Posted on 12/24/2006 8:56:55 PM PST by ventanax5
For just a minute or two, step into my life. I am an American soldier in the Army Special Forces. I have just returned from a one-year tour of duty in Iraq, where I lived, shared meals, slept and fought beside my Iraqi counterpart as we battled insurgents in the center of a thousand-year-old city. I am a conflicted man, and I want you to read the story of that experience as I lived it. In the interest of security, I have omitted some identifying details, but every word is true.
Routine and Ritual
I wake in the cold and dark of each morning to the sound of a hundred different muezzins calling Muslim men and women to prayer. These calls reverberate five times per day throughout a city the size of San Francisco. Above this sound I also hear two American helicopters making their steady patrol over the rooftops of the city and the blaring horns of armored vehicles as they swerve through dense city traffic. As a combat adviser and interrogator, I find these contrasts very appropriate for the life that I now lead.
This morning, on the Iraqi base in which I live, I walk 100 feet from my bedroom to work and back again. These are the same 100 feet I will travel month after month for one year. During every trip I smile, put a hand to my heart, sometimes a hand to my head, and say to every passing Iraqi the religious and cultural words that are expected from a fellow human being. In Iraq, one cannot separate Islamic culture from the individual. They are intrinsically woven into the fabric of daily life, but for most Westerners, they seem abnormal.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenation.com ...
"This article is from The Nation . . . "
That's like saying something is from the TV or the radio or the internet. It's from a US Army SF officer. It appears legit to me and I take it for what it is - - a perspective.
No doubt even "The Nation" takes steps to ensure they are not duped.
Beat me to it! I don't know if this story is true or not but "pious" people being deceived by representatives from religion, country, political movement, social movement, etc., is the root cause of conflicts with other humans.
I've been to Iraq twice, in support of Special Operations units, and you're exactly right. Most American soldiers don't understand a thing about Iraqis, aside from certain actions that are potentially threatening, and leave Iraq with a very shallow and warped view of what they saw. Always having Arabic speakers at my disposal, and having worked with Iraqis, I agree deeply with what the Major is writing.
Still, as you said, lots of people know some fuel pumper, pilot or supply officer that tells them otherwise. The harsh truth is that those opinions are as biased and wrong as the media reports themselves. Not intenionally so, but warped nontheless. I don't blame them, because they have no resources, training, or guidance to do anything other than survive. When survival in a strange, hostile land is the only goal for 15 months, it's easy to develop strong but twisted viewpoints.
American soldiers are angry and frustrated with Iraqis. Iraqis are angry and frustrated with Americans. Many Iraqis just want American soldiers to go away, and I struggle within myself not to agree. Day after day I observe the interactions of Americans with Iraqis and am often ashamed. I see that required classes given to all American soldiers on cultural sensitivity do not work; 100,000 or more American soldiers daily interacting, engaging and fighting Iraqis within their own society for more than three years will inevitably create a wellspring of citizen hostility. In this war, none of us can change who we fundamentally are.
American military culture interacts with Iraqi Islamic culture like a head-on collision.
Reread this paragraph. You have no idea how much friction, resentment, and misunderstanding goes on between Iraqis and Americans, because of who we are, and how hard it is for most of us to communicate with each other. Two very opinionated, knee jerk cultures with no common ground simply don't coexist in harmony. If we can't find a way to bridge that gap, our presence will never bring more than chaos.
What's more, it's not a limited or minority perspective in the least. It could have been written by practically any Major in SF. Anyone who is dismissing the content because of the source is missing the real story.
I am conflicted. I've known several SOG types who did live
with the people.Like this soldier they were sometimes
conflicted.The only good part of Apocalypse Now was it
attempted to show that some do cross the line. I worry
that this American soldier is at risk for just that.
But at the same time I wonder if he is unintentionally
prophetic having now documented /exposed the root of the
problem in the war. The culture clash. Islam is a fabric where religion ,government,and society are woven
into the fabric. In America we have so comparmentalized
and erected high and impregnable walls to separate our
professed religion from everything else. How can what is
so fragmented overcome a unity .
Banzai?! No such thing as a non-Muslim kamikaze? Interesting.
One of the Chinese heroes of the Korean war was a man who held a bomb under a bridge as U.S. forces were crossing it, killing them and himself. They make posters of the guy, and still sell them today.
Pretty much any society under sufficient strain will produce men willing to charge to their deaths. Islam is no different.
This article is from The Nation and belies the empathetic mindset of the left.
Perhaps you should read it and let us know what in particular is wrong with it.
I've been to Iraq twice, in support of Special Operations units
I doubt you're chairborne.
Undoubtably true, which only reinforces his point. You aren't going to get this story from most troops, because they don't have it. They have stories about surviving IED attacks, sweeping houses for arms caches, or getting mortared. Exciting, but very myopic.
I think he needs a long rest.
I'm sure he does, and no doubt he's earned it.
Sometimes there is no line.
As for AN, I saw it when it first came out. Like many I was entertained but concluded it wasn't my 'Vietnam.' About ten years later I watched it by myself with paper and pen handy. Every time I was reminded of a "war" story I stopped the tape and wrote it down. The movie can be therapeutic and I could probably be reminded of a dozen more stories if I watched it now.
& did sadam ask to enter their homes & did he
respect their women???? gimmeabreak!!!
American soldiers now patrol the streets with extreme caution and quick reflexes. They have come to think that every Iraqi who runs a red light or does not yield is a terrorist. They shoot at or accidentally kill civilians, which then creates one more insurgent and three more insurgency supporters. I know this cause-and-effect explanation is simplistic for an immensely complicated situation, but you get the picture. I will never fault American soldiers for their actions and reactions; it really is dangerous out there, and no other nation could ever ask for such service and sacrifice from its citizens. Yet I also try not to fault Iraqi civilians, for their truth is just as valid to them as is mine to me.
There's two sides to every coin. I can tell you from personal experience that we kept a very aggressive posture whenever we went anywhere, and that minimized unwanted attention. Still, it's very hard to balance force protection between not acting like a hated occupier. When in doubt, I always went with the former, at the expense of the latter. Good for our team survival, bad for our national image.
Most Americans can't imagine hopping on the freeway in your minivan, on the way to school and work, and getting stuck behind someone with a machinegun that can punch soda can sized holes through concrete, who is pointing it directly at you and your kids.
They also can't imagine being behind the wheel in traffic, where every single car on the road, from the junkiest truck to the nicest luxury sedan, is a potential suicide bomber, and every pile of rocks, lump of trash, or curious onlooker could conceal a life threatening danger.
Easy enough for us in America to misunderstand, I guess. Unfortunately, in Iraq, both sides tend to say, "Tough luck, you shouldn't be there" to the other. That builds hate and resentment, and it builds it fast. Take that issue with traffic, multiply it by most other interactions we have with the Iraqis, and that's about where we're at.
Good read. I already see a lot of Freepers are discounting the Major's experiences and perspectives. He's a liberal plant. A phoney. He's in the wrong line of work.
When the war started, all our men and women in uniform were heroes.
Then when we realised that enlisted men were apt to say embarrassing things on camera, we decided it should only be officers that spoke.
When it turned out that some officers were democrats, we wanted all soldiers screened before talking to the media so that we would know if they were 'good guys' (conservative) or bad guys (liberals).
We only wanted to hear from men 'on the ground' in Iraq but then when the boots on the ground said things we didn't like it all became a MSM conspiracy to make George W Bush look bad.
Why should we listen to this guy anyway? Why not remake the world into the idea that we have in our minds of how it ought to be? Reality ought not to be what it is but what we wish it to be.
Tell this guy to shut up. I know, I know. He's there on the ground. But that doesn't matter. He's thinking too much. Just tell him to get on with it and kill as many of the enemy as he can before he comes back home. Leave the moralising about the Iraqis to us Freepers and others who aren't there and won't be going there anytime soon.
Merry Xmas.
Now I'm beginning to think you're Major Edmonds.
Not really, but you do paint a picture well. Be safe.
You're fighting a losing battle guy.
Most people here don't give a hoot about whether the guy is 'for real' or not. They only care about whether he supports or doesn't support their world view. As long as he supports it, he is useful, give him a medal. If he has his own way of thinking about it... Well, you can see the comments.
That's the complete ugliness of politics and getting emotionally involved in politics. That's what it does to you.
Why do I need to know what's going on in the world when I can see what I need to on the television and I have my small book of stereotypes to categorise people with?
I don't see any politics in Maj Edmond's piece.
It will makes it's way to the troops. Do you not see any advantage in them reading it?
"Leave the moralising about the Iraqis to us Freepers and others who aren't there and won't be going there anytime soon."
Exactly, Fort Livingroom keyboard commandoes know all...hahahaha
They are working up the courage to call our troops "baby killers" again. This is the first of some small steps in that direction.
I loved the article. I have forgotten that sarcasm is not the easiest thing to trade in around here.
Ya know, I was going to ask if you had forgotten the sarcasm tag.
I get it.
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