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This is from a JAG Officer who just returned from Iraq.
IZ (Iraq) is doing fairly well. Sadr is a local punk who should have been whacked last year. He WOULD have been whacked had not the Marines gone through "Bunny-Hugging 540" before they deployed. I attribute Fallujah being a safe-haven directly to the Marine leadership. The Marines themselves just want to go in and mix it up and kill the enemy, but thier leaders won't let them do anything aggressive. Hell, I could give you instance after instance of hard, real-time Predator feed with concomitant SIGINT signature of some really bad guys and the Marines wouldn't clear fires for us. Consequently, a lot of marines and good damned soldiers are getting killed and Fallujah is a terrorist safe-haven. I don't blame Sadr for doing what he is doing as whenever he gets froggy and thinks he can toss us out, we kick the snot out of him and he merely asks that we go back to the "ceasefire" (rest and refit in raghead terms). The Foreign Fighters, Muj extremists and Former regime elements are having pretty-good success at isolating Baghdad via the major LOC's. Even Ray Charles can see that. We are having pretty damned good success at kicking the snot out of them everywhere but Al Najaf province - this is what the Marines control. The place is a terrorist safe-haven and only serves to perpetuate the war. The Marines need permission to go in and do a good house-cleaning right now if we are serious about winning this war. Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Special Forces Assoc. Chapter LXXV
A closing perspective from SFC Jimi R., 19th SFG(A), Afghanistan, "Greetings from the land of Alexander's longest campaign. And believe me I know how he feels... I'm looking forward to our exit strategy. I've seen us (America) do a great deal of good work. I praise those who were here before me, and I commend those who were here with me, and encourage those to follow me. There is still some work to do, however, I think it to be simply tightening the noose, as we did to Saddam, and we will have him. But, the followers, and that infrastructure are decimated. And we've turned the soul of the Afghan people to our cause. The price for this venture? It can't be measured, because it is not quantifiable. You either attack the perpetrator or you become it's victim. And for good or ill, we chosen to strike back and because of our stand maybe, temporarily, somebody's lover will be kept close to home, and not at a distant land, maybe some Mother will keep her son longer, and see the fruits of her labor, maybe that is all that can be asked, but if good men do nothing, will not evil prevail? So the hunting parties are at a slow pace, the new team is in the throws of taking over, and "BABA SHIR - MY Afghan name, from my mercenaries, will retire, as Sting says in one of his songs"I will seek golden fields of grain and gaze upon her face." I'm always amazed how far we've come and I want to thank friends, allies, and comrades for the tremendous support given. Thank you again, I'm in relative good shape, with some minor injuries, and my head and soul are strong. I feel good that I was able to keep up with men half my age, and was able to hunt down and capture, or expedite men craftier than I in their own land. All in all a great experience for me and one were I felt Divinely lead and protected. My glass is lifted to you my friends."
As is often the case, business for us is cyclic. April and May were almost a constant flow of casualties. June was basically quiet. July we’ll see about, but the early ToS definitely caught the bad guys off guard. What the news media does not carry is the fact that we are making inroads against these guys and interfering with their capabilities. A lot of bad things that were suppose to have happened by intel have not and we are progressively rounding up or eliminating HVT’s and their means of support. Training and performance of Iraqi security forces is improving, but these things take time. In the meantime, Improvised Explosive Devices and Indirect Fire remain the major source of business for us. We do get intermittent Indirect Fire into our compound, luckily they are not very accurate. We have learned to keep our heads down and duck. Semper Fi! Capt. H. USN CMO 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Submitted by: Adrian Silva Vice-president SFA Chapter LXXV
Reorienting and Driving Forward
As you all probably know by now, we are turning Fallujah over to the Iraqis. This will give us an opportunity to focus on other areas, and hopefully to build a new Iraqi Army with some of the folks that are feeling alienated right now. We're all painfully aware of the various issues associated with this move, but there's no point in discussing them. We'll make this work, just like we make everything else work to the best of our ability. The Marines fought hard in Fallujah and have taken a lot of very evil people out of the fight. That effort, and the associated loss of Marine lives, was not in vain. We're already seeing a significant decrease in the enemy's ability to attack our forces. The supply lines are open again and everything is flowing freely through the country. Their efforts to cut us off in order to break our will-power failed. The Iraqi people are tired of the enemy and they are turning them over to us left and right. I'm going to discuss a subject that I know does not apply to most of you. We're reading that everyone back home is starting to lose faith in our efforts in Iraq. The last CBS poll put the numbers under 50% for the first time. I know that doesn't mean a loss in support for the troops, but supporting "the troops" while not supporting the mission doesn't do much for us. If we're over here for nothing then vague "We support the troops, but...." statements carry little weight. The Marines are in high spirits. The troops in Fallujah are doing what Marines do best, and they're true professionals. Everyone else is driving forward, wondering what all the fuss back home is all about. We don't feel that we're losing anything - in fact, we're finally addressing issues that should have been addressed some time ago. The world seems to have forgotten what war looks like. It's not supposed to be pretty and happy. Force is used to kill those who are perpetrating evil on the people of Iraq. The images need to be put in perspective, something the news agencies just don't have time for. It would be interesting to see someone track all the dire accounts and predictions that were issued over the past three weeks (two years?)to see if they've been accurate. I read reports that we were cut off and couldn't get supplies. Reality: Not true, they failed. A popular revolution was taking place in the south and Sadr was leading a new Shia revolt. Reality: Not true. Shia militia are killing Sadr's folks in Najaf because they don't respect him and they're sick of him. He's the same buffoon he was last month. Fallujah would ignite the Arab world (how many times have we heard that one). Reality: Despite the best efforts of Al-Jazira to make us look like Attila the Hun, there has been no explosion of populist anger. The same problems exist that existed last month - no better, no worse. What happened to our country? Have we really become so addled and weak-willed that we can't stick something out through a little rough patch??? Whatever happened to "When the going gets tough, the toughget going"? Please pass the word that we're doing great and the Marines are victorious in every battle. The enemy is a disconcerted, disparate group of disenfranchised dissemblers who have little power outside the realm of localized intimidation and the support of complicit al-Jazira reporters. We will be able to settle this place down and help the Iraqi people back on their feet if we're able to ignore the hysteria on T.V. and recall the national willpower, we had in the 1940's. I have faith and pray that we'll get the backing we need to finish our work in Iraq. Please have that faith with me and support our mission in Iraq as much as you support our Marines. Semper Fidelis, Cpt. Ben Connable !st Marine Divion Al Anbar Province, Iraq Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Special Forces Assoc. Chapter LXXV
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Please read, word for word! Then read it again to be sure the impact of this young officer's experiences sink in. These are the gallant ones who are at the point of the spear. Whether it be WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan or Iraq, the young leader's challenges have never changed! The raw, stark reality of the soldier on the ground confronting evil in war remains as miserable and gut wrenching as ever - the same experienced by their dads, uncles and grandads in a hundred different campaigns. May God Bless him and his fellow soldiers, protect him and bring him home safe and sound when the task is done. Author Unknown Well, I'm here in Iraq, and I've seen it, and done it. I've seen everything you've ever seen in a war movie. I've seen cowardice; I've seen heroism; I've seen fear; and I've seen relief. I've seen blood and brains all over the back of a vehicle, and I've seen men bleed to death surrounded by their comrades. I've seen people throw up when it's all over, and I've seen the same shell shocked look in 35 year old experienced sergeants as in 19 year old privates. I've heard the screams-Medic! Medic! I've hauled dead civilians out of cars, and I've looked down at my hands and seen them covered in blood after putting some poor Iraqi civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time into a helicopter. I've seen kids with gunshot wounds, and I've seen kids who have tried to kill me. I've seen men tell lies to save lives: What happened to Sergeant A--? The reply: C'mon man, he's all right-he's wondering if you'll be okay-he said ya'll will have a beer together when you get back to Germany. SFC A-- was lying fifteen feet away on the other side of the bunker with two medics over him desperately trying to get either a pulse or a breath. The man who asked after him was SGT B--, bleeding from two gut wounds and rasping as he tried to talk with a collapsed lung. SGT B-- made it-SFC A-- didnt. I've run for cover as fast as I've ever run-I'll hear the bass percussion thump of mortar rounds and rockets exploding as long as I live. I've heard the shrapnel as it shredded through the trailers my men live in and over my head. I've stood, gasping for breath, as I helped drag into a bunker a man so pale and badly bloodied I didn't even recognize him as a soldier I've known for months. I've gathered my breath, stood up straight and walked out of a bunker where everyone was taking cover to check the trailers for my men. I've run across open ground to find my soldiers and make sure I had everyone. I've kicked in doors to houses and seen them fall flat at my feet- like in every action movie youve ever watched. I've raided houses, and shot off locks, and broken in windows. I've grabbed prisoners, and guarded them. I've looked into the faces of men who would have killed me if I'd driven past their IED an hour later. I've looked at men who have killed two people I knew, and saw fear. I've seen that, sadly, that men who try to kill other men arent monsters, and most of them aren't even brave-they aren't defiant to the last-they're ordinary people. Men are men, and that's it. I've prayed for a man to make a move towards the wire, so I could flip my weapon off safe and put two rounds in his chest-if I could beat my platoon sergeants shotgun to the punch. I've been wanted dead, and I've wanted to kill. I've sworn at the radio when I heard one of classmates platoon sergeants call over the radio: Contact! Contact! IED, small arms, mortars! One KIA, three WIA! Then a burst of staccato gunfire and a frantic cry: Red 1, where are you! Where are you! as we raced to the scene, as fast as our HUMVEES could take us, knowing full well we were too late for at least one of our comrades. I've sped through towns, guns at the ready, my gut tight, as we drove down the only road we could see towards an ominous black cloud of smoke rising on the horizon. I've seen a man without the back of his head and still done what I've been trained to do-Medic! I've cleaned up blood and brains so my soldiers wouldnt see it-taken pictures to document the scene, like I'm in some sort of bizarre cop show on TV. I've heard gunfire and hit the ground, heard it and closed my HUMVEE door, and heard it and just looked and figured it was too far off to worry about. I've seen men stacked up outside a house, ready to enter-some as scared as they could be, and some as calm as if they were picking up lunch from McDonalds. I've laughed at dead men, and watched a sergeant on the ground, laughing so hard he was crying, because my boots were stuck in a muddy field, all the while an Iraqi corpse not five feet from him. I've heard men worry about civilians, and I've heard men shrug and sum up their viewpoint in two words-F*ck Them. I've seen people shoot when they shouldn't have, and I've seen my soldiers take an extra second or two, think about it, and spare somebody's life. I've sat in a sandstorm and spat grit out of my teeth. I've slept in a thundershower in the desert. I've seen vehicles disappear into the wind not ten feet in front of me-not even their lights visible. I've seen the dawn, and I've seen flashes of light brighter than the dawn at midnight. I've heard things that sound surreal-things you tell yourself you'll never hear, never say. Weve got a bird down! Light them up! and There is no such thing as a white flag. I've been the new guy-What are those for? Stops RPGs, sir. And, in a month, I've been the veteran-Why do your men have a .50 cal round tucked in their body armor, sir? They say the big bullet keeps the smaller ones away. I've bought drinks from Iraqis while new units watched in wonder from their trucks, pointing weapons in every direction, including at the Iraqis my men were buying a Pepsi from. I've patrolled roads for 8 hours at a time that combat support units spend days preparing to travel ten miles on. I've laughed as other units sit terrified in traffic, fingers nervously on triggers, while my soldiers and I deftly whip around, drive on the wrong side of the road, and wave to Iraqis as we pass. I can recognize a Sadiqqi (Arabic for friend) from a Haji (Arabic word for someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but our word for a bad guy); I know who to point my weapons at, and who to let pass. I've come in from my third 18 hour patrol in as many days with a full beard and stared at a major in a pressed uniform who hasnt left the wire since weve been here, daring him to tell me to shave. He looked at me, looked at the dust and sweat and dirt on my uniform, and went back to typing at his computer. I've stood with my men in the mess hall, surrounded by people who's idea of a bad day in Iraq is a six hour shift manning a radio, and watched them gI've us a wide berth as we swagger in, dirty, smelly, tired, but sure in our knowledge that we pull the triggers, and we do what the Army does, and they, with their clean uniforms and weapons that have never fired, support us. I've heard people who've been the Army fifteen years longer than I have thank me a thousand times for providing them security when their vehicle broke down even after I told them they were in a pretty safe area. I've heard my soldiers laugh at what other people consider dangerous, and heard them make jokes about death. I've given a kid water and Gatorade and made a friend for life. I've let them look through my sunglasses-no one wears them in this country but us-and watched them pretend to be an American soldier-a swaggering invincible machine, secure behind his sunglasses, only because the Iraqis can't see the fear in his eyes. I've taken off my helmet and glasses inside someones house, just trying to calm them down, to reassure them that Im not the robot I look like with my gear, and my weapons, and my radios. I've waved at little kids who smile and wave back, I've winked at little toddlers who hide behind their mothers leg when we come inside, and I've seen coy smiles from doorways as girls in their teens peer at us when they arent supposed to, and, occasionally, if they think they can get away with it, wave at us-the exotic, dangerous, foreigners. I've seen a woman give roses to my senior scout, who was quite unsure what to make of it, and more than a little worried that her husband or brother or father was back inside the house, looking for his AK. I've said it a thousand times-God, I hate this country. I've heard it a million times more-This place sucks. In quieter moments, I've heard more profound things-Sir, this is a thousand times worse than I ever thought it would be, and, My wife and SGT C--s wife were good friends-I hope shes taking it well, and Sir, I know I said I wanted my CIB, but now I think I'll be okay if I never get it. I've told men to get in their vehicles and do what I say or I'd send them to jail, and I've asked the same soldiers how they were taking it. I've had my men tell me they couldn't trust me one day, because our mission ran long, and had them run to me and ask if this or that was true two days later. I've had them tell me I'm not afraid enough for them-and had other soldiers laugh, because they know, like me, that they'll come through it all right. I've heard my soldiers who were so scared only a few days earlier that they told me they wouldn't go out on patrol get angry when they heard another soldier actually did refuse to go out on a mission. They say they're scared, and say they won't do this or that, but when it comes time to do it, they can't let their buddies down, can't let their friends go outside the wire without them, because they know it isn't right for the team to go into the ballgame at any less than 100%. Thats combat, I guess, and there's no way you can be ready for it, it just is, what it is, and everybody's experience is different. Just thought you might want to know what its really like, 2LT, North of Baghdad Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Special Forces Assoc. Chapter LXXVEmail from Dave - Jun 2, 04
Dad - Some interesting developments out of Falluja and Iraq in general that I wanted to share with you. Since we have agreed to stay at arms reach with Falluja, we have been able to focus our efforts on the surrounding towns and villages. The result is that we have made great inroads in breaking up insurgent cells through ambushes and raids. Even more important, we have began to establish an early and still fragile rapport with the people of these areas. The areas are historical sanctuaries for terrorists so they are important. One town in particular that we have been successful in is near Falluja. During the April fight in Falluja, the muj took the town over and used it as a base of operations of sorts. From all reports, they were brutal on the people and very quickly subjugated the town. During one of the ordered pauses in the Falluja fight, we chopped a rifle company off the line with a very aggressive battalion commander. Basically he was told that we thought the muj were running loose in the area and that he should head up there and "develop the situation." I have gotten to know this guy pretty well here. He is a very good commander and a tough guy. In fact, I remember telling him that if he went past a certain point, he would be decisively engaged. We had estimated that if he got into a decisive engagement, he could be outnumbered by as much as 5:1. You can imagine what he did. He took his Marines right to that point. Sure enough, the fight was on. It was a 360 degree engagement that lasted 8 hours. An 8-hour firefight is an eternity. He states that the firefight up near this town was the toughest he has been in. We fired quite a bit of artillery and brought in a number of sorties of close air for them. By the time it was over, the estimates (now confirmed) are that they killed over a 100 muj. We could not understand why they kept coming but they did (more on that later). Throughout it all, very accurate mortar fire up to 120mm was falling inside the Marine position. Automatic weapons and RPGs were crisscrossing through the perimeter. The Marines just lay their in the micro terrain and squeezed off well aimed shots. The Battalion Commander stayed that day until his guys broke the muj and he "owned the field" (his words). He then withdrew back to his original position. In the same town, we now have Marines living 24/7. They are conducting joint patrols with the Iraqi Police and the ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corps). When they first arrived, the people were very standoffish and even hostile. Now we are getting more and more walk up intelligence (where the locals literally risk their lives in order to walk into our lines and tell us where the muj are). The reason for the turnaround is simple. We have pushed through the bow wave of intimidation and terror that dominated the town when the muj were there. The Marines did it through aggressive raiding and downright obstinate refusal to budge regardless of the costs. The people were watching the entire time and have made up their own minds where their best future lies. It has gotten to the point where the mujahadeen are now firing mortars indiscriminately into the town as it is the only effective means of maintaining any kind of influence over the people. Yesterday, they grievously wounded two citizens doing just that. That is not to say that the town is a bed of roses for the Marines as we still have plenty of contact in the area and it is very dangerous; but we are grinding them down and are about to put a good pounding on the enemy in the next few days. The people are talking and we are about to pay some more visits in the middle of the night. I could give you a couple more examples; but it is a good illustration of what kind of work the Marines are doing every day. As far as Fallujah goes, we have not been allowed to get back in there with any real numbers yet. Initially, it was confounding. However, a very interesting dynamic has developed. Since we have stayed out of Fallujah and focused elsewhere, the mujahadeen have had their run of the town. As they have had no one to fight, they have turned their criminal instincts on the citizens. The clerics who once were whipping these idiots into a suicidal frenzy are now having to issue Fatwas (holy decrees) admonishing the muj for extortion, rape, murder and kidnapping. It is unfortunate for the "innocent people" of Falluja but the mujahadeen have betrayed themselves as the thugs that they are by brutalizing the civilians. There are, in fact, reports of rape, etc from inside the town. While the muj are thugging away inside the town, we are about 1/2 mile away paying claims, entering into dialogue and contracting jobs. The citizens come outside the city for work and money and are treated like human beings. They go back inside and enter a lawless hell. In short, the muj have done more to show the people what hypocrites they are in a few short weeks than we could have hoped for in a year. The result is more and more targetable intelligence. If we are given the green light, we can really go to town on these guys (no pun intended). However, as much as we would like to do just that, the optimal solution is to empower the Iraqis to take care of it themselves. That is precisely what we are doing. Equally astounding is evidence that these "holy warriors" are taking drugs to get high before attacks. It's true. As we pushed into the town in April many Marines came across drug paraphernalia (mostly heroin). Recently, we have gotten evidence of them using another drug BZ that makes them high and very aggressive. Cowards and hypocrites. They don't have the nerve to fight without calming their fear with drugs. Between highs, they are robbing people and raping young girls. Some jihad. Unfortunately, Al Qaeda is here and they are some of the most brutal beings that you can imagine. I say "beings" because they do not qualify as human beings. They prey upon the "holy warriors" and are in league with them teaching them tactics and employing them to execute attacks. Money to pay for the attacks comes from neighboring states. Al Qaeda, the same people that espouse creating an Islamic State that is global and living under the "purist form of God's laws", are working with drug addicts and rapists. Someone will have to explain that to me some day. For now we are gearing up for the inevitable offensive that the former regime guys, local criminals and Al Qaeda will wage this summer. It will be brutal as they are on a systematic campaign to murder anyone who is even half-way moderate. If any leader gains traction that is not 100% anti-coalition and pro-anarchy, he is at immediate risk. Yesterday's positive world media coverage of the naming of the interim government will probably accelerate the mayhem somewhat. It is a fight that is inevitable. So long as we can keep the Iraqi people's nerve up and keep as many leaders alive as possible, we will crush the enemy when he surfaces. We are hopeful to take a little wind out of their sails with some pre-emptive work over the next few days. I will let you know how it goes. Love, Dave
E-mail from Dave - May 22, 04
Dad - You probably heard that Mike was wounded this week. We take rockets and mortars from time to time and he got caught outside when a rocket came in. He was lucky as he only got hit with some shrapnel in the back of the head. Grateful that it was only a flesh wound. He was medivaced to a surgical unit. I got word that he was going to be medevaced to the surgical unit on my camp and went by that evening looking for him only to find out he went to a different treatment facility. They put some staples in his head and he hopped a helo to return to his camp and was back at work that night. He is a tough guy. In fact, I actually saw him yesterday as I had to go to his position for some business. It is always a quietly thankful moment when you see a guy who has been wounded or who you think was wounded and he turns out to be ok. Mike was actually embarrassed about the whole thing and shrugged off any mention of it as he feels like he is not "doing enough" right now. We only were able to talk for a short time and I swear that within a few minutes I had forgotten about the whole thing until we shook hands when I had to go. He turned to leave and I saw the zipper of staples on the back of his head. He was going back to work. You would be very proud of the Marines as they have been able to switch gears from intense offensive operations back to what we call "stability operations." Stability operations simply translates to getting out into the countryside and teaching Iraqi Police and soldiers how to do their jobs. More importantly, our priority is just making contact with them and trying to instill a sense of confidence and pride in what they are doing. As I have shared with you over the past 15 months or so, it is hard to imagine trying to establish a police force or "national guard" (the equivalent of what we are working with) out of a population that has never even seen such entities as we understand them. If you said National Guard in Missouri, most people would think "the guys who show up when there is a flood, blizzard or tornado to help people." Or maybe after 9/11, that guy at the drug store who left for Iraq for a year as part of an engineer unit. Here, they simply have no paradigm of what such a force is. We have to sit down and go over the most basic principles of protecting the people by being there to help when there is a crisis on one hand and getting out on night ambush to keep the muj out of the village on the other. As a whole they did disintegrate or worse during the April fighting. I have heard a lot of false exaggeration about the fact that the Iraqi Army would not stand and fight with the Marines in Falluja or the Army in Baghdad. Nonsense. I could tell you stories of individual heroics of Iraqi soldiers. One specific example is of an Iraqi SgtMaj who came into our lines during the first days of fighting in Falluja. He made his way through the mujahadeen and risked being killed by us to tell us that he was concerned about the ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corps) armory in town. He knew it was only a matter of time until the muj went for the armory to take the weapons. Honestly, I would have thought that they had already done it as the police stations and every other good piece of ground seemed to be occupied by the muj by that time. In short, he wanted to let us know that he was going back into the town to get the weapons. The Marines asked him if he wanted us to help. No. He only wanted us to take the weapons from him when he came back through. This guy took a couple young Iraqi soldiers with a truck and drove back through our lines into the hornets nest of Falluja. He went to the armory, emptied the weapons and ammo stored there and brought it back out through the fighting to us. We expected him to want to stay with us or to move on to Baghdad or some other safe area. He refused and stated that he was going back into the city as that was where his duty was. Not a coward by even the most cynical standard. We had a group that showed up shortly thereafter. You have probably heard about them as they came out of Baghdad and on the way were ambushed a couple of times. By the time they made it here only 200 of 700 were in their ranks. I know that the public story is that they folded after a couple of days of fighting and disintegrated. They actually made it through three days of fighting. Not just taking a few rounds, they held through accurate machine gun fire, mortars and multiple assaults. They also moved forward and occupied positions on the Marines' flanks. After three days, we pulled them out. The Marines will tell you that they did a hell of a job. The Marine Corps has been around for 230 years. We have many battles and history under our belts that instills in the Marines a profound sense of duty and tradition. Further, the culture has made peer pressure into a positive art form. Words like "selflessness" are not only used but are taught to every recruit. Show me another place in our society where a 20 year old guy worries more about letting his buddy down than his own well-being. This is true across the board. There are probably a few other places left that instill this but not too many where it holds together when the rubber meets the road. The Iraqis had none of this going into Falluja. In fact they had and continue to have just the opposite. They live in a world of terror. For decades, Sadaam played one neighbor against another, one tribe against another, one sect of Islam against another and one race against another. Therefore there is never a sense of safety to the Iraqis even within their own tribes. Here if you join the police or the army, you are eventually approached by the terrorists and threatened. If they think you are a leader, they tell you that they will kill you and your family. The orders are simple, look the other way when you are on duty and leave when the terrorist show up. If you don't they will kill you and probably your family. Imagine that young guy who joins the ICDC or police. He may be somewhat of an idealist when he gets out of our initial training but when he shows up to his unit, the muj have already infiltrated it and immediately make it clear that there is no hope of survival if he does not do exactly what they say. For good measure and effect, they regularly assassinate Iraqi policemen and soldiers just to make it clear that they will kill them on a whim. The guys that were in place prior to April lived in that world. We are working against it still. Without the tradition and culture of the Marine Corps and constantly thinking that their very presence next to us may get their families killed, I am amazed they made it for an hour much less than three days. We decided to pull them because this place needs young patriots. It does not need us to put them into a position where they will be ground down in intense combat or maybe to be killed when it is over. Hopefully they can be a nucleus for tomorrow's leaders. Time will tell. We are back at it with the police and ICDC. With us are retired police officers from the US and other civilians who are trying to contribute. Police forces back in California are sending us equipment and expertise on training. The lesson that we have learned for this iteration is for us to focus first and foremost on our true strength and that is the character and decency of our Marines. Force of personality and personal example are more important to us right now leading up to the ineivitable violence this summer than the right radio for the Iraqis. For what it is worth, I think that is the right approach. If we demonstrate the best aspects of the Marines who they see every day, we are giving the young Iraqi men something that can never be taken from them. They are seeing the best part of a free people. Hopefully the lights will go on. The enemy is confused right now. He goes to bed convinced he is going to win because he watches the Al Jazeera and then the US media and believes that we are a weak willed people who can be terrorized and who have a penchant for self-loathing. Then, he wakes up and he comes across a coalition check point and he sees a young Soldier or Marine who stands there like a rock and exudes strength and conviction. The same terrorist who was in the mosque the night before in a frenzy is now subjugated by the presence of a guy who does not match up with what he has been told and sees on TV. It must be confusing as all get out. Every day, he will continue to see in three dimensions the best that our society has to offer and their is no amount of sound bites that will trump that in the end. In another email, I will share with you what I think is going to happen this summer. It will be a tough pull. However, we are prepared. We get reports of impending muj attacks on Marine positions and I am amazed at the universal response - "Good, that means we don't have to try to find them tonight." There is plenty of fight left in the guys. On a lighter note, the Iraqi people are coming back more and more to approach the Marines. When they are in private, they regularly tell us that we cannot leave and that they "need" us to stay. Of course they cannot say that publicly for reasons above. I will close with something that was on my mind this morning when I punished myself by watching CBS news. I saw the anchor come on and just before he spoke, I told my rack mate "Lets see what the opening line is going to be...." Sure enough before he said anything else, he said "It just keeps getting worse and worse...." Yes, he was talking about Iraq. Honest to God we laughed at him. I'm not kidding. It is getting to the point where the Marines are getting past their anger at the talking heads and are laughing. To really get a rise out of them, requires a retired military officer who betrays his oath and stokes the fear mongering. Do you remember when I came back last fall and people would ask about WMD and I would say that I did not care if we ever found any? The day we found the mass grave is vivid to me still. We found it up near the Iranian boarder. Very quickly people came from miles and miles away. We stood and watched the family members digging up bones and clutching remains as they sat in the dirt, rocked back and forth and cried. They were adamant that we should come over and look as they dug them up. Every single body had its hands and feet wired together with ROMEX. Each skull had a bullet hole in it except for a few that were smashed with a club or rifle butt. There were clearly men but also women and children. The grave never made the news as there were no media with us and it was small by Iraq standards. One detail that I found particularly outrageous was that the assassins left the identifications on the bodies as if they were so arrogant that it never occured that someday, someone would dig up the bodies and hold them accountable. I will never forget it. That memory is vivid and relevant to me today as I feel like I was blessed to have been there and see it personally. To the people that cry that we should leave Iraq because we came here for the wrong reasons I would say "I don't care." Honestly, if I found out tomorrow that everyone in government knowingly lied and brought us here because Iraq grows the best sunflower seeds in the world it would not matter to me. We liberated a people from a regime that will go down in history as one of the most brutal ever. That would be enough. However, we are now in a life and death struggle with an enemy who wants nothing more for us to leave so that they can bring their own brand of terror to the same people. Our biggest failings have been that, as a coalition, we have not been able to overcome our own-ham handed actions and horrible mistakes/crimes and simply convince the Iraqi people that we do in fact want to leave them a free and prosperous country where there is hope. The most successful way to do that is to continue to go out and show them every day and not to cut and run. And you know what? It is working. People are coming to us and talking to us even in the face of Abu Garayb and in the real threat of their own death. Inside this country right now, there are extremists who have set up courts where in one room, they try Iraqis and in the next they kill them minutes later. Not fantasy - reality. Again, the death sentence? Accepting payment for damage we have done in fighting or in an accident. Taking a job working on a coalition base. Having a brother who has done his job in the police or ICDC. Are people so naive as to think that if we left, things would get better? The country would implode and thousands of people would be killed. When the dust settled, a more dangerous Iraq would emerge and we would be even more hated throughout the world. It is that simple. We came here to help these people and at the same time to make the world a safer place for free people everywhere. If we leave too early, the people will suffer horribly and the world will have taken one giant step backward. Maybe we are slow on the uptake but it is pretty clear here what the right thing to do is and it is not to abandon the people to the terrorists. I understand that some people are simply frightened by the violence - for good reason. To them I would say, hang in there. I see people every hour of every day that make me sure we are strong enough to be successful. To people that say our agenda is anything other than what I have written, I say that it does not matter because the young men and women doing the heavy lifting are doing it for the right reason and at the end of the day, the Iraqi people will benefit. They may never like us while we are here as there are thousands of years of culture that separate us. The fact that we are not popular does not change our moral obligation. Please tell everyone that we are now bathing in coffee and loving it. I got on the Greenside yesterday. I sincerely appreciate the well wishes and share them with the guys (along with the coffee). I also appreciate the hopes that I keep my limbs as that lines right up with my own goals as well. If I could ask anything about the website, my guess is that people go to it to find out what is really happening. They also probably read the message board to be reassured that other people are holding the line. Regardless of what is posted there that may seem negative, please refrain from insulting someone who voices their opinion. Of course, if someone really gets froggy they are more then welcomed to go to boot camp, earn their ticket over here and put their money where their mouth is. Love, Dave
Hi All, in light of today's death toll in Al Fallujah I'd like to offer you a different view then you may see on your TV news. First, I'm not one that bashes the media for bias. Yes, they have a bias..don't we all.. but im not one that sees conspiracy. But I have noticed, that deaths in iraq get a whole lot more attention than the good things that happen here, a whole lot more attention. So, here's some background on Al Fallujah to keep in mind. A) Why is it in the news almost every night? Because it is one of the FEW places in all of iraq where trouble exists. iraq has 25 million people and is the size of California. Fallujah and surrounding towns total 500,000 people. Do the math..that's not a big percentage of iraq. How many people were murdered last night in L.A.? Did it make headline news? Why not? B) Saddam could not and did not control Fallujah..he bought off those he could, killed those he couldn't and played all leaders against one another. it was and is a 'difficult' town. Nothing new about that. What is new is that outside people have come in to stir up unrest. How many are there... that's classified, but let me tell you this...there are more people in the northeast Minneapolis gangs than there are causing havoc in Fallujah... surprised? C) Then why does it get so much coverage? Because the major news outlets have camera crews permanently posted in Al Fallujah. So, if you are from outside iraq, and want to get airtime for your cause, where would you go to terrorize, bomb, mutilate and destory? Al Fallujah. D) Why does it seem to be getting worse? Two answers.. 1) This country became a welfare state under Saddam. if you cared about your well-fare..you towed the line or died. The state did your thinking and your bidding...want a job..pledge allegiance to the Baath party..want an apartment, a car, etc...show loyalty...electricity, water, sewage, etc.. was paid by the state. Go with the flow..life is good..don't and you're dead. Now, what does that do to initiative? Drive? industry? So, we come along and lock up sugar daddy and give these people the toughest challenge in the world..FREEDOM. You want a job..earn it! House? Buy it or build it! Security? Build a police force, army and militia and give it to yourself? Risk your lives and earn freedom. The good news is that millions of iraqis are doing just that, and some pay with their lives. But many, many are struggling with Freedom (just like East Germans, Russians, Czechs, etc.) and they want a sugar daddy..the USA to do it all. We refuse ... We don't want to be plantation owners..we make it clear we are here to help, not own or stay..they get mad about that, sometimes. Nonetheless, in Fallujah, the supposed hotbed of dissidence in iraq..countless iraqis tell our psyopers they want to cooperate with us but are afraid the thugs will slit their throats or kill their kids. A bad gang can do that to a neighborhood and a town..that's what is happening here. 2) We have a battle hand off going on here. The largest in recent American history. The army is passing the baton to the marines in this area. There is uncertainty among the populace and misinformation being given out by the bad guys. As a result there is insecurity and the bad guys are testing the resolve of the Marines and indirectly you; the American people. The bad guys are convinced that Americans have no stomach for a long haul effort here. They want to drive us out of here and then resurrect a dictatorship of one kind or another. Okay, what do we do? The marines will get into a battle rhythm and along with other forces and government agencies here, they will knock out the crack houses, drive the thugs across the border and set the conditions for the Fallujans to join the freedom parade or rot in their lack of initiative..either way, the choice will be theirs. The alternative? Turn tail, pull out and leave a power vacuum that will suck in all of iraq's neighbors and spark a civil war that could make Rhwanda look like a misdemeanor. Hey America, don't go weak kneed on us...585 dead American's made an investment here..that's a whole lot less than were killed on American highways last month. Their lives are honored when we stay the course and do the job we came to do; namely set the conditions for a new government and empower these people to be the great nation they are capable of being. So, when you watch the reports from Al Fallujah..remember...there's more to the story than meets the camera's eye. God bless, Chaplain John
A U. S. Army Special Forces patrol
Sometimes all the technology is just...well,.....cool. "So we are up in the mountains at about 0100 hrs looking for a bad guy that we thought was in the area. Here are ten of us, pitch black, crystal clear night, about 25 degrees. We know there are bad guys in the area, a few shots have been fired but no big deal. We decided that we need air cover and the only thing in the area is a solo B-1 bomber. He flies around at about 20,000 feet and tells us there is nothing in the area. He then asks if we would like a low level show of force. Stupid question....we of course give him an emphatic yes. The controller who is attached to the team then is heard talking to the pilot. The pilot asks if we want it subsonic, or supersonic? Another stupid question. Pilot advises he is twenty miles out, and stand by. The controller gets us all sitting down in a line and points out the proper location. You have to picture this. Pitch black, ten operators sitting down, dead quiet and overlooking a valley about 30 miles long. All of a sudden, way out (below our level) you see a set of four 200 foot white flames coming at us. The controller says, "Ah-- guys-- you might want to plug your ears". Faster than you can think a B-1, is going supersonic, 1000' over our heads, blasts the sound barrier and it feels like God just hit you in the head with a hammer. He then stands it straight up with 4 white trails of flame coming out and disappears. Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000 Hearing damage: For certain Bunch of Al Qaeda and Taliban thinking twice about shooting at us: Priceless An Actual Action Report from the Wild, Wild West-or is that East? (Afghanistan) Author 's Name Withdrawn
Iraq January 2004
Visited with the 10th and ran into a few buddies from the Suffering B. They supplied me with some nice "kitchen utensils" along with a good supply of batteries. We travel in indian country every day and I am taking on the role of one of the drivers. We have a very small staff here and travel the back roads to the villages on our own, so the kitchen ware comes in very handy. This job is really what I want it to be and is quite awesome. We are witnessing and participating in a historic event. We do it all... and spread good will along the way. Today, I traveled to Tuz to meet with the local city council and monitor the ballot count with a mayor's election. This was the first time these people had ever had the freedom to vote and voice their opinions. I was a front seat witness to the birth of democracy and freedom. Afterward, four of us had tea with the local politicians. I met with the local agricultural minister and we talked farming. I have the purse strings on 5 million in aid money and make the decisions on who gets what. I am surprised that they just laid it on me and let me run with it. We visited a school with 350 kids crammed into a facility no larger than our house. i am appropriating another $50,000 to them for another addition that was started and never finished. We ran a stretch of very desolate road for 150 miles across an area that closely resembles the dobies. There are sheep, packs of wild dogs, and terrorists. We go by them at 100 miles an hour... a real story. They set up on motorcycles, and try to get alongside and shoot the driver. By the time this guy got his motorcycle running, we were long gone..pretty funny actually. Next week I am heading over to the hole where Sadaam was hiding and take a picture. We are then going to doze it under and destroy the whole thing. This is bad boy country.. the Sunni triangle. We travel with two vehicles all the time.. if one breaks, we leave it and charge on. We have one Army shooter in each vehicle and try to bring at least one Gurka bodyguard in each vehicle. The gurkas are mercenary soldiers from Nepal and don't you know it, i already have my G force. The whole environment is surreal. We stay in a magic place by night and hit the ghetto in the days. I will send all pictures to juno... thanks for hanging in there while we help do the bad guys in... it is very rewarding and i am glad to be a participant. The 10th lost one of theirs last week outside of town to an iED. The living conditions for the general population are mostly mud huts and little sanitation and infrastructure... how lucky we are in Hotchkiss, Colorado. A mortar round just blew up, so I am out of here... bye ALL, As you all know by now, we have captured Saddam Hussein. The 1st Brigade Combat Team "Raiders", 4th Infantry Division (M)with Special Ops forces caught HVT#1. I participated in this raid last night which started at about 1900 (7PM) as we quickly rehearsed the plan. This was a joint operation between 1st Brigade, 4ID and Special Ops Forces. After we rehearsed the plan at a grain storage facility in Tikrit (that smelled like an outhouse by the way!), we mounted up and drove about 20km south to Ad Dawr. We had Humvees and a some armored Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and the Special Ops guys brought their toys. I won't go into what they ride around in, but they have got some nice vehicles and equipment! One vehicle you'd never expect to see over here! Totally out of place but totally fits the Special Ops "look". We drove at about 40-50 MPH in total darkness on the highway across the Tigris River and headed south to the small town of Ad Dawr. We used our Night Vision Goggles as we sped down the road as some of the locals watched this convoy of about 30 vehicles speed by in the moonless night. Wonder what they were thinking? Last night was pitch black with no moon until about 2130hrs (9:30PM). After we hit the objectives (Wolverine 1 & 2) we set a cordon and began the search. Initially we didn't find him and the Special Ops soldiers in the house were being led away from his #1's "rat hole" by an Iraqi that was in the house. Well, the "rat hole" was discovered and the cover moved and sure enough, there he was down in the bottom! Our Special Ops guys whisked him away in a "Little Bird" (small Special Ops Helicopter) off to Tikrit for a quick stop and then off to Baghdad. We drove all the way back up to Tikrit in disbelief that we had finally found this guy! All the work and intelligence gathering we have done for the past 8 months have paid off! It has been quite amazing watching us narrow the ring around this guy. We have got an amazing "wiring diagram" with Saddam Hussein in the middle working outwards starting with his children, wives, cousins, uncles, nephews, body guards, drivers, etc. Amazing! We just followed up on all the clues we have gathered and here we are. The last two weeks we have really been "cleaning house" on Saddam Hussein's most trusted aides. We have had a great working relationship with our Special Ops brothers. We have shared information and worked together for so long on this that it's great to be able to say that "I was part of the unit that caught Saddam Hussein!" Major Steve Brigade Fire Support Officer 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) RAIDERS! Submitted by: Ed Dougherty President Chapter LXXV Special Forces Assoc. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
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