Global Special Operations Featured Web Site: Thank You Soldier |
|
|
| LETTERS FROM |
| THE FRONT |
| PAGE FOUR |
Iraq/Afghanistan/Horn of Africa Terrorism
Well I figure that it is time for me to throw my hat into my in-laws fire since my day to day job stems around most of the discussions that I have heard about or the questions that I have been asked by ya’ll. I am going to be very blunt and to some of you, maybe callous or condescending but I do not intend to hurt or judge anyone for their opinion. I just want them to get the facts from a soldier in the field and not a TV news station or political party ads. But before I start, let me tell you where I am coming from so you can see up front where my bias tendencies come from. We all have them, the point is, how much do we allow them to guide and cloud our decisions. I was born in Warrington, Florida and raised in southern Mississippi where being a member of the local Southern Baptist Church was a must. I come from a military family with three brothers who are older than me served in Vietnam. My father was a World War II Army veteran who was shot on three different occasions in the Pacific and my Great Grandfather served in the 38th Mounted Mississippi Regt during the War Between the States. I myself am a 24 year member of the United States Army. I went 8 years to a military high school and college in Alabama and Georgia respectively. I have a BA in History/ Political Science and Masters in Land Warfare/Political Strategy and a Masters in Strategic Intelligence. I am conservative and lean to the right. In the last 6 elections I have voted Republican but an honorable conservative Democrat such as Sam Nunn, could get my vote if I perceive the Republican candidate as not fit to honorably lead this country. With that said, everyone now knows where and what shaped my biases, however I will refrain from opinion and use the facts as I know them; some first hand. First, let me clear up one myth. Many folks have commented that they do not like war. Well let me tell you right now that soldiers do not like war even more. We see the cost every day what war brings. We also have seen the cost of not doing anything about stopping a regime that has no regard for human life or rights. Do you think that the world would have been better with a tyrant like Saddam in power? Do you think that calling him a bad man or sanctions would make him stop torturing and killing innocent people? 12 years did not. You cannot wish evil regimes away no more than you can wish all bad things to go away. We strive for Idealism but we live in reality. How can we look at ourselves as the champions of human rights and allow that abuse to continue. Some of you will argue that we did in Rwanda. So adding one more wrong will make ignoring Iraq right? Terrorism has consumed much of the Middle East. To say that there were no terrorists in Iraq before we invaded is like saying there are no terrorists in the United States..Wake up. Islam has been high jacked by the fanatical Islamists and morphed into a perverted belief that the West is the cause of all their problems. They have a high population of young impressionable Muslims (average 60% or higher age 29 years or younger) that are told that they have no future. The West (and the state of Israel) is the reason why for their misfortune. In order to make things right they are told that they must destroy the infidels (us) by ANY MEANS. The young and many either do not think for themselves or they are not old enough to have developed a conscience. That's why killing young Russian School children was no problem for them. They are taught that this world is nothing to live for but you must die as a martyr or soldier for Islam. They are a religion of death and not life. If you think that we can ignore any longer these teaching then the tragedy of 9/11 will be replayed again. Evil that is not challenged will only grow stronger and cost more in lives in order to destroy it. What kind of people are they and what have they done? These are the same kind of people that orchestrated 9/11. They have no remorse for killing or torture of human beings. I have cried within myself in Afghanistan when I watched a little girl die because of a booby trap set by the Taliban broke her little body to where we could not fix it. I have been consumed by so much hatred that I did not know I possessed after seeing the results of what Saddam’s loyalists and terrorist did to hundreds of Iraqi National Guard soldiers, Iraqi Police officers and innocent bystanders. They had piled up the bodies in basements where the torture took place. Some beaten to death while others had long objects shoved into their eye sockets, their tongues pulled out by pliers, chunks of flesh cut out of them, acid throw into their face, being buried up to your neck only to allow the dogs to eat your face off and to bury people alive with their feet sticking out of the ground. Whole families were killed including the children. Many had signs nailed to them saying they were not good Muslims or they collaborated with the infidels. The horrors of what these people are capable of, I never imagined any human being could be capable of doing. So please do not come to me and say that we tortured Iraqis because our sick 5 individuals at Abu Ghurib prison only humiliated their prisoners. They did not strike, kill, maim or mutilate anyone. They also were being investigated and charged long before the news plastered their bias reporting to the world. Let’s talk about the news and those who like to say we support the troops but not the war. Well that’s exactly what the terrorists are banking on. They want the anti-war crowd to grow strong enough (as it did during Vietnam) to force us to withdraw so they can continue destroy young minds with thoughts of anti- Western blame. Torture those who do not agree with them and in time, when they have grown in strength and more deadly weapons are at their disposal, they will attack again, but this time they will kill many more and the fight to destroy them will cost much more in lives. That’s why they continue to try to kill us. To run up the body count because they see a weakness that they want to exploit. Michael Moore and his film are being distributed by the terrorists. We all know that it is full of half truths and lies (which all have been debunked by reputable sources) and cannot lead to further debate because you cannot debate lies or half truths. His film has contributed to U.S. Combat soldiers being killed because through his eyes we are the evil doers and must be killed in order for the world to be safe. The terrorists would kill him, cut off his head and stick it in a place I will not describe and not even give it an additional thought. If you think I am pissed off, well you are right. I see in Iraq, what in the future could happen to us in the free world if we do not stand up against this evil. The terrorist/insurgents are not human from what I have seen and their actions even appall the good Iraqi/Afghan/Middle Eastern/East African and given the chance I would put a bayonet into Zarqawi, watch him die knowing that I just rid the world of one more vermin parasite. Sorry for the candor but that is the way I feel. When the President sent U.S. Forces to invade Iraq there was plenty of evidence (which I had seen prior) to support it. He did not lie when he thought Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. We all had intelligence that said he possessed them in great quantities hidden around Iraq. This intelligence was reaffirmed by our allies; it was reaffirmed by the prior Clinton administration, and was reaffirmed by Saddam Hussein himself by the actions he did in avoiding/ stonewalling the UN efforts to uncover the status of Iraq’s weapons programs. This went on for 12 years. (we have found evidence now of programs that were ready to come to life once the West turned its back). The President did not lie when he said that there were ties Saddam Hussein’s regime and Al Queda, (Zarqawi is an admitted Al Queda operative, he was under the protection of Saddam long before we invaded Iraq) It is also known that Saddam was providing financial support to family members of suicide bombers. The President did not lie, with the Media’s snipes, about the 16 little words which said that Saddam was trying to buy enriched uranium. He did not lie about Saddam Hussein’s regime committing unspeakable atrocities to his own people. (I saw the results of thousands of mutilated skeletons of victims under his rule, some 300,000 or more) He did not lie about Saddam violating UNSC 1443. He shot at our planes daily, he possessed missiles (SCUDs) that went beyond the 150 KM range that was allowed and I know that because we shot them down after 250 KM during the war when he targeted US forces. He did not lie when he said we cannot depend on the UN to do what is right. And what did we find out? The UN (Cofi’s Son) and Saddam had an under the table deal (CORRUPTION) with the oil for food program where he was allowed to buy whatever he wanted. That is why we were finding new boxes of 155mm ammunition from FRANCE dated 2002. The list could go on but that is up to you whether you regard that it was right or wrong to remove him. There are always two sides to every issue. War is not an answer to everything but when the bad guys do not negotiate, you are only left with two choices fight or die. Most of you may not agree with me and that’s OK too. Those freedoms that we enjoy today are not guaranteed by the news, the politicians, or the constitution but by the combat soldier and the sacrifices he has made for not only our freedom and humanity but those of other nations. Just as the Peace Corps or any other humanitarian group, American soldiers want foreign communities to excel and prosper in life. But we set the conditions in order to accomplish this by eliminating the bad guys. When your U.S. Military is called in, we are not coming over to bake cookies but to destroy the enemy or make him play nice until local law, based on basic human rights, are in control. Many have made that sacrifice and I will not agree that it was done in vain. We are not perfect, war is not clean, but the future that can be made will lead to more peace than war. After we are gone, the real humanitarian efforts will began but not until we create the environment for those efforts to start. For most of you the war started on 9/11. For us in the military it started in Beirut when a suicide bomber killed over 240 Marines in the early 80s and they have been getting bolder and bolder in their attacks every year until after 9/11. Now they are running for their lives. Enough of my soap box, may all of you experience happiness in your lives and pray to God that what is plaguing the Middle East will never again touch American soil and threaten our children. Pray that we can change the young Muslims from thinking how they are going to die to a group that will be thinking about how they are going to live. Barry LTC, USA South West Asia Source:The SOG Publication
Friends, What I will attempt to do is to give you a simple explanation to understand the problems we are having in Iraq because I do not feel the media is covering it properly. I have been here since 2003 and have traveled a lot in the area and talked to many Iraqis about the past, present and future. I am currently the Project Manager for a security contractor and spend a lot of time on the road. Iraq is divided in many different regions with different sets of problems and I will try to break it down in a simple manner. The country is populated by Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Christians. From there they are divided in areas and tribes ruled by Elders, Sheiks and Imams. Starting with the North, the area that is the safest in the country, where it is mainly occupied by Kurds. They make up about 25% of the population and they are divided among themselves but have shown potential to work together to get ahead. They have been self type of government since the gulf war in the 90s and have made great stride. One of the problems in the area is Saddam tried to populate it with Arabs and moved a couple hundred thousand Arabs in the area, well now that Saddam is out of power the Kurds are coming back and are taking their houses and land back with the barrel of a gun. Further south of the Kurd area is a strong Sunni population and that is Saddam's home territory. They are very anti American and that is the Tikrit area. They want nothing more than to get back in power. Further South is Baghdad and they are all mixed in with Sunni, Shiite and even Christian areas. Depending on what area of Baghdad you go into it can be very safe or very dangerous. South of Baghdad, the area is mainly Sunnis Whahabee, originally from Saudi, they are very pro Saddam and they are the ones that lost the most with the overthrow of the Saddam government. The Sunnis even though they are only 25% of the population, controlled the country for the past 35 years. The South is also home to the Shiite, they are the majority in Iraq with 65% of the population. The Shiite are Moslems, different of the Sunnis and are more religious in general. The are split in two groups. The lager group, maybe up to 85%, follow the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a peaceful 73 year old Imam but with a large following and Rebel Cleric Moqtada Sadr who has about a 15% following among the Shiite. He is a very violent leader who is responsible for most of the problems in South Central and Southern Iraq to include kidnapping, road side bombs, ambushes and causing a lot of insecurity in South Central region of Iraq. West of Baghdad is the Fallugah/Ramadi area, an area where Extreme Sunni Moslem Fundamentalists mainly of the Dulaimi tribe reside, they are very violent and they want nothing more that a Muslim State like in the old Taliban days and they are against anything that does not support that goal. They are the ones responsible for a lot of kidnappings, beheading and killing of foreigners and local Iraqis working for projects rebuilding Iraq. The have the support of foreign fighters who have come to Iraq to kill Americans as part of their duties as they see it. When you put it all together you have the Kurds divided between the PKK and the PUK, the Sunnis divided from the not so religious pro Saddam forces to the extreme Moslem fundamentalist supported by foreign fighters and led by Jordanian Zackawi, the Shiites divided between the Sistani camp and the Sadr camp. Now lets add about one hundred thousand criminals released from the jails the month prior to the US invasion and the give away of an additional 7 million assault weapons. Let's not forget the neighbors Iran supporting the Shiites, Saudi Arabia supporting the Sunnis, Turkey who are against the Kurds and Syria who does not want Iraq to become a democracy. It all adds up to a mess with the US in the middle of it all. Most of the people here support the US and what they are trying to do. One of the big business in Iraq are satellite dishes, under Saddam having a satellite dish would get you 5 months in jail, now every house has one. The cell phone is as common as anywhere else in the world. Under Saddam possession of dollars would cost you your right hand, now it is the currency of choice. Million of things have improved in Iraq since the US intervention but the news media only covers the 20 % of the population that does not agree with it and does not mention the other 80% who are the silent majority and are trying to get ahead. Lost in all this are the military members risking their lives on a daily basis and doing a great job. Yes, they are getting killed, but as a retired Special Forces Soldier, I am proud of the new generation of Soldiers, Marines, Seaman, and Airman. They are doing a great job and not getting proper recognition, so next time you see a Soldier, Airman, Marine or Seaman, thank him for the job that he is doing. God Bless America
Today, a Jordanian terrorist operating in Iraq, using a knife, took the head off of another American; and today we sit here like a bunch of cowering fools wondering what to do. We are so damned complacent and being so politically correct, that we haven't a clue that on September 11, 2001, a war, that had been declared years before, by those low-life scum who kill innocent people, was going on! Those bastards would be killing us right here in America in the same way 335 Russians women and children were killed, the same way suicide bombers kill infants in strollers and on buses in Israel, the same way Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed over Lockerbie, and in the the same way four planes were used to snuff out American lives on 9-11...IF WE CONTINUE TO LET THEM. My Fellow Americans, since when have we ever allowed ourselves to be so frightened and frozen into doing damned near nothing by our enemies? I'll tell you when; when we fought in Vietnam and didn't move north. Instead, we put up with our own half- assed politicians letting our kids die with impunity (I was an infantry advisor during Tet of 1968 and we and our South Vietnamese allies kicked the Viet Cong and Northern Vietnamese Army's ass "six ways to Sunday.") Left to our own devices, we would have taken the war to the enemy and cleaned their clock. We chose not to do that and look what happened...55,000+ dead young men and women, and a wall with their names, to show for what? Well, now it's time to cut out this idiocy. Those fanatics (who do not represent all Muslims, just the very worst among them.. and I mean that) deserve their comeuppance. For those panty- waists in the USA, I must remind you that what happened on 9-11 was a continuation of global war declared against us by people who despise us; people who have to be removed much like a metastasizing cancer. To listen to those who don't believe this, is to invite more beheadings, or worse, over there and, eventually, over here. As a senior Israeli police official has said, "When the suicide bombings start happening in your country, you'll understand what this is all about." Well folks, let's declare our own "holy war". But in this instance, let's all stand united and let our Armed Forces members know we mean business. Let's not wimp out as we did when my fellow soldiers and I were in Vietnam. And oh, by the way, this has nothing to do with President Bush or Senator Kerry. This has to do with just being plain sick and tired of seeing us fight the way we have in the past. If there are nasty bastards in Fallujah, let's make Fallujah a moonscape! Those so-called holy cities they keep telling us about aren't holy when those poor excuses for human beings use them as forts. My God, please don't tell me that we're fighting the wrong war in the wrong place. What the hell was the World Trade Center... the right place? When a jet plane flew through the Pentagon's walls, was that the right place? Was a quiet farmer's field in Pennsylvania the right place? I want you to send this E-mail to everyone you know. I want the voices of Americans - all of us - to be raised to let those sorry excuses for Homosapiens know that we're angry and that we are prepared to go after them every where, all of the time, until it's their heads that are rolling around and their bodies shattered. It is time...no, it is past time, that we stand up for our country and its people. Go ahead, send this E-mail. The people in Washington are too busy worrying about memos, medals, and other mindlessness. It's time for us to tell them that we're sick of these S-O-B's killing our people, and killing so many other innocents. This isn't about politics, it's about taking action against a tyranny of the worst sort, and getting them there (wherever they may be) before they come here again and get us!!!! If we are not prepared to do this and have any degree of ambivalence about going after terrorists and their fellow travelers, I suggest we bring all of our troops home, then build a wall along both land borders and post the military there, stop any further immigration from a world that seems to think WE ARE always wrong (I give you "The Anything But, United Nations"---you can have that worthless pit of vipers and freeloaders), and then continue to act like those idiots who think the world requires "more understanding and love"...... Tell Nick Berg and Jack Armstrong that!!!! I'm waiting!!!!!
A Thought from Iraq By Major William J. Truax, Jr. Wednesday 08 October 2004 In 2004 the word, terrorism conjures up images in our minds that would have been unthinkable before 9/11/01. In recent months, images of commercial airliners crashing into buildings and the aftermath of those attacks have been replaced by fuzzy internet video of hostages in Iraq, in their last moments of life before they were brutally murdered. The images are seared into our minds and haunt us in our moments of reflection, causing fear, anxiety and general unease, which is exactly what the perpetrators of these types of crimes want. Terrorist actions, by definition, are psychological operations (PSYOPS) conducted with the clear goal to inflict fear and cause individuals, groups and entire governments to take, or avoid, specific actions. In simple terms, no matter how many people are physically affected by a violent terrorist attack, the intended victims are not the ones who bleed and die. The real targets are the people the terrorists intend to reach by their actions. The lives taken and shattered by violent, public terror attacks are used as grotesque exclamation marks to punctuate the demands and goals of the organization that perpetrates the action. When the target audience reacts in the intended manner, or in an alternate manner that advances the terrorists’ agenda, the criminals can legitimately claim success. In the attacks of 9/11, the target was the mind of the average American, and that of all freedom-loving people. The physical damage to the people, buildings and aircraft, was incidental to making the point of American vulnerability and to instilling fear in the American populace. Were they successful? Unfortunately, I think so terrifically successful. Consider the economic damage as a result of 9/11. The huge economic downturn in the US for the fourth quarter of 2001 and most of 2002 was a direct result of psychological changes in the American business and consumer sectors. In many ways we rallied together as a nation like no time since the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the motor of our economy was hit hard. The fear of additional terrorist attacks on the scale of 9/11 caused people to stop taking vacations and stop buying cars & new homes. The dramatic drop in airline passenger traffic resulted in a downward spiral of economic woes, starting with the airlines themselves and drilling down to the industries that provide products for aircraft manufacturers, and going even further. It was a domino-effect of fear that cascaded throughout our nation and ended up impacting every segment of our society. The physical damage, as terrible as it was (four jet aircraft destroyed, two major skyscrapers leveled (along with many smaller buildings in Manhattan) and the Pentagon severely damaged), only represents the smallest percentage of the economic damage caused by the psychological effects of, and subsequent reactions to the attacks, by individuals, corporations and government. [I need to interject here that I am not ignoring the three-thousand people killed that day. I did not include them in the physical damage done because those lives are invaluable and irreplaceable, and I did not want to dishonor them by equating them with inanimate objects that can be assigned economic value] We (you and I) are the victims the terrorists intended to affect over the long-term. They wanted to make us fear for our future and damage our quality of life. In many ways we took the bait and fell right into their trap. More recently, videotaped butchery of kidnapping victims has been used to instill fear and helplessness in the hearts and minds of the American populace. The physical victims were chosen because of the passports they carry. They did nothing to deserve any type of death, let alone the deaths they have suffered. Those poor men, like those caught up in the 9/11 attacks, had no choice as to whether to be victims. The rest of us, however, do have that choice. We can decide not to be swayed by their tactics and to steel ourselves to their barbarism. Think how mad you would be if someone were to break into your home, slap you around and tell you that he’d be back for more when he felt like it. That’s exactly what terrorists do when they perpetrate crimes that garner them worldwide media attention. They jump right into your living room and assault you verbally and visually. They want to get into your mind and cause you to loose sleep, to be afraid for the future, and to start you thinking that it might be acceptable for our government to accede to their demands so that they will cease their attacks. They want to hit us in our darkest fears, and that is exactly where we must take our stand! When we see terrorist actions, we must recognize them for what they are personal assaults against every one of us. The Achilles heel of the terrorists is that they can only suggest fear, they can’t force it; we have to surrender to fear in order for their tactics to work. Therefore, we must stand fast against the forces that want to overwhelm our feelings and emotions. We must determine that whatever happens, we will not be shaken, we will not be deterred, we will not make dramatic life changes that could be part of that negative domino effect. Each one of us can repel the personal audio-visual assault by refusing to bow to their intimidation, each and every time it happens. Remember how you felt when you stood up to a bully? The next time it got easier, didn’t it? That is what we have to do, as individuals and as a nation in response to terrorism. The next time you hear or read about a terrorist incident, see one reported on TV, or hear of an audiotape of some supposed terrorist guru, remember that the stalker is trying to intimidate you. Realize that he is trying to make you a victim and don’t let him. Fight him! Fight him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. If we don’t, we only invite more. Take care - wjt The above messages are from the SOG Publication Jennifer Martinez:Editor
The US media is abuzz today with the news of an intelligence report that is very negative about the prospects for Iraq's future. CNN's website says, "[The] National Intelligence Estimate was sent to the White House in July with a classified warning predicting the best case for Iraq was 'tenuous stability' and the worst case was civil war." That report, along with the car bombings and kidnappings in Baghdad in the past couple days are being portrayed in the media as more proof of absolute chaos and the intransigence of the insurgency. From where I sit, at the Operational Headquarters in Baghdad, that just isn't the case. Let's lay out some background, first about the "National Intelligence Estimate." The most glaring issue with its relevance is the fact that it was delivered to the White House in July. That means that the information that was used to derive the intelligence was gathered in the Spring - in the immediate aftermath of the April battle for Fallujah, and other events. The report doesn't cover what has happened in July or August, let alone September. The naysayers will point to the recent battles in Najaf and draw parallels between that and what happened in Fallujah in April. They aren't even close. The bad guys did us a HUGE favor by gathering together in one place and trying to make a stand. It allowed us to focus on them and defeat them. Make no mistake, Al Sadr's troops were thoroughly smashed. The estimated enemy killed in action is huge. Before the battles, the residents of the city were afraid to walk the streets. Al Sadr's enforcers would seize people and bring them to his Islamic court where sentence was passed for religious or other violations. Long before the battles people were looking for their lost loved ones who had been taken to "court" and never seen again. Now Najafians can and do walk their streets in safety. Commerce has returned and the city is being rebuilt. Iraqi security forces and US troops are welcomed and smiled upon. That city was liberated again. It was not like Fallujah - the bad guys lost and are in hiding or dead. You may not have even heard about the city of Samarra. Two weeks ago, that Sunni Triangle city was a "No-go" area for US troops. But guess what? The locals got sick of living in fear from the insurgents and foreign fighters that were there and let them know they weren't welcome. They stopped hosting them in their houses and the mayor of the town brokered a deal with the US commander to return Iraqi government sovereignty to the city without a fight. The people saw what was on the horizon and decided they didn't want their city looking like Fallujah in April or Najaf in August. Boom, boom, just like that two major "hot spots" cool down in rapid succession. Does that mean that those towns are completely pacified? No. What it does mean is that we are learning how to do this the right way. The US commander in Samarra saw an opportunity and took it - probably the biggest victory of his military career and nary a shot was fired in anger. Things will still happen in those cities, and you can be sure that the bad guys really want to take them back. Those achievements, more than anything else in my opinion, account for the surge in violence in recent days - especially the violence directed at Iraqis by the insurgents. Both in Najaf and Samarra ordinary people stepped out and took sides with the Iraqi government against the insurgents, and the bad guys are hopping mad. They are trying to instill fear once again. The worst thing we could do now is pull back and let that scum back into people's homes and lives. So, you may hear analysts and prognosticators on CNN, ABC and the like in the next few days talking about how bleak the situation is here in Iraq, but from where I sit, it's looking significantly better now than when I got here. The momentum is moving in our favor, and all Americans need to know that, so please, please, pass this on to those who care and will pass it on to others. It is very demoralizing for us here in uniform to read & hear such negativity in our press. It is fodder for our enemies to use against us and against the vast majority of Iraqis who want their new government to succeed. It causes the American public to start thinking about the acceptability of "cutting our losses" and pulling out, which would be devastating for Iraq for generations to come, and Muslim militants would claim a huge victory, causing us to have to continue to fight them elsewhere (remember, in war "Away" games are always preferable to "Home" games). Reports like that also cause Iraqis begin to fear that we will pull out before we finish the job, and thus less willing to openly support their interim government and US/Coalition activities. We are realizing significant progress here - not propaganda progress, but real strides are being made. It's terrible to see our national morale, and support for what we're doing here, jeopardized by sensationalized stories hyped by media giants whose #1 priority is advertising income followed closely by their political agenda; getting the story straight falls much further down on their priority scale, as Dan Rather and CBS News have so aptly demonstrated in the last week. Submitted by: Jennifer Martinez
Devildog News Service Comment: This letter was written by Lt. Kevin Brown, USMC, a Marine Cobra pilot and 2001 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He expresses a basic thought that is becoming a common thread in emails sent by those serving in Iraq. Those who are serving there are smart enough to detect a basic fallacy in the words of many. Simply stated, one cannot say that one is supporting the troops in Iraq while saying that one does not support what they are doing. In the words of Lieutenant Brown, "you cannot both support the troops and protest their mission". What they see coming is another version of Vietnam...eventually the charade will be played to its natural conclusion and neither the troops nor what they are doing will be supported. With the rug pulled out, they will then become a latter day version of the Vietnam Veteran. Those who had the Vietnam experience know exactly what I mean. It is our duty to do our best to make certain that it doesn't happen to our successors. Which, of course, is why this email, one that was provided by a major retired Marine circuit, is forwarded to so many. What they are also seeing is that a large segment of the public has forgotten who attacked whom on 9/11 and who suffered more casualties that day than were suffered on 7 December 1941. ----------------------------------------------Original------------------------------------- Dad, you asked me what I would say to America from Iraq on 9/11 if I had a podium and a microphone. I have thought about it, and here is my response. Your Son, Kevin September 11, 2004 Dear America, "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -George Orwell The Marine Corps is tired. I guess I should not say that, as I have no authority or responsibility to speak for the Marine Corps as a whole, and my opinions are mine alone. I will rephrase: this Marine is tired. I write this piece from the sands of Iraq, west of Baghdad, at three a.m., but I am not tired of the sand. I am neither tired of long days, nor of flying and fighting. I am not tired of the food, though it does not taste quite right. I am not tired of the heat; I am not tried of the mortars that occasionally fall on my base. I am not tired of Marines dying, though all Marines, past and present, mourn the loss of every brother and sister that is killed; death is a part of combat and every warrior knows that going intobattle. One dead Marine is too many, but we give more than we take, and unlike our enemies, we fight with honor. I am not tired of the missions or the people; I have only been here a month, after all. I am, however, tired of the hypocrisy and short-sightedness that seems to have gripped so many of my countrymen and the media. I am tired of political rhetoric that misses the point, and mostly I am tired of people "not getting it." Three years ago I was sitting in a classroom at Quantico, Virginia, while attending the Marine Corps Basic Officer Course, learning about the finer points of land navigation. Our Commanding Officer interrupted the class to inform us that some planes had crashed in New York and Washington D.C., and that he would return when he knew more. Tears welled in the eyes of the Lieutenant on my right while class continued, albeit with an audience that was not very focused; his sister lived in New York and worked at the World Trade Center. We broke for lunch, though instead of going to the chow hall proceeded to a small pizza and sub joint which had a television. Slices of pizza sat cold in front of us as we watched the same vivid images that you watched on September 11, 2001. I look back on that moment now and realize even then I grasped, at some level, that the events of that day would alter both my military career and my country forever. Though I did not know that three years later, to the day, I would be flying combat missions in Iraq as an AH-1W Super Cobra pilot, I did understand that a war had just begun, on television for the world to see, and that my classmates and I would fight that war. After lunch we were told to go to our rooms, clean our weapons and pack our gear for possible deployment to the Pentagon to augment perimeter security. The parting words of the order were to make sure we packed gloves, in case we had to handle bodies. The first Marine killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom was in my company at The Basic School, and was sitting in that land navigation class on September 11. He fought bravely, led from the front, and was killed seizing an oil refinery on the opening day of the war. His heroism made my emergency procedure memorization for the T-34 primary flight school trainer seem quite insignificant. This feeling of frustration was shared by all of the student pilots, but we continued to press on. As one instructor pointed out to us, "You will fight this war, not me. Make sure that you are prepared when you get there." He was right; my classmates from Pensacola are here beside me, flying every day in support of the Marines on the ground. That instructor has since retired, but I believe he has retired knowing that he made a contribution to the greatest country in the history of the world, the United States of America. Many of you will read that statement and balk at its apparently presumptuous and arrogant nature, and perhaps be tempted to stop reading right here. I would ask that you keep going, for I did not say that Americans are better than anyone else, for I do not believe that to be the case. I did not say that our country, its leaders, military or intelligence services are perfect or have never made mistakes, because throughout history they have, and will continue to do so, despite their best efforts. The Nation is more than the sum of its citizens and leaders, more than its history, present, or future; a nation has contemporary values which change as its leaders change, but it also has timeless character, ideals forged with the blood and courage of patriots. To quote the Pledge of Allegiance, our nation was founded "under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." As Americans, we have more freedom than we can handle sometimes. If you are an atheist you might have a problem with that whole "under God" part; if you are against liberating the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Asia, all of Europe (twice), and the former Soviet bloc, then perhaps the "liberty and justice for all" section might leave you fuming. Our Nation, throughout its history, has watered the seeds of democracy on many continents, with blood, even when the country was in disagreement about those decisions. Disagreement is a wonderful thing. To disagree with your neighbors and your government is at the very heart of freedom. Citizens have disagreed about every important and controversial decision made by their leaders hroughout history. Truman had the courage to drop two nuclear weapons in order to end the largest war in history, and then, by his actions, prevented the Soviets from extinguishing the light of democracy in Eastern Europe, Berlin. Lincoln preserved our country through civil war; Reagan knew in his heart that freedom is a more powerful weapon than oppression. Leaders are paid to make difficult, sometimes controversial decisions. History will judge the success of their actions and the purity of their intent in a way that is impossible at the present moment. In your disagreement and debate about the current conflict, however, be very careful that you do not jeopardize your nation or those who serve. The best time to use your freedom of speech to debate difficult decisions is before they are made, not when the lives of your countrymen are on the line. Cherish your civil rights; I know that after having been in Iraq for only one month I have a new appreciation for mine. You have the right to say that you "support the troops" but oppose the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. You have the right to vote for Senator John Kerry because you believe that he has an exit strategy for Iraq, or because you just cannot stand President Bush. You have the right to vote for President George W. Bush if you believe that he has done a good job over the last four years. You might even decide that you do not want to vote at all and would rather avoid the issues as much as possible. That is certainly your option, and doing nothing is the only option for many people in this world. It is not my place, nor am I allowed by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, to tell you how to vote. But I can explain to you the truth about what is going on around you. We know, and have known from the beginning, that the ultimate success or failure of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the future of those countries, rests solely on the shoulders of the Iraqi and Afghani people. If someone complains that we should not have gone to war with Saddam Hussein, that our intelligence was bad, that President Bush's motives were impure, then take the appropriate action. Exercise your right to vote for Senator Kerry, but please stop complaining about something that happened over a year ago. The decision to deploy our military in Iraq and Afghanistan is in the past, and while I believe that it is important to the democratic process for our nation to analyze the decisions of our leadership in order to avoid repeating mistakes, it is far more important to focus on the future. The question of which candidate will "get us out of Iraq sooner" should not be a consideration in your mind. YOU SHOULD NOT WANT US OUT OF IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN SOONER. There is only one coherent exit strategy that will make our time here worthwhile and validate the sacrifice of so many of our countrymen. There is only one strategy that has a chance of promoting peace and stabilizing the Middle East. It is the exit strategy of both candidates, though voiced with varying volumes and differing degrees of clarity. I will speak of Iraq because that is where I am, though I feel the underlying principle applies to both Iraq and Afghanistan. The American military must continue to help train and support the Iraqi Police, National Guard, and Armed Forces. We must continue to give them both responsibility and the authority with which to carry out those responsibilities, so that they eventually can kill or capture the former regime elements and foreign terrorists that are trying to create a radical, oppressive state. We must continue to repair the infrastructure that we damaged during the conflict, and improve the infrastructure that was insufficient when Saddam was in power. We should welcome and encourage partners in the coalition but recognize that many will choose the path of least resistance and opt out; many of our traditional allies have been doing this for years and it should not surprise us. We must respect the citizens of Iraq and help them to understand the meaning of basic human rights, for those are something the average Iraqi has never experienced. We must be respectful of our cultural and religious differences. We must help the Iraqis develop national pride, and most importantly, we must leave this country better than we found it, at the right time, with a chance of success so that its people will have an opportunity to forge their own destiny. We must do all of these things as quickly and efficiently as possible so that we are not seen as occupiers, but rather liberators and helpers. We must communicate this to the world as clearly and frequently as possible, both with words and actions. If we leave before these things are done, then Iraq will fall into anarchy and possibly plunge the Middle East into another war. The ability of the United States to conduct foreign policy will be severely, and perhaps permanently, degraded. Terrorism will increase, both in America and around the world, as America will have demonstrated that it is not interested in building and helping, only destroying. If we run or exit early, we prove to our enemies that terror is more powerful and potent than freedom. Many nations, like Spain, have already affirmed this in the minds of the terrorists. Our failure, and its consequences, will be squarely on our shoulders as a nation. It will be our fault. If we stay the course and Iraq or Afghanistan falls into civil war on its own, then our hands are clean. As a citizen of the United States and a U.S. Marine, I will be able to sleep at night with nothing on my conscience, for I know that I, and my country, have done as much as we could for these people. If we leave early, I will not be able to live with myself, and neither should you. The blood will be on our hands, the failure on our watch. The bottom line is this: Republican or Democrat, approve or disapprove of the decision to go to war, you need to support our efforts here. You cannot both support the troops and protest their mission. Every time the parent of a fallen Marine gets on CNN with a photo, accusing President Bush of murdering his son, the enemy wins a strategic victory. I cannot begin to comprehend the grief he feels at the death of his son, but he dishonors the memory of my brave brother who paid the ultimate price. That Marine volunteered to serve, just like the rest of us. No one here was drafted. I am proud of my service and that of my peers. I am ashamed of that parent's actions, and I pray to God that if I am killed my parents will stand with pride before the cameras and reaffirm their belief that my life and sacrifice mattered; they loved me dearly and they firmly support the military and its mission in Iraq and Afghanistan. With that statement, they communicate very clearly to our enemies around the world that America is united, that we cannot be intimidated by kidnappings, decapitations and torture, and that we care enough about the Afghani and Iraqi people to give them a chance at democracy and basic human rights. Do not support those that seek failure for us, or seek to trivialize the sacrifices made here. Do not make the deaths of your countrymen be in vain. Communicate to your media and elected officials that you are behind us and our mission. Send letters and encouragement to those who are deployed. When you meet a person that serves you, whether in the armed forces, police, or fire department, show them respect. Thank the spouses around you every day, raising children alone, whose loved ones are deployed. Remember not only those that have paid the ultimate price, but the veterans that bear the physical and emotional scars of defending your freedom. At the very least, follow your mother's advice. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Do not give the enemy a foothold in our Nation's public opinion. He rejoices at Fahrenheit 9/11 and applauds every time an American slams our efforts. The military can succeed here so long as American citizens support us wholeheartedly. Sleep well on this third anniversary of 9/11, America. Rough men are standing ready to do violence on your behalf. Many of your sons and daughters volunteered to stand watch for you. Not just rough men- the infantry, the Marine grunts, the Special Operations Forces- but lots of eighteen and nineteen year old kids, teenagers, who are far away from home, serving as drivers, supply clerks, analysts, and mechanics. They all have stories, families, and dreams. They miss you, love you, and are putting their lives on the line for you. Do not make their time here, their sacrifice, a waste. Support them, and their mission. Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Special Forces Assoc. Chapter LXXV
This email is from a Navy psychiatrist and former flight surgeon who is currently deployed. She has been sending periodic updates that have been very well-written and poignant. She was the doc who stayed with PFC Phelps (recommended for the Medal of Honor for jumping on the grenade) before he was shipped to Germany and then the US where he died in route. Greetings all from hot, hot, hot Iraq, We are short indeed...although not quite as short as we had originally thought...our flight home has been posted and is showing up 3 days later than planned. The good news is that we leave in the middle of the night and arrive (all admin complete, including turning our weapons into the armory) ! around dinnertime at Pendleton on the same day we leave (11 hrs time difference). The other good news is it appears we've got commercial contract air carriers taking us home...so we don't have to worry about sleeping on the cold steel deck of an Air Force C-17. So...we turned over authority of the surgical company last week to our replacements, who had a serious trial by fire here in multiple ways, including multiple traumas, surgeries, increased risk to their personal safety, power outages, water outages, and camel spiders in the hospital...all in their first 4 days. But a few days ago, we heard the helicopters coming and knew they were dealing with multiple traumas, several of which were going to the OR...and we sat in our barracks and waited for them to call us if they needed us. They never did. Last week was the ceremony to mark the official end of our role here. Now we just wait. As the days move very slowly by, just! waiting, I decided that one of the things I should work on for my own closure and therapeutic healing...is a list. The list would be a comparison: "Things That Were Good" about Iraq and being deployed with the Marines as one of the providers in a surgical company, and "Things That Were Not Good." Of course, it's quite obvious that this list will be very lopsided. But I thought I would do it anyway, hoping that somehow the trauma, the fear, the grief, the laughter, the pride and the patriotism that have marked this long seven months for me will begin to make sense, through my writing. Interestingly, it sort of turned into a poem. To be expected, I guess. Most of all it's just therapy, and by now I should be relatively good at that. Hard to do for yourself, though. So here goes...in reverse order of importance... Things That Were Good Sunset over the desert...almost always orange Sunrise over the desert...almost always red The childlike excitement of having fresh fruit at dinner after going weeks without it Being allowed to be the kind of clinician I know I can be, and want to be, with no limits placed and no doubts expressed But most of all, The United States Marines, our patients... Walking, every day, and having literally every single person who passes by say "Hoorah, Ma'am..." Having them tell us, one after the other, through blinding pain or morphine-induced euphoria..."When can I get out of here? I just want to get back to my unit..." Meeting a young Sergeant, who had lost an eye in an explosion...he asked his surgeon if he could open the other one...when he did, he sat up and looked at the young Marines from his fire team who were being treated for superficial shrapnel wounds in the next room...he smiled, laid back down, and said, "I only have one good eye, Doc! , but I can see that my Marines are OK." And of course, meeting the one who threw himself on a grenade to save the men at his side...who will likely be the first Medal of Honor recipient in over 11 years... My friends...some of them will be lifelong in a way that is indescribable My patients...some of them had courage unlike anything I've ever experienced before My comrades, Alpha Surgical Company...some of the things witnessed will traumatize them forever, but still they provided outstanding care to these Marines, day in and day out, sometimes for days at a time with no break, for 7 endless months And last, but not least... Holding the hand of that dying Marine Things That Were Not Good Terrifying camel spiders, poisonous scorpions, flapping bats in the darkness, howling, territorial wild dogs, flies that insisted on landing on our faces, giant, looming mosquitoes, invisible sand flies that carry leischmaniasis 132 degrees Wearing long sleeves, full pants and combat boots in 132 degrees Random and totally predictable power outages that led to sweating throughout the night Sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat...like wrists, and ears The roar of helicopters overhead The resounding thud of exploding artillery in the distance The popping of gunfire... Not knowing if any of the above sounds is a good thing, or bad thing The siren, and the inevitable "big voice" yelling at us to take cover... Not knowing if that siren was on someone's DVD or if the big voice would soon follow The cracking sound of giant artillery rounds splitting open against rock and dirt The rumble of the ground... The shattering of the windows... Hiding under flak jackets and kevlar helmets, away from the broken windows, waiting to be told we can come to the hospital...to treat the ones who were not so lucky... Watching the helicopter with the big red cross on the side landing at our pad Worse...watching Marine helicopters filled with patients landing at our pad...because we usually did not realize they were coming... Ushering a sobbing Marine Colonel away from the trauma bay while several of his Marines bled and cried out in pain inside Meeting that 21-year-old Marine with three Purple Hearts...and listening to him weep because he felt ashamed of being afraid to go back Telling a room full of stunned Marines in blood-soaked uniforms that their comrade, that they had tried to save, had just died of his wounds Trying, as if in total futility, to do anything I could, to ease the trauma of group after group...that suffered loss after loss, grief after inconsolable grief... Washing blood off the boots of one of our young nurses while she told me about the one who bled out in the trauma bay...and then the one who she had to tell, when he pleaded for the truth, that his best friend didn't make it... Listening to another of our nurses tell of the Marine who came in talking, telling her his name...about how she pleaded with him not to give up, told him that she was there for him...about how she could see his eyes go dull when he couldn't fight any longer... And last, but not least... Holding the hand of that dying Marine Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Special Forces Assoc. Chapter LXXV (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Copyright © 2001-2008 Intellectual Property Charles E. Geck III Founder/Owner/Publisher GlobalSpecialOperations.com (TM) Special Forces Assn. Life Member #M-7514 All Rights Reserved |
| Home | Privacy | Sitemap | Email Webmaster |