Posted on 09/07/2007 7:55:23 AM PDT by ZGuy
This is one of the updates I promised you all now that I am home and safe and sound.
A couple of notes: First of all, I will comment less on news stories or specific statistics, and more on processes and impressions as someone who was there. I do this because the other information is all out there to be had, and the one thing I can enlighten with is my perspective. Second, there are many things which I wish to tell you, and which would greatly enhance your understanding, and likely your support, of the war in Iraq, but I cannot reveal because of classification.
I served 14 months and 6 days on active duty with a Sustainment Command. 11 months and 16 days of that at LSA Anaconda, a.k.a. Balad Air Base, a.k.a. "Mortaritaville". It is a very large base located to the north and west of Baghdad. The Army and the Air Force share the base. For more information about the base, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/balad-ab.htm is fairly accurate.
When I arrived in Iraq in August of 2006, there was no "surge". However, we were making continual progress in security, training of Iraqis, and the political process already. One thing that struck me from the beginning was the number of local Iraqis that would come to the base regularly and give information to the Coalition forces stationed there. They always asked for things in return, but not as you would think. The sort of thing they asked for was a relocation of them and their families. Definitely understandable when they were ratting out vicious killers that lived nearby.
Part of my job involved watching the daily briefing that our Commanding General received concerning everything in Iraq that had anything to do with logistics. I saw continuous reports on caches found, AIF(Anti-Iraq Forces...what we call the bad guys) captured and killed, and successful operations.
Then in November, the Democrats won control in Washington, D.C. I do not believe that people voted Republicans out of office because they were against the War in Iraq, although it was a consideration. The Iraqis did believe it though. Overnight, people went into hiding; the Iraqis that supported us, told on the bad guys and were working towards a better Iraq. They thought the U.S. was leaving, a thought that terrified the average Iraqi that I talked to. It took time and effort to reassure them and resume relationships. By and large, Iraqis are glad we removed Saddam, they want peace and security for their families, and they want us to STAY until their government can safeguard them without our help.
Throughout the first 3-4 years in Iraq, the singular strength of the American military was at work. Our military provides an amazing level of flexibility and autonomy down to the lowest levels of leadership. We started with one overall strategy, which didn't fit the situation. Criticism aimed at this is pointless, since nobody knows how to do something perfectly the first time it is tried. Local commanders had that flexibility though, and they used it, as different units tweaked the strategy continually as they found things that worked.
The "surge" wasn't a radical overnight shift from the way we did things to the way we ought to have done them. Rather, it was the result of people, GEN Petraeus included, looking at what worked, what didn't work and how it all fit together and sending that out to all the local commanders. 5 more Combat Brigades made a significant difference, but it would have been useless to add those additional Brigades before they were able to be used effectively.
Toward the end of my tour, the number of successful AIF attacks spoken of in the briefings had shrunk, the success of our people in battles was ever increasing, and in some parts of Iraq that we had essentially been avoiding we were now seeing regular reports of military successes. By the time I left just a month ago, Mortaritaville is no longer a fitting name for LSA Anaconda.
While I am just a simple Sergeant and am not trained in a war college on classic strategies of war, the battle in Baqubah shortly before I left Iraq should go down in history as a nearly unparralleled piece of military genius. It is also a culmination of all the hard work Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have been doing since March of 2003.
These are just my thoughts. Take them or leave them, argue as you will. There is one thing on my mind every day since my return home. There are still brave men and women, my brothers and sisters in the Army family, who are still in Iraq. As I write this, some of them are undoubtedly seeking cover from a mortar attack. Some of them are kicking down doors, not knowing what they face on the other side, but doing it willingly, professionally and with honor. They deserve our support, and our unwavering commitment to honor their service by completing their mission.
God Bless you. And good thing you put this here, as the MSM will never print it!!!
Thank you for your service to our country. Most of us here in the USA support our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan as we realize it’s better to fight the enemy abroad than take attacks here.
Welcome home and job well done.
May the Lord bless you.
God Bless our troops and their families
Great report.
I knew most of this, but I wasn’t aware of the direct impact the 2006 election had on Iraqiis.
Thank you for helping to keep us all free. It’s good to get your report on what is really going on there. We can’t believe anything the MSM tells us.
Thank You for your great report. May the Lord bless you and your fellow troops. Kudos to Pres. Bush and all our military.
Thirty-five years ago the only voices allowed were the war critics. You'd have held that report inside until it drove you mad, and we'd have been the poorer for missing it.
How can I learn more about the battle of Baqubah?
Thank you so much for your service, and your writing.
Thank you so much for your service, and your writing.
I will examine the Battle of Baqubah closely , thanks to your notice about it.
I had thought this would be a given, putting myself somewhat in their shoes, particularly taking into account the massacres they experienced after we abandoned them in '91.
I thought, were I them, faced with another such pullout, I would be very afraid to help the coalition in any way...
It has perturbed me that no one has brought out this foreseeable result of the actions of our enemies within (the libRats, playing pure personal politics at the expense of our troops, our country and the very real world dangers of the terrorists = yes: "TERRORISTS")and how it would/did set things back.
I hope FDT brings this out during his campaign =
No it isn't. There are important lessons to be learned. Have they? For example, it was very obvious by mid-2006 to outsiders like me that our strategy was not working and had long since been insufficient. To insiders it should have been apparent much earlier but evidently wasn't. Are we looking now for signs of weakness or insufficiency in our approach? Do we have plans B and C and D ready? When I hear President Bush say the surge is our "last chance," I'm convinced the lessons haven't been learned.
To be clear, I'm not criticizing mistakes per se, they're unavoidable in every part of life including, and perhaps especially, war. Only hindsight is 20/20. What is unacceptable is not anticipating these inevitable mistakes, detecting then early and not learning from them.
Thank you for your service to our country. I know there are so many like you who’s stories never get any coverage by our MSM. I do not understand the democratic takeover last November but I still do not believe it is due to the war in Iraq. Americans are not loosers and don’t like loosers. I think the “get Bush at any cost” people in the news media had a BIG effect in misleading the “sheeple”. They are playing a very dangerous game.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bread-and-a-circus-part-i-of-ii.htm
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