran of three wars and a former POW held captive by Vietnamese Communists for over five years.
The rest of the article can be found at http://www.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=164059&

The Swift Vets and POWs for Truth have to defend themselves in court for speaking the truth about John Kerry during the 2004 election. As they say on their website www.vvlf.org they did not ask for this fight back in 2004 or do they want it now. They are doing what they believe is the right thing to do. They are clearing the names of the Vietnam vets who John Kerry has defamed ever since he got back from his 4 month “tour” in Vietnam.

Please support these guys in their battle against Kerry. Support them for standing up and speaking the truth. Support them for exercising their right of freedom of speech. Support them for continuing to love their country enough to fight the lies and innuendoes that continue to this day to hinder the efforts of America's fighting men and women. Take action now because if we don’t do something now it will be too late. Visit their website www.vvlf.org and donate to their cause and then tell everyone you know about it.

I was not contacted by anyone at The Swift Vets and POWs for Truth to write this. I am doing so on my own accord because I believe it is the right thing to do. There will be more to come on this topic soon.

Story at FrontLine Forum

2006-04-10T19:21:00.000-04:00

There is a great new site up called Michael Yon's Frontline Forum that you can find at http://www.michaelyon-online.com/flf/ that everyone should check out. Coincidentally I wrote the first story posted on the site but that of course is not the reason why I am telling people to visit the site. I often complain about the poor reporting by the MSM so what better way to get the truth then by hearing it from soldiers. Check out the Frontline Forum for yourself and then tell all your friends and family about it. Then check out my post entitled "The Future of Iraq" for more of my thoughts on the topic of my story at the FLF.

Advice for Soldiers

2006-04-08T12:24:00.000-04:00

Who am I to give advice to soldiers? I have only been in the military for four years and am a reservist. I don’t know army regulations, how to fill out paper work, or exactly how to be a model non-commissioned officer. I guess I am learning but I am on the slow track to success.

If I know anything it is how to do my job while on deployment. I have only spent about a year off of active duty so I know more about deployment then anything else. I am a modern day reservist. As one of my friends so duly noted we have a new motto in the reserves: “One weekend off a month, two weeks of leave in the summer.” Granted the reserves are scaling back in Iraq but I am one of the lucky ones who came back for a second tour. There are some reservists who love it over here and are on their third tour but those guys are crazy in my book.

So what is my advice to soldiers then you may be asking yourself? Well I recently read a couple of books that shed light on my day-to-day living in the military. The first book is called Stoic Warriors* by Nancy Sherman, the second is The Abolition of Man** written by C.S. Lewis. Both books provide examples of how to better live as a member of the military albeit in different regards.

In Stoic Warriors Nancy Sherman looks at the writings of the Stoics like Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius among others and discusses how the ancient philosophy of Stoicism acts as a guide for not only those in the military but also for people facing hardships in life. In The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis discusses the importance and the need to retain universal values in the face of opposition. Although Lewis was writing against Communism and Fascism I believe his arguments can still be applied to certain situations in today’s world.

My advice comes in generalities that should be applied by soldiers in a way so as to fit their own situations. In no way is this advice complete but rather, only a few things that I have come across that help me to survive with a sense of purpose and humanity while on deployment. Both books go much further in depth then I do here and I recommend reading both of them but brace yourself before reading Lewis, he can be tough at times.

1. My first and most important piece of advice for soldiers on deployment is about respect and empathy towards others. There have been plenty of times on deployment that I would have been more than happy to strangle a fellow soldier or cuss at a local national. Times tend to get tense when living in confined areas with so many other soldiers and while mixing with the local population. While I am not advocating complacency for soldiers I believe as Nancy Sherman says “we need to actively empathize with people, to try to become attuned to their habits and ways and needs, so that however foreign or different they may be, we come to see them as persons in their own right, worthy of dignitary respect” (171). If one can follow this advice then they will easily be able to function in the military. There are people in the military from all over the country and from all walks of life with different habits and different customs. If a soldier can “imagine those in the farthest orbits of our lives as connected to us in ways that make them more like those closest to the center, namely ourselves, and family, and friends”(171), then their deployment will be much easier and everyday conflicts will be easier to avoid.

Sherman exhorts later that this Stoic ideal “requires cultivating humanity through empathetic identification and respect” (179). She then quotes Seneca as saying in his famous discourse On Anger “Let us cultivate humanity” and continues with her appeal that these “words should be a part of any warrior’s honor code” (179). If soldiers can learn to heed these words then they could go a long way in their treatment of others especially in Iraq and Afghanistan where they are surrounded by those who are much different then they are.

2. My second piece of advice concerns cultivating appropriate military manners. Often times soldiers find themselves frustrated with their chain of command and show disrespect as a result. I have plenty of personal experience on this subject and would like to share my advice in the hopes that it helps soldiers in the future to avoid making the same mistakes that I have.

Stoics have a lot to say on the topic of emotions and hold, in my opinion, some harsh and cold beliefs about them, however, their belief concerning body language strikes me as appropriate for all members of the military. Sherman remarks that “Seneca’s claim is that displays of attitude in body language, facial demeanor, tone of voice, and so on are critical elements of doing what is appropriate, regardless of whether they faithfully represent what is inside”(63). Basically Seneca believes that what we show on the outside does not necessarily have to be what we feel on the inside, but it should reflect the appropriate response required to fit the situation. For a soldier this means saying “Yes Sir” even though they wish to argue with their commander, or standing at ease for a sergeant they don’t necessarily respect. Now however much the soldier may not want to do these things the ancient Stoics believe as Sherman says “it may be important for oneself, as a way of coaxing inner change”(63). Once again in my experience of putting this advice to work I have changed some basic attitudes towards higher-ranking soldiers that I did not necessarily see eye to eye with. By giving them the respect that I was supposed to I in turn was treated well by them and over time changed my general attitude toward them not only as soldiers but also as human beings.

3. My third and last piece of advice comes from C.S. Lewis. In The Abolition of Man he advocates the importance of values that are common to soldiers like courage and honor. He explains, “A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery”(73). Now this advice might be idealistic but I believe if soldiers are to affect change in the Middle East where people are accustomed to tyranny and harsh rule then they need to spread objective values like freedom and liberty. I think that for Iraq to form a government that will ensure the equality and freedom of all of it’s people then they need strong examples of how and why those values have worked in the U.S. and need to see them displayed on a daily basis by American soldiers.

I believe that soldiers do a good job of behaving themselves and acting appropriately but I think a reminder to do so is always helpful. I have no allusions that Iraq will change overnight but I believe it if soldiers can provide a good example then it will only help change the hearts and minds of Iraqis.

So my advice is undoubtedly incomplete but I believe the three points I discussed would be good for all soldiers to hear.

*Sherman, Nancy. Stoic Warriors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
** Lewis, C.S.The Abolition of Man. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2001 ed.

On Purple Hearts and POWs

2006-04-03T07:11:00.000-04:00

If you are a fan of the actor Will Farrell you probably know one of his famous skits from Saturday Night Live in which he exclaims that he “drives a Dodge Stratus!” while at the dinner table with his family one night. He does so in order to command respect from his family and to show that his what he says has credibility because he drives a “nice” car. I attach the same sentiment that Will Farrell has in this skit to the sentiment that politicians have when they campaign on their war service or record as a prisoner of war. Before I get into this post I want to make sure that everyone knows that I am in no way poking fun or making light of people who have been POWs or have been awarded a purple heart, however, John Kerry is still open game. With that understood lets make fun of some war vets (geez just kidding of course.)

I thought about writing on this topic after I saw some pictures on the Internet of Tammy Duckworth who is running for congress on the premise that she is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and opposed to the war. Imagine that: a soldier who broke free from the mind control of the government and disagrees with our presence in Iraq, why we should elect her right now! Quick someone send me an absentee ballot. To think that being a veteran is qualification enough to run for office is absurd. I have been deployed twice why am I not the President yet?

A soldier may know how to shoot their weapon, jump out of a plane, and march in time but does that say anything about their ability to control the economy, knowing the law, or being able to decide the country’s fate? I do believe being a veteran is an important step in becoming an elected official. Serving in the military shows a love for one’s country and a desire to put other’s needs before one’s own. Serving in the military gives one a better understanding about national defense and what it takes to have a free country. Past and present members of the military know what it is to sacrifice. They have spent many days away from their families: birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and the births of their children to name a few.

Do all elected officials need to be prior-military members? I would say no. Read my previous blog called “What It Takes” and you will understand my position on those who have not and will not serve in the military. I do believe it would greatly benefit those who make the decisions concerning military matters in this country to have some prior military experience (JROTC does not count.) I think military experience would also be a great help for journalists who report on military matters. Then journalists would know the difference between mortar rounds and missiles.

So someone has a purple heart, or an enemy marksmanship badge as soldiers like to call them, does that make them any different then someone without a purple heart? Does that make them any better of a person or political leader? Does it make them more likely to be elected to public office? No, no, and yes apparently. I know many great soldiers who have served in combat situations and have performed honorably and never received a purple heart. I know some dead beats that wouldn’t be fit to lead themselves to the grocery store who have purple hearts. While I do not know anyone who was a prisoner of war, I would be willing to put money on it that they could fall under my same assessment of those with purple hearts. However, enduring under the duress of being a prisoner of war is commendable and I imagine it builds quite a bit of character, which of course is needed in a good leader.

The bottom line is that someone’s ability to lead does not come from their being hurt or captured by an enemy during a time of war. The ability and smarts to lead comes independently of military awards. Watching John Kerry campaign last election and mention over and over about his three Purple Hearts was sickening to me. Someone has to be utterly despicable to talk about how great they were during war. Real soldiers do their job and get on with life. I for one wouldn’t be bragging about a Purple Heart and hope to never get one. However, like I said before I do not mean to demean anyone with a Purple Heart I am merely making a point, please don’t take me the wrong way. Those who sacrifice their bodies in defense of freedom are honorable and should be remembered as being so. Tammy Duckworth should be commended for her service to the country, not elected because of it. Now if she has a good platform and seems like a decent woman then maybe one should vote for her, but votes should not be cast in favor of someone solely because of their service record.

The purpose of this post is not to discuss Tammy Duckworth (she merely serves as an example) but rather, to bring light to the fact that people tend to give veterans way too much credit. We are normal people believe it or not with one glaring difference: we served in the military. We definitely have our faults and while some of those in the military may be among the “best and brightest” most of us aren’t. In the future vote for people based on their ability to get their intended job done not because they were wounded or captured by an enemy combatant

I have poster board, can I come too?

2006-03-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

So I know this is a week or so late but I wanted to post it nonetheless. I think it is still relevant even though it doesn’t have the timing of an expert blogger.

On the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion a lot of people chose to voice their opinion about the ongoing “war” in Iraq. People took to the streets in different cities across the world to gain media attention to their cause while at the same time chanting catchy anti-war slogans. They held up signs pleading for the war to end, Bush to be impeached, Mumia to be freed, and Palestinians to finally be allowed to return to their “rightful” home. The day turned out to be an all-encompassing rally cry for all causes extreme left.

What I noticed about these protests continues to disturb me as it always has before. There is a pervasive ignorance throughout the whole thing. Not one cause people were rallying behind could stand on merits alone. “Sure that Che Guevara shirt might look good on you but he will always be known as a mass murderer and a typical anti-intellectual communist.” “Palestinian rights you say? Ah sounds good, just get them to quit blowing themselves up, killing innocent Israelis, electing terrorist governments, spreading lies and hate etc. and we might consider what they have to say.” “Free Mumia, ah give me a freaking break.” “Bring the troops home huh? Do you even know a ‘troop’?” “Pro-Choice…wait a second…what was this rally about again?”

Are these protestors serious? Not a single person with a working brain (‘working’ being the key word) would listen to them. So right now you are thinking to yourself “But Boggs that puts a lot of people into the non-working-brain category” and my response is “Yes it does.” I believe there is an objectively true or false position on all of the protestors' causes, be it the merits of the U.S. Military being in Iraq or Palestinian rights to Israeli land. What is there to protest? I would rather see a debate instead. Give us your best anti-whatever person and we will give you our best you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me-they-still-believe-this guy and they can duke it out. I am willing to bet that the truth will win out and the anti-guy will cower under name calling and murmuring something about blood, oil, and imperialism.

Buck Sargent had a great idea: Lets find 25 million of these anti-war protestors and trade them for the 25 million Iraqis. Then the protestors can live in a terrorist laden country while the Iraqis take advantage of their newfound freedoms in other countries.

After the surface arguments of the protestors are gone what do they have left to grab hold of? What is there besides ignorant claims and made up arguments? I believe when any one of their arguments are broken down to it’s base form there are only feelings instead of facts. The major thing I have found with aging hippies and hip college students is that they are overwhelmed with feelings. Feelings of the way they think things should be, feelings that if only we did this or did that then the world would be perfect. The fundamental problem is that I do not think the world will or can ever be perfect. I believe that we have, and will continue to have evil people in this world, and I am not afraid to call them evil. Some people get upset when someone mentions that one thing or another is evil but tell me what I should call someone who murders and tortures innocent people. Tell me what I should call the political hit man Che Guevara besides pure evil.

Now I know this is going to be unpopular and hopefully it gets me linked to a bunch of anti-brain using sites because I love hate mail, but I believe that there will come a time when it will be proven that Saddam had WMD or at the very least was very close to having them. I wrote an article about WMD findings about a year or so ago which you can find here, and it is kind of cliché to get into it now so I wont. My point is that these anti-war protestors are fighting against established facts. Lets get Marx and Chomsky out there to help in the fight against facts. Marx spent his life ignoring the truth and Chomsky apparently is spending his doing the same. The media is also doing it’s own part to wage a war against the truth and that is why the whole WMD thing is off limits to discuss now that it is “established fact” that there weren’t any in Iraq.

I guess my point here is that I believe in what I am doing here. Not only for the kids and the future of Iraq but also for the safety and security of America and the Allied countries. Nobody these days wants to believe that Iraq had much to do with the security of America but due to recent intelligence about terrorist connections to Iraq and WMD connections between Russia and Iraq, I question the sentiment of the anti-war crowd. If they simply think killing is wrong for all reasons then at least they have one semi-valid point but if they want to attack the core reasons for why we are in Iraq then I think they are going to run into trouble. I have found Frontpagemag and Powerline to be the best sources of info concerning the new intelligence coming out of Iraq so be sure to frequent those sites.

I think the real question that needs to be asked about the anti-war crowd is why is the truth so elusive for them? I’ll leave that up to better men like Dennis Prager.

True Reporting from Iraq

2006-03-25T11:26:00.000-05:00

I feel like I am in the middle of a five-minute chess game right now that has been taking place so fast that I don’t have time to completely plan out my next move before the time runs out. In this chess game I am a pawn with the hands of someone much bigger controlling me, and with a panel of analysts describing the game. Sure I can move two spaces on my first move but after that I am relegated to moving one space at a time on the front lines while protecting the more important pieces and fighting it out in the middle with my enemy that is just like me. Those pieces behind me are more powerful, more mobile, and can do much more damage than I can, but-and this is a big but-they wouldn’t be safe if it wasn’t for me and the other pawns like me. We definitely don’t do anything too special, just our job, one space at a time. Once in awhile one of us gets lucky and turns into a queen but those occurrences are few and far between. For the most part we are the sacrificial pieces on the board and merely watch from the sidelines as the war at large is fought after we have come and gone.

The “chess” game I have in mind is the current battle going on between the MSM and outspoken MSM critics like Hugh Hewitt, Tim Graham, and Laura Ingraham to name a few. The big wigs are criticizing the media for misrepresenting the current conflict in Iraq. The media claim they are only showing the reality of the war on the streets and are better equipped to present the whole picture then the troops are. However, in this chess game the pawns are starting to speak up and make themselves heard. Where else would the Kings, Queens, and Bishops get their info about the front lines if it weren’t for the pawns? So with the chess board set lets see what one of the pawns has to say.

Of course if you have been a follower of my blog you already know what I think about the MSM and their reporting about Iraq, but incase you are a new reader let me fill you in on what I believe to be the truth about the media coverage on Iraq. I believe the media are following the age-old adage that “if it bleeds it leads.” Nobody wants to watch a normal boring day in Iraq: “So nothing to report today, everything was calm and even the weather was nice. Now back to you Chris.” How boring is that? So the American people want a little more from their news and blood and guts keeps a lot of them watching so that is what the news feeds them. News providers are out there to make money, pure and simple. If they don’t have viewers then they don’t sell ad time/space, if they don’t sell ads then they don’t get paid, if they don’t get paid then they are out of business and hungry. So they do what they can to make money, fine and dandy. The problem a lot of soldiers have, and a growing number of Americans have with the news lately, is that it does not show the whole picture of what is going on in Iraq. The problem with that is the rest of the world gets their information about the conflict in Iraq from the news, and if the news tells only the bad, then everyone gets a skewed picture of the reality in Iraq. This in turn leads to hatred towards the U.S. and spurs on our opposition. Just take a look at the way media propaganda was used in Vietnam.

This is primarily the problem soldiers have with the media. However, I believe there is another problem that hasn’t fully been looked at yet. When the media willingly chooses not to cover positive stories coming out of Iraq like infrastructure rebuilding, free medical care being provided by soldiers, complete changes for the better in cities like Tal Afar, and the kindness shown towards the children of Iraq by soldiers everyday to name a few, then soldiers feel slighted by the media. It is almost as if the media is saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, those are all great things but they don’t sell so I am not reporting them.” Soldiers tend to feel that media types do not care about what they are doing and do not care about telling the truth. These sentiments often lead to believing that the media has an agenda whether they actually do or not.

Is there any validity to the comment Michael Ware from Time magazine made on CNN the other night that the media are better equipped to present the whole picture about Iraq then soldiers are because soldiers are confined to one area? Well maybe, but I disagree that the media are at all better able to report the truth then soldiers are. Sure I might only be able to tell you about my area in Iraq but I bet I can identify a terrorist when he is sitting on the side of the road. I bet I can tell you what rocks have been moved and what signs just went up on my daily route. I could tell you about the different smells in the air and where exactly they come from. What I am getting at is that I know my area like the back of my hand. Reporters, I would argue, do not have the kind of expert knowledge that soldiers who are outside their base everyday do. Sure you may need to get a group of us together to get the full picture about what is going on in Iraq but you will learn a lot more from us then you would from any journalist who went through a three day Iraq survival course prior to reporting from Iraq.

Of course as with anything there are exceptions to what I am saying. There are some fine reporters out there who are doing a good job in such a hostile area as Iraq. There are some reporters who actually care about what happens in the world today and who care about getting the truth out. However, I do not believe the majority of reporters to be this way. I wont even start on “reporters” and “journalists” who purport to inform others about Iraq when they have never left their offices, never talked to a soldier, and never bothered to do any real research.

Keep in mind this isn’t just how I feel, check out the two previous interviews I did with soldiers in my platoon. Check out other soldier’s blogs like Buck Sargent. There are a growing number of us out there who are speaking up and will continue to do so until we see the truth about Iraq on the news. A lot more then soldiers feelings are at stake here, the future of Iraq is on the line and I don’t want the whole world believing that nothing good has come from our presence here.

The Media Does It Again

2006-03-23T14:29:00.000-05:00

The caption for the first photo reads-Reuters - Wed Mar 22, 5:45 AM ET
Iraqi government supporters raise their weapons as they stop traffic near the Iraqi town of Samarra, 96 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad March 21, 2006. REUTERS/Stringer

The caption for the second photo reads-Reuters - Tue Mar 21, 1:43 PM ET
Iraqi insurgents raise their weapons as they stop traffic near the Iraqi town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad March 21, 2006. (Stringer/Reuters)

Some people ask me why I distrust the media and think I am over the top for doing so. Well these pictures are the perfect example of why I have no faith in the MSM. As you can see they are the same picture but with completely different captions. Why is that you may be asking? Well my answer is that there is no accountability for media coverage about Iraq outside of the bloggers who happen upon these things like I did today. How can we believe anything the media says after they have proven time and time again in the past 5 years that they cannot be trusted? They cannot accurately label photographs and they cannot leave their hotels in Iraq to find out what is going on for themselves. Could these two captions, describing the same photograph, be any more different?

I found these photos on Yahoo.com as part of a photomontage about Iraq and all things anti-war. Most of the pictures are of the "Christian" Peacemaker Team people and the rest seem to be of dead Iraqis with no explanation as to what happened to them. For all we may know they were killed by terrorists, but the collection of photos would lead you to believe they were killed by evil American soldiers.

If anyone knows the policy about posting AP or Reuters photos please let me know.

*UPDATE* Well so I had a bit of a time deciding whether or not to actually post the photos here but then due to DSOTW, commenting on the post I decided to go ahead and put the pictures up. Well when I went back to Yahoo to make sure I had the photo captions right the photos had been switched from their original spot and the captions had been changed to both say the same thing. I would probably be naive to believe that I had something to do with it but in the back of my head I will go around believing that I affected the media for the better today.

Who's Fighting For You: 2

2006-03-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

Here is the second interview in the Who’s fighting for you series. The interview is with 20 –year-old Specialist Jodrey. I hope you find him as good as a guy as I do. He is a genuine and caring soldier and I think everyone will be able to tell from the interview.

Q: What is your name?
A: Spc. Jodrey

Q: When and why did you join the military?
A: Well my Grandfather served 32 years in the military. He served in Vietnam twice and always talked with pride about it so I guess it was on the whim kind of a thing. I talked to a recruiter one day and was joining the next.

Q: What is your job in the military?
A: I’m a truck driver, an 88M. I drive a truck and deliver fuel.

Q: What do you do at home?
A: At home I did construction. Within the last year I have been on active duty quite a bit, since November of 04 I have been on active duty on and off. I have been home every four months so it has been hard for me to keep the same job. Right before I left I got hired at the Sheriff’s department so I will fall back on that when I get home.

Q: Do you have family back home?
A: I have a wife and a little girl who was born September 1st 2005. I was on active duty when it happened but I was able to go home for three days and see my wife give birth.

Q: What did you think about Iraq before you were deployed?
A: Well I thought it was going to be a lot worse then what it actually is. I thought it was going to be a big war zone but now I see that it is a cross between a peacekeeping mission and a war zone I guess.

Q: So you don’t think it is that big of a deal now that you are here?
A: Yeah its not that big of a deal, I guess you get comfortable with your surroundings and get used to everything.

Q: What do you like most about being in Iraq?
A: Well I enjoy having a part in history I guess, a part in establishing the future of this country. It makes me feel prideful about what I am doing.

Q: What do you like least about being here?
A: The separation from my wife and little girl.

Q: What do you think history will say about what we did here?
A: Well I believe it will say that we had a good part in, I guess, in establishing a good government. I think that the country does have hope and I think history will say good things about what we are doing. Right now a lot of people may not agree with what we are doing but the same thing happened in Vietnam.

Q: Do you think that being deployed will change you in any way?
A: I think it has made me realize how important my marriage is to me and how important family in general is. I appreciate life a lot more, not just my own but other people’s lives also. Whether I like a person or not I do appreciate their life and tend to respect people more in general.

Q: How would being deployed again make you feel?
A: Well I think it is my job but I think it depends on my mission. I think if I came back I would want to come back doing something else. Maybe as civil affairs so I could get around the people more. I would want to have more interaction with the people and with what is going on as opposed to military operations like running fuel. So I could do it if my job changed but I don’t think I would like running fuel again.

Q: Who is your role model?
A: My grandfather is my role model. Like I said he served 32 years in the military and did 25 years in the sheriffs department. He is a hard worker, provided for his family always so I guess if I had a role model it would be him.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time here?
A: In my free time I like to talk to my wife. I like to write about things that are happening here. I like to read Boggs’ weblog (shameless plug) to see what people have to say and I guess I am happy to hear that people actually care about what is going on over here.

Q: Have you hear a lot of support from people back home?
A: I have heard a lot of support. A lot of support about what we are doing, people saying that they are proud of us and a lot of prayers are coming out to us.

Q: How does that make you feel?
A: It makes me feel good that people actually care. We should be a lot more appreciative of people in past wars because they weren’t that lucky to have the support of people back home. I think the United States has learned from that and you know I think we are growing.

Q: What do you think people should do for soldiers when they come home?
A: Give them a nice welcome home and say thanks for their service. Just show that they care because soldiers are making a big sacrifice for them whether it is being away from their families or just putting their life on hold to serve their country. I mean people got degrees back home that they are trying to get and trying to advance their future back home and they gotta put their life on hold for the betterment of the world.

Q: A lot of people back home consider us heroes, do you consider yourself a hero?
A: I don’t think I am a hero, I just think I am doing what any other joe would do. I’ve joined the army, I am serving my country and I am proud to. I didn’t go active duty because I didn’t need a job and I didn’t want it as a job, I am doing it for duty, honor, and service.

Q: Do you think that people should listen to celebrities like George Clooney, Sean Penn, and Susan Surandon? Do you think that they should have the influence that they do?
A: No I don’t. I think they are using their public influence in the wrong way. I think they should educate themselves a little bit better before they start talking.

Thanks for the interview I am glad you that you care enough to get the word out.

Well I hope you enjoyed the interview with Spc. Jodrey. Like I said before he is a great guy and a good soldier to serve along side with. It is regular guys like him who make our country great.

Interview at The Real Ugly American

2006-03-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

I did an interview at www.therealuglyamerican.com yesterday so everyone be sure to check it out. The Ugly American has a great site going and has done some good interviews lately. Be sure to check out his site. Speaking of interviews the next installment of the "Who's Fighting For You" series will be coming any day now so stay tuned.

What We Do

2006-03-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

A lot of people ask me what I do in my free time while I am here so I think it would be a good idea to give people a little look into a soldiers life while on deployment.

First off I am sure we work a lot less then everyone back home thinks. As anyone who has been in the military before can tell you the standard motto across the different services is “Hurry up and wait.” Sure sometimes we work hard and for extended periods of time but we do get time off and we do our best to maximize that time. Of course the amount of time off depends on your rank and your job but everyone gets some time off. Now to what we do with that time off.

When I first got here in 2003 there wasn’t much to do besides sweat. Well sweat and play cards. We played spades and hearts till we wore finger marks into the cards and then we would get a new deck and do it all over again. Once we started getting established we got a dartboard, a ping-pong table, and some horseshoes. We played basketball on a court we made out of 2 by 4s and plywood. The court had several dead spots and several spots where the ball would jump on its own. Home court advantage for sure. We set up a softball field with donated baseball equipment and the season lasted for months. We played flag football for what seemed like an eternity too. Those were the days. Things were simple back in OIF I. Only a few people had computers at first so we would all get together to watch movies. At the end of the deployment we finally got things together though. We made one tent our gaming tent and put in four 20 inch TVs and played 16 player Halo which is a video game for those of you who don’t know.

Near the end of the deployment we got an MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) tent at our base. The MWR had gym equipment, a pool table, a couple of TVs with military cable, and some movies. The workers at the MWR put on volleyball, table tennis, pool, and horseshoe tournaments that we all had fun competing in. The week before we left our camp the MWR workers (civilians) put on a party for us since we had been at the base the longest and were good friends with everyone. Some of the people in my unit formed a band with donated instruments and the whole base came out for the festivities. Awards were handed out for the winners of the sporting events and the new soldiers bid us farewell. All in all my first deployment was a great experience with little modern day technology for us to have fun with. Those definitely were the days.

This deployment is the same but different. I still go to the MWR in my free time but this time around it is located in a gigantic tent-like structure. The gym is amazing, there is a full length indoor basketball court, aerobics room, movie theater, internet and phone service, putting green, library, TVs for video games and cold water for all who are thirsty. I sit in my room on my Turkish satellite internet while watching my own 20 inch TV with cable. I listen to my Ipod and sometimes connect it to speakers when there aren’t too many people around. I flush the toilet and take showers with hot water. I love being an American. Soon I will move into a trailer with its own air conditioning unit. My roommate and I will use our fridge and microwave while sipping coffee from my coffee pot. We still like to play games but instead of playing cards we play poker online. Instead of waiting in line for the phone we hop on instant messenger and chat with friends and family back home. Yeah we have it good.

We have chow four times a day for those who choose to go and deal with being around higher-ranking people. I choose to go as late as possible to avoid confrontations that arise from my “Damn the Man” attitude. I get a to-go plate so that I can bring food back to my room so that I limit my trips to the chow hall to once every other day. If one chooses he or she could go to the Turkish restaurant or Subway on base to eat. You could stop by the PX/BX and buy food too. You can shop for a new suit, carpet, watch, movie, jewelry, or leather jacket at any one of the three Turkish malls. Hell you can even buy bootleg movies before they come out in the states: that is if you don’t mind people talking and walking in front of the movie screen.

I spend most of my time blogging or corresponding with people I meet from my blog. I read and listen to music. I work out. I drive. That is my life. Very exciting. Don’t you wish you were on the front lines of the war on terrorism? Well front lines or second string you be the judge. I am a dork though so I am sure there are a lot of guys having a much better time then I am. Just kidding.

So that is a little look into what we do in our free time, any questions?

The Future of Iraq

2006-03-07T22:09:00.000-05:00

After spending a deployment and a half in Iraq I have come to a conclusion about the future of Iraq. Many people speculate whether or not Iraq even has a chance to survive the current turmoil and become a full-fledged democracy. People often say that a democracy will not work in a predominately Muslim nation. People say that civil war in Iraq is inevitable. Well people say a lot of things, and just because they do so doesn’t mean that what they say is going to come to pass.

When considering who to believe on a certain topic you must first establish whom you can trust. All people are to be trusted at first unless there is some known reason not to trust them. If we all went around doubting everything we heard then we wouldn’t be able to function as a society. If you constantly called the weatherman into question then you wouldn’t have a clue what to wear each day or wouldn’t know when to evacuate your city when a hurricane was predicted. If you doubted your math teachers in school then you would never learn math. Until someone has proven that they are not to be trusted then some type of trust must be given to them.

In the case of the news media I believe they have given viewers enough cause to distrust them. Dan Rather comes to mind for many of his stories i.e. Abu Gharib, Bush’s National Guard documents. Chris Matthews, Geraldo Rivera, Lou Dobbs, and the whole lot of them that report from the hotel with the blue mosque behind it in Baghdad come to mind also. Not that they have out right lied but rather, real news (from soldiers) from Iraq contradicts what they say on air.

My point in saying all of this is to build up credibility for what I am about to say. I do not believe that I have given anyone cause to distrust me as of yet (if you disagree let me know). I used to write a weekly column for a college paper at Ohio University and my initial intent with my column was to present indisputable facts that everyone could agree on. The conclusions that I drew from the facts was where people could disagree with me but no one every called me out for lying about the facts of each column. I have the same intent with this blog. If you ever catch me lying or misrepresenting the truth then please call me out on it, I would be grateful for your doing so.

Ok so back to my conclusion about Iraq. My conclusion is this—the future of Iraq lies with the children of Iraq. The children of Iraq are the hope of all the countries that want to see freedom and democracy in the Middle East. It is up to the younger generation to learn how to protect their own country, to fight for freedom in the face of democracy, to remember the sacrifice of so many foreign soldiers that earned them their freedom, and to yearn for freedom and liberty above all else.

I place my hope in the younger generation of Iraqis for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that they most likely do not remember the hard times under Saddam. Of course they will hear the stories and feel some of the after effects of his evil regime but more likely then not they were too young to know why life under his rule was rough. Thus said I believe that since they are growing up in a “free” country they will become accustomed to freedom and resist any type of dictatorship or religious Taliban-like type rule. Unlike their parents who grew up under Saddam’s rule, or at least were alive for all of it, the younger generation will not be as likely to put up with not being a completely free people.

Secondly I believe that the kids in Iraq have been the recipients of the greatest kindness shown by soldiers. I don’t know a soldier here who doesn’t have a heart for suffering children. The amount of work that has gone into helping the children here has been amazing. Schools have been rebuilt and stocked full of supplies by soldiers and their families back home, toys have been sent by the tons for soldiers to hand out to the kids, soldiers give kids food and water everyday, and soldiers just generally show kindness and gentleness towards children. All of these things help Iraqi children see the softer side of the soldiers whereas some of the older generation deems the soldiers to be a necessary nuisance for the time being. I could go on and on about the good deeds of soldiers towards children but you guys get the point, right?

In the children I place my hope. Not that I do not see hope for the near future of Iraq. I believe the older generation will set the stage for a true democratic society, but I believe as the children grow up in that society they will yearn for more. More to come on this topic later.

The picture is of me on my first deployment with a couple of Iraqi children that lived right next to my tent. They spent a lot of time with us and came to love American soldiers for the same reasons that I mention above. I guarantee that they grow up to remember the sacrifices that we made for them.

Who's Fighting For You: 1

2006-03-04T05:52:00.000-05:00

My first interview is with a fellow soldier from my platoon. His name is SSG Newton and he is a squad leader and overall great guy. What follows are a few questions I asked him so that you guys could get a better idea of who is fighting for you. This is the first in what I hope to be a series of interviews. If anyone has any questions they would like me to ask in future interviews feel free to ask.

Q: Where are you from?
A: Ohio.

Q: How far have you gone in school?
A: 12th Grade.

Q: Did you play sports?
A: Oh yeah, all sports. Football, baseball, track.

Q: What sports was your high school known for?
A: Football big time. It’s division six; a small school but we have big heart. We are always in the division running.

Q: When and why did you join the Army?
A: Yeah it’s a funny story. I dated a girl for three years in high school and after high school, a year after, we were actually in an argument because she was moving away to college and I didn’t like losing her there and uh the phone rang and it was the army recruiter, the army reserve recruiter. He said “What’s your thoughts on the army reserves?” and I said “I’ll do it.” He said “Uh excuse me.” I was thinking to myself well I’ll show her you know and uh here I am twelve years later. I’m married to her and still here in the army.

Q: So you have family at home?
A: Yeah I have three kids. One boy and two girls.

Q: This is your second deployment correct?
A: That’s right. Voluntarily.

Q: Why did you come back for a second time?
A: The unit I am assigned to got deployed. If it had been another unit I possibly wouldn’t have came but I figured you know all my friends and everything in that unit are going and maybe I have some knowledge or something that could help them out so I figured I would go over with them.

Q: Since you have already been here what do you think of Iraq so far this deployment?
A: Uh, well I think it is a lot different, not just from just the military base standpoint but how the Iraqi people act around the soldiers out and about. There is a lot more respect, they aren’t badgering them all the time. The traffic is amazing, they (Iraqis) all get over to the side of the road and let you pass now. Its just a lot different then it was in the beginning.

Q: Since you have been here once do you see any hope for the future now that things have progressed and changed?
A: Oh yeah, yeah I do. You can tell when you got here the fanciest thing they probably had was a white robe that they had been wearing for 15 years but now you run around and see that the clothing they are wearing is better, they look cleaner and they are getting haircuts. The infrastructure is getting better too. There is water here and electricity there that you didn’t see before. You know even the cars look better then they were in the beginning. It looks like their whole lifestyle has improved.

Q: How long do you think it will take for their lives to start getting a lot better?
A: I would say a number. I would say we have basically won the hearts and minds of the younger generation, the kids of this country. I think is going to be until they grow up that we are going to see any difference.

Q: How long do you think it will be until the media starts reporting positive stories about Iraq?
A: I think probably it is going to depend how much pressure is going to be put on them. You know they have obligations to fill and they are just telling what sells. Unfortunately the bad things sell but I think they need to learn that the good things do too.

Q: What do you think about your leadership and/or do you think you could do a better job?
A: Well, huh, I think my leadership is a little confused. A lot of them are in slots they aren’t real familiar with. They got a little bit of training and came over here and now they are running companies. Our company is an exception, we switched MOS’s (*Jobs. We were originally fuelers now we are a transportation company.) I think they are out of their league but given a little of time I think they will come around. The battalion, ah well I don’t know what they battalion is thinking exactly. As far as me doing a better job I don’t know. I know that there is always two sides to every coin and there is probably a lot of stuff that we aren’t seeing, you know the part of it that we don’t understand.

Q: What do you do in your free time here?
A: I like to try to get to the internet and email home and I like to relax. I got my laptop and I like to turn the music on and type up emails and try to communicate with home a little bit.

Q: What is the first thing you are going to do when you get back hom?
A: Do something with the family. No beaches and no camping trips right away but you know, do something with them to get reacquainted with them.

Q: What do you miss most about home?
A: My family. I would have to say that is it.

Q: Who do you think would win in a fight, Bruce Willis or the entire cast of Brokeback Mountain?
A: Bruce Willis, he is a bad ass.

That concludes my first interview. SSG Newton is a great guy and all the soldiers in my unit are lucky to have him along. I am glad he chose to come back a second time and help me show these young punks how to save the world from terrorism.

The Sky is Falling!

2006-02-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

Once again I am not the most qualified to answer questions on this topic but I would like to share my viewpoint on the unrest in Iraq right now that is playing all over the news. Civil war huh? Well I have not seen anything of the sort yet but what do I know, I didn't graduate from college with a degree in journalism (which becomes obviously clear when you consider my grammatical skills: ain't that the truth.)

So there is unrest in Iraq huh? Wow hard-hitting journalism at it’s best. Civil war? I don’t think so. In order to have a civil war a lot more would have to happen in Iraq. And my great service to my readers, thank you tfdad, is to point you towards an article that can tell you what those things are. Go to www.billroggio.com and find the blog entitled “Looking for Signs of Civil War in Iraq.” He explains it better then I could or will apparently cause I am not in an area of religious unrest right now. But then again who is? Is the unrest all over Iraq? Well in my experience it is not. So if there is the minute chance that other soldiers read my blog please speak up and let me know what you think about the topic.

In the background as I write this right now I hear a TV with the news on. The reporter is talking about the daytime curfew that is in effect in some cities today and is treating it like the world is coming to an end. (Newsperson) “And in Iraq today a daytime curfew has been put into effect to help quell the recent violence and mosque bombings. We all hope that such drastic measures will help calm the religious unrest enveloping Iraq right now.” I made that up but it sounds like most reports on the news right now. Daytime curfew-big freaking deal. Maybe the Iraqis can take the time inside to think about what is really going on in their country. Maybe they can realize how low they have sunk now that we had to put them in time-out so they will quit fighting and calling each other names. Maybe they should all count to 10 and take some deep breaths before they come out to play again.

I, like everyone else besides the terrorists, hope that Iraqis will come to some kind of terms with each other so that they can live together in peace. Maybe this “unrest” will help them realize what they need to do and how far they need to go in order to act like civilized adults.

I have been reading a book called “Stoic Warriors” (sorry I have not figured out how to underline or italicize titles yet so forgive me for my quotations) by Nancy Sherman about the role of Stoic philosophy in today’s military. The chapter I just finished is entitled “Manners and Morals” and was about the role citizens are supposed to play in their society (sort of). The Stoics believed it was our duty to bathe properly so as not to offend others, to behave in a non-offensive manner in public so as not to object others to our rude behavior, among a slew of other responsibilities. The Iraqis would do well to read the Stoics and learn to treat each other with the respect that a virtuous person is supposed to. Now I know Americans would do well to learn them too but at this juncture in history I would loan my copy of “Stoic Warriors” and the writings of Epictetus’ to the Iraqis first.

Concerning news reports I think I have discovered a way to gleam more truth out of them. I think it would be better if the news were delivered with no emotion. If we could somehow read just the transcripts of each show then we might not be swayed so much in our opinion of what is happening in the world.

(A blog about “Stoic Warriors” will follow as soon as I finish reading it.)

"Combat Update"

2006-02-18T19:35:00.000-05:00

Ok so I am not the most qualified to talk about this subject, and I welcome other soldiers to chime in here, but I thought it might be good if I wrote about what is really going on here as far as combat operations.

Concerning combat ops my experience is limited but one thing I do know is what I hear over the radio while I am driving and what I hear from other soldiers. I do not intend to divulge any important info but just generalities. Cut me some slack if I am too vague.

From what I pick up the Iraqi army and security forces are playing a much larger role in securing their own country. We (American Forces) are still helping out but the Iraqis are beginning to take the lead on a lot of missions. A lot of times I will hear that Iraqi and American military personnel are performing operations in a certain area that I am in. The general sense is not how we will fare, but rather, how quickly we will capture the terrorists. I kind of liken the operations here to operations in the CIA (another area that I am super qualified in ;). We do a lot of intelligence gathering and strike only when ready. When we do strike we get the job done while minimizing casualties and at the same time accomplishing our goal, or at the very least gaining some new intelligence. Terrorists are at times crafty and at their best good, but we are great at what we do. How I would loathe being a terrorist fighting against the U.S. military. It is only a matter of time until we catch and kill them.

I don’t really know what the media back home is showing about Iraq right now because I choose to ignore it and turn it off. I bet all of you guys would love to be able to do that and still get your news. I am sure you can do it to an extent but there is nothing like actually being here and then matching it up to what is shown on the news. Maybe I should start watching it just for that reason, at the very least I am sure it would give me more to write about.

If anyone has any questions let me know. I would be willing to look into any story and try to give everyone some more insight. Like I said my knowledge is limited but I do have a few resources. Nothing too confidential but just questions about things in general or things that have already happened.

Like I said before things are going well in Iraq, don’t let the media fool you. I feel a lot safer knowing the Iraqis are starting to take over a larger role in securing their own country. Under the tutelage of our military I am sure it is only a matter of time before they take over on their own and continue to kick some terrorist butt.

Here is some food for thought about the media. Remember during the Gulf War and news reports since about the “Elite Republican Guard” units in Iraq? Remember how they were going to give our military such a good fight and how they were trained so well? Well turns out, and I am not the first to report this by any means, that they were just better trained then they rest of the rag tag Iraqi army. I have heard from many guys that they still couldn’t shoot straight or fight well. The media gave them that name so that it would make their reports sound better. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.

Read this letter

2006-02-14T19:09:00.000-05:00

This is a great letter from the mayor in Tal Afar, Iraq about the soldiers in his city. This should definitly be on the front page of the papers and on the television but once again our media has utterly failed us by refusing to report on the good stories coming out of Iraq. If you have the time you should write to the major news corporations and ask them to take a look at this letter. You can find the letter at this link http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/004167.html

Who's Fighting For You: Introduction

2006-02-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

I talked it over with myself and decided that it might be kind of cool to do a series of interviews with some soldiers in my unit and post them as blogs. There are a ton of characters in the army and my unit definitely has its share. I am not sure exactly when these interviews will start but by writing about it now it will bind me to do it sometime soon. I don't know how successful they will be but I guess we will all have to wait and see.

Bruce Springsteen at the Grammys

2006-02-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

If you were unfortunate enough to watch Bruce Springsteen's performance at the Grammys then you will know what I am talking about in this blog. Springsteen played a song called Devils and Dust which was a pretty good song musically. However, Springsteen sang about (now forgive me if I get this wrong, I only heard it once) soldiers changing as a result of doing things in war that they normally wouldn't do i.e. killing and what not. At the end of the song he stood up and said "Bring em home" obviously in reference to Iraq. What Bruce doesn't understand, and never will, is what it takes to be a soldier deployed to a foreign country. He does not know what it takes to do the things we do everyday and he does not know how the war affects us. Bruce has no business writing about war and how it affects soldiers. He is a great musician but a lousy politician and even lousier statement maker. From an American soldier: "Screw you Bruce, you have no idea what it is like so keep your mouth shut and your pen silent."

A little coffee and pretending

2006-02-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up a little earlier then usual and upon going outside realized that it was a beautiful day. The weather has been rainy and cold lately but I awoke to warmth and sunshine. I decided to take advantage of the nice day so I retreated to my room to make a pot of coffee and grab some breakfast. Once these items were in hand I headed back outside to eat and drink under the sun. As I sat there a friend came out and joined me. We sat in the front of our barracks which lies 20 feet behind 12 foot tall concrete barriers. The barrier we guess is to keep out bombs and what not, I guess we aren’t really sure. Any rate, the barrier allowed us to shut off the outside world and pretend for a while. I hiked up my shorts and felt like I was on the beach getting some sun. My friend was thinking about water-skiing on a lake. Personally it was the best morning so far for me on this deployment. I was able to spend an hour and a half outside just sitting talking. I remembered the vacation I took to California after my last deployment and the fun I had there with friends on and around the beach. This day felt the same to me and I was gladly enjoying the opportunity to pretend.

Now for the fundamental truth that lies behind my morning spent in denial.

No amount of pretending can change what lies behind the barrier around my barracks. Just twenty feet past where I was sitting this morning lies a seemingly endless view of an Iraqi landscape, ever boring that it is. There is still conflict, death, and evil out there try that we may to ignore it. Ignoring this truth for a morning is fine for soldiers but when people ignore it in general it is a bad thing.

People who choose to live in America and enjoy their freedom without recognizing what it takes to have freedom fail to realize the incredible price that has been paid for them to do so.

Norman Podhoretz wrote an article a year or so ago about what he feels is WW IV and what led up to it (WWIII being the Cold War). WW IV is the war on terrorism and is what he feels is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan among other places right now. What led up to WW IV was the oversight by many American leaders of terrorist acts in the past: the Beirut marine barracks bombings, kidnappings by terrorists during the Reagan administration, and the World Trade Centers bombing in 1993 just to name a few. Conservatives and liberal leaders alike overlooked terrorism in the past. What they chose to ignore stewed into the much larger problem that we are dealing with now on a massive scale. Their inability to see the real threat that terrorists posed to the world has led to deaths that might have been avoidable had some action been taken earlier.

We haven’t been able to in the past nor can we now pretend that terrorism will go away on it’s own. It is a massive problem that must be dealt with now and if not dealt with will inevitably endanger the very freedom that we enjoy as Americans and want others across the globe to enjoy. We must face terrorism as a nation and convince those who don’t see it for the real problem that it is to do the same. Pretending that things will work themselves out on their own will not work. Pretending that terrorism isn’t that big of a deal wont work. Pretending that if America just pulled out of Iraq then terrorist acts against America would cease wont work. We have a problem that must be taken care of. Just as we went to fight against Nazis 60 years ago to liberate nations from tyranny we must do the same now and stick with it until the job is finished. Despite what people like Arianna Huffington would have you believe, the parallels between WW IV and WW II are valid. We are at the same time trying to liberate a people from tyranny while at the same time ensuring the security of the freedom we enjoy in America. Terrorism has threatened our security from the Carter administration on and nothing has been done about it until now. We can no longer pretend we are at the beach while we are sitting in the middle of the desert.

I wish I was lounging on the beach with a hula dancer and a beer but I remember a saying that goes something like “Try wishing in one hand and doing something in the other ;) and see which one fills up first.” (My grandma reads this blog so I am trying to keep it clean.)

The pic is of my barracks and the barriers in front of it.

Who's intolerant now?

2006-02-03T18:25:00.000-05:00

Newsflash: Muslims are an intolerant people. I am not saying that Islam is an intolerant religion, and I will not make a statement like that in this blog, I am just saying that mainstream Muslims are intolerant. Somehow the mainstream media has missed this fact completely. However, and I will probably only say this once in my life, I don’t exactly blame the media for not reporting it. With the current Danish cartoon scandal having already swept through the Muslim community other less then tolerant behavior springs to memory for me.

Take for example the Taliban checkpoints in Afghanistan where members of the Taliban search cars for music on cassette and then confiscate them when found. Or the complete body coverings that women must wear in many Islamic communities. Let us not forget Muslims do not tolerate gays at all (yet gays for some reason support them more then they do America). Perhaps my favorite is the uproar that was caused among Muslims after a soldier flushed a copy of the Quran down a toilet in Guantanamo (as if such a feat is even possible). What other culture moves to America and instead of assimilating to American culture, demands America to assimilate to its culture? Arabs throughout America demand that exceptions should be made for them because somehow they are different then regular Americans? If Americans moved to Arabic countries and tried to set up little American communities with all that goes along with being American i.e. free speech, equal rights, and bikinis, then Arabs would be up in arms (no pun intended). It would never happen. So why should everyone cater to Muslims?

Could this same argument be made against crazy Christian abortion clinic bombers, or Pat Robertson types? Sure. But it isn’t the same thing. When someone does something crazy in the name of Christianity other Christians are quick to speak out against them and explain why what they did was wrong. Of course there are Muslims against the extremists out there but so far it hasn’t been the majority of them. There is only a tiny voice expressing opposition to the crazy-non-free-speech-Muslims out there. Until an opposition of some magnitude arises out of the Islamic community I will continue to make the statement that Muslims are the most intolerant people out there right now.

On another point the American government has tucked tail and lost it’s balls concerning “offending” Muslims. Are we appeasing or are we employing some kind of homeland defense tactic? Muslim extremists already hate America and its way of life so why are we trying to not offend them? Why have we condemned Danish cartoonists right to freedom of speech when the cartoonists in our country have that very freedom and use it every day in every major newspaper across the country to poke fun at everything from politicians to religion. Where is the Danish ACLU on this one? Why aren’t they up in arms over this violation of the first amendment?

I am not one to back down when I think something is wrong and I cant believe our government has given into the pressure to do so. Of course they have larger things to consider then just angry comments on their blog page but what kind of message are they sending to the American people? Are they telling us that we should be a country of apology-letter-writing-non-line-stepping people? Come on government, strap on a pair and do the right thing. The right thing does not consist of appeasing religious extremists, simple as that.

You cant black out the stars

2006-01-31T04:13:00.000-05:00

I sit down to write this entry as I am about two hours away from going outside my FOB. I imagine this exact sequence of events has been played over millions of times throughout the history of wars on this earth. I am not nervous in any way but there are a few guys who still get the jitters before leaving. Maybe a little bit of nervousness is a good thing, maybe it will keep them on their toes. I try to be careful not to become too lax but for some reason I fear nothing in Iraq. Now I know this is a lot of feelings sharing from me but I don’t want to make this too much of a personal thing, I am trying to describe the feelings that soldiers have in the face of some type of danger. I know we aren’t storming the beaches of Normandy, or dropping in on a hot LZ behind enemy lines, but we do face our own dangers that are relatively new to the battlefield. Everyday soldiers go outside the gate they take the risk of it possibly being their last time, and depending where they are, some even risk their lives simply walking around their base.

During my pre-deployment training I had the opportunity to help out my family in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. While there my uncle, who was in the service himself, gave me a small daily devotional book that he got from his grandfather. Inside the cover there was written the date December 8, 1942. The devotional was written for the soldiers during WWII and had belonged to my uncle’s grandfather when he served in the military during that time. Each day the book addresses in some ways how to maintain one’s faith and live godly during war. All around the country different pastors contributed a daily lesson to the book. Some offer advice on how to better walk with the Lord, some offer advice on how to make it through tough times, and some offer advice on how soldiers should treat their enemies. The striking thing about the devotional though is the parallels is has to this very war and I am assuming every war ever fought in America’s history.

Soldiers are the same now as they were in WWII. They are fighting for a cause that most of them believe is right. I am sure many soldiers during WWII wondered how fighting the Nazis was their job since the Nazis hadn’t invaded America. Sure we should fight the Japanese (al qaeda) because they bombed us, but why the Nazis, all they were doing was killing and torturing people in Europe, why is that our job to take care of? The same sentiment rings true in today’s military. Most of us believe we are fighting an evil enemy and liberating an oppressed people while there is still a number of soldiers who have no idea why we are here.

I read the devotional every day so as not only to be encouraged in my walk with the Lord, but also in some way to connect with the soldiers of yesterday. Every soldier in America’s history is connected in some way. The connection comes from their fight for freedom whether it was against the King, slavery, communism, or terrorism just to name a few. They are also connected because war is an ugly thing and they haven’t always known how to cope with it. They have needed help along the way and continue to need help in dealing with certain aspects of war.

The devotional for me encourages me that I am doing the right thing: fighting evil and spreading liberty to a society unaccustomed to it. It reminds me that there are bigger things out there besides this little war of ours. It reminds me that this world is far from perfect, and that if history repeats itself that it never will be. It also teaches me the lesson that if only we could learn from the past instead of repeating it then we might be able to move forward as a society. Until that happens there will still be war and suffering just as there has always been.

My favorite passage from the devotional comes from the entry on December 1st. The author of that day tells the story of a farmer who had been ordered by a captain of the conquering army in his country to turn over his crops in order to feed the captain’s men. The captain told the farmer that if he was stubborn they would take away everything the farmer had. In reply the farmer told the captain that he couldn’t take away the stars. The farmer knew that he could lose everything he had, his crops, his home, and his family, but he knew that the captain could only affect worldly things. The world was going to continue to turn and the stars were going to continue to shine. This passage encourages me to go outside the gate each day because no matter what a terrorist can take from me he can never make the world stand still and he can never black out the stars.

Milblogging

2006-01-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

As any experienced milblogger could tell you it can sometimes be pretty tough to find things to write about. Bloggers in the states are able to blog daily about the news and whatnot but milbloggers have to write about what’s going on in their own daily lives. The tough thing about doing so is that a lot of times nothing happens to us. Take for example the last week I just had. I spent most of the week out on the road and nothing major happened. We drove, we came back, and we went out again. I didn’t run into any fascinating people and I didn’t have any bright revelations into current events.

It is tough trying to blog often and keep a fan base when sometimes I go through a 4 or 5 day blogging drought. People like Hugh Hewitt and Michelle Malkin blog about 5 times a day and all I can come up with is one every 3-5 days. No big deal though, they do it for a living right?

I have been thinking of a few ideas for future blogs so stay tuned. Don’t let the blogging drought chase you away.

What It Takes

2006-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

I want to apologize to those who read my blog that are not and have never been in the military. I think at times I have made it seem that the only way to make a difference in this world is to be in the military. If I did make it seem that way then I apologize. I have been thinking lately about all that goes into winning a war and I have come up with the best analogy that I could think of: NASCAR. Now I am not a NASCAR fan but I want to make a point so lets look at what it takes to win a race.

In NASCAR there is only one driver on race day but a whole team behind that driver. He has a pit crew, a team of designers, engineers, sponsors, owners, and millions of fans. Of course the driver gets all of the attention because he is out on the road but without his team he wouldn’t even make it to the track on race day. If the mechanics didn’t do their job then the car wouldn’t be ready to race. If the pit crew didn’t do their job then it would be up to the driver to change his own tires and fill up his own gas. If the sponsors didn’t provide financial support then there would be no money to pay all of the supporting characters that it takes to keep a car on the track. And finally without the fans there would be no NASCAR because if there is no one to watch the sport and buy the merchandise then the sport wouldn’t last.

The same is true with the military. Of course there are those in the military who are on the front lines and in the news. We are the drivers but without support we would fall apart. We need designers to make our equipment so we can stay alive and kill our enemy at the same time. We need journalists (I mean bloggers) to tell our story so that the average American can hear what is going on. We need family and friends to write us letters to keep our morale up. We need sports players to keep playing so that we have something to look forward to when we get back to our bases. We need actors to keep making movies because only God knows what soldiers would do if they couldn’t watch movies. We need the everyday average American to support us so that our government doesn’t get cold feet and give into pressure and do the wrong thing.

The short and skinny of it is that the military needs all the people in America in order to accomplish its goals. Not everyone is cut out for or should even be in the military. Lots of people can better serve their country by staying in the states and working an important job no matter what it is. America still needs to function as a society even when it’s military is deployed overseas. This means teachers need to teach, workers need to work, and kids need to be kids. What would I have to look forward too if kids quit being kids, athletes quit playing, and girls quit smelling good and being pretty.

No matter what function you serve your country in you are doing a service that supports the military. You don’t have to be a soldier to do your part but what you need to do is be thankful for those who make the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and cognizant of the fact that without a military we wouldn’t have the country that we do now. I can even find a role for people like L.A. Times columnist Joel Stein who don’t support the troops or their country. Because of people like them I become more determined each day to do the right thing and live an upright life.

So thank all you non-military types for doing what you do, you don’t get enough credit and sometimes it can be tough to do a job that no one appreciates. Keep doing what you do and lets all try to be content with being just another cog in the wheel.

ACLU: American Terrorists

2006-01-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

There are certain things that cause me to become upset: Laziness, ignorance, and down right stupidity to name a few. Then there are times when I get so pissed off that I can't stand it anymore and have to say something. Now is one of those times. After reading this article http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20971, among many others, I have come to the conclusion (as I am sure many others already have) that the ACLU is detrimental to our society and our very way of life. Usually when our country is faced with an enemy who threatens our national security our president takes action against them and is justified in doing so. Well with the ACLU running rampant filing lawsuits against the Bush administration's accused illegal spying I believe something needs to be done and soon.

Ok I know everyone is saying "All right T. F. this is way over your head and by your own admissions you are about 4 years away from a 3 year law degree, what do you know?" Well I know when I am being undermined as a person and when the security of those I care about is being threatened. I am not one to sit idly by and watch idiots run rampant and do as they please. We (military) are in several hostile environments risking our lives daily to bring freedom to the Middle East and at the same time rid the world of terrorism. Lofty huh? Well it is true and when the ACLU seeks to undermine all that we are accomplishing by alerting the terrorists of our best defenses then what am I supposed to say. That would be like me writing Zarqawi and telling him that I will be at this point, at this time, and in this truck, come get me Zark man I am right here. By "outing" one of our government's methods of national defense we exposed to the terrorists one of our great tools against them. Now they can just find a way around phone tapping and continue on doing what they were doing before in ignorance.

If I was a qualified lawyer I would be all over this. No need to pay me, I would do it out of pleasure and as a service to our country. What we need in today's society are people that are willing to stand up and do the right thing even if it doesn't benefit them. We need people of character, not people who are trying to rid our country of all "offensive" material while at the same time defending terrorists in court.

I believe in good and evil. I believe we can call terrorists evil and not just bad. I believe terrorists who kill innocent people are evil and I believe those who defend them aren't far behind. The ACLU is a terrible organization that seeks to defend people's liberties while at the same time stripping our country of exactly what makes it great.

I have been trying to think of a way to describe what they are doing and why but I cant think straight right now. I don't know how so many people could all at the same time be so ignorant. My gosh this seems like a reoccurring theme in my blogs. Ignorant people have and continue to befuddle me completely. If you have any insight into the ACLU let me know. I would love to make it my life's ambition to completely tear down the ACLU, but then again what do I know.

Interview at Blackfive

2006-01-23T06:29:00.000-05:00

I just did an interview at www.blackfive.net so check it out if you don't regularly visit that site. And if you are checking me out as a result of that site then welcome, glad to have you.

Hey Hillary!

2006-01-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

Dear Mrs. Clinton,
Could you please get the Bush Administration to send me some more body armor. My hamstrings are still unprotected and I can still move a little.
Sincerely,
Your secret admirer

If I, as a lowly army reservist, have enough body armor then I think we are spending enough money on it. For anyone as an armchair politician to say that we don't have enough body armor has no clue what they are talking about. Pretty soon we are going to need squires in order to get ready to go on missions. Any more armor and we won't be able to move. Get out of your chair and come talk to some real soldiers if you want to know what is going on.

The one pic is of me and the other is of where I have to stuff myself on missions. Not much room as you can see. I don't know where I could put more armor.