Major K.

Intellectual Dishonesty

Hey Phyruss, or should I say Chyron, buzz off!!  It seems my small-minded, myopic friend has returned.  He has new downbeat comment on my previous post.  As is common with his type, he has changed his name and modified his e-mail address slightly, but the blather remains the same.  He has even pasted a new article into his comment.  I suppose it came from a news magazine or other publication - so it must be true.  It is true what my friend, Matt, says.  "The mind is a belief seeking device not a fact seeking device."  I love that line.  If your looking for some negative news from Iraq.  Look no further than Muqtada al Sadr.  He's always good for a downer.  I'll bet Phyrrus thinks he is a great leader.  While he does have a gang of followers that are very passionate.  The so-called million man march that he tried to stage that I linked to above was a non-event here.  His million man march mustered somewhere north of 20,000 and somewhere south of 50,000 people.  We monitored the situation closely as we were concerned that something bad might happen during the march - for many reasons.  Only Americans provide dedicated security forces for people who are demonstrating against them.  This comparatively small group of people clogged a few streets, made some noise, got their picture on CNN and went home.  Big deal.  It was another day on the job here, one of the more quiet days, actually.  I'm sure Phyrrus thought the demonstration was significant though.  He's smarter and better informed than all of us.  That's sarcasm for those of you on the westside.

Hey BooBoo!

This picture is posted for my Niece, codename: BooBoo.  I got the boys from the Recon Platoon and wanted to show off the poster that she and the sixth graders that she mentored did for us.  That "hand-made" flag is now up in my room in the barracks(converted warehouse).  Thanks a lot BooBoo.  Congratulations on your Confirmation!  This picture was being taken at about 8am after being out all night on a big operation that nabbed over 60 bad guys, some of them fairly high up in their respective organizations.  We even had some major media types show up to embed with us.  We actually made the news.  It was Iraqi Commandos, Iraqi Army Regulars, Us, and some Special Ops types.  It was nice to take a bite out of crime.  I just wish it had been a bigger bite.  In other good news, Thunder Six got promoted to Captain.  This is long overdue in my opinion as he has been doing a Captain's job for a year now.  It is about time he drew the pay.  Additionally, even though I am not his biggest fan, I heard a Rumsfeld quote today that I really like: "We don't really have an exit strategy," he said. "We have a victory strategy."  I couldn't agree more.  If you'll recall, I hate the term, "exit strategy."

CSI Baghdad

This war has taken on a very legalistic tone.  As Soldiers, we train to kill people and break things.  We are fortunate that as American Soldiers our killing and breakage almost always involves bad guys.  As in any war there is always the aspect of collateral damage, the modern euphemism for innocents who are caught in the crossfire or otherwise accidentally harmed.  In fighting this insurgency, there is so much care given to the avoidance of harming of innocents that we now have assumed many tactics and duties normally expected of police officers.  We have claim forms for houses that are raided and property damaged by mistake.  We have to document and catalog evidence to make a case against people that we capture.  One of the new battlefield "must have" pieces of equipment for an infantry squad is a digital camera.  The process is painstaking and often frustrating to soldiers who have, up until recently been trained for maneuver warfare.  After a significant drop off in insurgent activity, things have been picking up here in Baghdad over the past week to ten days.  Soldiers that have become accustomed to mortar attacks and IED's sometimes face the emotional fallout of having shot someone trying to run their checkpoint and then finding out that it was merely a drunk driver.  The Soldiers and and Non-Commissioned Officers of the US Army continually impress me in their ability to adapt and overcome the ever increasing restrictions heaped upon them by the politically correct microscope under which they must fight an absolutely diabolical enemy that does not hesitate to use these restrictions against us.  The constant second-guessing of the press and those who are not here (politicians, activists, etc.) is doubly frustrating.  They are truly amazing.  It is nice to see that the hard work put in by the American military, the New Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, and the bravery of the citizens that got out and voted has not been squandered by their politicians.  After much negotiating, bickering and politicking, things are actually starting to take shape.  I am so glad that Saddam was made to watch the event.  I along with everyone else was frustrated at the slow pace of forming a new government after the elections with what seemed like endless political infighting.  I have high hopes and expectations for the new Prime Minister.   Then I remembered that it was over a decade between the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the United States Constitution.  The Iraqis are actually moving along at a fairly good pace if one considers the historical context and the magnitude of the undertaking.  While frequently annoyed by the constraints, I, like most of the Soldiers, remain optimistic about the mission. 

Duty, Vengeance, Justice

These three words can mean the same act at times.  Thanks to Sir Boggle for the words of wisdom.  In fact, thanks to everyone for the kind words, except for that obnoxious dolt, phyruss.  Anyway, there is a ton of work here to bury myself in as always here, but now more than usual.  The TIC is home on leave.  His presence is missed.  On the status board that tracks the location of our section personnel on the office door, He is signed out.  In the remarks section on the right it first read : "Prepping the objective for his first hangover."  For those of you without military experience, "prepping the objective" refers to softening up a an enemy defensive position with artillery fire or an artillery barrage to prepare the objective for the assault.  Now you get the joke.  The remarks section near his name has been changed since then to "California Dreamin.'" - Also very appropriate.  I hope he is having a good time - he has 9 months to go when he returns.  I'll bet the days are flying by back there.  Anyway, I am swamped and exhausted - More to follow.

The Price...

We lost a good man yesterday.  May Corporal Glenn Watkins rest in peace.  Please pray for his family.  He was a good soldier, and the first from my Battalion to be killied in action.  This was his second tour of duty in Iraq.  In fact, he had left our battalion to volunteer to go over with another unit, then volunteered to stay when he found out that we were coming.  He was killed when his guntruck rolled past a static VBIED (car bomb).  The other four soldiers in the vehicle were wounded.  I do not blame his death on Donald Rumsfeld or the amount of armor plating that his guntruck had.  I blame the cowards that planted the bomb.  The amount of explosives that was used was sufficient to kill him regardless of the level of armor.  One of the men that was wounded was a medic.  Somehow, with two broken ankles from the force of the blast, he crawled to CPL Watkins at was trying to bring him back with CPR while badly wounded himself.  I always knew Doc K. was good people.  We are now preparing for his memorial and trying to find the cowards that did this.  As the head of intelligence for the Battalion, I feel like I have failed them.  I will not fail to find the perpetrators this time.  So my attention remains on the job.  I have no time for bickering right now about what the right course of action was 2 years ago.  CPL Watkins knew why we were here, well enough to stay on for another year.  The right course of action now is payback. 

Necessary

May Pope John Paul II rest in peace and savor his heavenly reward.  He was a good man, and an exceptional Priest.  Like my Father, the world needs more men like him.

Checking in

My last post has generated more comments than the announcement of my future fatherhood.  Things are very busy right now here, and I do not have time to take part in the "spirited debate" that many think is the foundation of our great nation.  I will comment more later but would like to say that I whole-heartedly agree with almost everything that jarheaddad posted in his comments.  I will say that if I were either Terry Schiavo or the young Mahdi militiaman, I would want someone to put me out of my misery - QUICKLY.  But hey, that is just me.  I am very VERY tired of hearing the same old "everything-is-the-fault-of-the-sinister-Bush-Cheney-Oil-company-conspiracy-to-bring-about-neo-fascism-and-screw-the-little-guy" stuff.  Phyrrus - please.  I am going back to studying terrorist cells that I need to shut down.  There are real bad guys out there.  I won't apologize for doing everything in my power to kill them before they kill us, or you.  I shall write more on this later.  RLTW.   

Mercy-Killing

There are some things that I don't understand.  While Terry Schiavo was slowly starved and dehydrated to death, that is not considered killing because somehow it is not as culpable an act if one is not "active" in it's commision.  At the same time an Army Captain is convicted of manslaughter for putting a pistol to the head of a mortally wounded arhabi teenager from Sadr city here in Baghdad, after he had just been shredded by machine gun fire.  One victim is doing nothing wrong other than racking up huge medical bills and inadvertantly causing a media/legal sensation.  Therefore she is subjected to almost two weeks of slow, painful agony because it is illegal to help along the process "actively."  Meanwhile the other "victim" was attempting to murder Iraqi Police and US Soldiers and was released from the agony of prolonging an unavoidable death by a warrior who made a tough but merciful judgement call in the heat of battle.  I am not a fan of euthanasia because I believe it sets a dangerous precedent.  However, I am sympathetic to both sides in the Schiavo situation and am only certain that I am lucky it is a decision that I do not have to make.  That being said, what the hell has happened to this man's Army and why is CPT Maynulet going to jail for doing what is a common characteristic of the face of battle.  It seems like everything we do here that involves actually fighting the bad guys provokes an investigation.  GRRR!