Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

A Soldier's Story
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061211/soldiers_story ^ | Major Bill Edmonds

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: leftistspew; zot
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last
To: ventanax5
I am an American soldier in the Army Special Forces.

The little bastrds can't even lie correctly.

Ever meet one that called it "the Army Special Forces"? Why say "soldier"? Ever meet any sailors in "the Army Special Forces"?

I read these kinds of bull sheet flase flagged propoganda and laugh.

41 posted on 12/25/2006 6:38:35 AM PST by Doctor Raoul (BUSH KNEW liberals didn't have the balls to fight terrorism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Prodigal Son
Maybe, but fighting losing battles is what I do. ;-)

Your post #33 is dead on, by the way. Especially on FR. For an OIF vet poster, the only difference between being a rock star and a pariah is how you rate our chances of winning. If you say that everything is going great, just ignore the media, and victory is right around the corner, you're practically the second coming. Say anything else, and the receptions range from icy to scalding hot.

I was lurking and FReeping well before 9/11, and I've been called a troll and worse by newbies who've never set foot in Iraq, just for calling it like I see it. They'd have been suspended in 2004, because I was staunchly optimistic at the time. In other words, useful. Now that the facts on the ground have changed, and my opinions have changed with them, I am no longer useful.

Coincidence? I think not. As Kipling put it, "But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!"

42 posted on 12/25/2006 6:41:41 AM PST by Steel Wolf (As Ibn Warraq said, "There are moderate Muslims but there is no moderate Islam.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Steel Wolf

I think you present a fair and accurate assessment, but that's me, and I'm sure you already know that. I was 11B with all the bells and whistles on my uniform and all the right schools etc. and after 15 years of rucksack time, and a little instructor time at the NCO academy, I know BS when I see it. And there is a lot of wishful thinking, denial, and BS going on everywhere. It is hard to see the truth sometimes, and I think it is high time we are honest with ourselves. I'll always try to be respectful, but my New Year's resolution is to be as open and honest as possible. I wasn’t a part of OIF but I’ve been to Korea, Egypt, Haiti and a few other places...

Our young men and women in uniform deserve that.

~Corey


43 posted on 12/25/2006 6:48:21 AM PST by corlorde (New Hampshire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Doctor Raoul
Ever meet one that called it "the Army Special Forces"? Why say "soldier"? Ever meet any sailors in "the Army Special Forces"?

For one, he's probably being specific for the sake of the laymen he's writing for. Also, the lines are increasingly blurred these days.

Within Special Operations, there are a lot of joint commands and assignments where Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen work together, attached to each other, or otherwise mix and match. While I was working in the Army Special Forces, for instance, the office next door to me was composed entirely of Air Force personnel. They were permanently assigned to the unit the same way I was, or the same way they'd be to any other USAF command. I also worked with Sailors and Marines supporting an Army SOF mission. Joint assignments and inter-service crossovers are the norm in the SOF world, even more so as you go downrange.

44 posted on 12/25/2006 6:50:11 AM PST by Steel Wolf (As Ibn Warraq said, "There are moderate Muslims but there is no moderate Islam.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5
This "story" is also on Larry Johnson's blog, so it's definitely questionable.

We may very well find out that Major Bill Edmonds and Captain Jamil Hussein are dating...

45 posted on 12/25/2006 6:52:03 AM PST by Doctor Raoul (BUSH KNEW liberals didn't have the balls to fight terrorism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Doctor Raoul; Criminal Number 18F

Someone's checking, Doctor.


46 posted on 12/25/2006 6:56:26 AM PST by leadpenny
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: corlorde
I was 11B with all the bells and whistles on my uniform and all the right schools etc. and after 15 years of rucksack time, and a little instructor time at the NCO academy, I know BS when I see it.

Most experienced soldiers have very little time for BS. As an instructor and an NCO, you probably ran an AAR or two. I was raised to do one after practically everything, to see what went right, what went wrong, and how to fix it. Nothing gets me more on edge then when people refused to take an honest look about what's going wrong.

It's one thing to tell your troops to keep their heads down and soldier on, but the NCOs and leadership need to keep their heads out of their asses and make no-BS assessments of the situation. Any unit that won't is bound for mediocrity. Any war effort that won't is bound for the same.

47 posted on 12/25/2006 6:59:11 AM PST by Steel Wolf (As Ibn Warraq said, "There are moderate Muslims but there is no moderate Islam.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: leadpenny

Very good.


48 posted on 12/25/2006 7:18:34 AM PST by Doctor Raoul (BUSH KNEW liberals didn't have the balls to fight terrorism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Steel Wolf

Thanks for your comments. I've been impressed by the number of soldiers I've met who were willing to take greater chances with their own lives to increase the chance of succeeding.

Most are worried, as I am, that there is so much hatred in Iraq and in Arab/Muslim culture as to make it impossible to build a decent society there. One of the reasons I supported going in was the fact that IF we COULD build a semi-democratic society in Iraq, it would transform the entire ME.

In fact, I think that is why so many terrorists have gone to Iraq - they know if we win there, their cause is doomed.

However, I'm increasingly worried that it is a bridge too far. Like many who believed in the war, I may have underestimated just how warped Arab society is - and the arabic mentality has been spread by Islam into areas such as Iraq. Countries that are steeped in Islam are also steeped in the worst of arab tendencies.

I remember Rush Limbaugh saying that all men have an innate desire to be free. At the time, I agreed.

Now, I wonder if a religion that means 'submission' sucks that out of the souls of the people who follow it, making democracy and respectful disagreement impossible.


49 posted on 12/25/2006 7:37:27 AM PST by Mr Rogers (I'm agnostic on evolution, but sit ups are from Hell!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: pandoraou812
Funny but none of the soldiers I have met and I meet plenty when I have to go on PGR rides say anything like this.

PGR rides, eh?

To bury phonies? http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies285.htm

Or led by phonies? http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies263.htm

...and... http://macvsog.cc/dolan_robert_edward.htm

(Don't get me wrong. I welcome anyone that wants to support the troops and the flag, and if you're against Fred Phelps, well, like Churchill, I will at the very least make a favourable reference to you in public. But the PGR has a rather severe wannabee problem. (Why do these guys do this? Sure, the other guy was a dirtbag jailbird failure, but Dolan seems to have served honourably, just wasn't SF or SEAL or SOG or any of his outlandish claims... what's wrong with the guy that he can't be proud of what he really did do... guys depended on him, whatever it was.

When legit vets resigned from the PGR over Dolan, the people at the home office slimed them (it's deep in the POW network thread). I was disappointed to read that.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

50 posted on 12/25/2006 8:27:29 AM PST by Criminal Number 18F (Build more lampposts... we've got plenty of traitors.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Caesar Soze

20 - ""Mr. Bill" isn't just another soldier, and that SF and other military advisers bring a different perspective to the table. A perspective that is especially suited to carrying out the President's intent in Iraq."

Bingo. He is also an excellent writer, observer and well educsted.

As a Vietnam era USAF officer, I was an advisor/liason officer with numerous other militaries, including the Canadian, Filipino, Thai, Laotian, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and German Air Forces. Then I worked similar positions in civilian overseas work, especially Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. One of my most challenging positions called for our liason with the US Marines.

Cultural prejudices are common to all, and all cultures are not equal, however, unless they are respected, they cannot be understood and cannot be easily changed, without destroying them (which may be necessary to achieve particular goals).


51 posted on 12/25/2006 9:12:31 AM PST by XBob (Jail the employers of the INVADERS !!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Steel Wolf

24 0 very thoughtful and well put. Very few people, in any culture, have the ability to understand other cultures, except from their own biased perspectives.


52 posted on 12/25/2006 9:24:04 AM PST by XBob (Jail the employers of the INVADERS !!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Mr Rogers

49 = "a bridge too far" - well put, or at least, "a bridge a lot farther away than we thought."

"Now, I wonder if a religion that means 'submission' sucks that out of the souls of the people who follow it, making democracy and respectful disagreement impossible."

Freedom is not the basic drive of all individuals. It is the basic drive of some. Because with freedom comes responsibility for your own actions, and for yourself and consequences. When god is responsible for everything, then you have no requirements/responsibility. This is why there was no major slave revolution in our civil war. It is also why the Democrats love government programs, that way they are not responsible for anything.

Islam does not teach free thinking, but subservience, without thinking.


53 posted on 12/25/2006 9:59:22 AM PST by XBob (Jail the employers of the INVADERS !!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Criminal Number 18F
We don't get involved in the PGR problems and so I don't know of any here in NJ. We don't socialize with them outside of the rides. We are not like most of the members I guess as we are..."different". So far I have had only good things to say about the rides. Merry Christmas!
~~Pandora~~
54 posted on 12/25/2006 10:34:19 AM PST by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance and dilligaf?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Steel Wolf

Most of them do .....Merry Christmas ~~Pandora~~


55 posted on 12/25/2006 10:35:36 AM PST by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance and dilligaf?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Steel Wolf
Good morning and Merry Christmas, Steelwolf.

There is a difference between the suicide bombers we face today and those of the past. The Japanese wore uniforms. The Kamikaze were a last ditch attempt to disrupt by attrition US forces closing on the Japanese homeland. The Chinese hero you speak of was also a soldier. Even in Viet Nam, suicidal attacks occurred but these were different since often the one who delivered the deadly package did so unwittingly. The attacks in Iraq and Israel and elsewhere are not necessarily directed at military units but at civilians and police, to undermine the new civil and political establishment.

I've read the article twice now. This officer is candid and his thoughts and concerns are compelling. Whether he is SOPs is something I'm not up to date on. In my time, he would be ITT, interrogation teams. Immersion in the language and culture and in the case of Arabic language, the Islamic religion is rigorous and profoundly changes one's views of the world. During his training though there was, I'm sure, a caveat; "Don't go native".

I understand the Major's empathy that arises during his contacts with the Iraqi. It's a good article and were it published in another publication it would carry more weight. But reading page 4 of the article, notice an article supporting Lt Watada. The Nation will use the reflections of one serving in a difficult situation and package it with one who wouldn't. We don't see other articles by those who also serve and offer an opposing position.

This article presented by The Nation is skewed to be Kerryesque.
56 posted on 12/25/2006 12:41:58 PM PST by BIGLOOK (Keelhauling is a sensible solution to mutiny.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Criminal Number 18F; Dr. Ed Bravo; OSTATE; MS.BEHAVIN; TherealMr.B; KSParalegal; BraveMan; ...

Wow Criminal -- you completely lost me with that post.

Do any of you other PGR folks have a clue what this is about? (post #50)


57 posted on 12/25/2006 1:22:46 PM PST by StarCMC (After the attacks of 9/11, profiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan. - Ann Coulter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: StarCMC
NO. As far as I know the PGR is running well in my state. This is the 1st time outside of the WBC that I have ever heard anything negative about it. Most people have nothing but good things to say about the PGR and what they do. I never have heard of a family being mad as up where I am they always ask for 1st before riding .... Only thing I've heard about and I really don't care is there was some problem down south with lots of backstabbing. I don't do that BS so I could care less about the name calling etc. Plus from little I know it wasn't the regular PGR stooping to the name calling .... I don't know, don't care and I don't think PGR squabbles belong on FR so this is all I will say about the post to me. The guys and ladies up here so far have been nothing but nice to us. And trust me , my husband ( you've seen his picture ) isn't your average looking guy. Merry Christmas Star and hugs ~~Pandora~~
58 posted on 12/25/2006 2:14:07 PM PST by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance and dilligaf?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: ventanax5; All

I have confirmed to my complete satisfaction that Maj. Edmonds is exactly who and what he says he is in this post.

He is back in the USA and working in a responsible staff position, which is a routine assignment for an officer of his grade.

While it is The Nation, I didn't detect an overtly political message in his essay. I suspect that everyone will take away from it support for the ideas he had already!

I recommend that you read his entire essay and you will get a new feel for some of the problems that face not only our soldiers and advisors, but also our Iraqi allies.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F


59 posted on 12/25/2006 6:39:44 PM PST by Criminal Number 18F (Build more lampposts... we've got plenty of traitors.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StarCMC; Criminal Number 18F

According to http://www.soft-vision.com/guard/ and the links provided , Arizona's PGR Captain Robert Dolan claims to have been a Navy Seal and a POW in 'Nam, while he actually never was. When this was pointed out to PGR (nationally, that is) they allowed him to remain Arizona's State Captain.
However, according to the PGRs website (http://www.patriotguard.org/, go to the Leadership link on the left sidebar), Louann Thomas is Arizona's State Captain. My guess is that PGR is more up to date on who their state captains are than the other four links (three from post #50, and the one I linked to early in my post).
I know absolutely nothing about this (live in TX, not AZ, and while I follow the PGR threads I've not yet been on a ride) beyond what Google pulled up for me.
I found it exceedingly difficult to read throught the links that Criminal Number 18F provided; much of the content seemed to be poorly written rants about Dolan and PGR.
I would consider it a gross overstatement to say that two instances (another incident of a member making such claims was cited in the third link) indicate that PGR has "a severe wannabe problem."
Star, HTH.


60 posted on 12/25/2006 8:00:42 PM PST by PalestrinaGal0317 (I wasn't born in Texas; I just got here as fast as I could!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson