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 ...
I'll cut the major some slack; he may simply be an honest observer of the Iraqi culture. Out of a multitude of opinions and options we will get the best answer. I have worked on a lot of teams, both in the military and in civilian life. Often there were vehement arguments and tempers flared. The same thing goes in EVERY WAR. Every war starts with a clusterf**k and tactics are refined over time. I expect the war against islamofascists to last at least as long as the last war against bolsheviks. Come to think of it, those pesky boshies are still giving us trouble.
Yes she surely does deserve a big hug please give her one for me too! Merry Christmas ~~Pandora~~
Are you reading Steel Wolf's and Leadpenny's comments? I think they are making good points. I don t think we can dismiss what this guy has to say because he has a story in the Nation.
Will it be on the final?
I think they are making good points.
Good, but give it a rest, I don't want you hurting yourself again.
I don t think we can dismiss what this guy has to say because he has a story in the Nation.
What do you mean we? That's YOUR statement.
Just asking. You seem bent on badmouthing this guy just because he submitted an article, or his opinions, to the Nation. Whatever.
Sure...
You seem bent on badmouthing this guy just because he submitted an article, or his opinions, to the Nation.
Quote me that part where I even mentioned The Nation.
Whatever.
Put up or shut up.
Get over yourself.
Actually, you're correct in that you didn't mention the Nation. Others did. For that I apologize. But to not acknowledge the thoughtful commentary of others on your side is probably an oversight, right?
That's your opinion. It's very telling that you've become very obsessive because someone else doesn't share your view.
It's a classic liberal trait.
Che's dead, get over it.
Yes, when someone does not agree with your point of view, call them a liberal. Good, mature tactic.
We had a returning Iraqi Army trainer come speak to us. This article is pretty much right on target. The Iraqies get fed a lot of "crap" by the MSM. The fact that Abu Graib would forment so much hostility in a country where people accepted Saddam's torture as a simply fact of life is telling. It's all about the "spin" in the Middle East. The MSM pushes the spin that makes us look bad. The terrorists push the idea that we are there to take oil and give it to the Jews. The American Media does nothing to stop that pushing. Meanwhile, the MSM busts on Gitmo and Abu Graib which fuels the fire.
The Iraqi military want to be in a position where they control the country. Once they are in that position, they want us to leave. That's probably the best option.
Called you out for what you are and gave a basis for my point. Those are facts not tactics.
FWIW, unlike the majority of posters on this thread, I've read the article and I've been to Iraq.
The author is dead on target even when he points out the warts we'd prefer to hide or overlook.
But what he says isn't the stuff of patriotic rallies or the story of bloodied heros.
So it seems that many would prefer to dismiss it out of hand than to reflect on it and discuss it for its merits.
Oh, what am I? Please enlighten me, Enlightened one!
Called me OUT? You dont know me, or the first thing about me.
Mary
Perhaps the Irish terrorists did not commit suicide when they randomly bombed innocents, but that does not make them better people because of that aspect of their campaign.
One of my own grandfathers got his ass run out of Ireland because of certain activities back in the early 20th century.
Am I supposed to ignore facts because he was an Irishman?
Somebody's "ex" would be likely...
You dont know me, or the first thing about me.
See above.
Yep, I'll admit to being somebody's ex. I was much better off raising my own girls for 7 years. I admit that, no disagreement there.
I'll listen to what many of these guys, including those posting here, have to say, and acknowledge this war is not a bed of roses. For ANYBODY to blow off what this major is saying, I think, does a disservice to our armed forces. Whoever doesn't want to hear, just does not want to hear it. If you're one of those who don't want to hear it, so be it.
I appreciated the point of view in post 73.
You wander in, he wanders in, how nice.
But before he marries you, he should consider my "thoughtful commentary" that there's already one guy who decided you're not worth putting up with your crap.
Maybe you two can take your strawmen and find someplace you can trade them for a single valid point.
Times was different, and certain terror tactics seemed reasonable to some I suppose.
Well, we are all in this together now, and mindless mayhem and murder is not at all what we are about.
Jerry Adams, and a few of the other blokes over in the old world seem to now "get it," at least it seems so.
I am quite sympthetic to the nationalist Irish cause, but I will never assent to terrorist tactics as a being a legitimate means to an end.
They have the EU pumping money into the Irish Economy these days, and in time level heads may prevail.
We'll see what happens.
Meanwhile, I got no time for mindlessly blowing up civilians.
Suicide bombing or not.
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