Happy V.I. Day!
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TradWanker
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 11:24 pm
I've been back for six months. It was pretty quiet when I left. We were in the middle of Baghdad and ran missions repeatedly into the heart of Sadr City. Everything changed while I was deployed. More and more quiet. Checkpoints turned over to the IAs/IPs.
My squad leader extended for five months and just got back. From the time we left until the time he left, there was not a single significant act. No IEDs. No ambushes. Not even harrassing fire (pot shots). It was quiet right before we left, but not that quiet.
I wouldn't even begin to say it's over, but the strides in the last year have been amazing...
My squad leader extended for five months and just got back. From the time we left until the time he left, there was not a single significant act. No IEDs. No ambushes. Not even harrassing fire (pot shots). It was quiet right before we left, but not that quiet.
I wouldn't even begin to say it's over, but the strides in the last year have been amazing...
Sure is a lot of fun while you're doing it...
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woodchuck008
- Posts: 605
- Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:23 pm
It was no sweat off my back, the fact that some factions of Islam choose to hate in the word of religion OVER THERE among their neighbors and all. For thousands of years and still the same. Even Sir Lawrence in his efforts, could not break the backasswards lifestyle in early 20th century of these peoples. INcreased access to new technology and oil money has brought nothing to the common people, just made the sultans and imans richer and allow them to spread the hate and anger against the free (and often Christian) world. Sad they can't live in peace there, and get over the senseless differences that began many many centuries ago.
But once they brought the hate to MY FRONT DOOR, on the continental US, well now they've got a problem and very little religious sympathy is due them from the US. It's a shame we don't have an exit strategy for such problems though. Straight talk doesn't seem to work. Free the oppressed, kick out the dictators, and tell them to get their act together and run a civil country when the military intervention leaves. Any retaliation or violence against the peacemakers should result in a massive response, as we first did in Afghanistan. Truman allowed us to finish the work on the bomb, and to use it for a closer, a war-stopper. Sometimes I feel it's a shame it wasn't used once or twice more in the next 8 years or so after WWII, to bring a stop to the proliferation and invasions.
War has now become too public, too much a CNN event, looking for TV ratings and to create disharmony at home. There will always be some torture, some misconduct, some mistaken casualties. In order to win, to bring a fast end, you must turn away from it, not feel guilt or cry over it. The problem today is they are trying to convince people that 100% of innocent civilian deaths can be avoided because we have GPS, satellites and surveillence, spies and all that info to make it a clean war, a 'smart bomb' errorless war. Those mistakes made in war can't be used to demonize our sincere military efforts though. Every time we pull back, let down our offensive, slack off due to the media pressure, in the name of saving 'collateral damage', we end up losing our soldiers to terror attacks and IED's while we try and look pretty. It doesn't work. They will play us for the sucker every time because they are not armies in uniform fighting a battle to defend, they are hidden terrorists who play by no rules and use the media and public to hide among.
It's war; expect death, expect tragedy. Or stay home for good and return to the isolationism of a century ago.
But once they brought the hate to MY FRONT DOOR, on the continental US, well now they've got a problem and very little religious sympathy is due them from the US. It's a shame we don't have an exit strategy for such problems though. Straight talk doesn't seem to work. Free the oppressed, kick out the dictators, and tell them to get their act together and run a civil country when the military intervention leaves. Any retaliation or violence against the peacemakers should result in a massive response, as we first did in Afghanistan. Truman allowed us to finish the work on the bomb, and to use it for a closer, a war-stopper. Sometimes I feel it's a shame it wasn't used once or twice more in the next 8 years or so after WWII, to bring a stop to the proliferation and invasions.
War has now become too public, too much a CNN event, looking for TV ratings and to create disharmony at home. There will always be some torture, some misconduct, some mistaken casualties. In order to win, to bring a fast end, you must turn away from it, not feel guilt or cry over it. The problem today is they are trying to convince people that 100% of innocent civilian deaths can be avoided because we have GPS, satellites and surveillence, spies and all that info to make it a clean war, a 'smart bomb' errorless war. Those mistakes made in war can't be used to demonize our sincere military efforts though. Every time we pull back, let down our offensive, slack off due to the media pressure, in the name of saving 'collateral damage', we end up losing our soldiers to terror attacks and IED's while we try and look pretty. It doesn't work. They will play us for the sucker every time because they are not armies in uniform fighting a battle to defend, they are hidden terrorists who play by no rules and use the media and public to hide among.
It's war; expect death, expect tragedy. Or stay home for good and return to the isolationism of a century ago.
People philosophically tied to either extreme will always point to the extremes of the political spectrum as the only choices and will then ask you to choose one extreme or the other. The premise that the two extremes are the only choices is just plain wrong.woodchuck008 wrote: It's war; expect death, expect tragedy. Or stay home for good and return to the isolationism of a century ago.
Xtant - Thank you for your service to the country and for your effort to help free the people of Iraq. Good job. And thanks for the first hand progress report. It's important to let Americans know how much better things are going now, especially since Iraq has dropped off the radar screen for the news media. A heartfelt toast to you and your fellow soldiers. Salute!
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woodchuck008
- Posts: 605
- Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:23 pm