Ben of Mesopotamia

Safely Home and On Leave

2007-04-11T05:11:00.000+03:00

My apologies for not posting since my departure from Kuwait on March 18.

I arrived in the U.S. the same day thanks to the time difference, and spent an ennervating week demobilizing at Ft. Bliss. (Although I had some measure of fun with a friend from Baghdad.) I arrived back at Reagan National Airport here in Virginia on the 23rd, 428 days after my flight to Ft. Jackson, SC, to start my activation. I have been home for the past two and a half weeks, the longest stretch of time I've spent with David since he was born. I haven't been posting for several reasons:

1) Sheer exhaustion, residual from my time in Iraq.
2) Sheer exhaustion, the result of chasing a rambunctious 15-month old around the house ten hours a day; and
3) I haven't picked up a newspaper in the past three weeks.

#1 is something most soldiers coming home from Iraq (or Afghanistan) can probably relate to.

#2 is something most parents can relate too, and to be honest, was what I was looking forward to most during the past year, even if it severely taxes me mentally and physically.

But #3 comes as a shock to most people who know me. The simple fact is that I've after living the headlines for the past year, when I returned home I found myself emotionally exhausted with all things Iraq-related and in serious need of recharging my batteries.

Also, from what I've gleaned from the snippets of the news I've heard, the new leadership in Congress has completely given up on any attempt to win the war in Iraq. This in itself is depressing to think about.

What is outrageous is that while claiming to "support the troops" they added billions of dollars in pork-barrel spending on peanut, shrimp, and other subsidies that have nothing to do with the war. And they admitted they did so in order to bribe their fellow members into voting for defeat! Even if the President finally exercises his veto over these fraudulent funding measures, it is insulting that so many politicians will cloak themselves in the mantle of the troops in order to gain narrow perks for their districts at the taxpayers expense.

If the Democrats or any Republicans think the war is unwinnable and want to end it, they should have the courage of your convictions and vote to defund it rather than play these cynical games. It is that simple. I will strongly disagree with those who do, but will at least respect their honesty.

Okay, that's my vent for now, likely one of my last as trying to introduce integrity to some members of Congress is probably an exercise in futility.

Below are some pictures expressing what occupies most of my time and most of my thoughts, and what is really important in life. In the next few days I'll post a few more pictures from my last few weeks in Baghdad.

Until then, I'd like to thank everybody for their support to me and my family over the past year, and my best wishes to everybody who emailed in the past few weeks to make sure I made it home safely. While my faith in our Congressional leadership has been somewhat shaken, my faith in the American people, especially the young men and women in uniform, has been increased exponentially.

Ben

Safe in Kuwait

2007-03-17T10:27:00.000+02:00

It is deja vu all over again.

I'm sitting in the MWR computer lounge here at Ali Al Saleem Airbase in Kuwait, at exactly the same computer where I wrote from almost a year ago. The key difference, however, is that this time I'm waiting for a flight back to the States instead of a flight to Baghdad. (I should be airborne and headed back to Ft. Bliss for demobilization sometime in the next 24-48 hours).

When our C-130 touched down in Kuwait, and the rear ramp opened as we taxied to the pick up point, I thought, "And with that, my war is over." It is a strange feeling to realize I'll likely never set foot in Baghdad again. I'm eager to be permanently reunited with Marya and David sometime in the next week, but leave behind a lot of mixed emotions about the war and the politics surrounding it.

Well, at least I'll have something to write about for my four weeks of leave after I get home. But the most important thing IS that I'll be home soon and in one piece.

Ma'asalaama

2007-03-14T21:24:00.000+02:00

My apologies for the sparse posting recently. By the time our technical problems were resolved last week, I was caught up in a frenzy of outprocessing and awards (I won the Bronze Star) and couldn't find the time to post.

The bottom line is that I'm now less than 24 hours from leaving Baghdad and Iraq, and depending upon the vagaries of demobilizing at Ft. Bliss, hopefully about a week and a half from getting home to Marya and David for good.

There is so much I want to say, but not enough time in which to say it. I will try to write some while I'm in Kuwait for the next few days, and maybe while I'm at Bliss.

Until then, thank you to everybody who offered words of support over the course of the past year. I leave with a very heavy heart knowing that some better men than I aren't going to make it home to their families. I pray for the safety of every servicemember I'm leaving behind, and for the common goal for which we are all making sacrifices . . . victory.

Success in Iraq is not guaranteed, but it is still possible. Although I'm slightly burnt out on the politics surrounding the war, I'll try to offer my final observations in the coming weeks before I return to a normal civilian job.

Ma'asalaama, and G-d Bless all our servicemembers fighting the terrorists and bringing democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

BEN

Technical Difficulties

2007-03-03T09:57:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the even lighter posting than before, but for some reason on Thursday our information management people here decided to block almost every website on the internet from our computers. So for the time being, I'm unable to access this blog (or worse, my wife's blog with the newest pictures of David) on a regular basis.

As soon as I can figure out a workaround, I'll be posting the pictures of me dropping off the care packages at the Combat Support Hospital, pictures of the orphanage where the children's toys went, and some other pictures of me doing touristy things in the IZ again when my friend came to visit last weekend. Stay tuned . . .

(Oh yeah, less than two weeks to go now!)

P.S. In case I don't get to blog about it later, once again, Ann Coulter has proven what an absolute idiot she is.

Short-Timeritis

2007-02-27T19:41:00.000+02:00

Sorry for relative sparse posting lately.

I've officially succombed to the disease that affects almost everybody in Iraq as the end of their tour of duty approaches . . . malaise.

I've got less than 20 days left in country, and find myself having a hard time caring about much other than returning home and starting life over again with Marya and David.

Actually, it's not that I've stopped caring, but rather that caring so intensely has left me completely exhausted. I'm tired of the office politics that I endure everyday, I'm tired of the posturing and obstructionism of the national politics surrounding the war. I'm tired of being awaken by mortar fire and by the helicopters flying so low over my trailer it sounds as if they are about to land on the roof.

I'm even more tired of seeing MedEvac helicopters skimming above the palm trees, ferrying more wounded soldiers to the Combat Support Hospital.

I did have a brief respite from this affliction for two days recently as a buddy visited the IZ from Camp Victory. It did my heart good to see an old friend the CRC at Ft. Bliss, to compare our experiences in Iraq with the expectations we had when we flew into country together eleven months ago . . . and okay, to vent. The companionship ended up making it one of the best nights I've had since activating almost 14 months ago. But once separated again, it only made me wish that security conditions would have permitted us to visit more frequently, especially given that we were only separated by a few miles of highway.

There are still reasons to be hopeful for the war and Iraq's future despite the suicide bombers' continuing nihilistic onslaught. But I'm too tired to go into it right now.

Some Thoughts on the Resolution

2007-02-25T10:59:00.000+02:00

I meant to post this last week, when it was actually relevant, but was having technical difficulties at the time.

Last Saturday, the Washington Post editorial board absolutely eviscerated Representative John Murtha for his attempt to undermine the President's constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign policy by ending the war through subterfuge. Key quote:

Mr. Murtha has a different idea. He would stop the surge by crudely hamstringing the ability of military commanders to deploy troops. In an interview carried Thursday by the Web site MoveCongress.org, Mr. Murtha said he would attach language to a war funding bill that would prohibit the redeployment of units that have been at home for less than a year, stop the extension of tours beyond 12 months, and prohibit units from shipping out if they do not train with all of their equipment. His aim, he made clear, is not to improve readiness but to "stop the surge." So why not straightforwardly strip the money out of the appropriations bill -- an action Congress is clearly empowered to take -- rather than try to micromanage the Army in a way that may be unconstitutional? Because, Mr. Murtha said, it will deflect accusations that he is trying to do what he is trying to do. "What we are saying will be very hard to find fault with," he said.

Mr. Murtha's cynicism is matched by an alarming ignorance about conditions in Iraq. He continues to insist that Iraq "would be more stable with us out of there," in spite of the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that early withdrawal would produce "massive civilian casualties." He says he wants to force the administration to "bulldoze" the Abu Ghraib prison, even though it was emptied of prisoners and turned over to the Iraqi government last year. He wants to "get our troops out of the Green Zone" because "they are living in Saddam Hussein's palace"; could he be unaware that the zone's primary occupants are the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy?

Again, this is the Washington Post editorial board, not exactly a right-leaning institution.

Also, last weekend, retired Colonel Ralph Peters discussed the House's resolution in an op-ed in the New York Post. I think Peter's goes way too far in implying that the Democrats (and 17 Republicans) who voted for the Resolution are guilty of treason. This kind of hyperbole, much like Senator Reid's comment that Iraq is the "worst foreign policy mistake" in American history, produces more heat than illumination.

(By the way, Senator Reid, 52,000 more U.S. servicemen died in Vietnam than Iraq. You may want to ask their families which was worse, or for that matter, the millions of refugees our subsequent abandonment of South Vietnam caused, or the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis likely to die if we follow your policy of similarly abandoning Iraq. . . But that's for another post).

Peters' does make some good points when not going into hysterics. The resolution will not affect the morale of American troops. Those in the field have more pressing matters to worry about than what a bunch of politicians in Washington think and say. The real damage lies in the potential impact it has on the Iraqi moderates we are encouraging to stand up to the 5% fringes on each side of Iraqi society that are creating the horrific violence in Iraq. It is difficult to ask them to join the Iraqi Security Forces, to take political risks by reaching national reconciliation, and to radically restructure their economy away from Saddam's decrepit socialism and corruption if they will be left to assume all the risks for themselves in the very near future.

Iran is not going away. The former Ba'athists and Sunni extremists are not going away. But if these Iraqis -- whose security forces are taking casualties at a much higher rate than ours, by the way -- believe we are looking for the nearest exit, why should they make sacrifices for a democratic, multi-sectarian Iraq?

While the House was debating the Resolution, Ayman al-Zawahiri released a statement playing precisely to this fear:

The deputy also said US-allied governments in Iraq and Afghanistan should consider their future.

"These traitors in Iraq and Afghanistan must face their inevitable fate, and face up to the inescapable facts. America ... is about to depart and abandon them, just as it abandoned their like in Vietnam," he said.

Also, the obvious desperation to withdraw from Iraq does play in to Al Qaeda's strategy. In documents discovered in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, Al Qaeda discussed their lessons learned from Somalia:

There is an important observation that we must not ignore, which is that the Americans were not defeated militarily in Somalia. Effective human and economic losses were not inflicted on them. All that happened was that the Somali battle revealed many of their psychological, political, and perhaps military weaknesses.
The Somali experience confirmed the spurious nature of American power and that it has not recovered from the Vietnam complex. It fears getting bogged down in a real war that would reveal its psychological collapse at the level of personnel and leadership. Since Vietnam America has been seeking easy battles that are completely guaranteed.

I do not think the Congressmen who voted for the resolution did so with the intention of playing into Al Qaeda's strategy, nor do I question their patriotism. (Neither did Dick Cheney, for that matter). Although there are no doubt some who want to lost the war so as to embarrass President Bush, I believe most are sincere about supporting the troops and wanting to obtain the result in Iraq that bests safeguards American interests.

However, resolutions such as the one the House passed eight days ago do have consequences in terms of Iraqi behavior and enemy morale. I fear that although many Representatives voted for the Resolution because they believe it will improve the situation in Iraq, they did so unaware of the second-order effects it creates, effects that will make it harder for Iraqis to step up and solve their nation's problems.

Prince Harry Comes to Iraq

2007-02-22T21:11:00.000+02:00

The money quote from CNN's story about the third-in-line to the British throne coming to serve in Iraq:

There is no way I am going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country.

F*** yeah, Harry, GET SOME! (P.S. It might be a good idea if you leave the Nazi costume at home. Just saying. . . )

Quotes of the Day (XIV)

2007-02-20T19:11:00.001+02:00

"Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are seeking to humble, embarrass and, if they can, destroy the President and the prestige of his position as the Commander-in-Chief who is responsible for the safety of our military forces and the nation's defenses. By doing so, they are adding to the dangers that face our nation. And so I ask again them again: do you think that leaving a power vacuum in Iraq will make us safer? If, as a result of the power vacuum, the terrorists are emboldened and God forbid we sustain here in the U.S. civilian casualties comparable to those caused in Iraq by car bombs, will you publicly accept responsibility?

Ed Koch, "Will Embarrasing the President Make Us Safer?"
February 20, 2007

- "To see . . . the President as the enemy -- which the savage and unfair attacks upon him convey to the world -- is harmful to the security of our country and, therefore, injures us all."
Ed Koch
December 21, 2005

Good News About Baby Catherine

2007-02-18T17:00:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to provide an update on Catie, the infant daughter of one of my officemates here who last week had seizures and fell into a coma.

The Major emailed us the other day to say Catie came home on Thursday. She was still shaking a bit, and is having trouble walking on her own. But the doctors say there was no permanent damage, and she is improving a little bit each day.

So thank you to everybody who said a prayer for Catherine and her family.

Congratulations Seth!!!

2007-02-17T18:01:00.000+02:00

Sorry ladies, but as of today this hunk is taken! (My brother-in-law, that is. David won't be available for a few years yet).

Congratulations to my brother-in-law Seth and his new bride Lindsay, who are getting married today in Arizona!

Obviously, I really wish I were there celebrating with them rather than here in Baghdad. (I really wish I were almost anywhere right now rather than here in Baghdad . . .)

But tonight I'll be raising a near-beer in their honor, wishing them a joyous wedding day and many years of happiness together!

Representative Johnson on the House Resolution

2007-02-17T08:55:00.000+02:00

The following is the text of remarks delivered by Rep. Sam Johnson on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday.

You know, I flew 62 combat missions in the Korean War and 25 missions in the Vietnam War before being shot down.

I had the privilege of serving in the United States Air Force for 29 years, attending the prestigious National War College, and commanding two air bases, among other things.

I mention these stories because I view the debate on the floor not just as a U.S. Congressman elected to serve the good people of the Third District in Texas, but also through the lens of a life-long fighter pilot, student of war, a combat warrior, a leader of men, and a Prisoner of War.

Ironically, this week marks the anniversary that I started a new life - and my freedom from prison in Hanoi.

I spent nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, more than half of that time in solitary confinement. I flew out of Hanoi on February 12, 1973 with other long-held Prisoners of War - weighing just 140 pounds. And tomorrow - 34 years ago, I had my homecoming to Texas - a truly unspeakable blessing of freedom.

While in solitary confinement, my captors kept me in leg stocks, like the pilgrims... for 72 days....

As you can imagine, they had to carry me out of the stocks because I couldn't walk. The following day, they put me in leg irons... for 2 ½ years. That's when you have a tight metal cuff around each ankle - with a foot-long bar connecting the legs.

I still have little feeling in my right arm and my right hand... and my body has never been the same since my nearly 2,500 days of captivity.

But I will never let my physical wounds hold me back.

Instead, I try to see the silver lining. I say that because in some way ... I'm living a dream...a hope I had for the future. "From April 16, 1966 to February 12, 1973 - I prayed that I would return home to the loving embrace of my wife, Shirley, and my three kids, Bob, Gini, and Beverly...

And my fellow POWs and I clung to the hope of when - not if - we returned home.

We would spend hours tapping on the adjoining cement walls about what we would do when we got home to America.

We pledged to quit griping about the way the government was running the war in Vietnam and do something about it... We decided that we would run for office and try to make America a better place for all.

So - little did I know back in my rat-infested 3 x 8 dark and filthy cell that 34 years after my departure from Hell on Earth... I would spend the anniversary of my release pleading for a House panel to back my measure to support and fully fund the troops in harm's way....and that just days later I would be on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives surrounded by distinguished veterans urging Congress to support our troops to the hilt.

We POWs were still in Vietnam when Washington cut the funding for Vietnam. I know what it does to morale and mission success. Words can not fully describe the horrendous damage of the anti-American efforts against the war back home to the guys on the ground.

Our captors would blare nasty recordings over the loud speaker of Americans protesting back home...tales of Americans spitting on Vietnam veterans when they came home... and worse.

We must never, ever let that happen again.

The pain inflicted by your country's indifference is tenfold that inflicted by your ruthless captors.

Our troops - and their families - want, need and deserve the full support of the country - and the Congress. Moms and dads watching the news need to know that the Congress will not leave their sons and daughters in harm's way without support.

Since the President announced his new plan for Iraq last month, there has been steady progress. He changed the rules of engagement and removed political protections.

There are reports we wounded the number two of Al Qaeda and killed his deputy. Yes, Al Qaeda operates in Iraq. It's alleged that top radical jihadist Al-Sadr has fled Iraq - maybe to Iran. And Iraq's closed its borders with Iran and Syria. The President changed course and offered a new plan ...we are making progress. We must seize the opportunity to move forward, not stifle future success.

Debating non-binding resolutions aimed at earning political points only destroys morale, stymies success, and emboldens the enemy.

The grim reality is that this House measure is the first step to cutting funding of the troops...Just ask John Murtha about his 'slow-bleed' plan that hamstrings our troops in harm's way.

Now it's time to stand up for my friends who did not make it home - and those who fought and died in Iraq - so I can keep my promise that when we got home we would quit griping about the war and do something positive about it...and we must not allow this Congress to leave these troops like the Congress left us.

Today, let my body serve as a brutal reminder that we must not repeat the mistakes of the past... instead learn from them.

We must not cut funding for our troops. We must stick by them. We must support them all the way...To our troops we must remain...always faithful.

God bless you and I salute you all. Thank you.

The "Fabulous People" on Iraq

2007-02-15T20:38:00.000+02:00

From the New York Observer, an . . . um, interesting? . . . take on the war from the patron's of NYC's "exclusive" Bungalow 8. Among some of the choicer excerpts:

-- Interior designer Brinton Brewster, 38, was also very upset. “We were brought into the war under false pretenses, the public was lied to, and we’re creating another generation of terrorists,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the ‘fabulous people’ get a bad rap,” he continued. “Just because we live life in a certain way, they think we don’t have compassion for other people. It’s just not the truth. But you know, what really upsets me, honestly, is the propensity of the media to focus on Lindsay Lohan going in and out of rehab. I don’t care about celebrities and what they’re doing. I’ve met them all.” . . .

-- Next up was a blond woman in her late 30’s. She was wearing a black fedora from the men’s department at Bergdorf Goodman, a black Moschino dress and shoes by Christian Loubouton. I asked her about Iraq.

“A rack? You mean titties? Like a really big rack?”

Iraq.

. . . “I feel personally connected in one way—I’m a mother, and every day in Iraq somebody is losing their child. My little girl will never go to Iraq. I’m sorry, she’ll go to Prada.”

-- Jacqie Venable, a 40-year-old music producer, was wearing a beret and jeans. She said she wasn’t wearing underwear.

She said the war in Iraq was meant to happen “karmically.”

-- Paul Johnson-Calderon, a 23-year-old fashionista wearing a Balenciaga tunic, was also upset.

“I think that the initial reason for us going into Iraq, to get rid of Saddam and his regime, was a good thing,” he said. “How it’s been handled is terrible.” . . .
He looked around Bungalow 8. “Do you think the Iraqis, little villagers in Kandahar, are doing this?” he said. “None of them are. And that’s the sad, awful truth.”

You're right, Paul, the little villagers of Iraq don't have any clubs as fabulous as Bungalow 8. And I think we can all agree that that is the real tragedy of this war.

(G-d, I hate New York).

"Quest to Heal Iraqi Boy Became a Final Mission"

2007-02-15T15:55:00.000+02:00

Another article in today's Washington Post on CPT Brian Freeman, his charitable work, and the attack that took his life.

In October I helped Brian get an injured Iraqi into the Combat Support Hospital here in the IZ. Knowing that "Ali" wouldn't be safe in a hospital back in Najaf, Brian was working on obtaining a Canadian visa for him when "Ali" succombed to the effects of his six gunshot wounds.

It is not surprising that on the day Brian was killed he was working to help another sick Iraqi child.

The world is truly a poorer place for Brian's passing.

A Call for Prayers

2007-02-13T21:56:00.000+02:00

When I returned to my office from dinner tonight at 1900, I found one of the Majors with whom I share an office doubled over in his chair. At first his convulsions made it appear as if he was laughing, but when I looked more closely I saw that he was silently weeping.

I stepped out to give him some privacy, and the other Major (my supervisor) told me that it had something to do with his baby daughter Katherine, who is about the same age as David. Apparently, Katherine was running a high fever, started to have seizures, and went into a coma. She was still unconscious, and the doctors didn't know either the cause or the prognosis.

After a few tense hours, at 2200 we received word that Katherine's seizures had stopped, and shortly thereafter another call came that she was conscious, albeit somewhat spacy from all the medication. Her CatScans didn't turn up anything abnormal, although they will be running more tests tomorrow morning to determine what caused the Grand Mal seizure.

As all the officers in my office are fathers, we shared some tears of joy. Quite frankly, I can't even begin to imagine how I could function if something like this happened to David, especially while I'm over here. It is just too horrifying to imagine what my friend must have been going through during those hours of uncertainty. Fortunately, he has left to start the journey to get back home and be with his family during this difficult time.

So tonight I'm asking everybody that reads this blog -- from my family and friends, to the left-wing nuts who don't believe I really exist -- to please stop and say a prayer for Katherine's recovery. She hopefully appears to be in the clear, but she can use every little bit of good karma we can muster.

Thanks,

Ben

Baba O'Reilly on Public Diplomacy

2007-02-13T11:54:00.000+02:00

No, not the classic Who song, but my old cubicle-mate at the Pentagon, Robert (Bob) Reilly.

In the two years we sat next to each other at DoD, I lost track of how many times I overheard Bob's deep voice ranting to somebody on the phone, his face flush with indignation: "They offer religion and ideas, and what do we give them?? BRITNEY SPEARS!!!" I always thought Bob was just showing his age a little bit and was out of touch with today's youth.

So it was with some trepidation that I saw Bob had published an op-ed in Friday's Washington Post on America's public diplomacy efforts entitled "Britney v. the Terrorists."

It turns out I was not giving Bob nearly enough credit.

Although I still think Bob is overly averse to American pop culture as a tool to attract interest, he is correct that we can not rely on it to win the "war of ideas" that everybody recognizes as a critical part of the larger War on Terror. Young listeners in the Islamic world (and elsewhere) may tune in to hear pop music and provide a temporary ratings boost, but other radio networks in the Middle East will eventually copy this format and inundate their young audiences with an anti-American bias.

It may not be as sexy, but in the long run we are better off basing our public diplomacy on the substance of discussions of liberalism and individual rights rather than the flash of Justin Timberlake or Beyonce. We do not have to make the world love us, as some politicians seem to think, but rather should seek better understanding of our policies and respect for our ideals.

Whereas I think Dinesh D'Souza's argument that America's "cultural left" somehow caused 9/11 is despicable, Bob makes an articulate and intelligence argument on playing to America's real strengths in our public diplomacy.

(Although Bob, I still will take my Classic Rock -- and The Killers, Audioslave, White Stripes, etc. -- over your Classical Music anyday).

Fear The Turtle!

2007-02-13T11:38:00.000+02:00

Maryland 72, Duke 60. 'Nuff Said!!!

(Okay, so even if the Terps miss the tournament for the third straight year, this game put a smile on my face and ensured the season isn't a total loss. And they do still have an outside chance of making the tournament.

Of course, as soon as I exulted in the Bullets . . . damn, Wizards . . . having the best record in the Eastern Conference, Antawn Jamison sprains his knee and will miss the next 3-6 weeks. The Wizards have since lost four of their last five games, so I'm probably jinxing the Terps by even mentioning them. . . Oh well, at least we beat Duke!)

General Petraeus' Message

2007-02-10T15:04:00.000+02:00

Our new Commanding General hit all the right notes in his first public statement today. Not bad for a Princeton grad . . .

To the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:

We serve in iraq at a critical time. The war here will soon enter its fifth year. A decisive moment approaches. Shoulder-to-shoulder with our iraqi comrades, we will conduct a pivotal campaign to improve security for the Iraqi people. The stakes could not be higher.

Our task is crucial. Security is essential for Iraq to build its future. Only with security can the Iraqi government come to grips with the tough issues it confronts and develop the capacity to serve its citizens. The hopes of the Iraqi people and the coalition countries are with us.

The enemies of Iraq will shrink at no act, however barbaric. They will do all that they can to shake the confidence of the people and to convince the world that this effort is doomed. We must not underestimate them.

Together with our Iraqi partners, we must defeat those who oppose the new Iraq. We cannot allow mass murderers to hold the initiative. We must strike them relentlessly. We and our iraqi partners must set the terms of the struggle, not our enemies. And together we must prevail.

The way ahead will not be easy. There will be difficult times in the months to come. But hard is not hopeless, and we must remain steadfast in our effort to help improve security for the Iraqi people. I am confident that each of you will fight with skill and courage, and that you will remain loyal to your comrades-in-arms and to the values our nations hold so dear.

In the end, Iraqis will decide the outcome of this struggle. Our task is to help them gain the time they need to save their country. To do that, many of us will live and ifght alongside them. Together we will face down the terrorirsts, insurgents, and criminals who slaughter the innocent. Success will require discipline, fortitude, and initiative -- qualities that you have in abundance.

I appreciate your sacrifices and those of your families. Now, more than ever, your commitment to service and your skill can make the difference between victory and defeat in a very tough mission.

It is an honor to soldier again with the members of the Multi-National Force-Iraq. I know that wherever you serve in this undertaking you will give your all. In turn, I pledge my commitment to our mission and every effort to achieve success as we help the Iraqis chart a course to a brighter future.

Godspeed to each of you and to our Iraqi comrades in this crucial endeavor.

David H. Petraeus
General, United States Army
Commanding

Simply Outstanding

2007-02-08T21:53:00.000+02:00

From Senator Lieberman's speech on the Senate floor on Monday (sorry, I've been busy) opposing the Warner-Levin resolution:

Now, a new course has been chosen. A new commander is in place in Iraq, confirmed by this Senate. A new Secretary of Defense is in place at the Pentagon, confirmed by this Senate. And a new strategy has begun to be put into action on the ground in Iraq by our troops.

It is altogether proper that we debate our policy in Iraq. It should be a debate that is as serious as the situation in Iraq and that reflects the powers the Constitution gives to Congress in matters of war.

But that, sadly, is not the debate that the Warner-Levin resolution invites us to have. I am going to speak strongly against this resolution because I feel strongly about it. I do so with respect for my colleagues who have offered it, but I believe its passage would so compromise America’s security, present and future, that I will say so in the clearest terms I can.

The resolution before us, its sponsors concede, will not stop the new strategy from going forward. As we speak, thousands of troops are already in Baghdad, with thousands more moving into position to carry out their Commander’s orders. This resolution does nothing to alter these facts.

Instead, its sponsors say it will send a message of rebuke from the Senate to the president, from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other. But there is a world beyond Pennsylvania Avenue that is watching and listening.

What we say here is being heard in Baghdad by Iraqi moderates, trying to decide whether the Americans will stand with them. We are being heard by our men and women in uniform, who will be interested to know whether we support the plan they have begun to carry out. We are being heard by the leaders of the thuggish regimes in Iran and Syria, and by Al Qaeda terrorists, eager for evidence that America’s will is breaking. And we are being heard across America by our constituents, who are wondering if their Congress is capable of serious action, not just hollow posturing.

This resolution is not about Congress taking responsibility. It is the opposite. It is a resolution of irresolution.

For the Senate to take up a symbolic vote of no confidence on the eve of a decisive battle is unprecedented, but it is not inconsequential. It is an act which, I fear, will discourage our troops, hearten our enemies, and showcase our disunity. And that is why I will vote against cloture.

If you believe that General Petraeus and his new strategy have a reasonable chance of success in Iraq, then you should resolve to support him and his troops through the difficult days ahead. On the other hand, if you believe that this new strategy is flawed or that our cause is hopeless in Iraq, then you should vote to stop it. Vote to cut off funds. Vote for a binding timeline for American withdrawal. If that is where your convictions lie, then have the courage of your convictions to accept the consequences of your convictions. That would be a resolution.

The non-binding measure before us, by contrast, is an accumulation of ambiguities and inconsistencies. It is at once for the war but also against the war. It pledges its support to the troops in the field but also washes its hands of what they are doing. It approves more troops for Anbar but not for Baghdad.

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot vote full confidence in General Petraeus, but no confidence in his strategy. We cannot say that the troops have our full support, but disavow their mission on the eve of battle. This is what happens when you try to wage war by committee. That is why the Constitution gave that authority to the President as Commander in Chief.

Cynics may say this kind of thing happens all of the time in Congress. In this case, however, they are wrong. If it passed, this resolution would be unique in American legislative history. I contacted the Library of Congress on this question last week and was told that, never before, when American soldiers have been in harm’s way, fighting and dying in a conflict that Congress had voted to authorize, has Congress turned around and passed a resolution like this, disapproving of a particular battlefield strategy.

Thank G-d for Senator Lieberman. Obviously, I disagree with the few Senators who opposed the authorization of military force against Iraq back in August 2002 and continue to oppose us pursuing victory. But I respect them for the consistency of their beliefs, unlike those on both sides of the aisle who out of political expediency began to backtrack once it became clear this war would be longer and more difficult than anticipated. (Although our casualties are still well below what they were anticipated to be prior to March 2003).

Senator Lieberman was the only Democrat to have the courage to condemn the immorality of President Clinton's personal conduct back in 1998. (Whether Clinton's subsequent perjury was an impeachable offense or not is a seperate issue.) He remains one of the more principled political leaders we have.

(Hat tip to Michael Goldfarb at the Daily Standard for the excerpt).

Simply Stupid

2007-02-07T20:18:00.000+02:00

From the same hour of CNN's "This Week at War," Christiane Amanpur on whether Iran is interfering in Iraq:

JOHN ROBERTS: Christiane Amanpour, is there any doubt at this point that Iran is actively involved in Iraq and is shipping weapons to Shiite militias, insurgents, other extremists?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Well, if you took it from the perspective of the Iranian officials here, yes, there is very much doubt. In fact they deny it outright. That's what the Iranian officials say. And when I pressed them on the fact that U.S. officials are saying that they have evidence of shipment of weapons and training et cetera to Iraq, they say we must see that evidence. That is not our policy.

On the other hand, some analysts here are saying that, yes, Iran and the United States are at odds and do have a struggle over various issues such as Iraq and also of course over the nuclear issue. There is a great fear here in Iran of war from the United States. Everybody has been asking me about it since I arrived here in the last few days. And what these analysts are saying is that perhaps some Iranians are suggesting that it might be better to try to keep America occupied inside Iraq than sort of fight that battle away from Iranian territory, rather than inside Iranian territory.

Forget the second paragraph, which only admits that Iran would have cause to harass (re: kill) American forces in Iraq given that we are at odds over "the nuclear issue," and that war would come "from the United States." Whereas in the first paragraph Amanpour accepts unquestioningly the mullahocracy's emphatic denial (despite a long history of sponsoring terrorism abroad), every counter-statement in the second paragraph is extremely conditional: "Analysts are saying . . . perhaps some Iranians are suggesting . . . it might be better to . . . sort of fight."

Strong stuff, Christiane! That a way to present balance to the assertions!

This reminds me of the great Kids in the Hall sketch in which a judge releases every defendant who pleads "not guilty:"

[Scene opens in a courtroom. Bruce sits at the prosecutor's table. Mark and Kevin sit at the defense table, and Dave is on the bench.]

Dave: The charge is murder. How does the defense plead?

Mark: [standing] Your honor, the defense would like to plead not guilty.

Dave: Fine, then the court finds in favor of the defense. Your client's free to go. [He raps his gavel.]

Bruce: What?

Kevin: [jumping up] Yes! Yes! Yes! Honey, we didn't need the alibi! [He runs toward a woman in the courtroom audience.] I have to be fast! My murder weapon! [He runs over to the prosecutor's table and grabs a gun, then heads out of the courtroom.] Where's the men's room?

Bruce: Your honor, may I approach the bench, please?

Dave: Yes, you may.

Bruce: [stepping up to the bench] Your honor, uh, did it ever occur to you that the defendant might have been lying?

Dave: Well, Mr. District Attorney, no. No, that never occurred to me.

Bruce: But we have seven eyewitnesses, his prints were all over the murder weapon, his shirt was soaked with the victim's blood...as a matter of fa--

Dave: [interrupting] Well, maybe I'm just not as cynical as you are. If that young man says he's not guilty, I'm afraid that's good enough for me. Now, we have a very busy schedule; I suggest we move along. Call the next case, please!

Simply Heartbreaking

2007-02-06T11:20:00.000+02:00

From CNN's "This Week at War" on Sunday night (I think):

JOHN ROBERTS: But first, a THIS WEEK AT WAR remembrance. Army Captain Brian Freeman of the 412th civil affairs battalion was liaison between coalition forces and the government of Karbala. He was killed when insurgents disguised as U.S. forces attacked in late January. Back home in California, Freeman's wife Charlotte tells how their three- year-old son comforted her when she got the terrible news. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLOTTE FREEMAN, WIFE: He just came up to me, put his arms around me and said it is OK, mommy. Daddy is coming home soon, having no idea what I was even crying about. And then I tried my best to explain that his dad had passed away and -- to this day he still says to me "but he's not gone."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Good Reads

2007-02-05T17:51:00.000+02:00

Three stories that caught my eye today.

First, Christopher Hitchens effectively eviscerates Frank Rich's book on the Bush administration and Iraq in the new Claremont Review of Books. Of course, this is the intellectual equivalent of Mike Tyson knocking out Erkel, but still an interesting deconstruction.

Second, from today's Washington Post, Tom Ricks writes about
General Petraeus' use of officers with PhDs as advisors. (I actually read Petraeus' Princeton dissertation back in 1999 for a paper I was writing in grad school, before anybody really knew who he was). Army Officer PhDs? Great, there goes the neighborhood . . .

Finally, Time writes about watching the Super Bowl from Camp Victory on the other side of Baghdad from the International Zone. To be honest, I didn't watch the game, which was the first Super Bowl I can remember missing. I didn't have any rooting interest between the Bears and Colts, had a busy day ahead, and didn't want to get up at 0230 to watch it. Moreover, Armed Forces Networks does not allow commercials, which is half the fun of any Super Bowl, so what was the point?

Pizza Pizza!!!

2007-02-03T18:03:00.000+02:00

All I can say is G-d Bless Michael Ilitch, the former Marine who founded Little Caesars. (Okay, to be honest, I don't really like their pizza that much. But this is the sort of thing people do when they genuinely support the troops!)

From Thursday's Louisville Courier-Journal:

Little Caesars gives unto Iraq war vets
Ky. soldier at root of franchise program
By Bill Wolfe

On July 8, 2004, Staff Sgt. Robbie Doughty's Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb near Samarra, Iraq. The blast took his legs and the Paducah resident's dreams of a 30-year military career.

"It was terrible, a very tragic thing," said Doughty, 32, who had joined the Army Reserves as a student at Lone Oak High School in Paducah in 1991. But with his hopes for a long military career gone, Doughty has turned to a new ambition -- success in the restaurant business.

After reading about Doughty in a November 2004 USA Today story, Little Caesars Pizza owner and founder Michael Ilitch offered him a franchise and new store in Paducah at no cost -- a gift valued at between $250,000 and $300,000.

The carry-out restaurant will celebrate its grand opening today.

Ilitch also has started a franchising program that offers up to $68,000 in benefits for service-disabled veterans and a $10,000 benefit to other qualified veterans.

Nearly 1,000 inquiries about the program have come in, and dozens of veterans have advanced through the screening and are moving toward owning their own franchises, according to Little Caesars.

The program grew out of Doughty's experience with Ilitch, and Doughty has been spreading the word through veterans' groups.

David Scrivano, president at Little Caesars, said Ilitch was impressed by Doughty's story, seeing "that Robby was really a go-getter and had a spirit for success in life, in general, and just a great overall positive outlook."

The road to Iraq
Doughty had volunteered for combat duty. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he wanted to leave his safe assignment as a recruiter in Bowling Green and join a combat unit, he said.

"We obviously wanted to bring the people that did this to justice, and I wanted very much to be a part of that," Doughty said.

In 2004, he was transferred to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell. Within a month, he was headed to Iraq. Two months later, after the bomb attack, he was headed home for months of rehabilitation and an uncertain future.

A new career
Ilitch offered Doughty a store, which has started serving ahead of the grand opening.

"I like going back and working with the dough and doing what we call the pizza dress, putting the toppings on the pizza. I also like to go out and greet the customers," said Doughty, who was fitted with prosthetic legs and walks without help.

He said he still has pain, but if he needs to sit, he takes a few minutes.

Doughty has a partner in the venture -- his best friend and fellow Iraq veteran Lloyd Allard of Clarksville, Tenn. After Ilitch suggested a partnership, Doughty invited Allard, who quickly agreed to the proposal.

"Yes, I probably could have lived on my pension alone," Doughty said, but "they say people that work longer, they live longer. I just think it's good and it's healthy for us to have something to do."

Helping veterans
Ilitch's Little Caesars Veterans Program was launched on Veterans Day.

For honorably discharged veterans, the plan provides a $5,000 reduction of the $20,000 franchise fee, financing benefits and a $5,000 credit on equipment. Service-disabled veterans are eligible for additional benefits, including a waiver on the franchising fee, additional financing options and a $10,000 credit on the initial equipment order. The total benefit for the disabled veterans can reach about $68,000.

To open one store, candidates need to have a net worth of $150,000 with at least $50,000 in liquid assets. Outside the program, it typically costs from $109,000 to $299,000 to build a store, according to Little Caesars.

According to Pizza Today, a trade magazine published in Louisville, Little Caesars takes a royalty of 5 percent of sales.

The veterans program is scheduled to run through next year, and it will then be evaluated, Scrivano said.

Doughty said he and Allard are already thinking about their next step in restaurant management, possibly adding a Clarksville franchise within the next year or so.

Breaking the Army?

2007-02-02T07:44:00.000+02:00

A lot of critics of the war claim that we are sending troops over here without the proper equipment, or that the intensity of operations here is wearing out equipment fast enough that we are "breaking the Army."

However, as the picture below indicates, the soldiers here are innovating and have all the equipment necessary to take the fight to the enemy. HOOAH!

And yes, I recognize these are Belgian troops, not American, lest anybody take this too seriously.

Washington Post Columnist Tells Spoiled Soldiers to Shut Up!

2007-02-01T20:32:00.000+02:00

The New York Times may not hate the military (see below), but William Arkin, the Washington Post's online columnist on defense issues sure seems to.

NBC News ran a segment about the troops' views about the recent anti-war protests last weekend. Richard Engel relayed how "troops [at Ft. Lewis, WA] say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for." Responding to these soldiers, Arkin writes:

So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?

I can imagine some post-9/11 moment, when the American people say enough already with the wars against terrorism and those in the national security establishment feel these same frustrations. In my little parable, those in leadership positions shake their heads that the people don't get it, that they don't understand that the threat from terrorism, while difficult to defeat, demands commitment and sacrifice and is very real because it is so shadowy, that the very survival of the United States is at stake. Those Hoover's and Nixon's will use these kids in uniform as their soldiers. If I weren't the United States, I'd say the story end with a military coup where those in the know, and those with fire in their bellies, save the nation from the people.

But it is the United States and instead this NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.

Mercenaries?!? So many ways to deconstruct this idiocy, so little time.

First of all, as a supposed "National and Homeland Security" expert, Arkin should know that the average salary of an active duty U.S. serviceman is far below the average for people of similiar edcuational backgrounds. I may have only had a government job, but I still endured a significant pay cut to come back on active duty. (It is only because of the tax breaks I get for being deployed to a combat zone that let my wife stay at home with our son during his infancy). The average job in the civilian world that pays what soldiers make also tends not to come with mortar fire in the job description.

So I assume Arkin is being intentionally imprecise in his definition of "decent wage."

Second, as for "taking care of their families" with medical care, my wife gave up on the Army health care system months ago when it came to taking care of David. We are now paying out of pocket so that she can get an answer on the phone to her questions, or not have to wade through ten layers of bureaucracy just to make an appointment.

Other families may have been having better experiences than we are, but this experience has turned my wife off of socialized medicine for good.

As for the amenities, I concede that my half of an 8'x20' trailer, while not as nice as a college dormroom, is better than my father-in-law had during Vietnam. And I'm the first to admit that I eat well thanks to the overstuffed contract that KBR gets for feeding us in the dining facility. (I would note, however, that my amenities include sharing a 2'x 6' bathroom with three other officers, only sometimes have hot water to shower/shave with, have a single bed with exposed wires sticking out of the mattress, step out into 120 degree heat once I'm outside my trailer, get awoken at least three times a week by explosions, have had my trailer shot twice . . . and oh, by the way, can't drink. But other than that the amenities are spectacular.)

But I also have been to enough places in Iraq (far more than Arkin, I'd wager) to know that I am one of the fortunate ones. The vast majority of the soldiers in Iraq do not have it nearly as good as I do, much less in comparison to their civilian peers.

And yes, there is that little thing these guys face in getting mortared and shot at everyday. For Arkin to act as if these soldiers and Marines are privileged and should be grateful for their conditions is ridiculous.

More importantly, and contemptibly, Arkin seems to embody the "Free speech for me but not for thee" school of political commentary. It is perfectly fine in Arkin's book (and mine, to be honest) for the protestors to assemble and oppose the war. Freedom of speech, and freedom to dissent, is part of what makes America great. (I'm not okay with spray painting the Capitol Building, as some protestors did in DC last weekend).

I disagree with their argument, of course, and can see with my own eyes that it does have real consequences in terms of enemy propaganda here in Iraq. But that is part of the price we pay living in a free society, and not one that I would abrogate lightly.

However, Arkin seems to believe that Jane Fonda, Tim Robbins, Susan Surandon, and other celebrities have more of a right to express their opinions than do the "mercenaries" who are risking their lives daily to preserve our freedoms. And this despite the fact that the soldiers weren't even saying that nobody could criticize the war, but were expressing their opinion on the protests.

Opinions, Mr. Arkin. You know, part of that whole free speech thing?!?

On a visceral level, I agree with the readers who've exercised their freedom of speech in the comments section of his post.

But in order to keep the discourse reasonably elevated, it suffices to say that Arkin has produced one of the more despicable commentaries on the war, and that is already a pretty low bar.

(Hat tip to Captain's Quarters).

Does the New York Times Hate the Military?

2007-02-01T11:00:00.000+02:00

Back in June, I linked to another military blogger's open letter to New York Times editor Bill Keller condemning the Times arrogant exposure of a legal and effective classified anti-terror program. In a subsequent personal correspondence with SGT Boggs, I told him I agreed with his main point regarding the Times astonishing recklessness, but that I didn't agree that journalists hate America. Instead, I suggested that based upon my experience, journalists instead confuse cynicism with objectivity, and therefore treat the military more skeptically than they do the terrorists.

(Or something like that. It was seven months ago).

However, after this piece by Damien Cave on the 28th, I'm beginning to think that maybe SGT Boggs was on to something.

The article itself is not so bad: it is a riveting account of the danger, confusion, and sometimes tragedy that our combat units face everyday here in Iraq. The problem, however, lies in the photos which accompanied the article in the New York Times' print edition.

The third photo shows SGT Hector Leija being carried out of a building on a stretcher after having been shot in the head, a medic applying pressure to his skull. The caption reads: "Army soldiers and medics carry Sergeant Leija to an armored vehicle after he was shot in the head."

At the end of the article, Cave tells us the SGT Leija died from that gunshot would.

Although the story of the challenges and the dangers our troops face (as well as that of the human cost of the war) needs to be told, imagine how Leija's family has to feel when seeing this photo.

The media ground rules which all embedded reporters and photographers sign includes the following ground rules: "Media will not be prohibited from covering casualties provided the following conditions are adhered to: (a) Names, video, identifiable written/oral descriptions or identifiable photographs of wounded service member will not be released without the service member's prior written consent."

The reason for this is so that families do not find out their loved one was wounded or killed via the media rather than the proper military chain.

So thanks to the New York Times, the Leija family has a photo to capture the moment as their son/husband/brother is dying.

I still can't go so far as to say the Times hates the military, but it sure does not appear to have much sensitivity to how their families feel.

Nobody Beats the Wiz!

2007-01-31T14:54:00.000+02:00

Much to my surprise, with the exception of following the exploits of the Iraqi national soccer team (largely because of the celebratory fire that followed each match) and watching the U.S. play Italy in the World Cup with a group of burly carabinieri, I haven't posted nearly as much about sports as anyone who knows me would have expected.

There are three reasons for this. First, blogging about something like sports has always seemed horribly self-indulgent. (And I know, this is from somebody who at least once a month posts pictures of his son).

Second, the difference in time zones means that all games during prime time Eastern Standard Time are televised at 0300/0400 here. I get up early, but there are few sporting events worth getting up that early for. In fact, I'm trying to come up with excuses for why I want to watch two teams I couldn't care less about in the Super Bowl this Sunday when the game doesn't start until 0230 here, and I still have to work the next day. (In Korea in the 1990s, the Monday after the Super Bowl was a work holiday for U.S. forces).

Third, to be honest for the most part my teams stunk up the joint in 2006. The Nationals came back to Earth after their inaugural season, Maryland basketball missed the tournament for the second year in a row, Johns Hopkins lacrosse was unspectacular in defense of its national championship, and don't even get me started on the nightmare that was the Redskins season. If I had to pick a year of sports to miss completely, this was the one.

However, there is one exception to the malaise DC sports teams appear to be suffering through: the Washington Bullets . . . er, I mean Wizards.

Last night the Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 104-99 to improve to 27-17, the best record in the Eastern Conference. Granted, their 1.5 game lead on three other teams isn't likely to last until the end of the season. Granted, that with their porous defense they are not exactly built for grind of the NBA playoffs. And granted, the best team in the East likely isn't as good as the fourth best team in the other conference.

But after waking up every Monday morning to another Redskins loss, or seeing that Maryland dropped another game to Duke, it is nice to get some good news from an area sports team for a change. It is especially satisfying given the number of years the Bullets . . . er, Wizards, were the absolute dregs of the league.

Going to see the Wizards play in person (even if those new home uniforms are the single-ugliest sports uniform since the Chicago White Sox wore shorts in the 1970s) is just another thing I have to look forward to when I get home (in 40+ days now), especially if I get to hear Gilbert Arenas yell "Hibachi" when he drains a three-pointer.

David Interlude (XI)

2007-01-30T19:42:00.000+02:00

Okay, breathing deeply now, thinking happier thoughts . . .

I wasn't originally going to post these pictures. My recent TDY to support my Boss involved traveling back to DC for a few days of meetings. This let me spend some time with my family.

While extremely happy to see them, I also felt more than a little guilty. The only time most other soldiers have a chance to get stateside is if they are on R&R, wounded, or taking emergency leave because of the death of a loved one. I was deeply aware that I was enjoying a luxury that other soldiers -- most of whom live in much rougher conditions in Iraq than I do and are more deserving of a break -- could only dream.

But I think that what has hit me the hardest about my friends' deaths here in Iraq is the thought of their children never knowing how special their fathers were. I think this will haunt me more than anything else once my tour is done. This has definitely reinforced my understanding that every moment I spend with David is precious and to be savored. And therefore, anybody who would give me a hard time about going home can . . .

Deep breaths . . . happy thoughts . . .

Below are some pictures from our trip to the playground two weeks ago. (For some reason, I like the earnest look on his face in the second picture better, as if he expects the plastic horse to take off on him any second).

Reasons to be Angry

2007-01-30T19:16:00.000+02:00

Sorry for not posting much lately. I've been busy on a potentially major project, and have been a foul mood about a couple of things lately.

Okay, two things really.

First, I received my first ass-chewing from a senior officer a few days ago. (And yes, I realize that anybody who served with me in the 82nd Airborne back in the 90's is asking "What took him so long?") I was locked up, had a finger pointed in my face, and essentially told that I had no business exercising independent judgment on the issue at hand, and that I should "get on board with the team and accomplish the mission." As soon as the senior officer left, one of my officemates immediately played the soundbite from Full Metal Jacket in which the Marine General tells Pvt. Joker to "Get on board for the big win!"

The other four people in the room immediately approached me to tell me the senior officer was out of line, and that if I wanted them to submit statements supporting me they'd be more than happy to. (Since then, I've also been vindicated on the factual points that were in contention). In the end, I'm not going to get in any trouble for this confrontation. But this incident reminded me of why I originally got out of the Army back in 1998, and I have to dig deep to find the discipline to let the dispute die its natural death.

Second, on Saturday the LA Times published a story about the details of my friend Brian's death. I'm not pissed at the LA Times, but rather at the Army for not getting these details straight much sooner. It is bad enough that Brian's family has to suffer the pain of losing someone as special as Brian, but they now have reason to question every statement the military makes regarding the attack.

Everybody assumes that the uncertainty and ensuing controversy surround Pat Tillman's death a few years ago was to serve some militaristic propaganda agenda. No, the Army just screwed up, just like people in every other organization in the world are prone to do. And somebody in the chain here in Iraq screwed up royally by not releasing the correct details as soon as they were known. These errors are inexcusable, and undermine the credibility of the public affairs effort in the War on Terror, whether in Iraq or Afghanistan.

More importantly, the families of heroes like Brian Freeman deserve better.

For My Boston Readers . . .

2007-01-26T18:40:00.000+02:00

. . . both of them, I will be appearing on the Moe Lauzier Show on WRKO from 0700-0720 on Saturday morning, the 27th.

Don't worry, this has nothing to do with the past controversies surrounding my blog. (Although hopefully it will prove that I actually exist).

By way of a sneak preview, I will be sure to include product placements for Dali's, Bartley's Burger Cottage, The Wrap, John Harvard's, and the Thirsty Scholar in the desperate hope of getting comped a free meal or a pint the next time I'm in Cambridge. (Is the Chinese Food truck still operating in that parking lot past the Natural History Museum? If so, I'll throw in a plug for them to while I'm at it).

Brian Freeman

2007-01-25T20:36:00.000+02:00

The good news is I’m back safely in Baghdad. The bad news is that I’m in Baghdad.

But when I finally emerged from a jet-lag induced coma and stopped by my office to check email, I received some truly tragic news. On Saturday, my friend Captain Brian Freeman was killed in Karbala. (I don't know if his family has been briefed on the details, so for now it suffices to say that Brian and four other members of his Civil Affairs team were killed by militia members, likely Jaish al Mahdi trained in Iran).

Brian was recalled to active duty at the same time as I was in January 2006, and was a fellow member of “The Dirty Dozen,” the twelve Individual Ready Reserve Captains who went through 2-3 months of inprocessing and Civil Affairs training while living in the same barracks together at Ft. Jackson and Ft. Bragg. Unlike most of the other officers in our group, Brian was opposed to the war, and had the courage to say so. But even though he questioned the wisdom of our being in Iraq, he said that he had made a commitment when he entered West Point in 1995, and that he was honor bound to fulfill that pledge regardless of his political beliefs.

I actually ran into Brian two weeks ago before I went on TDY, and unbeknownst to me at the time, just nine days before he was killed. He was in the IZ to interview for a commission in the U.S. Coast Guard, so that he could continue to serve his country without being deployed to Iraq again and missing another year of his children’s life. We talked about his kids (Gunner is 3, and his daughter Ingrid was born just a few weeks before David), about his business school applications, and about what we wanted to do once we were back from Iraq.

Even though we obviously disagreed on the politics of the war, I respected Brian a great deal for standing by his principles. I apologized to him for the less-than-diplomatic behavior I sometimes displayed in our political arguments back at Bragg. Of course, Brian said no apology was necessary -- he was never one to hold grudges or take stuff too personally -- and admitted that half the time he was just screwing with me anyways. (He was easily the funniest guy in the barracks and the class clown in our Civil Affairs course).

I still believe strongly in the strategic importance of this war, even if it has turned out to be much more difficult than anybody anticipated. But sometimes it is excruciatingly difficult to reconcile the necessity of winning in Iraq with the human cost it entails.

When I saw the email in my inbox with only his name as the subject line, I knew what it likely meant, and felt as if I'd been punched in the face. My heart breaks for his wife and his kids. I now know four small children who will never see their fathers again because of this war, because their dads were honorable men who deserved far better fates.

This absolutely kills me.

A Brief History Lesson

2007-01-21T19:08:00.000+02:00

Today I'll begin the long journey back to Baghdad from my TDY. While travelling, I finally finished A.M. Hamilton's Road Through Kurdistan. Hamilton was an engineer from New Zealand who during the British Mandate in Iraq built a road through the seemingly impassable mountains of Kurdistan. (While I was in the Kurdish region back in May, we drove what is still known as the "Hamilton Road.") Road Through Kurdistan is Hamilton's memoir (first published in 1938, I think) of his adventures in Kurdistan dealing with tribal sheiks, rebellions, and bandits from 1928-1932.

Towards the end of the book, the rumor is beginning to spread that the British will end their mandate in Iraq earlier than planned. Hamilton talks to British officer he knows, who is pessimistic about Iraq's future as an independent nation. "Captain Baker" predicted:

Whether it is fortunate or unfortunate for Iraq that we have armed the country -- both the Assyrians and the Arabs -- with British rifles, it is not for me to say. But it seems strange considering that only a few years ago we were confiscating every rifle we could lay our hands on in order to keep the peace. You know as well as I do that despite all our efforts we have not eradicated racial and religious hatreds in this land. Sooner or later someone is going to get excited, those guns will go off bang, and a whole lot of people will be killed.

Unfortunately, as the Assyrians, Kurds, and Shi'a can attest, Iraq's history since then is full of people getting "excited."

TDY

2007-01-15T17:20:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I'm on a Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY) away from Baghdad, and won't have a lot of opportunity to write.

I should be blogging at a normal rate in a week or so.

One Year Anniversary of My Activation

2007-01-08T19:28:00.000+02:00

One year ago today I officially activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I tried to think of something profound to say to mark the occasion, but its difficult to avoid cliche. I have neither had a completely uneventful tour, nor an especially exciting one thus far. But I've learned that it only takes a few seconds of excitement here to ruin everything.

The opportunity to be a hero that motivates every soldier at some level has never materialized. But as I've said before, that's not a bad thing. There are thousands of heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan who unfortunately will never get the recognition they deserve. There are thousands more who will never see home or their loved ones again.

I would like to think that just having served is enough, especially during a time when so many didn't bother to report for duty, and others went to legal extremes to avoid being called up.

(This is perhaps what bothered me the most about the whole Kerry-photo-flap. I don't care about the he-said/he said argument that erupted . . . everybody who is actually in Iraq knows what happened. Rather, the whole incident sadly confirmed my fear that are some people predisposed to assume I'm a liar solely because we disagree on politics. They sit comfortably in their homes and deride military service while we endure regular mortar attacks and other dangers defending their freedom . . . and I have it very good in Baghdad relative to soldiers/airmen/Marines in other parts of the country).

This year has also been frustrating on a professional level, as Iraq has not progressed much from a strategic standpoint since January 8, 2006. We have sewn the seeds for a stable, free and prosperous country here, but it is now up to the Iraqis to step forward and reap these fruits. In 2006 they seemed unable to seize this historic opportunity, and instead succumbed to the demons of their past.

There is still cause for hope. I have met too many Iraqis who genuinely want a better future for their country to believe that this effort is fruitless. And numerous opinion polls and anecdotal evidence confirm that those perpetrating the violence in Iraq are the outliers here.

But I am less confident than I was a year ago that America has what it takes to see this struggle through to a successful conclusion. I do not doubt my fellow servicemen's commitment or dedication. The world may never know how much they have given of themselves to help an oppressed and impoverished people. But none of their sacrifices or accomplishments seems to break through the constant siren screaming quagmire! or fiasco! that follows each suicide VBIED. The Western media relentlesly scrutinizes every statement or gesture by American officers and officials, but then unquestioningly echoes the latest piece of insurgent propaganda.

(This is not to say that the media shouldn't question anything the military or Administration says, that there is only good news to report from Iraq, or that the military and Administration has been perfect in explaining the war to the American people. The ability to question our leaders and hold them accountable is obviously a key strength of our democratic society. But in a time of war, the statements by the enemy -- especially an enemy that is this barbaric and inherently anti-democratic, to put it mildly -- must be held to equal or greater scrutiny).

Some people want us to leave Iraq for strategic reasons. Others just want a loved one to come home safely as quickly as possible. I respect both viewpoints, although I disagree with the former. But I feel like there is also a significant portion of the country that does not know anybody in the military yet wants us to lose so that President Bush will be embarrassed, or so in order to vanquish "American imperialism," as if that were what threatens Iraqis, rather than the murderous tyranny of religious extremists.

Given this state of American public opinion, I do not know if we can consolidate a tactical/operational victory into a strategic victory in a protracted conflict ever again.

(And yes, I recognize I may be a little overdramatic in this regards, but this is honestly how a lot of soldiers over here interpret much of the debate back home).

Finally, on top of the professional frustation accompanying the war is the visceral pain I fell for missing David's first year. As I noted after coming back from leave, no pictures or DVDs can ever do justice to what a miracle he is. I can only imagine how much this sense of awe will be magnified by seeing him walking around the house with my own eyes. I do not understand how anybody who has children can doubt the presence of the divine in this world.

But again, I consider myself lucky. I will get to see him again soon enough. There are other fathers and mothers that served here who were not as fortunate.

And then there is my wife, who I've only recently come to realize was activated a year ago as well. She doesn't wear a uniform, carry a weapon, or serve in a war zone. But she is making enormous sacrifices on behalf of her country just the same by making my deployment possible. I will never be able to fully understand what she has gone through raising David by herself this year. She has been an angel, pure and simple. I sometimes fear that I will never be able to fully make it up to her. But sometime in the next eighty days I hope to begin to try.

Quote of the Year . . . Thus Far

2007-01-07T15:09:00.000+02:00

This morning I overheard a senior Naval officer (yes, there are a few thousand Navy personnel serving in Iraq) tell someone the following via cellphone:

"I've got one nostril above water and people are still making waves!"

This goes right up there with "[Soldier X] is like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest!" as my favorite military expressions of all time.

I Was Wrong About the AP

2007-01-06T20:32:00.000+02:00

Sort of.

Apparently, the Ministry of the Interior has announced there is a police officer named Jamil Hussein after all.

Previous U.S. military claims that the AP's alleged source didn't exist were based on the lack of corroboration by the MoI, which six weeks later, has finally emerged.

So I was wrong to pile on AP for this.

(However, military officers did go and visit the four mosques Capt. Hussein claimed had been destroyed in retaliation for the Thanksgiving Day Sadr City bombings, and found that only one even had slight fire damage. So AP may still have been guilty of "accuate but fake" reporting.)

To my continued surprise, Eason Jordan once again has the best analysis on how nobody comes out of this episode with reputation unblemished.

A Busy Night So Far

2007-01-06T19:41:00.000+02:00

It is only 2030, and we have already received our third "Duck and Cover" alarm of the evening. One was for an indirect fire attack (I didn't hear the impact, although others in my section who were coming in from outdoors said they heard the boom), and two were for small arms attacks in the Embassy compound.

Although rocket/mortar attacks are fairly common, this is the first alert we've received due to small arms fire (not including celebratory fire) in the nearly ten months I've been here. Unfortunately, the security officers here aren't always prompt in explaining what caused the alerts, so it may be some time before I can figure out what is actually going on outside.

However, some perspective is required. Coming back from a shelter after the "All Clear" was given for the indirect fire attack, I ran into a buddy of mine who is stationed in Babil Province, south of Baghdad. He laughed at how seriously the Embassy personnel appeared to be taking the alerts, and noted that they get attacked almost every night in his compound.

So most likely (and hopefully) this is much ado about nothing.

The Jamil Hussein Saga, cont.

2007-01-05T13:56:00.000+02:00

I missed this item from a few days ago.

Eason Jordan writes:

If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it. . . .In the absence of clear and compelling evidence to corroborate the AP's exclusive story and Captain Hussein's existence, we must conclude for now that the AP's reporting in this case was flawed.

To make matters worse, Captain Jamil Hussein was a key named source in more than 60 AP stories on at least 25 supposed violent incidents over eight months.

Until this controversy is resolved, every one of those AP reports is tainted.

If even Eason Jordan is piling on a mainstream media giant like AP, you know they've really gone over the line!

No wonder a majority of Americans believe media coverage of Iraq is inaccurate. (Hat tip: Don Surber)

Graduation Day

2007-01-01T09:09:00.000+02:00

Okay, so what I've wanted to post about before getting sidetracked over the past few days was Thursday's graduation ceremony at the Iraqi Military Academy at Rustimiyah.

This one year course is modeled after the legendary Sandhurst Academy in the UK, and the graduates become Lieutenants in the Iraqi Army. The photos below show the 207 graduates from the Iraqi Army Corps of Cadets singing the Iraqi National Anthem during Thursday's ceremony.

What you can't see in the picture is that across the auditorium floor, the bleachers are filled with the families of the graduating cadets. This is a first. In previous graduations, only a handful of parents were present. Now they are turning out in large numbers and bring their extended families. At the conclusion of the ceremony, they threw sweets at the graduates and then rushed the floor to embrace them and pin their lieutenant epaulets on them.

Much of our effort in this war, as in all counterinsurgencies, depends on the development of an effective indigenous security force that enjoys the confidence of the local population. The 207 new Iraqi Army Lieutenants who graduated on Thursday clearly will not turn the tide of this conflict by themselves. But the fact that their families are neither afraid for their sons, nor afraid to be at such a ceremony is a small cause for optimism for Iraq's future.

Iraqi Military Academy cadets singing the national anthem at their graduation ceremony.

Iraqi families congratulate their new Lieutenants.

New Year's in Baghdad

2006-12-31T23:04:00.000+02:00

It just turned midnight here, and for the past twenty minutes I've been listening to the sounds of celebratory fire going off outside my trailer. I'm hearing everything from isolated cracks of small arms fire, to machine guns on full automatic.

It is obviously coming from within the compound, and to be honest, it is pretty annoying. I guess this is what happens when you don't let people drink on New Year's Eve!

All things considered, I look forward to December 31, 2007, when I'll be a little tipsy on champagne, and looking for my New Year's kiss from my wife.

May you and your loved ones have a HAPPY AND JOYOUS NEW YEAR in 2007.

Ben

UPDATE: At 0700 on New Year's Day, I was awoken by the sound of incoming mortar/rocket fire. Although I have not been able to get official confirmation yet, it sounded as if twelve rounds impacted over the next fifteen minutes or so. The rounds must have been landing on the far side of the IZ, as my trailer didn't shake at all. As with many early morning indirect fire attacks, I was more annoyed than frightened, and rolled over to go back to sleep as soon as the explosions stopped. Insert your own joke about starting the New Year off with a bang here.

Final Thoughts on Saddam's Execution

2006-12-31T11:39:00.000+02:00

Among the early accounts of Saddam Hussein's final moments to emerge thus far are those provided by Marc Santora of the New York Times and Michael Hastings in Newsweek.

Santora reports that "Saddam Hussein never bowed his head, until his neck snapped. His last words were equally defiant." Conversely, Hastings quotes the Iraqi who filmed the execution for the Government of Iraq as saying "I saw fear, he was afraid."

Both stories are allegedly based upon the testimony of Iraqis who personally witnessed the hanging. (Santora doesn't identify his sources, but there are many sound explanations for why he wouldn't without having to invent elaborate conspiracy theories). And yet they convey two very different tones for the event. Hmmmmm . . . I thought things like that never happened! (Okay, I'll really let things go now, although personally, from the video I saw of the execution, Saddam clearly looked more fearful than defiant).

I think that Andy McCarthy, posting on NRO's The Corner, comes closest to summarizing the ambivalence I feel regarding Saddam's execution:

I had to turn off the TV-news.
This is a solemn, important moment. It's not a joyous one. An evil man deserved to die. His elimination was necessary Â not close to sufficient, but necessary Â for achieving, over time, a semblance civilized stability in Iraq. The celebration in the streets, though, the dancing and firing guns in the air, does not augur well for that achievement.
This wasn't victory. It didn't end suffering. It was, in the heat of a war that has actually gotten more vicious and more uncertain since Saddam's capture three years ago, the carrying out of an essential but unpleasant duty. It marginally enhances Iraq'prospectsts, and ours. But Saddam's death (as opposed to his deposing) has no impact whatsoever on the deep dysfunction and hatred that is rending what passes for Iraqi society. The unbridled display of dancing and shooting says more about that than the death of one man Â monstrous though he was Â who has been imprisoned for three years.
Saddam's death is a marker worth observing. It is not something to go up in a balloon over.

In other words, the SOB deserved to die, and was extremely lucky not to have had to endure 1/1000th of the suffering (i.e. being fed feet first into a wood chipper) inflicted upon so many of his victims. But at this point, I'm more concerned with the violence that plagues Iraq today, and how we can still salvage a strategic victory in this conflict.

Senator Kerry's Office Speaks

2006-12-30T09:45:00.000+02:00

Even though I'm still getting emails about this from self-described Liberal bloggers, this will be absolutely my last comment on this.

In response to perhaps the silliest dust-up in the history of the Iraq conflict, Senator John Kerry's foreign policy aide released a statement regarding the brouhaha I inadvertently started. In the interest of fairness, I will let Frank Lowenstein speak for himself:

“It’s a weird feeling seeing this photo of Sen. Kerry debated and decoded like some artifact out of the DaVinci Codes. It’s strange to me because I was there when the photo was taken. I traveled with Sen. Kerry throughout his Middle East trip. I’m his foreign policy staffer. Myself and Major McKnight were sitting
right there when this photo was snapped.
Snubbed? Alone? Hardly. Sen. Kerry isn’t eating alone. In fact that photo is at an off the record breakfast meeting Senator Kerry conducted early Sunday morning with the very real Marc Santora of the New York Times Baghdad bureau and his younger colleague from the newspaper. The man shown in the green shirt across from Sen. Kerry is Marc Santora. Right after that interview was completed, Senator Kerry videotaped a message expressing his and the country’s support for the troops, to be shown on the armed services network in Iraq. Just the night before, Sen. Kerry was in that very same mess hall at a table where he ate dinner with about 10 U.S. soldiers.
Additionally, Senator Kerry spent nearly a day and half (out of two days in
Iraq) outside of the Green Zone because he felt strongly that he wanted to hear
from troops on the front lines. On Saturday morning, he greeted U.S. soldiers in
Basra, and also met many British troops while he was there. On Saturday
afternoon, he flew to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Warhorse, where he had a town hall meeting with over 100 soldiers. On Sunday morning, he was briefed by U.S.
commanders at a training camp for Iraqi security forces. On Sunday evening, he
traveled to another FOB where he had a long dinner in the camp mess hall with
soldiers, including many from Massachusetts. These troops are nothing short of
amazing, and my boss knows that with every fiber of his being. He’s a combat
veteran. He’s been there.
Sen. Kerry knows that if you’re in public life, you’re going to have things you say and do taken out of context, sometimes photos even. It goes with the job. I just wanted to set the record straight about this photo not just because I was there and I know the truth, but because Sen. Kerry enjoyed his time and his conversations with the troops, and I hate to see anyone try to make some political hay out of all this or pretend this photo is something its not.”

He's correct that it is strange to be endlessly debating this, especially since nothing in Lowenstein's statement contradicts anything I said in my original post, which was also nowhere near as partisan as some paranoids seem bent on making it out to be. (Did these people actually even bother to read what I wrote in that or in previous posts?)

I respect every politician for coming out here, Senator Kerry included, regardless of any disagreement I may have with their views on the war. (In Senator Kerry's case these disagreements are numerous, but that is beside the point). At the same time, there were an unusually large number of stories circulating here about commanders either not wanting Senator Kerry to visit their units, or of soldiers wanting some small measure of payback for the pre-election joke. I personally saw him receiving far less attention or adulation in the same setting than typically received by other politicians and celebrities of his stature.

I never said he was alone at breakfast (something the Liberal blogs started to claim after they conceded that I hadn't faked the picture), nor did I claim that the Senator was unable to meet with any soldiers anywhere while in Iraq.

In other words, Frank Lowenstein and I are telling the same story from two different perspectives, based upon two different sets of facts that overlap for a brief ten minute window. It is amazing that nobody has considered the possibility that we could both be right, that Senator Kerry received an unenthusiastic reception from some troops, but was well-received by some soldiers elsewhere.

In the end, this is, and has always been, a trivial issue, especially while there are real heroes out there making sacrifices everyday to defend our nation. Thank G-d we live in the digital age, as I hate to think how many trees would have been needlessly killed to keep this non-controversy alive 20 years ago.

And with that I'm done on this issue.

Saddam is Dead

2006-12-30T07:17:00.000+02:00

One of history's worst tyrants was executed this morning at 0600 Baghdad time. Whatever imperfections there may have been to his trial (although his only defenses were obfuscation and obstructionism), I don't think anyone can say that justice was not carried out.

More important is the question of where do the Iraqis go from here. That remains to be determined, with millions of lives in Iraq and the United States hanging (sorry, poor word choice) in the balance.

The Death of a Tyrant

2006-12-29T21:06:00.000+02:00

By this time tomorrow, it is likely that Saddam Hussein will be dead. (No, I don't have any inside information on this. My best guess was that they would execute him last night, but at 0300 all I heard were the helicopters hovering in overwatch for his transition of custody to Iraqi control. If he'd been killed, I think I would have heard a deafening amount of celebratory fire as well).

The enormity of that first sentence throws me for a loss as I write it. Not because I have any moral qualms with the death penalty, at least not in the case of a genocidal dictator. But even as he was exposed as a coward through the circumstances of his capture, photographed in his briefs during his captivity, and revealed to a simple lover of Cheetohs (or Doritos, I forget which), he still seemed a larger than life figure despite these degradations.

There is ultimately no precedent for this, really, a genocidal tyrant being tried and executed for his crimes. (And yes, I recognize that his trial was held under less than ideal circumstances, but it was infinitely fairer than that received by any of his victims). Hitler committed suicide; Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot all died of natural causes (Pol Pot was almost killed by a mob of vengeful Cambodians, but was unfortunately rescued by a group of reporters); and Milosevic died before he could be convicted, although he would have only face a life-sentence for the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo. The closest examples I can think of are Mussolini and Ceaucescu, but even these tyrants were not guilty of crimes any near the scope of Saddam's.

This is not to say that he shouldn't be executed, only that it is an event that seems a bit surreal. And if I feel a sense of uncertainty, imagine how the average Iraqi must feel.

I also wonder how Saddam must feel as he approached his final hours. Will the Iraqis tell him when he is to be executed? If so, will he recognize the finality of it all, or like the First Gulf War and March 2003, will he somehow delude himself into believing it won't actually happen? How does a man with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people, responsible for rape squads and countless acts of torture, as well as the impoverishment of Iraq and destruction of its once vast, ancient marshlands, reflect upon his life? Does he have regrets, or does he look back and think, "Well, I had a really good run of things for about thirty years there. C'est la vie!"?

I have no idea how this will play out amongst Iraqis. Things could get very dicey real quick, although it is not as if Iraqis seem to lack excuses for killing one another or Coalition forces as things are now.

TPMmuckraker, The Left, and Me

2006-12-29T17:25:00.000+02:00

Geez, people, lighten the **** up!

Long story made short: my 18 December post on the stories I'd heard and events I'd seen surrounding Senator Kerry's visit got picked up by NRO's "The Corner" and Instapundit. Justin Rood of the respectable Left-of-Center blog http://tpmmuckraker.com/ seized upon this and questioned the authenticity of the photos. His commenters went one step further, calling me a Bush-Administration plant in the military and a Right Wing Nut. (At least those are the appellations I can reprint).

Two points are pertinent here: Given that it took me about six months to figure out how to insert links into this blog, anybody who knows me knows I'm not technologically savvy enough to photoshop a picture like that. Second, in the actual post itself, I gave Kerry credit for being a good sport, and NEVER claimed there wasn't a single soldier anywhere in Iraq who was willing to shake his hand. I was merely pointing out that he'd received a far more subdued reception than:
- Bill O'Reilly, who on the same weekend had several hundred soldiers wait in line for the chance to meet him; or
- Senator John McCain, who in the same mess hall was mobbed by soldiers wanting a picture or to shake his hand.

To his credit, Justin emailed me to get my side of the story. My response was as follows:

Justin,

Thank you for your interest and for taking the time to contact me regarding the photos. I certainly did not intend to kick up such a firestorm by posting them on my web log. (Another friend here sent a separate photo and account to radio host Scott Hennen, who subsequently publicized the incident). In the name of fairness, I'm copying the other bloggers you mentioned in your post so that everybody has equal access to this story.

To answer your questions, yes, the photos are authentic. Although I did not personally take the pictures, I saw the person who did immediately after they took them and asked for a copy.

The explanation for the date/time stamp falls under the category of Occam's Razor: the person whose camera was used had just arrived in Baghdad, hadn't taken any pictures with it yet, and hadn't set their date/time stamp yet. (Believe it or not, not all servicemen here are technological wizards. As my wife could tell you, I wasnÂt able to figure out our DVR while home on leave). This, as you observed, also explains the seeming discrepancy between the date/time stamp and the commercial availability of the camera model.

To hopefully put this matter to rest, (but given the current state of our political discourse and related conspiracy theories, not likely) I'm attaching two photos taken this morning with the same camera from roughly the same angle. Note the same Christmas and wall decorations (although one poinsettia has been added since December 17), the same flags in the background, and a copy of today's (12/29) European Stars and Stripes as "proof of life." (Incidentally, I commend to your readers Megan McCloskey's article on the Marine Engineering Battalion that has adopted an Iraqi school).

The date/time stamp, for those interested, is exactly twelve days after the original time stamp. Apparently, the owner still hasn't gotten around to setting it.

As to why the Portuguese flag is still flying in the Dining Facility . . . well, okay, you got me there. My guess is that the contractors who run the DFAC either:
a) Have no idea whose flag it is and whether they are still in country or not;
b) DonÂt care about the political implications of hanging that flag; or
c) DonÂt have anything else to fill the empty wall space.
Either way, I will bring it to the manager's attention at lunch today.

Again, thank you for your interest in this matter. Have a Happy New Year.

Respectfully,

Ben

Justin reprinted part of my explanation, but also apparently did a background check of me (I should have stayed anonymous . . . darn those Iraqi schoolchildren!) and stated that I was once a "Staff Assistant" to former Undersecretaryary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. (This is only partially true. Whereas I was brought into OSD Policy by Mr. Feith, and I have great respect for him, in reality I worked in an office several layers of bureaucracy beneath him).

TPM's commenters were less generous, again, calling me a Bush shill and discounting the possibility that anything I say could possibly be true because I worked for the Administration. (Are those really pictures of my son, or some cuter infant I use to gain sympathy? I'll never tell).

As Jonathan Swift once said, "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."

Seriously, though, maybe I'm just horribly naive to believe in the possibility of using the blogosphere as a means of elevating political discourse between Right and Left. It is disappointing how quickly people who clearly hadn't read my blog at all were to resort to personal attacks on me and my integrity without ever engaging on the substance.

It is really a sad statement on our nation's politics (both Left and Right) that people could get this hysterical over what was essentially just a mass email to my friends and family. But it has increased my appreciation for what bloggers such as Glenn Reynolds, the Powerline trio, Ed Morrissey, David Adesnik, and others go through every day.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!

2006-12-28T09:15:00.000+02:00

"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."
Thomas Paine

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."
John Adams

David was only ten days old when I was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom. As painful as it is sometimes, my favorite leisure time activity here is watching the DVDs of David that my wife sends me each month.

G-d willing this will be the first and last birthday of his that I miss, and that he will never have to miss one of his childrens' birthdays due to similar circumstances.

Ben

A Sleepless Night

2006-12-27T21:51:00.000+02:00

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep, most likely because I was crashing on a project and drank an energy drink later in the evening than I should have.

Not that it mattered.

I was awoken at 0055 by the crack of small arms fire. It is not uncommon to hear the Triple Canopy guards fire off an isolated warning shot from the guard towers overlooking the Tigris whenever a boat comes to close to the Western Shore. But last night I heard about thirty shots from at least two weapons. It sounded like someone in the distance was walking on bubble paper.

In some ways, small arms fire is more disconcerting than incoming mortar fire. The blast from indirect fire is a discrete event, and by the time you hear the explosion the attack is essentially over.

But small arms fire could mean many things: Was it just a series of warning shots from multiple guards? Warning shots met by return fire? Or could it be the start of the Jaish al-Mahdi finally storming the compound, an event we joke about in moments of dark humor? Lying in the dark, isolated in my trailer, there is no way of knowing what is happening outside.

(And I'm pretty sure that running outside in my tee shirt and boxers, clutching my 9mm, is not a sound response to these situations, tactically speaking).

It was probably nothing, and certainly does not compare to what thousands of soldiers and Marines out in the field encounter every night. But these uncertainties are the types of moment I look forward to leaving behind in three months.

First Class

2006-12-26T11:50:00.000+02:00

For the Minnesota-wing of my family, a nice story from Peter King's weekly column about the class shown by former Viking star wideout Cris Carter:

Cris Carter, my HBO compatriot, on his Travel Story of the Year:

"I'm flying from Atlanta to Nashville the other day for a business meeting for a security company I have. You see military people all over the airport, thousands of military people traveling. They're all in their camouflage. I get on the plane with my brother John. We're sitting in first-class. The guy across from me, I hear him talking to the flight attendant and all of a sudden he grabs his stuff and goes to the back of the plane.

I hear him saying he's giving up his seat to someone in the military. I told my brother, 'Get up, we're going to the back.' We go to the back, sit down, give up our seats, and one by one, everyone in first-class started giving up their seats. It wasn't a big plane. Then the pilot got on and said, 'Thanks to the generosity of the patrons in first-class, some of our military personnel will be in first-class today. Glad to have you. Thanks for what you do.'

It was an emotional moment, a small thing I would have never thought of. It was nice. How easy you can make someone's holiday trip home a little more pleasant.''

Although nobody offered me their seat when I was traveling on leave, I was approached by many people in the Baltimore and Atlanta airports who thanked me for my service.

Also, Peter King has a touching update on a Staff Sergeant with whom he's corresponded and is now home from Iraq and celebrating Christmas. I disagree with King on many things (in particular his repeated snub of Redskins great Art Monk on the Hall of Fame ballot). But King demonstrates perfectly how it is possible to be both anti-war and genuinely pro-troop, unlike many "activists" who claim support for the troops merely as a prop for their anti-Bush or, as in the case of Cindy Sheehan and supporters, anti-American beliefs.

Thank you Cris Carter and Peter King for your support. It is greatly appreciated.

MERRY EID EL MEALAD

2006-12-24T20:09:00.000+02:00

(Arabic for Merry Christmas. And yes, there is an Arabic word for Christmas).

Merry Christmas to everybody back home, especially the Maguires and Payeurs. I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and I look forward to seeing you all again this time next year.

Ben

Najaf, Part II

2006-12-24T09:53:00.000+02:00

Your intrepid correspondent enjoying a parade on a sunny day in Najaf.

Part two of my notes from the Najaf "PIC" ceremony last Wednesday:

- After the signing, a police pickup truck drives in front of the reviewing stand. A police commander jumps out of the back, draws a sword, and salutes the Governor to begin the parade.

- The tribal sheikhs pour out of the stands and gather in front of the reviewing stand. The raise Iraqi flags and the blue flags of the Shi’a tribes. One sheikh shouts a pledge of loyalty into the microphone, and the others chant in response, waving their hands and the flags.

The Najaf Sheikhs pledging their loyalty.

- The first vehicle in the parade is the same Police Commander, followed by a poster depicting the Koran. This is followed by the poster of the Prophet and the Shi’a martyrs, the posters of Talibani and Maliki, and civilians holding pictures of bombing victims.

The Najaf Police Commander and the Koran lead the parade.

The posters of the Shi'a icons, followed by President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki.

Portraits of martyrs.

- An array of Iraqi Security Force units marched by, having emptied the stands throughout the stadium: Iraqi Army, National Police, Najaf Police, Facilities Protection Service, Commando units wearing black masks, even firemen in bright yellow helmets and boots. A single horsemen passes the reviewing stand, followed by a succession of units . . . well, prancing is the only way to describe it . . . and chanting cadences.

From top to bottom: The Iraqi Army, the Najaf Police, the Iraqi National Police, an Iraqi Commando unit, and the Najaf Fire Brigade.

Iraqi Army and Commando units chanting and prancing.

- One of the units stops in front of the reviewing stand and executes a right face so they face the dignitaries. They are wearing dark green camouflage tee shirts that look as if they had just visited a surplus store somewhere, and black pants. Their faces are also painted black. The commander issues an order in Arabic, the men chant something in response, and then each soldier produces a live frog from his right pocket. They then proceeded to BITE THE HEAD OFF THE FROG and throw its STILL KICKING torso onto the track. The Commander of the unit then produces a live rabbit and holds it by its hind legs in front of him. He pulls out an eight-inch hunting knife, and guts it from its belly to its neck. He grabs the incision on each side, and rips its chest and stomach open. He proceeded to STICK HIS MOUTH INTO THE CARCASS, AND COMES OUT WITH THE STILL BEATING HEART IN HIS TEETH!!! He passes the rabbit to each soldier, who takes a turn BITING INTO THE BLOODY INTESTINES!!!

Hide the pets! It's the Ozzy Osbourne Brigade!
Honestly, I could not have made this up if I tried.

- After the “Ozzy Ozzbourne Brigade” passes, a group of seven horsemen holding Iraqi flags turns the corner to the homestretch of the track. My first thought is “Lord, they are not going to eat the horses, are they?” But instead, they do two laps of the stadium at full speed.

Dessert? No, it's the Najaf Derby!

- The vehicles of the Iraqi Army and Police do drive by of the reviewing stand (I guess nobody wanted to be the ones to walk through the rabbit guts), including Humvees, ambulances, Border Patrol SUVs (even though Najaf doesn’t border another country), police pickups with 40mm guns mounted in the rear, fire trucks, and HazMat vehicles.

- A squad of paratroopers comes to a halt in front of the reviewing stand and provides a martial arts demonstration. In formation, they perform a series of punches, kicks, (think an Arab Kobra Kai) and then a self-defense demonstration with some serious throws that elicits oohs and aahs from the audience. One student punches through a "board" that looks suspiciously like painted styrofoam. Finally, the instructor/commander is surrounded by six of the soldiers and takes each of them out as they assault him one by one.

- This unit is followed by a group of ten teenage boys in martial arts Gis. (At least I though they were teenagers . . . young men in Iraq almost always have thin mustaches as a sign of manhood, so it is sometimes difficult to gauge their age). The instructor yells commands in either Japanese or Korean, and later defends himself against a series of attacks by his students, at least one of whom is wielding a sword. Like the paratrooper unit before them, they end their demonstration by putting one student on another’s shoulders and producing an Iraqi flag in dramatic fashion.

There have been a lot of bad days in Iraq since I arrived last Spring. I start every day with the daily intelligence report, which leads off with how many people were killed over the previous 24 hours. Even on days where the violence is relatively light, it is still too many innocent families being torn apart by the nihilism of evil men. And while I am still fully convinced that our cause here is just, it is frustrating at times to realize that best intentions are not enough, and that the sacrifices our soldiers are making in the field every day (sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice) for a peaceful Iraq and a secure U.S does not seem to be improving the situation here.

But today, the spirit of the Iraqi Security Forces was palpable, and you could see the pride on the soldiers' and policemen's faces as they marched, honored to be assuming responsiblity for maintaining Iraq’s security. Their clear devotion to Iraq as a nation renewed my hope that there is still a chance we can overcome the terrorists and extremists trying to destroy everything the Iraqi people want to build.

HAPPY FESTIVUS!!!

2006-12-23T09:01:00.000+02:00

In the immortal words of Frank Costanza, "I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you're gonna' hear about it."

1. Michael Richards -- Thanks, Michael, now I can't watch Seinfeld reruns without feeling just a little bit dirty inside.

2. Professors Mearsheimer and Walt -- To quote Benny Morris, the revisionist Israeli historian whom the Professors cite extensively to demonstrate Israel's moral failings:

[Mearsheimer and Walt's] work is a travesty of the history that I have studied and written for the past two decades. Their work is riddled with shoddiness and defiled by mendacity. Were "The Israel Lobby" an actual person, I would have to say that he did not have a single honest bone in his body.

And this is from one of Israel's leading domestic critics!

3. Jimmy Carter -- To quote Alan Dershowitz (whom Carter refuses to debate regarding his assertion that Israel is an apartheid state):

Carter's refusal to debate wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that he claims that he wrote the book precisely so as to start debate over the issue of the Israel-Palestine peace process. . . . Jimmy Carter isn't brave for beating up on Israel. He's a bully. And like all school-yard bullies, underneath the tough talk and bravado, there's a nagging insecurity and a fear that one day he'll have to answer for himself in a fair fight.

4. O.J. Simpson -- Isn't it enough that you literally got away with murder because of an incompetent prosecution, a shameless race baiting defense team, and a frighteningly ignorant jury? Do you really have to continue to torture the families of the victim with a "hypothetical" book about killing their loved ones. Wow, Juice, I really hope you like Hell.

5. Judith Regan -- Not only was it bad enough that you sought to profit from O.J.'s crimes and the suffering of the Goldman and Brown families, but then when you get fired for your colossal amorality, you go ahead and blame your firing on a Jewish cabal. Hey Judith Regan, you stay classy!

6. Mike Nifong -- Speaking of prosecutorial incompetence, or more likely in this, prosecutorial misconduct. This time it was the Durham DA who engaged in despicable race baiting in order to get re-elected. Mr. Nifong, I hope you know a better lawyer than you've proven to be.

7. Mark Foley -- There are literally billions of reasons why the Republicans lost both the House and the Senate in this year's midterms (or more precisely, billions in wasteful earmarks); and yes, Rahm Emmanuel did lie through his teeth when he claimed the Democrats didn't know about Foley's emails months before the election. But wrong is still wrong, and the Republicans shouldn't have put their collective heads in the sand in order to keep a seat.

8. Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, (insert name of overpaid, selfish athlete here) -- Winston Churchill is reputed to have explained that he read the sports pages before the front page in the morning because he wanted to read about man's accomplishments rather than man's failures. If Sir Winston lived in the age of crybabies and steroid monsters that we do, I wonder if he would have read the sports pages at all.

9. Charlie Rangel, Columbia University, and the San Fransisco City School Board -- And the finalists for outstanding achievement in anti-military condescension, harassment, or bias goes to . . .

10. Muqtada al-Sadr and the Jaish al-Mahdi -- Finally, some people are just too stupid to know when they have won. After decades of enduring oppression and massacres at the hands of Iraq's central government, the Shi'a were liberated, and given their chance at creating a functioning democracy that would ensure they would never be persecuted again. But this apparently is not good enough for the JAM, which continues to target innocent Sunni civilians for torture and extra-judicial killings. Instead of sitting back and developing Iraq's oil fields and getting rich, they are in the process of tearing their country down around them. (Of course, this could have something to do with all the Iranian money they are awash in). Too many good men (i.e. Shane Mahaffee) have died because of them. But many more good people, Americans and Iraqis, will die if the JAM isn't stopped. And that is why we can not just walk away and let the extremists have their way with Iraq.

Najaf, Part I

2006-12-22T11:15:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday I traveled to Najaf to attend the PIC (Provinicial Iraqi Control) Ceremony, marking the transfer of authority for all security issues in the province from Coalition forces to the Najaf Provincial Council. Najaf is the third Iraqi province to assume responsbility for its security, and our goal is to transfer the remaining half-dozen provinces with less than two attacks per day to local Iraqi control in the next few months. Hopefully (fingers crossed), we will be able to transfer the responsibility for security to all of Iraq's 18 provinces by Fall of 2007.

For those who don't know, Najaf is the most important city in Shi'a Islam, third in holiness only to Mecca and Medina. The Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf is the resting place of Imam Ali, the son-in-law and nephew of the Prophet Muhammed, who Shi'a believe was the Prophet's rightful successor. Surrounding the gilded mosque is the Wadi as Salam "Wadi of Peace", the largest cemetary in the Muslim world. Shi'a believe that anyone buried near Imam Ali will be guaranteed resurrection on Judgment Day. Najaf was also traditionally Shiism's center of learning until the religious establishment there was crushed by Saddam Hussein.

In other words, Najaf is a very important city to Iraq's history and cultural identity.

So, in no particular order, my notes from my trip to Najaf:

- Flying over Baghdad, a number of traffic jams were visible on the Eastern shore of the Tigris, suggesting people are still going to work despite the horrible violence plaguing the city. Minarets were visible through a layer of black smoke that had covered the city (either from a refinery or from a car bomb that went off at 0705 in the Karada District).

Early morning traffic alongside the Tigris.

- This is my first trip south of Baghdad. The neighborhoods in the southern end of the city are spread out and lack paved roads. In fact, the outlying areas to Baghdad’s south are drabber than those to the north, comprised of more muddy fields.
Eventually the landscape became greener, with agricultural fields in between palm groves. Some fields were bisected by small irrigation canals, tall reeds sprouting up in the water.

- A morning mist covers the fields, but I can see a lot of people outside already at 0837. Small boys are herding sheep and leading cows, men are walking through the fields. There are also a lot of women out: some in colorful outfits tending herds, some in black abayas walking by the side of a canal; some carrying bundles of wheat or reeds on their backs. We pass over one group of children jumping up and down, waving to us.

- Rural towns appear out of nowhere in the middle of vast palm groves, one with a three story watchtower, and clotheslines hanging in between palm trees. Eventually, the landscape completely transforms itself into desert. The desert floor is dotted with large geometric patterns, sometimes consisting of berms that appear about 3-4 feet high with small gaps in between mounds. Because they are in roughly football filed sized rectangles, I guess that they were defensive fighting positions during the war rather than graves or natural formations. In addition to some natural depressions and small rock formations, there are larger mounds of sand with tire tracks nearby in the sand. These definitely were man-made, either company assembly areas for our tanks or theirs.

- Through the haze to the West, I can make out the Golden Dome of the Imam Ali Mosque in the distance just before we land. Unfortunately, it is too far for a good photo, and I'm unable to make out the details of the surrounding cemetary.

- In Najaf, we load into “Vivas,” a South African equivalent of the Humvee used by Aegis in Iraq. It is a 5-6km drive from the Iraqi Army post we landed at and the soccer stadium where the ceremony is held. Although Najaf is a potential economic gold mine because of the tourism industry catering to all the Shi'a pilgrims visiting the Shrine of the Imam Ali, we drive through a poorer district. Low, one story houses sit 20-30 feet off the road, with piles of trash filling the muddy interval. Men, in dress ranging from full-length dishasas to Western track suits, are walking by the side of the road, watching us as we pass.

- Once we reach the soccer stadium, we are escorted onto the field with the rest of the media. Facing the main bleachers, the reviewing stand is in the center, and about 100 tribal sheiks sitting in the section to the right. Various units of the Iraqi Army and Police occupy alternating sections of the bleachers.

Iraqi troops waiting for the ceremony to begin. The guys in the bright yellow hats on the right are Najaf's Fire Department, or the NFD.

The tribal sheikhs of Najaf.

- A speaker sings a slow, mournful tune about Abbas (a Shi'a martyr at the Battle of Karbala), and then recites a poem about Ashurra, Muhammad, Najaf, and the willingness to sacrifice for Haidar. (Haidar means "Lion" in Arabic, and is a common nickname for the Imam Ali). The soldiers and Iraqi police occupying the stands throughout the stadium chant in response.
One army unit begins singing, jumping up and down, and waving their flags. Five other units respond by singing their own chants and dancing. The sound of women ulating fills the stadium. The original unit ups the spirit competition a notch by coming down out of the bleachers and dancing in circles on the track. The atmosphere in the stadium is exhilirating, although I imagine that if I ever were about to be executed in Iran, this is how my final moments would be passed.

"Celebration time, come on!" Iraqi Army troops chant and dance to celebrate the transfer of authority.

- I have learned a valuable trick in Iraq: to truly understand what is going on at any given time, all I have to do is to stand next to an attractive female Western reporter, in this case either Jenny from AFP or Claudia from Reuters. Each is surrounded by several English-speaking Iraqi males offering to translate and explain the ceremony for them. (Later in the day, as we are waiting for our convoy back to the helicopter pad, Iraqi soldiers approach asking to have their pictures taken with them).

- On the opposite end of the field, soldiers are holding 4’x6’ posters. One portrays the key figures of Iraqi Shi’ism: The Prophet Muhammed (with face obscured by a ray of light), the Imam Ali, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad al-Sadr (yes, that Sadr’s father, assassinated in 1998 by Saddam), and Ayatollah Muhammad al-Hakim (the founder of SCIRI, assassinated by an Al Qaeda suicide bomber in September 2003). There are also posters of President Talibani and Prime Minister Maliki, which I’m told is the first time portraits of Iraqi political leaders have been displayed in Najaf since Saddam was deposed. Saddam forcibly plastered his visage on every wall and billboard in Najaf, so the habit understandably fell out of favor.

On the left, the poster bearing images of the Prophet, Imam Ali, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, and the murdered clerics Muhamammed al-Sadr and Muhammed al-Hakim. On the right are the posters of President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki, the first such depictions of them in Najaf. For any jihadists/Islamofascists reading this blog, please note that the Prophet's face is depicted as a ray of light, so this post shouldn't be used as a justification to kill me.

- The main party arrives and the national anthem is played. Although I have no idea what the lyrics are, I actually like the Iraqi anthem, which is a catchy, up-tempo martial tune. Sort of like the Marseilles, but with a better rhythm section. Later in the day, in a heartwarming moment, an Iraqi reporter’s cell phone goes off during General Brooks’ remarks. His ring tone is the Iraqi national anthem.

- National Security Advisor Muwaffak al-Rubaie gives the keynote address, followed by the Provincial Governor and the Chair of the Provincial Council. My rough notes from their remarks is as follows . . . okay, never mind, nothing they said was that remarkable, except maybe for the Governor’s observation that the “terrorists can not distinguish between a Shi’a, a Sunni, or a Christian . . . (I thought I heard him say “or a Jew,” but this had to be my imagination) . . . between the old or the young.” This is an important point to be made by a Shi’a politician.

- Okay, two more quotes from Governor Khalil:

“We will not discriminate by race, but rather judge people by their work.” (Not a particularly original formulation to American ears, but refreshing to hear in Iraq).
“We say NO for dictatorship, NO for terrorists, NO for takfiris [Sunni extremists justify killing all Shi’a by declaring them takfir, or apostates], NO for sectarianism! We say YES for unity, YES for freedom, YES for democracy!

National Security Advisor Muwaffak al-Rubaie delivers the keynote address.

- I’m interviewed by three Iraqi news networks. So if anybody happened to be taping Al-Arabiya Wednesday night and caught a clip with me, please make a copy and send it to Marya. Thanks.

- After the speeches, General Brooks and Governor Khalil come out of the stands to sign the Memorandum of Understanding transferring security responsibility to the Provincial Government. They are immediately surrounded by Iraqi media, reporters and cameramen, at least three deep trying to capture the signing. The master of ceremonies SCREAMS into the microphone with an enthusiasm that would put Bruce Buffer to shame.

Part II tomorrow: "Why I Love an Iraqi Military Parade, and Why PETA Doesn't"

Ambassador Joe Wilson is Suddenly Shy

2006-12-22T11:07:00.000+02:00

From yesterday's "Best of the Web" on OpinionJournal.com:

"Former ambassador Joseph Wilson asked a federal judge Wednesday not to force him to testify in the CIA leak case and accused former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby of trying to harass him on the witness stand," the Associated Press reports from Washington:

"Mr. Libby should not be permitted to compel Mr. Wilson's testimony at trial either for the purpose of harassing Mr. Wilson or to gain an advantage in the civil case," Wilson's attorneys wrote.

Hmm, for a guy who burst onto the scene three years ago as the most garrulous figure since Ted Turner, and who then wrote a book called "The Politics of Truth," Wilson is awfully averse to testifying under oath.

It is hard to believe anybody ever took this clown seriously, especially after the Senate Intelligence Committee officially branded him a liar back in 2004. Then again, given the state of political discourse amongst a certain subset of the American electorate, maybe it isn't so surprising.

A Holiday Wish (Warning: R Rated)

2006-12-19T19:38:00.000+02:00

And now for a moment of levity: Steve Martin's classic Saturday Night Live monologue, "A Holiday Wish" . . . (although I think that his wife granting him the 31-day orgasm wish is more likely than to get the children of Iraq to join hands and sing together in the harmony of peace):

If I had one wish that I could wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace.

If I had two wishes I could make this holiday season, the first would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and peace. And the second would be for 30 million dollars a month to be given to me, tax-free in a Swiss bank account.

You know, if I had three wishes I could make this holiday season, the first, of course, would be for all the children of the world to get together and sing, the second would be for the 30 million dollars every month to me, and the third would be for encompassing power over every living being in the entire universe.

And if I had four wishes that I could make this holiday season, the first would be the crap about the kids definitely, the second would be for the 30 million, the third would be for all the power, and the fourth would be to set aside one month each year to have an extended 31-day orgasm, to be brought out slowly by Rosanna Arquette and that model Paulina-somebody, I can't think of her name. Of course my lovely wife can come too and she's behind me one hundred percent here, I guarantee it.

Wait a minute, maybe the sex thing should be the first wish, so if I made that the first wish, because it could all go boom tomorrow, then what do you got, y'know? No, no, the kids, the kids singing would be great, that would be nice. But wait a minute, who am I kidding? They're not going to be able to get all those kids together. I mean, the logistics of the thing is impossible, more trouble than it's worth! So -- we reorganize!

Here we go. First, the sex thing. We go with that. Second, the money. No, we got with the power second, then the money. And then the kids. Oh wait, oh jeez, I forgot about revenge against my enemies! Okay, I need revenge against all my enemies, they should die like pigs in hell! That would be my fourth wish. And, of course, my fifth wish would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. Thank you everybody and Merry Christmas.

Schaudenfraude (Or John Kerry Visits Iraq)

2006-12-18T09:55:00.000+02:00

After praising Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, Senator John Kerry came to Iraq this weekend.

Before his arrival, rumors were already flowing that every FOB (Forward Operating Base) Commander told General Casey that they already had another "DV" (Distinguished Visitor) to support while Sen. Kerry was in country -- or that they would be in the middle of ongoing operations -- and hence were unable to support his visit. This rumor was either sparked or confirmed by a post by Matt on Blackfive. (Blackfive, for those who don't already read it, is an infinitely more interesting military blog than mine).

Hey, I just came from a meeting where they were trying to get some commander, any commander, in the Green Zone, to host Jawn Carri.

Swear to God, the CG is saying, "You can't tell me you ALL have things going on at that time! Come on!"

So, it appears that JF'nK will be coming to the Palace at the Embassy Annex and sitting around sucking up coffee at the Green Bean while we all try to ignore him.

Me, I'm gonna get a picture with him.

While in Iraq, things didn't get much better for Senator Kerry. Rumor has it that somebody gave his helicopter flights the designation "Weasel 61." (Legend has it that when Senator Clinton visited Afghanistan, her bird was assigned "Broomstick 11" as its code name). Before taking off, supposedly the helicopter pilot jumped out of the front seat while the rotor was turning (an extremely rare event), approached the rear of the bird, and asked Senator Kerry to autograph a copy of the photograph below:

To his everlasting credit, Senator Kerry was a good sport and actually signed it!!!

On Saturday night, a colleague emailed me and told me to bring my camera, as Senator Kerry was scheduled to give a press conference here in the Palace. At 2100, he entered a conference room wearing his leather flight jacket. Unfortunately, there was no media there, except for the enlisted soldiers from AFTN (Armed Forces Television Network) who had to be there. His aide looked around, saw that this just wasn't happening, and quickly escorted Kerry out before I could take a picture.

Finally, the next morning, Senator Kerry ate chow at the Dining Facility. Normally when a Senator/Representative visits, he is joined by a contingent of soldiers/Marines/airmen from his home state. Despite the fact that the MP unit responsible for Green Zone security is an Army Reserve unit from Massachusetts, not a single soldier went to sit with him. (By contrast, Bill O'Reilly, host of that terrible shoutfest on Fox, had over 400 soldiers waiting in line to meet him on Saturday).

Schaudenfraude is the German word for taking pleasure in somebody else's suffering. I don't know whether I should feel this or rather pity for Senator Kerry, who looked like a kid on his first day at a new school. I'm not sure what kind of a reception he expected to receive here given his "botched joke" before the election, but I'm debating whether to give him points for having the chutzpah to come to Iraq.

Quotes of the Day (XIII)

2006-12-17T18:47:00.000+02:00

- "Tyranny is our foe, whatever trappings or disguises it wears, whatever language it speaks, be it external or internal, we must forever be on our guard, ever mobilised, ever vigilant, always ready to spring at its throat."

Winston Churchill
Harvard University, September 1943

- "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

John F. Kennedy

Appropos of Senator John Kerry's visit to Egypt last week, in which he praised Egyptian dicatator Hosni Mubarak, but somehow failed to even mention jailed democratic activists Ayman Nour and Muhammad Sharqawi, amongst other dissidents.

Out and About in the IZ

2006-12-16T12:44:00.000+02:00

The other day I had some free time, and went down to the CSH (Combat Support Hospital) to help a friend distribute some cards sent by an elementary school in Ferguson Falls, MN, and to touch base about how to distribute the care packages that will soon be arriving. (See my previous posts about this below).

It was the first time IÂd been back to the CSH since my friend Shane's death back in May. It was very difficult, to say the least, to walk up the stairs to the second floor, and up the small ramp to ICU #1 where Shane was treated. There was one soldier there in a condition that didnÂt allow for visitors, which spared me having to relive some of the memories of that day and what followed.

However, other than that one wounded soldier, there were no other American patients in the hospital. In each department we visited, the hospital staff was almost apologetic for how quiet things were and knocked on the closest piece of wood they could find. (The only patient other than the wounded soldier was a young Iraqi girl wounded by a car bomb two-and-a-half months ago. We could hear her moaning in pain from around the corner of ICU #2).

If there is one thing I've definitely been remiss about with regards to this blog, it is that I have not included nearly enough original photos of Iraq. Whether due to lap top crashes, or simply not wanting to look like a tourist whetravelingng alongside the Ambassador or a General, I haven't taken as many photographs as I'd like. I'm therefore resolved to try to include more photography on this site in my remaining three months here.

So, in addition to visiting the CSH, I also had enough time to go and take some long overdue "tourist" pictures of the "Crossed Swords" monument, Saddam's macabre tribute to his "victory" in the Iran-Iraq War.

A long view of the 40-ft tall swords on either end of Saddam's parade ground.

The helmets at the base of the statue and at the entrance to the parade ground (next to the concertina wire) are the helmets of killed Iranian soldiers. It was Saddam's idea to have his forces march over the heads of his vanquished enemies.

The hands and forearms at the base of the statue are supposedly modeled on Saddam's arms. (And yes, that small speck at the base is me).

The Tomb of the Unknowns (also from the Iran-Iraq War), as seen from a distance.

Bad News, Good News: Soccer and Chanukkah Edition

2006-12-15T18:11:00.000+02:00

SOCCER
BAD NEWS-- Iraq lost to Qatar, 1-0, in the finals of the Asian Games' soccer competition.

GOOD NEWS-- I don't have to dodge celebratory gunfire returning to earth on my way to and from dinner.

BAD NEWS-- There are now literally millions of Iraqis who are depressed, angry, and have been stocking ammunition for the past three days in preparation for today.

CHANUKKAH
GOOD NEWS-- There is actually a celebration taking place tonight for the first night of Chanukkah.

BAD NEWS-- It is on the other side of Baghdad. All things considered, I don't think it is worth taking the chance of a cross-town trip just to get in a few games of Dreidel.

GOOD NEWS-- The .00001% chance that Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Jaish al Mahdi death squads will catch the Chanukkah spirit and take a night off from killing people. THAT would be a real miracle!!!

"We're Seeing Positive Results"

2006-12-15T12:06:00.000+02:00

Major General Caldwell's latest op-ed on the training of the Iraqi Security Forces in Friday's USA can be found here.

The piece we are "rebutting" is here, although in reality it isn't really a rebuttal, since we didn't get to see the editorial while drafting our response, whereas the USA Today editorial board was able review our draft before sending theirs to press. (To their credit, however, they did accept our counterpoint without edits or cuts.)

There are two further points to be made on this subject:
1- USA Today writes, "Training appears to have achieved meager results so far." That is true as far as the overall level of violence in Iraq, especially Baghdad. But it is not true as far as the actual operational capacity of the Iraqi Army. For example, in August 2004, when Mahdi Army forces attacked Najaf, the Iraqi Security Forces there fled without a shot being fired. When a replay of this incident occurred in Diwaniyah this August, the Iraqi Army not only stayed and fought, but inflicted more than three times as many casualties as it sustained, and successfully completed one of the most complex operations known to modern militaries -- a nighttime battle handover in the middle of a firefight. This is merely one example of many we see reported everyday here.

2- Most of the problems with the training of the trainers cited were recognized in a 2005 report, even though some reporters (I'm talking to you, Thomas Ricks) cast them as new or ongoing in recent reporting. To their credit, the USA Today acknowledges that the program has undergone a complete overhaul since then and is now putting experienced and better prepared leaders into the mentoring positions.

One final point: The operation by the 9th Iraqi Army Division cited in the editorial was a success, not a failure. The Military Transition Team did not take the lead, but rather called for Coalition air support and advised the Iraqi commanders during the mission. This is exactly what they are supposed to do when their Iraqi units get in over their head. The expectation that they will occasionally get into operations that exceed their capabilities is precisely why they have American advisors. In the end, the operation was a success: 20 Anti-Iraqi Forces were killed or wounded, and more than 40 were detained, including several foreign fighters.

Okay, one final, final point (and my apologies for turning this into a Monty Python sketch: The Pentagon has never misrepresented the progress of the Iraqi Security Force. What we did do in 2004 and 2005 was to change the methodology by which progress was measured. Originally, the strength of the Iraqi forces was measure by total troop strength. But then once it was realized that many Iraqi commanders had scores of "ghost soldiers" on the books in order to receive more money, we began to only count those we had trained and equipped. Then once it was realized that these numbers could be misleading because of the high rates of absenteeism in the Iraqi Army (Iraq has no ATMs, so soldiers have to travel home to deliver their cash salaries to their families) we began rating units as to their capabilities. So there hasn't been any "misrepresenting," only an honest and continual reassessment of what exactly we were trying to measure.

Eason Jordan

2006-12-14T11:45:00.000+02:00

Eason Jordan, former head of the News Division at CNN, has announced he will be starting an all-Iraq news website.

Great.

Keep in mind, Eason Jordan was the one who admitted that CNN suppressed news of atrocities in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in order to keep its Baghdad bureau open.

Also, at the 2005 World Economic Forum Jordan accused U.S. forces of deliberately targeting journalists in Iraq. He repeatedly denied making these statements, and was eventually forced to resign from CNN when it became clear his denials were, well, less than accurate.

This is just the sort of refreshing objectivity this conflict needs!

Iraq in the Asian Games Finals!!!

2006-12-12T16:57:00.000+02:00

On a much cheerier note, we just received the warning not to go outside due the large volume of celebratory fire. Sure enough, I looked it up, and Iraq upset South Korea in the soccer semifinals of the Asian Cup, 1-0!

It is impossible to overstate the amount of adversity the Iraqi national team has had to overcome. I actually met them on my first weekend in country back in March, and as cliched as it sounds, they serve as inspiration to everyone working to build a better future for Iraq, regardless of sect, ethnicity, or even nationality. (And they get Iraqis to fire vertically for a night instead of horizontally!)

The finals are on Friday afternoon, in which Iraq will play the winner of the Qatar-Iran game that is starting within the hour. I really hope that I can find a way to watch the championship. After all they've been through, the Iraqi people deserve this victory.

Not a Good Morning

2006-12-12T13:01:00.000+02:00

First, I was awoken at 0330. The Marine Colonel who occupies the other side of my trailer had gotten up to do something in the bathroom that sits along the 8-foot corridor separating our rooms, and left his door wide open, his television blaring Fox News. I don't know what he needed to listen to while in the bathroom at 0330, or whether he ever gave any thought as to whether we would be able to hear it in my room.

Forgive the pun, but the Colonel is a strange bird. He keeps hours that don't really conform to either the day or night shift. Whenever my roommate or I gets to the bathroom first in the morning, he leaves his door open, and sits naked in a chair waiting for us to get out. He may be the best officer in the Marine Corps for all I know, but last night his eccentricity veered badly into rudeness.

But that was really trivial to what came next.

I accidentally slept through my alarm, which happens every now and then because I sleep with earplugs in so as to muffle the sound of helicopters flying overhead and the pre-dawn call to prayer from the mosques across the Tigris from my hooch. I opened my eyes at 0658, and almost as soon as I'd gotten out of bed and grabbed my shaving kit, the trailer rocked from an explosion in the distance.

Initially, I thought it was likely another mortar impact within the IZ, the kind that lands close but at most damages a storage trailer somewhere. Instead, when I came into the office, it was being reported that a car bomb had exploded in a square just across the July 14th Bridge from the IZ. A pickup truck laden with 200kg of explosives drove into a crowd of day laborers hoping to find work for the day and detonated, killing 45 and wounding 148 men, although the death toll will likely climb.

Think about it. These guys were just looking for any sort of manual labor so that they could put food on their families' tables, and then some ***hole without a family, wanting to go to "Paradise", ends their life. Even if one were to try to rationalize (i.e. Robert Pape) or justify (i.e. Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore) the terrorists' cause, there is no logical way whatsoever such a monstrous act furthers the cause of jihad. The fact that there is no link between means and ends should frighten everybody who believes that the best way to secure America is by disengaging from the Middle East.

Days like this break my heart. The 160,000 soldiers, airmen, Marines, and sailors of the Coalition are here trying to help Iraqis rebuild after 35 years of horrific tyranny. Yet only takes a handful of lunatics to undo everything we are trying to achieve in partnership with the Iraqis and increase the level of suffering for everybody . . . especially the families of those killed today.

More Thoughts on the Iraq Study Group

2006-12-11T15:09:00.000+02:00

"A fatuous process yields, necessarily, fatuous results." Eliot Cohen in the Wall Street Journal.

"If they're lucky, this document will be tossed in the trash and these men and women will be the laughingstocks of posterity." Mark Steyn,"ISG Must Stand For, uh, Inane Strategy Guesswork", in yesterday's Chicago Sun Times

"In all my time in Washington I've never seen such smugness, arrogance, or such insufferable moral superiority. Self-congratulatory. Full of itself. Horrible."
William Bennett in the National Review Online

Really, the report is that bad.

The things it gets right (i.e. the need for more trainers) are obvious and already being implemented.

The things it gets wrong are either ludicrous (i.e. the assertion that Syria and Iran share a common interest in Iraqi security as us -- or the Iraqis, for that matter) or outright dangerous (i.e. by linking the Sunni insurgency's violence to Israeli concessions, Baker and Hamilton have just justified every terrorist's claim that the way to defeat Israel is by killing Americans. Thanks, Gentlemen, we appreciate the support).

Again, if they had included any former Generals, even supposed "Clinton Generals" (i.e. Zinni, Shalikashvilli, Shelton) with an eye towards winning rather than retreating, then maybe it would have come up with some useful, or even remotely plausible, ideas.

But as it is, this is a report fails to makes any sense as a guide for national policy.

Silly String in Iraq

2006-12-10T16:15:00.000+02:00

An interesting story on MSNBC on how U.S. troops in Iraq are using commercially available "Silly String" to detect trip wires in buildings and on IEDs.

Not a bad bit of improvisation for a bunch of uneducated, unemployable, lower-class kids, huh?

Gift Update

2006-12-08T17:02:00.000+02:00

My colleague who is organizing the donation program for the Iraqi elementary school has provided me with an updated list of recommended items for the children (grades K-2):

- Crayons
- Markers
- Stickers
- Note books
- Rulers
- Calculators
- Small toys

Alternatively, you can send me items to distribute to the wounded troops here at the Combat Support Hospital in the International Zone.

Again, the address to send donations to is:

CPT Benjamin Runkle
MNF-I, Strategic Effects
Communications Division
APO AE 09316

P.S. I probably don't need to mention this, but if you are sending packages for the Iraqi children, please remember not to include any Christmas/Hanukkah decorations in the packaging. They are kind of sensitive about that sort of thing in this part of the world.

On a Lighter Note . . .

2006-12-07T13:48:00.000+02:00

Last night, at about 2145, a voice came over the Embassy loudspeaker telling everybody to stay in the Palace, that it was not safe to go outside.

Was it because of another rocket attack? . . . Was the Mahdi Army finally launching the long threatened assault on the IZ?

No.

It was because of the "extraordinarily high volume" of celebratory gunfire throughout Baghdad. Apparently, last night the Iraqi men's soccer team defeated Malaysia 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Asian Games. On Saturday they play Uzbekhistan.

The "All Clear" was given after about 30 minutes, but I will be sure to sleep in my body armor if they win on Saturday as well.

The Military and the Media

2006-12-07T13:30:00.000+02:00

Check out this report from Bill Roggio independent journalist who has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on numerous occasions during the past three years. His account is fascinating not just because I've spent a good deal of time in each of the locations he mentions (Ali al Salim, BIAP, and LZ Washington), but because the dissatisfaction, nay, the hostility of servicemembers towards how badly the media has covered this war is nearly universal.

But that is okay. Judging from this piece by the New York Times on the AP/Jamil Hussein controversy, it appears the press is even more condescending and hostile towards the military. Key sentence:

It is also true that the institution conducting America’s multibillion gamble in Iraq — the military — says that this standout of atrocities never happened, while a venerable, trusted news agency has twice interviewed witnesses who said, in extensive, vivid detail, that it did.

Hmmm. No bias on this issue. (And apparently no memory that the Associated Press got caught using stringers staging phony photos in Lebanon in order to make it look as if Israeli forces were committing atrocities. But then again, that was a few months ago . . . ancient history for a newspaper).

Again, this is not to say that things are going well in Iraq right now, but rather that the media purposefully distorts the picture of what is going on here, making it far more difficult for Americans to objectively assess what needs to be done from here on.

Some Preemptive Thoughts on the Iraq Study Group

2006-12-06T13:32:00.000+02:00

Of course, Major General Caldwell's Washington Post op-ed (see below) will likely get completely ignored because of the combined media circus surrounding Robert Gates confirmation hearings and the release of the Iraq Study Group's report. Speaking for myself, and based strictly upon the leaks that have been made to the press, I think the ISG report will be a signal disaster for Iraq and America's efforts here.

First, the notion that we should negotiate with Iran and Syria to stabilize Iraq is risible. What common interest in Iraq do we have with these two anti-American dictatorships? They clearly do not care whether Iraq is in chaos or not, as both nations are currently stoking the chaos at little or no cost to themselves. They clearly do not want any sort of a democracy to emerge next door, which only points out to their own oppressed populaces that an Arab/Muslim democracy is possible. If we are just looking for a discrete way to withdraw, we can do that without selling out our other interests (i.e. a non-nuclear Iran, a free Lebanon) and just pullout. Further, even if we were to strike some sort of grand bargain with Syria and Iran that led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces, what leverage would we have once redeployed that would force them to hold up their end of the bargain? This suggestion, if true and acted upon, will be a greater disaster than losing honorably in Iraq, because it will compound that defeat with the precedent of capitulation to the demands of anti-American aggressors in the region.

Second, there are rumors that the report will link ending the insurgency in Iraq to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If true, this will do nothing more than validate the Sunni insurgencies propaganda, and lead to a lot more dead Americans. Like many innumerable autocrats in the Middle East, the Sunni extremists justify their violence and inhumanity by citing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in their rhetoric. This is nonsense, of course -- they just want to regain the power they lost when Saddam was toppled. But if the ISG publicly declares a linkage between the two conflicts, this will justify all the attacks against U.S. troops to many of the Sunnis who are now seeking to end the insurgency through reconciliation. Again, the consequences of this recommendation are potentially disastrous.

Third, the composition of the Iraq Study Group is less than reassuring. Whereas they are quite accomplished in their chosen fields of endeavor, is there a reason to believe that Vernon Jordan and Sandra Day O'Connor can come up with strategic alternatives that have somehow eluded every general in Iraq? Would it have killed them to have included at least one person with military experience in the past 30 years? Even disgruntled former Generals who opposed the war, i.e. Anthony Zinni whom I've criticized heavily in the past, would have been better. (And yes, I respect Chuck Robb for his service very much, but again, foot soldiers do not always make the best strategists).

Finally, and this is a nitpick, I realize, but I wish they'd named it something other than the ISG. The team that searched Iraq for WMD's after Baghdad's liberation was called the Iraq Survey Group, and within the government the first retooling of Iraq policy from the White House in the fall of 2003 was called the Iraq Stabilization Group. Someday when I write my book about Iraq, having to spell out which "ISG" I'm referring to with each reference will likely give me Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. So I have that to look forward to.

Seriously, though, one member of the Baker Commission (as it should be truthfully called) told the New York Times,

''We had to move the national debate from whether to stay the course to how do we start down the path out.''

In other words, they did not even honestly consider how to win in Iraq. This is a slap in the face to every service member here who risks their lives every day to help secure and rebuild this country. Why should they (I use the third person because I don't claim to be under that much threat here in the IZ) face this danger if it is not for the purpose of winning?

Everything other than that quote is a rumor or a strategic leak, which is why it is particularly frightening. Hopefully our worst fears about the Iraq Study Group will not come true, or if so, the President will thank them for their time and shelve the report.

More MG Caldwell (on Fallujah)

2006-12-06T13:26:00.000+02:00

This op-ed on Fallujah two years after Operation al Fajr ran in about a half-dozen small town papers (i.e. The Fayetteville Observer, Las Vegas Penny Press, the Valdosta County Times) last week. I just forgot to post it when it appeared.

FALLUJAH REVISITED
By Major General William Caldwell, IV

If you follow the news coming out of Iraq, you have seen too many headlines about the bloodshed in Baghdad in recent days. As American servicemen and women prepare to spend a fourth holiday season trying to help build a new Iraq, these headlines have led some people to conclude that our mission is hopeless.

However, my recent visit to Fallujah has reaffirmed my strong conviction that as bad as the situation may sometimes appear, there is still reason to be optimistic for Iraq’s future.

Although it has been out of the headlines for some time, take a minute to recall why the name Fallujah resonates so strongly in our collective memory. Perhaps the most disturbing images of Operation Iraqi Freedom emanated from Fallujah on March 31, 2004, as the bodies of four murdered American contractors were desecrated and the charred corpses hung off the Euphrates River bridge for the world to see. The “Fallujah Brigade,” a unit comprised of former Iraqi army officers, failed to prevent warlords allied with Al Qaeda in Iraq from effectively taking over the city. Foreign fighters and terrorist insurgents imposed a Taliban-like regime over the city, torturing and beheading innocent people who just wanted to enjoy the freedoms returning after the fall of Saddam Hussein. (One torture chamber later uncovered included cages in the basement and a wall covered with bloody handprints). With more than 100,000 explosive rounds stockpiled in weapons caches throughout the city, these invaders of Fallujah exported scores of suicide bombers bent on mass murder. The population of Fallujah fled in droves, reducing the number of residents to only 50-60,000. By October 2004, Fallujah was a city without security, without stability, and seemingly without hope.

In order to rescue the people of Fallujah and eliminate it as a base of operations for Al Qaida, Coalition forces launched Operation Al Fajr, or “The Dawn.” Led by American Marines, Coalition Forces battled 2-3,000 terrorists in the fierce and sustained urban combat. Although Fallujah was liberated, half the city was decimated by the intense combat.

What has happened to Fallujah since that ferocious battle?

Last week, I saw a city of 350,000 people who have made incredible progress over the past two years. In the aftermath of Operation Al Fajr, in March of 2005, there were 3,000 United States Marines and only 300 Iraqi security forces in Fallujah. Today, the people of the city are protected by 1,500 members of their own Iraqi Security Force and only 300 Marines. The police are comprised of native Fallujans, and enjoy strong support from the local population. They are able to patrol their own neighborhoods, enforce their own laws, and handle the transition to responsibility for their own security and growth. Despite the sectarian violence which plagues other parts of the country, I saw the commander of the local Iraqi army unit, a Shi’a, sit and work productively with the local police chief, a Sunni – a relationship few would have believed possible in Fallujah just a year ago.

I attended a city council meeting, where a democratically elected mayor and city council led the deliberations about the peoples’ business. To be honest, the Council’s discussion of traffic control was boring. But the mundane business of a functioning democracy can be boring when its institutions are working properly. At the same time, it was exciting to witness democracy in action in soil that once seemed entirely inhospitable. Membership of the Fallujah Business Association has grown from only 20 members last February to over 350 today, demonstrating optimism for economic growth. I even saw a processing center where Fallujah welcomes persons displaced by instability elsewhere.

Fallujah’s transition has not been easy. Terrorists and insurgents are waging a brutal campaign of murder and intimidation against the city’s government and police force. Unemployment remains high, and there is still much rebuilding to be done. But Colonel Larry Nicholson and the young Marines of Regimental Combat Team-5 firmly believe they have turned Fallujah into a model of what Iraq can become. Iraqis themselves support this hope, as families have been arriving in Fallujah en masse to seek shelter from instability in other parts of Iraq.

In October of 2004, the world saw the incredible courage of the Coalition Force, as Marines did their part to create hope for Iraqis. Today, visitors to Fallujah can see the courage of Iraqis for themselves.

Difficult times remain ahead for the U.S. and Coalition Forces in Iraq. Many sacrifices remain to be made by both U.S. servicemen and women and their Iraqi partners in Fallujah. But the city is an example of what can be achieved when courageous leaders, brave security forces, and hard-working citizens unite for a common goal – a secure and unified future. The progress in Fallujah demonstrates that with time and effort, recovery is possible in Iraq in the wake of brutal violence.

"Why We Persevere"

2006-12-06T07:41:00.000+02:00

Major General William Caldwell's op-ed in today's Washington Post on why Iraq is not a civil war, and why labels don't matter anyways:

Why We Persevere

By William Caldwell IV
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; Page A25

BAGHDAD -- I don't see a civil war in Iraq. I don't see a constituency for civil war. The vast majority of the people want hope for their families, not to massacre their neighbors or divide their country. A poll conducted in June by the International Republican Institute, a nonpartisan group that promotes democracy, found 89 percent of Iraqis supporting a unity government representing all sects and ethnic communities. No wonder no "rebel army" steps forward to claim credit for vicious car bombs and cowardly executions of civilians.

I see debates among Iraqis -- often angry and sometimes divisive -- but arguments characteristic of political discourse, not political breakdown. The Council of Representatives meets here in Baghdad as the sole legitimate sovereign representative of the people, 12 million of whom braved bombs and threats last December to vote. No party has seceded or claimed independent territory.

I see a representative government exercising control over the sole legitimate armed authority in Iraq, the Iraqi Security Force. After decades in which the armed services were tools of oppression, Iraq is taking time to build an army and national police force loyal to all. There have been setbacks, but also great successes. In Fallujah, a city almost lost two years ago, I have seen the cooperation between the local army commander, a Shiite, and the police chief, a Sunni.

I don't see terrorist and criminal elements mounting campaigns for territory. Al-Qaeda in Iraq doesn't use roadside bombs, suicidal mass murderers and rocket barrages to gain and hold ground. Extremist Shiite death squads don't shoot people in the back of the head to further their control of the government. I do see random executions seeking to instill fear and insecurity. I don't see a struggle between armies and aligned political parties competing to rule.

I studied civil wars at West Point and at the Army Command and Staff College. I respect the credentials and opinions of those who want to hang that label here. But I respectfully -- and strongly -- disagree. I see the Iraqi people suffering from overlapping terrorist campaigns by extremist groups combined with the mass criminality that too often accompanies the sudden toppling of a dictatorship. This poses a different military challenge than does a civil war.

As the Iraqi people labor to build a country based on human rights and respect for all citizens, they are moving from the law of the gun to the rule of law. Violence will increase before life gets better. Those who know that freedom and democracy offer more hope than anarchy will not give up.

Regardless of what academics and pundits decide to label this conflict, hundreds of thousands of brave Iraqi soldiers, police officers and civil servants will continue to go to work building a free, prosperous and united Iraq. And every day more than 137,000 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen will lace up their boots, strap on their body armor and drive ahead with our mission to support these courageous Iraqis.

Army Maj. Gen. Caldwell is the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq.

Some further points that should be noted:
- Only 13% of Iraqis polled wanted to divide the country by religious tenets or ethnic groupings – 78% stood for unity. Even in Baghdad, where the worst of Iraq’s sectarian violence has occurred, 76 percent of those surveyed opposed ethnic separation, with only 10 percent favoring it.
- According to a September survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org, 97% of Iraqis expressed strong disapproval of attacks on civilians, and 96% disapproved of attacks against the Iraqi Security Force.
- An October study found 89% of Iraqis across the country agreeing with the statement, “My first loyalty is to my country rather than my sect, ethnic group or tribe.”

These findings are consistent, and not numbers one would expect to see in a nation plagued by a civil war. Labels such as “civil war” and “guerilla war” are broad terms. Broad academic categorizations are sometimes helpful. For Iraq, this kind of simplification obscures more than it illuminates. Academic definitions of civil wars which rely upon casualty figures ignore the historical and strategic context that makes every conflict unique.

Again, this is not to say that everything is going well in Iraq. It quite clearly isn't. And in some ways, the violence that we see here is more difficult to manage and overcome than a simple civil war.

But "civil war" is being bandied about by the media as short hand for failure, which is something that neither our forces here -- nor the Iraqis we work with everyday in the Government of Iraq or the Iraqi Security Force -- are ready to accept.

GIFT REQUESTS!!!

2006-12-04T21:22:00.000+02:00

I've started to get a lot of inquiries from family and friends regarding what I'd like to have sent to me for Hanukkah/Christmas.

I meant to post something about this last week, but as usual, I'm an idiot. Basically, instead of buying a gift for me, I'd rather people help me to contribute to one of two projects I'm involved with here:

1)Gifts for an Iraqi Elementary School -- One of the Iraqi translators in my office knows of an Iraqi elementary school that he can discretely get holiday gifts to. (Believe it or not, suicide bombers have occasionally targeted children who received gifts from U.S. soldiers). Our aim is to provide gifts for kids 6-10, to include:
- Crafts supplies (Crayons, Markers, etc);
- Soccer balls;
- Anything else an 8-year old would enjoy.

2)My office has been supplying wounded soldiers at the Combat Support Hospital here in the IZ with basic necessities. Often, when they are wounded, most of their gear is destroyed as well. So we are trying to supply them with:
- Homebaked goods (Remember - they have to be able to make to Baghdad via mail, so brownies and cookies are better than breads);
- Calling cards or MP3 cards;
- Shaving kits (shaving cream and disposable razors);
- Toothbrushes, toothpaste;
- Socks;
- Puzzle books (i.e. crosswords, word search, soduko);

Our hope is to be able to distribute both sets of items on Christmas Day, although anything that arrives late will still find its way into the appropriate recipients' hands.

My new address (which has changed since October):
CPT Benjamin Runkle
MNF-I, Strategic Effects
Communications Division
APO AE 09316

And obviously, this ends the anonymity that I've maintained for the past year, but getting these items to the kids and the wounded is worth it.

Thanks,

Ben

Jack Kelly on Military Mockery

2006-12-04T16:25:00.000+02:00

Jack Kelly (a former Marine) effectively destroys Charlie Rangel's moronic assertions about the quality of U.S. servicemen and women (see below), and explains better than I did the reasons why the persistence of these stereotypes amongst Democrats is so disturbing.

Specifically, Kelly notes that:
- A higher percentage of enlistedmen in the military have high school degrees than the general population, and

- The average enlisted soldier has higher scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (which is similar to an IQ test) than the average civilian.

- A higher percentage of officers have graduate degrees than does the national population of college graduates.

Here's a thought. Perhaps Virginia's newly elected-Senator James Webb, who was a genuine war hero while a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, and has long been a defender of the U.S. military and its culture, will demonstrate as much courage in correcting these misperceptions amongst his new colleagues as he thinks he did by insulting President Bush when asked how his Marine office son was doing.

Again, as with the AP issuing corrections for relying on bogus sources, I will not hold my breath.

Notes from Salah ad Din Province

2006-12-01T09:45:00.000+02:00

Last week, I accompanied Major General Caldwell to FOB Summerall -- just outside of Bayji in Salah ad Din Province, about 200km north of Baghdad -- to attend a memorial service for Command Sergeant Major Donovan Watts, the senior NCO for the 1-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment. (The 1-505 PIR is part of the 82nd Airborne, the Division MG Caldwell commanded until April of this year). This was my second excursion to Salah ad Din in the last two months, the previous trip being with Ambassador Khalilzad to FOB Speicher outside Tikrit (Saddam's hometown) to inaugurate Salah ad Din's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Herein are some random notes from the last Friday's trip . . .

-- Because we are travelingg on short notice, we have to fly in a UH-64 provided by Blackwater rather than an Army Blackhawk. Our pilot for the flight was a heavy set contractor with gray hair and a brown mustache, wearing a loose Hawaiian shirt. He looked like the stereotypical Hollywood helicopter pilot who, when not drunk or sleeping, flies the renegade CIA agent/hero into some Third World hot spot that no sane or respectable pilot would go near, providing comic relief along the way. Once we are out of Baghdad, about ten minutes into the flight, I swear I saw him unfold a map on his lap as he was flying, as if to find the directions to Bayji.

-- Because we were flying in civilian chopper, and hence kind of stand out against the autumn Iraqi sky, we travel about 15-20 feet above the deck, at 120 knots for the hour-long flight. Although this allows us to see details of the ground more clearly, it also made the trip feel like an amusement park ride. We barely clear the domes of mosques and pass below the top floor of several high rise apartments. Occasionally, we climb suddenly to avoid the power lines that dot the countryside, than just as quickly dip back down to our ÂcruisingÂ altitude.

-- Flying over Baghdad, one can see mile after mile of tan, two-story homes stretching out to the horizon, satellite dishes visible on almost every roof. The day before our trip, Sadr City was hit by six car bombs, killing more than 180 Shi'a civilians and wounding 200 more, so the traffic today is relatively light. Many side streets appear to be blocked by the residents with trash or other improvised obstacles in order to prevent VBIEDs. The Iraqi children take advantage of this to play soccer unobstructed in the street. Unlike American cities, the neighborhoods appear to get worse the farther we fly from the city center, until eventually the cityÂs outskirts are dominated by fields serving as impromptu garbage dumps.

The country side transforms from green fields to a mixture of brown dirt fields bisected either by tall roads sprouting from irrigation canals or rows of palm trees. Soon, the only vegetation visible is the sparse scrub brush sprouting from the white, chalky ground. Eventually, the landscape becomes desert, and old fighting positions for tanks begin to appear. As with the First Gulf War, the Iraqis made the mistake of not digging deep enough into the ground so that the position is not surrounded by an obvious berm of raised dirt, thereby giving away the position from a distance. In addition to the fighting positions, there are much deeper holes dug, with unpaved driveways about 50 feet long, wide enough for two trucks, and descending about 20 feet deep into the desert floor. I saw these on my trip to Tikrit as well, and had no idea what they could be. My best guess is that they are wells, although before the flight I was talking with one of the Blackwater guys relayed a story about four fully loaded Scuds that were just recently dug up, fully intact.

-- The landscape is dotted every few miles with single story, mud brick houses the same color as the surrounding desert. We come across some small farms farther out in the countryside. A man and a woman in a hijab are digging by hand with hoes. I cannot imagine what a rough life it must be for these rural Iraqis to hue a living out of this barren earth. And yet they've been doing this here for thousands of years. On the other hand, we also fly over fields with rows of crops covered with plastic insulation and more modern irrigation/spraying systems.

-- Our gunner, a former Special Forces operator armed to the teeth, makes an effort to wave back to everybody on the ground, who are surprisingly friendly: all the children on small farms we pass, boys shepherding flocks of sheep; a farmer waving a reed at us near a small mosque with the dome destroyed. Not all Iraqis were so friendly: on the trip back to Baghdad, we fly over a boy who appears to try to throw a rock at the trail helicopter.

-- As we cross over the Tigris, tall reeds (somewhere between 12-15 feet high, I'd guess) in which a person could disappear dominate the surrounding marshland. We pass two zaugurats (sp?) (circular pyramids that to most Westerners probably resembles a giant stone Cinnabon), one near a city, the other amidst the ruins in the middle of the desert. We fly over a gleaming white city with a large water tower over a small at a bend in the river. On the way back, we pass an ancient palace whose mud walls are still intact. One of the tragedies of Iraq is that there are so many beautiful old architectural sites that would allow the Iraqis to make a fortune from tourism if they would only stop killing each other.

-- After an hour, we arrive at FOB Summerall, which sits on a plain outside the city of Bayji, home to one of Iraq's largest oil refineries. A long series of hills hovers in the distance. One of the first sites visible after leaving the helicopter pad is a set of three 15-ft. high concrete barriers atop a small rise, standing like ancient obelisks. They are painted with the crests of the units that have served here, and with the names of their dead written below. CSM Donovan Watts is the last name on the 1/505 marker, with the date of 21Nov06 by his name. The 1/505 battalion flag flaps silently in the breeze at half mast.

-- If you have never been to a military memorial service, it is one of the most heart wrenching ceremonies you could imagine, so much so that in the States they usually recommend that family not attend. The most riveting part is a tradition known as "The Final Roll Call." After the chaplain and commander have delivered their eulogies, the company's first sergeant comes to attention and calls the name of a soldier: "Jackson"
A soldier from somewhere in the ranks responds, "Here First Sergeant!"
"Martinez!"
"Here First Sergeant!"
"Watts"
Silence. . . . "Donovan Watts."
Silence. . . . "Command Sergeant Major Donovan E. Watts."

The final silence sits heavy in the air, bringing with it the realization that your comrade in arms is never coming back. This silence is broken by the first mournful notes of a trumpet slowly playing "Taps."

Although the 82nd Airborne is filled with testosterone laden young men eager to show how physically and mentally tough they are, willing to assume the most dangerous task the military offers, as the trumpet wails there is hardly a dry eye in the formation. CSM Watts was killed by an IED on the 21st after 27 years of military service. One of the worst thing about this war is randomness with which death strikes. It has little correlation to a soldier's skill or experience, as most of the fatal attacks are by unmanned weapons such as IEDs or car bombs that do not give the soldier the chance to fire his weapon in defense. Death here seems more often to be the result of a receiving a losing lottery ticket than due to a lack of tactical proficiency.

-- In front of the battalion formation is a memorial for CSM Watts - a rifle with bayonet point in the ground, a helmet on the rifle butt, with a pair of combat boots on either side. After the service, the paratroopers march in front of the shrine in groups of four, execute a right face when they get to the picture of CSM Watts and render a salute. It takes over half an hour for the entire battalion to pass by, but they clearly would have waited twice that to pay their respects.

Shenanigans!

2006-12-01T09:21:00.000+02:00

As I'm sure everybody already knows, Saturday is the 107th annual Army-Navy game. With several thousand Naval personnel serving in Iraq, the interservice rivalry has deployed along with them. A few days ago, the Navy fired the opening salvo with this "redecoration" of the Al Faw Palace out at Camp Victory . . .

I have some West Point-grad buddies in the South who are attempting to procure a goat (Navy's mascot) from local Iraqis in order to paint it with the Army colors. I will let you know if they are successful.

Godspeed Chris Hickey

2006-11-30T16:32:00.000+02:00

As I write this, Major Chris Hickey is likely boarding an airplane from Kuwait, returning back to West Point, New York, to his wife Kate and his two boys.

As I noted back in March, Chris and I have a long history together at Johns Hopkins ROTC, Pershing Rifles, the 82nd Airborne, Harvard, and now Iraq. He was there to pick me up when I arrived in the International Zone way back on 21 March, and it kills me that I couldn't be there to see him off on the long journey home. But I was happy to be able to share Thanksgiving with him, happy to be there when they awarded him the Bronze Star, and happy to enjoy the Prime Rib and Baskin Robbins with him every Sunday night.

Chris was the one of the three people I went to for advice on whether or not to deploy when I received orders last October and the Army offered me the chance to resign my commission and stay at home. (Some 80% of involuntarily activated-IRR soldiers past their eight-year committment have taken this option, or just not bothered to report for duty at all).

Chris wrote back to me, "Ben, you are at heart a warrior, and this is your war," confirming what I already felt in my heart.

This was Major Hickey's second (and hopefully final) voluntary tour of duty in Iraq. I wouldn't say that this is "his" war given the dangerous world in which we live. But this war, from both my personal perspective and for everything he did during the liberation and to help train the Iraqi General Staff, is better because of his tireless efforts.

Thank you Kate, for the sacrifices you and the boys made so that Chris could serve our nation here.

Chris, thank you for everything, and hopefully I'll be able to visit you and the family (and enjoy a beer or four) in Stuttgart in the near future.

Godspeed Chris, AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY!!!

A Comment on Charles Rangel

2006-11-29T16:46:00.000+02:00

I was going to let this one pass, but couldn't resist:

"No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very high unemployment. If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life he would not be in Iraq."

Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Fox News Sunday, 11/26/06

Oh, so many ways to take down this condescending idiocy, so little time. I won't even refer to myself here, as I'm sure The Distinguished Gentlemen wouldn't consider a job in the Bush NSC "a decent career." (I'll grant him that the alternative, an academic career, wouldn't offer much in the way of economic benefits).

First, Mr. Rangel, how do you explain that the Army actually had its best recruiting year since 1997 this year?

Or, Sir, how do you square your claim that only the poor join the military with scholarly empirical studies disproving those canards?

Finally, maybe, just maybe, the fact that units deployed to Iraq
actually enjoy higher than average retention rates suggests that the men and women might be doing this out of a sense of patriotism? Does Mr. Rangel recognize that such a concept exists?

It is telling that no Democrat has leapt to defend Rangel's ill-informed and offensive comments. Yet I am disappointed that despite professing a deep concern for our troops during the campaign, not a single elected Democratic official has had the courage or the integrity to condemn them.

I can accept that John Kerry's comment last month was a botched joke, albeit one that uncomfortably touched upon his previous slanders of his fellow veterans. But Rep. Rangel's comments are pure elitist condesencion towards American servicemen that sadly appears to be becoming fashionable on the Left once again.

David Interlude (X)

2006-11-28T08:04:00.000+02:00

Happy 11-month birthday to the little guy!

(Yes, this picture was taken last month while I was home on leave. When I left on the 11th, he was able to take about ten steps on his own before crashing in a heap. But apparently the day after I left he began walking in earnest, stepping around and over objects, and able to pivot 180 degrees).

Don't Believe Everything You Read . . .

2006-11-27T19:33:00.000+02:00

. . . especially if it appears in the Associated Press.

By now, everybody has surely heard the horrifying story of how in retaliation for the six car bombs detonated in Sadr City last Thursday, Shi'a militia stormed a Sunni mosque in Baghdad, dragged six Sunni men out into the street, doused them with kerosene and then burned them alive, all while Iraqi police stood by watching helplessly. The AP was the first to run with this story, which was subsequently picked up and repeated by most other major media outlets.

There is just one problem with this story -- it doesn't appear to be true. The following is an email sent by the Public Affairs Officer from the Multi-National Corps Iraq (I've excluded his name just in case) attempting to set the record straight with the AP. I wouldn't hold my breath for a correction on this one.

Dear Associated Press:
On Nov. 24, 2006, your organization published an article by Qais Al-Bashir about six Sunnis being burned alive in the presence of Iraqi Police officers. This news item, which is below, received an enormous amount of coverage internationally.
We at Multi-National Corps - Iraq made it known through MNC-I Press Release Number 20061125-09 and our conversations with your reporters that neither we nor Baghdad Police had any reports of such an incident after investigating it and could find no one to corroborate the story. A couple of hours ago, we learned something else very important.
We can tell you definitively that the primary source of this story, police Capt. Jamil Hussein, is not a Baghdad police officer or an MOI employee. We verified this fact with the MOI through the Coalition Police Assistance Training Team.
Also, we definitely know, as we told you several weeks ago through the MNC-I Media Relations cell, that another AP-popular IP spokesman, Lt. Maithem Abdul Razzaq, supposedly of the city's Yarmouk police station, does not work at that police station and is also not authorized to speak on behalf of the IP. The MOI has supposedly issued a warrant for his questioning.
I know we have informed you that there exists an MOI edict that no one below the level of chief is authorized to be an Iraqi Police spokesperson. An unauthorized IP spokesperson will get fired for talking to the media. While I understand the importance of a news agency to use anonymous and unauthorized sources, it is still incumbent upon them to make sure their facts are straight. Was this information verified by anyone else? If the source providing the information is lying about his name, then he ought not to be represented as an official IP spokesperson and should be listed as an anonymous source.
Unless you have a credible source to corroborate the story of the people being burned alive, we respectfully request that AP issue a retraction, or a correction at a minimum, acknowledging that the source named in the story is not who he claimed he was. MNC-I and MNF-I are always available and willing to verify events and provide as much information as possible when asked.

Very respectfully,
LT xxxx

xxxxxxx xxxx
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
MNC-I Joint Operations Center
Public Affairs Officer

Thanksgiving in Baghdad

2006-11-25T10:03:00.000+02:00

Note: I meant to post these pictures yesterday, but had to take a no-notice trip up north to Bayji. I will post the details of that trip sometime in the next day or two as well.

This was my second Thanksgiving for which I was deployed overseas, the previous being in 1995, when I was a Second Lieutenant stationed just 30 miles from the DMX in South Korea. For those who have never served in the military, Thanksgiving is the equivalent of the Super Bowl for military dining facilities for which they pull out all the stops. As the menu below indicates, the soldiers here (and various State Department officials and contractors) had the option of turkey, lobster tails, carved ham, or freshly carved prime rib. There were mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, two kinds of stuffing, green beans, corn, salads, and about ten different kinds of pie.

[Note: Apparently you have to click on the blank space above to actually view the menu. Why? I don't know. 'Dem computers are tricky!]

Before the feast, however, I visited an Iraqi crafts bazaar held in the Green Beans Cafe (the former Palace ballroom converted into a coffee bar). I purchased about $200 worth of trinkets and paintings to be distributed as gifts to my family back home. (Sorry, Seth, they didn't have any hookahs available, and the daggers on sale started at $100). They also had a wide variety of hand-knit Iraqi rugs, but these started at $300 for anything more than a small sample.

For lunch, I went to the MNSTC-I (Multinational Support and Training Command-Iraq, the guys who are in charge of training Iraqi Security Forces) dining facility at Pheonix Base in a far corner of the International Zone. There, I dined with my old friend Major Chris Hickey (see my first post from Baghdad in March), who is redeploying next week. Although Pheonix Base's DFAC is not as elaborate as the Palace DFAC, it was a good meal, and my turkey breast was personally carved by Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey. (Again, for those not in the military, it is a tradition that the Commanders serve the lower ranks on Thanksgiving day). The meal was fine, although I restricted myself to traditional Thanksgiving fare . . . well, and an Iraqi-style shrimp kebab that was REALLY good.

After gorging to the point of immobility, I actually went back to the office for a few hours. Starting at 1600, I began carefully sipping tea, hoping to expand my stomach (an old wrestler's trick) so that I would have room for a big dinner. I then went with my co-workers to the Palace DFAC for a second turkey dinner. As the pictures below demonstrate, they put a lot of effort into decorating the mess hall with paper mache and ice sculptures, although the "pilgrims" and "Indians" quite frankly seriously creeped me out.

General Casey and his staff were still travelling across Iraq from one Forward Operating Base to another, so in order to give KBR's staff a break it was essentially self-service. This enabled me to give myself huge servings of dark meat, cornbread stuffing, and garlic mashed potatoes, topped by a small lake of turkey gravy. (The stuffing and potatoes were better at the Palace, while the turkey at Phoenix wasn’t as salty). Candles adorned each table, and a band played jazz next to a horrifically gaudy Thanksgiving diorama at the chow hall’s entrance. After cleaning my plate, I forced myself to have another slice of pecan pie (they’d run out of pumpkin), after having devoured two small slices of pie (pumpkin and pecan) with lunch.

In the end, it was a good meal, and I likely gained back about five of the ten pounds I've lost since coming to Iraq. But something felt as if it were missing. Corny as it sounds, I realized that as central as the feast and the football are to the holiday, what was lacking was my family. I really wish I'd been home with my family, to watch David enjoying his first Thanksgiving (with sufficiently processed turkey, of course). Hopefully, everybody here in Iraq will make it home safely to enjoy next year's Thanksgiving with their families.

A Star of the War

2006-11-25T09:52:00.000+02:00

The other day I noted Orwell's comment about "rough men ready to do violence" so that good people can sleep peacefully at night. But many soldiers are trying to help Iraq and its people through by other means as well, as the following email making its way through the chain demonstrates. . .

Bet this never makes the news.

Got a tough, but heartwarming story and a picture of a CMSgt John Gebhardt in Iraq.

This little girl's entire family was executed. They intended to execute her also and shot her in the head, but they failed to kill her. She was cared for by John's hospital and healing up, but has been crying and moaning. The nurses said John is the only one she seems to calm down with, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both sleep in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing!

Here is a real "star" of the war, and he is representative of what America is trying to do.

What I'm Thankful For

2006-11-23T19:18:00.000+02:00

1- Marya and David, who are my light at the end of the tunnel.

2- That my Mother is fighting the cancer, and will be around to be David's "Bubbe" for many years to come.

3- The rest of my extended family for all the support they've provided during my deployment.

4- That by the grace of God I was born an American. Until you see firsthand what it is like to live in a society torn asunder by its divisions, it is difficult to appreciate how petty most of our problems back in the US are (the rantings of various demagogic politicians aside . . . but that's another post).

5- Finally, that I have the honor to serve in this military at this time in history. It is a tragedy that because of the media's assorted biases and agendas, the American public has seen and heard far more about the degradations of a few soldiers at Abu Ghraib than the heroism of soldiers like Marine Corporal Jason Dunham and Sergeant Paul Ray Smith. (If you don't know who they are, look them up). George Orwell famously wrote:

"People sleep peacfully in their beds at night knowing that there are rough men ready to do violence on their behalf."

In Iraq, young Americans are enduring more than their share of violence in order to help protect a newly liberated people from the reimposition of tyranny. Although we all want to come home safely, seeing what we have seen here, we also want very much to win this war. I pray that next year I'll be able to say I am thankful that we have done both.

Quote of the Day (XII)

2006-11-23T14:03:00.000+02:00

In the spirit of the day, from the greatest Thanksgiving-themed sitcom episode ever:

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

- Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), WKPR in Cincinnati

For those not cool enough (or old enough, I guess) to remember, this was the episode where the bumbling-but-loveable station manager decides to have a promotional turkey giveaway for Thanksgiving, and they start throwing live birds out of a helicopter over a shopping mall.

Representative Chris Carney

2006-11-22T13:26:00.000+02:00

As I noted last week, my friend Chris Carney was elected to Congress as a Democrat last week. There is a Los Angeles Times' story today on the central irony of his election. My former colleagues at the Pentagon took him out for a celebratory dinner last week, even though the Democrats' ascension to power likely means that we will all be receiving subpeonas in the near future because of Chris' findings on Al Qaeda and Iraq. It was always highly ironic that so many of the same Left-wing blogs (i.e. Daily Kos) that rail about Bush Administration conspiracies to fake intelligence and drag the country into wholeheartedly supported Chris' candidacy despite the fact that his discovery helped lead to the decision for war.

But as they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows. Although I disagree with Chris on many domestic political issues (as well as his slavish devotion to the Green Bay Packers), he is honest and intelligent, and will serve the people of PA-10 well.

(By the way, the LA Times, like most papers, errs badly by citing the Senate Intelligence report as a clear dismissal of the links between Al Qaeda and Iraq before the war. The documentary evidence clearly shows that they had contacts for the decade leading up to the war, how extensive we'll likely never know. But for some reason the Senate Intelligence Committee staff chose to disregard all this evidence. Why? Becasuee Saddam and his cronies disputed documents assessed by the intelligence community to be real. Thus, the Intelligence Committee took at face value Saddam's claim that he never considered America to be his enemy despite countless speeches he made to this effect. It is sort of like finding OJ Simpson innocent despite a clear motive, a history of violent behavior, DNA evidence at the scene of the crime, gloves with the victims blood in his apartment, footprints from shoes he's been photographed wearing in the pools of blood just because he said he didn't kill them . . . oh, never mind.)

That Ain't Good . . .

2006-11-22T08:32:00.000+02:00

As far as I know, these are the first car bombs to make it into the International Zone in the eight months that I've been here. I was actually on that stretch of road the day before. Now I know why they make us wear body armor when outside the Palace grounds.

U.S. Troops Blow Up Cars in Baghdad
21 November 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops blew up two cars Tuesday inside the heavily fortified Green Zone after dogs indicated explosives were inside the vehicles that were used in the motorcade of the parliament speaker, an adviser to parliament said. In what could signal a major security breach, the explosives were found and detonated near the Convention Center, where parliament meets and government officials hold news conferences, Wissam al-Zubeidi said.

The armored cars were used as part of the convoy for Parliament Speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, al-Zubeidi said. One of the vehicles was regularly used by al-Mashhadani's son. The speaker is a Sunni Muslim.

In the past, several car bombs have exploded at the Green Zone gates, but very few such attacks have occurred inside the fortress-like region on the west bank of the Tigris River. It is home to the Iraqi president, government, parliament, as well as the U.S. and British embassies.

Very Sad News

2006-11-20T21:17:00.000+02:00

I was sitting in on a radio interview today with my new boss, Major General Bill Caldwell (Spokesman for MNF-I), when to illustrate the heroism and sacrifice of our young soldiers here in Iraq, he cited the example of 1LT Michael Cerrone, who was killed by an IED outside Samarra last week. I froze upon hearing the news, as I realized that 1LT Cerrone's father, Brigadier General James Cerrone, was my first battalion commander when I arrived at the 82nd Airborne back in 1996.

I met Michael at several battalion "Hail and Farewell"s, and although I can't say I knew him well, I remember he seemed strangely well-possessed for a 15-year old. This is likely because his parents, BG (then LTC) Cerrone and his wife Betty were such wonderful people and impressive parents. I knew officers in the Redleg (artillery, for non-military types) community, both before and after serving under Jim Cerrone, who praised them to no end. My heart absolutely breaks for them with the news of this tragedy and their loss.

I don't have any doubts about the justness of our cause here in Iraq. But there is no denying that sometimes this war really sucks.

What a Way to Go

2006-11-19T18:24:00.000+02:00

Two good articles today.

First, a touching story in today's Stars and Stripes/LA Times about a Special Forces Captain killed in Iraq last year who in his will bequeathed $100,000 for a party in Las Vegas for his friends and families. If worse comes to worse, I have already made similar arrangements. However, given what David's college costs will likely be in the year 2024, my friends and family will have to settle for the Denny's on Route 1 in Alexandria. In all seriousness, Captain Toczylowski sounds like he was a true hero and one hell of a guy. The Army is poorer for his passing, and our nation owes a great debt for his sacrifice.

Second, Jeff Jacoby's column from today's Boston Globe on the anti-military bigotry in San Fransisco. I can understand (although I disagree with) people who oppose the Iraq war for strategic reasons. What I have little tolerance for are those groups who harass wounded soldiers at the hospital to protest the war (i.e. Code Pink), who picket military funerals in order to promote their hateful religious beliefs (i.e. Fred Phelps and company), and those who treat the American military itself as the enemy rather than the Islamofascists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

Simply put, this blind hatred of the military and associated harassment of recruiters by the Left (and their enablers) is at best pathetically juvenille and at worst undermines our national security so that these "activists" can satisfy their own moral vanity. The military as an institution is as close as we have to a pure meritocracy in this country, and often provides the best way out of poverty for thousands of the very minorities and immigrants these activists claim to support. The U.S. military also is what stands in the way of the fascism that these people like to rail about to denounce any political position with which they disagree. These people are either hypocrites for denouncing those who defend the freedom they enjoy to launch their idiotic protests (i.e. throwing blood at recruiters in New York), or are just plain ignorant of the world beyond their doors.

I hope somebody launches a boycott of San Fransisco in retaliation for this myopic decision by the San Fransisco schoolboard. (And for supporting Barry Bonds for so many years . . . but that's another story). I didn't have any plans to go there in the near future anyways, but I'd like to stick it to them somehow.

Krauthammer on Iraq

2006-11-17T14:37:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, in moments of extreme candor, I summarize the current situation in Iraq by noting two things:
1) The good news is that we've finally reached the point we've been striving for since April 2003, which is to have Iraqis in position to determine the future of Iraq.
2) The bad news is that we've reached the point where it is up to the Iraqis to determine the future of Iraq!

What does this mean? As usual, Charles Krauthammer does a better job explaining this than I could ever hope to do in his column in this morning's Washington Post.

Back in Baghdad (and Depressed as Hell)

2006-11-15T18:56:00.000+02:00

After 15 days of leave I arrived back in the International Zone a few hours before sunrise yesterday morning. Two weeks have never gone by so quickly in my life, and unfortunately, my request that my comrades win the war while I was gone wasn't carried out.

Seriously, though, the three days of travel back to Iraq were some of the most depressing days I've ever experienced. There were basically three broad sources for my dark mood:

1- It was much harder to say goodbye to Marya, and especially to David, than when I originally deployed in March. The pictures and DVDs simply do not do justice to how amazing David is. He has an incredibly warm personality, and warmed to me much more quickly than I had expected he would. To see his face light up with a smile in recognition of seeing his Mom, or sometimes even me, is as close to the divine that I have ever experienced. Although I will see him again in four months, and will get to spend every day of the forseeable future with him thereafter, the sense of loss I feel at missing the changes he will undergo between now and then is tangible and hurts like hell.

2- I'm depressed about the mid-term election results. To be honest, the Republicans deserved to lose. They abandoned fiscal responsibility and conservative principles that brought them into power in 1994. There were of course several corruption scandals that hurt them at the polls, but for every Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham on the Republican side, there is a William Jefferson ($90,000 in cash in the freezer), Alan Mollahan, and Harry Reid/John Murtha on the Democratic side who are equally corrupt. In other words, the Republicans deserved to lose, but the Democrats did not deserve to win. But such is politics, and you have to accept that your party will lose some elections rather than resorting to the conspiracy theories and condescension that the Left wallowed in after the 2000 and 2004 elections. (Also, most of the new Democratic Representatives and Senators elected to form a new majority are actually relatively conservative -- i.e. my friend Chris Carney, elected from PA-10, Heath Shuler, etc. Voters rejected racial preferences in a Michigan ballot initiative, and even Connecticut had the sense to return Joe Lieberman to the Senate despite the Nutty Left's capture of the Democratic Party there. So from a policy perspective, all hope is not lost).

What depresses me about these results are its consequences for our efforts here in Iraq. The Democrats have wasted no time in expressing that their policy is one of pursuing an exit strategy than a victory strategy in Iraq. Senator Levin is already touting his plan for a "phased withdrawal," which is nothing more than code for retreat. Whether we were correct to initiate this war or not, ceding Iraq to the terrorists and extremist death squads responsible for the sectarian violence would be disastrous to our national security for years to come. As the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate stated,

"Perceived jihadist success [in Iraq] would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere . . . Should jihadists perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge few fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

But despite attaining power, the Democrats do not appear to be any closer to attaining a sense of responsibility when it comes to national security."

3- More depressing, however, is what the election says about the American people's willingness to conduct the War on Terror. Supposedly, the election was an expression of Americans' fatigue with the war. We have suffered a little more than 2,800 Killed In Action in Iraq, and although each one of these casualties is a tragic on a personal level, the low estimates for anticipated casualties before the war was 5,000. This is also a far cry from the 55,000 servicemen America lost in Vietnam. The unfortunate reality of the world today is that there is an enemy out there committed to killing as many Americans as possible in order to achieve their objective of establishing a global Islamic empire. Short of victory, there is nothing we can do to make this enemy go away -- no negotiations, no deterrence will dissuade Al Qaeda and similar extremists from pursuing their objective. However, if we abandon Iraq because we can not absorb 3,000 casualties (and again, I don't want to minimize the pain suffered by these heroes families at the death of their loved one), we have no hope of winning the larger War on Terror. And failure in this broader conflict will assuredly mean more than we will inevitably suffer more than 3,000 fatalities here in the United States sooner or later.

I don't know. Maybe the fatigue from the travel has skewed my perspective a little bit. I'll try to end this on a more positive note. Soldiers coming off of leave in the eastern United States have to report in to the USO at the Atlanta airport. After signing in, we were asked to wait in line outside so that we could be escorted to the desk where our orders were collected and our baggage checked for the flight to Kuwait. After about 15 minutes of waiting, we filed in behind an elderly volunteer carrying a USO sign and an American flag. As we marched through the atrium of Atlanta's airport, we were greeted by standing applause from the families and commuters waiting in the airport. During the subsequent five hour wait for our aircraft to arrive, I had roughly a half-dozen people approach me to thank me for my service.

It was good to know that there for every San Fransisco school board decision banning JROTC, for every protestor (and their disgusting supporters) who throw blood on military recruiting stations, and for every John Kerry insult, there are still some people who appreciate what we are doing here in Iraq.

While I've Been Away . . .

2006-11-06T18:34:00.000+02:00

Okay, over the past two weeks I've missed commenting on:

- CNN admitting to airing the Iraqi insurgents' propaganda videos intact;
- House Speaker-to-Be Nancy Pelosi announcing she will appoing a Congressman who was impeached as a judge to head the House Intelligence Committee;
- The New York Times' Public Editor admitting the newspaper was wrong to publish the details of the SWIFT anti-terror-financing program, a program the Times' editors had called for in an editorial five years earlier;
- The New York Times' verifying the authenticity of a trove of Iraqi Intelligence Service documents discovered since Iraq's liberation that confirm most elements of the Administration's claims about Iraq-Al Qaeda ties;
- John Kerry essentially calling soldiers serving in Iraq stupid (if only I'd applied myself and pursued two doctorates at Harvard . . .);
- And finally, the American media for the most part ignoring the significance of Saddam Hussein being convicted of crimes against humanity and being sentenced to hang, choosing to focus on the effect this will have on violence this weekend rather than FINALLY focusing on the million Iraqis he murdered.

The reason I've ignored these issues, as you can see below, was more pressing. Unfortunately, I'll return to my normally scheduled ranting sometime next week.

Quotes of the Day (XI)

2006-10-19T15:07:00.000+03:00

- "A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but also by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury."
John Stuart Mill

- "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Dante

- "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."
Attributed to Edmund Burke, 1776

"American Mourning" Crushes "Peace Mom"

2006-10-16T14:21:00.000+03:00

From yesterday's Instapundit, this comparison between the sales of American Mourning and Cindy Sheehan's Peace Mom made me smile:

PRESS RELEASE OF THE DAY: The publicists for American Mourning have hit on a novel approach, comparing its Amazon ranking with that of Cindy Sheehan's book, Peace Mom. Excerpt:

Most compellingly, "American Mourning" offers a potrayal of another American family that lost a child in the war on terrorism - Joe & Jan Johnson of Rome, Georgia. Their son, Justin, dies one week after Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, died. And to make things more amazing - Justin and Casey were best buddies in the U.S. Army.

But unlike Cindy Sheehan, Joe & Jan Johnson honored their son and his sacrifice for his country. In fact, Justin's father, Joe, re-enlists in the Army at the age of 43 and goes off to Iraq to fight the Islamic militants who had killed his son.

Is it any wonder then, why Sheehan's "Peace Mom" is getting clobbered in the sales charts by Morgan & Moy's inspirational "American Mourning?" Check out the sales ranks for yourself - it's not even close. And for the past few weeks, even though their book had yet to be released, Morgan & Moy were still outselling Sheehan's "Peace Mom."

Cindy Sheehan's book, Peace "Mom" (ranked # 155,717 as of 7:00 PM Sunday 10/15/2006)

Melanie Morgan's & Catherine Moy's "American Mourning" (ranked # 836 as of 7:00 PM Sunday 10/15/2006)

As I post this, the gap's actually widened a bit.

Rain Returns to Baghdad

2006-10-16T11:47:00.000+03:00

On Thursday night I was sitting by the Palace Pool, listening to the high-pitched, uptempo dance music that accompanies the monthly "Middle Eastern Night." The sky was a strange purplish orange, the air was hazy, and the palm trees surrounding the pool were nearly doubled over by the gusts of wind coming off the Tigris. I thought we might be in for a shalal (sandstorm), but instead, freezing raindrops the size of silver dollars started to fall. The music kept playing, and the Embassy's Arab employees continued dancing, but everybody else was forced to run for cover from the first rain to fall here in at least six months.

It only sprinkled occasionally on Thursday. However, on Friday night, sheets of rain pounded the IZ for about an hour, accompanied by gale-force winds and an impressive lightning show. As I returned to my trailer from playing cards with some friends, I saw that a thirty-foot palm tree had fallen, broken into three sections, and blocked the narrow path leading to my hooch. (Unfortunately, my laptop hard drive crashed a few weeks ago, so I can't take any photos for a while).

But this was nothing compared to what happened to my friend John, who was sitting in his trailer watching television when he heard a creaking sound outside. The next thing he knew, a palm tree was crashing through his roof. As you can see from the picture below, the palm pretty much crushed his trailer as if it were an aluminum can. (Ironically, a rocket would have left a much smaller hole . . . assuming it did not detonate, of course).

Senor 1, Rajiv 0

2006-10-12T17:25:00.000+03:00

If I really wanted to make a quick fortune, I could sell out and write an "insider's memoir" about the "debacle" in Iraq. I could dish all sorts of gossip about the gross incompetence I saw in the Pentagon's handling of post-war Iraq, followed by a gripping depiction of how the pro-war idealism I was brainwashed with while at the White House was shattered by the reality I encountered serving in Baghdad. I have no doubt that the hefty advance I'd collect from publishers, not to mention my speaker's fee on the lecture circuit, would easily pay for my son's college education eighteen years from now.

Of course, such a book would suffer from the handicap of being primarily fiction. Yet that hasn't stopped numerous other authors from writing book after book labeling the war in Iraq as an abject failure even as it is still being fought. In fact, a lack of accuracy wouldn't be much of an impediment to garnering critical praise.

Take, for example, Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone," which yesterday was announced as a finalist for the National Book Award. The thesis of Chandrasekaran's book is that young and inexperienced neoconservative political hacks and Bush loyalists screwed up Iraq's reconstruction in contradiction of the sage advice of State Department and other non-partisan (re: Democratic). This is certainly a plausible hypothesis, given that there were many mistakes made by the Coalition Provisional Authority in its year-plus of existence, and that many young people -- some with Right-of-Center political backgrounds -- were among the first to volunteer to serve in Iraq.

However, the guys at Powerline have effectively debunked the series of articles in the Washington Post intended to promote the book here,here, and here. And now Dan Senor, who served as a senior adviser in the CPA, effectively destroys Chandrasekran in his piece in Tuesday's Washington Post

I will let you read Senor's takedown yourself. But he devastatingly shows that while Chandrasekaran focuses on junior staffers, he completely ignores senior CPA officials who had served as Undersecretaries of Defense (David Oliver, Walt Slocombe) or Ambassadors in the Middle East (Ryan Crocker, Richard Jones) in the Clinton administration, senior military officials with more than 50+ years of senior leadership experience (Gen. Keith Kellogg and Vice Adm. Scott Redd), as well as several academic experts (Larry Diamond, Noah Feldman) who had prominently opposed the liberation of Iraq in the first place. In other words, Chandrasekran omits all evidence that contradicts his increasingly flimsy premise.

Moreover, he ignores the fact that the State Department consciously chose to sit out the first year of Iraq's reconstruction. To quote George Packer, whose The Assassins' Gate is extremely critical of the Bush Administration's handling of the war:

And yet during the life of the CPA, the State Department didn't send all its best people to Iraq, even after the Pentagon's influence waned and Bremer began to use his back channel to Powell more and more. A department official said of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, the archenemy of the neoconservatives, "We didn't do our best job to get things uncocked or to help. I watched NEA, for example, essentially say, 'Okay, you don't want us -- fuck you.' And then from there on out it was, 'Let's see what impediment we can put in their way. Let's see how long we can be in delivering this particular commodity or individual or amount of expertise. Let's see how long we can stiff 'em.'"

Things are not much better today. I have the highest admiration for my State colleagues who are here in Iraq with me. However, the Mission is still short on political officers who speak Arabic, to the point where an Iraqi-American Navy Lieutenant I know was snagged by the Political-Military section because of his language/cultural skills, despite having deployed to Iraq to serve a six-month tour as a dentist! FS-4's (the entry level for foreign service officers) fill jobs that are held by FS-2's (FSO's with about 10 years experience) in just about every other embassy in the world. My friends from the Civil Affairs Course consistently complain about the lack of State Department personnel in the Provinicial Reconstruction Teams on which they serve outside of Baghdad.

Again, this does not mean that the junior FSOs posted here don't deserve admiration for their dedication and service to their country. They should be credited for their service. However, the major difference between their collective skill sets/experience and those of the junior CPA officials was that they have been trained to write State Department cables. It is therefore a shame that Chandrasekaran chooses to bash young, patriotic Americans with the same relative level of expertise as many of those he'd label as "experts" currently serving in Iraq.

I don't think my tell-all could end up being any more selective in its use of evidence or biased in its conclusions if I tried. Maybe I'll win a Pulitzer.

An Exciting Night . . . (With Update)

2006-10-11T08:58:00.000+03:00

. . . and not in a good way.

At around 2305 last night, I was in my bathroom, brushing my teeth, when I heard a crashing sound through the wall to my room. At first I was afraid something had fallen and awakened my roommate, who goes to be at 2130 everynight (but that's another story unto itself). I quietly stuck my head in the room, but didn't see anything on the floor, so I assumed either an incoming rocket or mortar had landed somewhere in the distance, or I was just being paranoid.

About five minutes later I was back in bed reading when the percussion of a blast shook the trailer and made my heart skip a beat. This was followed by about six more rounds over the next ten minutes, three of which were close impacts, the other three were distant, low thuds. I wanted to go outside and discover just how close the rounds were impacting, but the duck and cover alarm had sounded after the third round. Even though the plastic trailer offers little protection from rocket fire (see the pictures of what a round did to my colleague's trailer back in April), I didn't want to have a round hit me while stumbling in the dark in my boxers and dog tags.

Two more rounds landed at 2333. The percussion of the first round startled my roommate awake, crying "S**t, that was close." The other landed somewhere off in the distance.

We have received about 100 rounds of incoming fire in the IZ since I arrived in March, but usually they arrive as isolated pot shots (the bad guys have no fire direction capabilities, so where the rounds actually impact is almost completely arbitrary) or sometimes in groups of two or three rounds fired off before our air cover can find and annihilate the bad guys. But this was the first sustained barrage we've undergone.

Keep in mind that the guys out in Ramadi, and some posts in Basrah, probably undergo this every day. I just hope that there were no casualties stemming from all the incoming fire.

UPDATE: Apparently, at 2303 four rounds of indirect fire impacted in FOB (Forward Operating Base) Falcon, which is located to the South of the IZ. They hit an ammo dump, and the fire this created subsequently caused rounds to "cook off" and inadvertently launch friendly indirect fire at the IZ. This explains the initial round I heard in the distance, and all the subsequent rounds that landed closer. (Although to be honest, I'm not sure how ammunition stored on a pallet could reach us from FOB Falcon rather than exploding in place). Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

It's The Thought That Counts

2006-10-08T09:44:00.000+03:00

Sorry for delving into domestic politics once again, but this was too funny/sad to ignore. Apparently, with the mid-terms approaching, the Democratic Party put up a page on their website to show their support for the troops and to blast Republican policies.

Fair enough. Speaking on behalf of U.S. troops, I can say that we will gladly accept both parties support. However, the Democrats apparently can't tell the difference between American and Canadian troops. Oops!

(If you are a South Park fan, then this is actually quite disturbing, as it suggests that in the event of an U.S.-Canadian War -- like that depicted in the first South Park movie -- the Democrats will be supporting the opposing side. At least we will still have Zippy the Wonder Dog on our side!)

Heath Shuler Coming Back to DC?

2006-10-07T14:32:00.000+03:00

I've generally avoided commenting on domestic politics on this blog, and given my proximity to Ambassador Khalilzad, have written much less about the highs and lows of Iraqi politics than I expected. But this story about Heath Shuler running for Congress was too good to let pass (no pun intended) without comment.

For those who don't remember, Shuler was one of the best college quarterbacks of the last 20 years while at the University of Tennessee in the early 1990s. In 1994, the Redskins drafted him with the third overall pick. However, he immediately held out for more money and missed most of training camp his rookie year. When he finally did take the field, he clearly lacked the head to comprehend the complexity of professional defenses.

Sadly, he turned out to be a horrendous flop in the NFL, completing only 47% of his passes and averaging less than 184 yards/game with the 'Skins, and ended his career -- which included one forgettable year with the New Orleans Saints -- with twice as many interceptions (33) as touchdown passes (15). (Ironically, he is actually one year younger than the Redskins current starting quarterback, Mark Brunell).

If I were his opponent, I would run a campaign ad with the slogan: "Heath Shuler: A Proven Failure in Our Nation's Capital!"

(And yes, if he is elected, I will definitely try to get his autograph the next time I'm on the Hill).

Major General Caldwell on the Iraqi Security Forces

2006-10-04T09:03:00.000+03:00

From Saturday's Atlanta Journal Constitution:

By WILLIAM B. CALDWELL IV
Published on: 09/29/06

Let's put the bad news up front: Extremist elements in Iraq are vying for political and economic power and are seeking to take advantage of this delicate stage of transition in Iraq's history.

Sunni and Shia extremists are using brutal and provocative tactics against one another. Baghdad is the center of gravity for this increasingly sectarian conflict. There are also foreign terrorists infiltrating the borders, renegade death squads, an insurgency and foreign governments who seek to exert influence on Iraqi politics.

This, however, is only part of Iraq's present story. The violence belies the gradual but remarkable transformation this nation is experiencing.

Three years ago, there were virtually no security forces in Iraq. Today, Iraqis are standing up in military and police forces that number more than 300,000. In coming months, the coalition and the Iraqi government will reach the goal of 325,000 trained and equipped force members.

Quality is improving with quantity. In April 2004, almost all Iraqi forces fled in the face of a militia uprising in Najaf. This August, when militia attacked an Iraqi army outpost in Diwaniyah, the Iraqi army counterattacked and killed 50 militiamen.

By the end of August, Iraq's special-ops brigade, with U.S. combat advisers, had netted 1,320 detainees in 445 operations all over the country this year, including three senior militia leaders and 20 most-wanted individuals. This month, Iraqi forces provided a safe environment for more than 4 million Shiite pilgrims celebrating the birth of the 12th Imam. And it was Iraqi forces operating independently who recently captured a major al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Hammam.

A functioning command structure is in place. This month, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki became commander in chief of Iraq's military in more than name only. That is, the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Headquarters — who report to the prime minister — assumed operational control of the Iraqi ground forces command, navy and air force. Before Sept. 7, coalition forces exercised control of all of Iraq's military. Now, two of Iraq's 10 army divisions fall under this command structure. More will soon follow.

Security will only improve with simultaneous political and economic progress. Under Saddam Hussein, government served the will of the dictator and primarily served one sect. Today, Iraqis are learning to share power and wealth.

Local governments — provinces, districts or neighborhoods — are beginning to take responsibility for their citizens. The government must work to heal the wounds of this fractured society by getting all factions to reconcile.

In Baghdad, several hundred Iraqi civil society representatives renounced violence this past weekend at the second of four conferences that are part of Maliki's overall 24-point national reconciliation and dialogue plan.

The Iraqi government met with representatives of neighboring and European countries to form an "international compact," aimed at getting help to transform Iraq's economy.

Iraq's new unity government is moving forward and will continue grappling with tough political challenges, such as how to balance power between central and regional governments (federalism) and how to divvy up the country's oil revenues. But Iraqis have succeeded in setting a road map for resolving these essential issues. We must maintain the patience to allow their critical efforts to come to fruition.

•U.S. Army Maj. General William B. Caldwell IV is spokesman for Multi-National Forces-Iraq and is currently stationed in Baghdad.

I would add one other point that the General could not discuss in the 530 word limit given to him by the AJC. The development of an effective Iraqi Security Force is critical to winning the counterinsurgency battle we are fighting in Iraq. A cornerstone of modern counterinsurgency theory is the vital importance of training an indigenous security force. As Jonathan Nagl notes in the preface to his excellent book “Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife”:

Local forces have inherent advantages over outsiders in a counterinsurgency campaign. They can gain intelligence through the public support that naturally adheres to a nation’s own armed forces. They don’t need to allocate translators to combat patrols. They understand the tribal loyalties and family relationships that play such an important role in the politics and economies of many developing nations. They have an innate understanding of local patters of behavior that is simply unattainable by foreigners. All these advantages make local forces enormously effective counterinsurgents.

This is why in his classic work on guerrilla warfare in the Middle East, T.E. Lawrence wrote, “Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them.”

In the face of daily acts of barbarity perpetrated in Iraq, it is understandable that Americans question whether we are making progress in establishing a free and prosperous country. Unlike the conventional wars that comprise the greater part of the American military experience, counterinsurgencies are long, messy affairs that do not provide clear metrics such as lines of advance by which we can mark progress. However, the remarkable success we have witnessed in training, equipping, and developing the Iraqi Security Forces strongly suggest that we are on the right track.

Some Poolside Thoughts

2006-09-30T15:45:00.000+03:00

Most nights I after work here I go out to the Palace pool to read, write, or otherwise unwind (Tuesday's are MWR's poker night) and avoid my roommate. He is not a bad guy, but he has two extremely annoying habits: first, he apparently requires more sleep than any other human alive, going to sleep at 2130, and waking at 0700 the next morning. Also, when he watches a comedy on television, he for some reason needs to repeat every joke after laughing at it. (i.e. "He fell out of the tree!!!") Again, he's not a bad guy, and most importantly, he doesn't snore, so I don't have to suffer the same hell as my friend Malia, who is currently deployed in Afghanistan, and has to sleep in the hallway some nights because of her roommate's snoring.

The other night I was sitting and reading and saw a group of some twenty Iraqi officials being escorted through the area, likely on their way back from an Iftar dinner at the Palace. (Iftar is the nightly feast that breaks each day's fast during Ramadan). I wondered what their reaction could possibly be to the groups of tattooed enlistedmen splashing in the pool, to other groups of military and State personnel scattered on lawn chairs around the pool, or to the nurses from the health clinic playing volleyball in their bikini tops yards away from what used to be Saddam's office? Do they appreciate the irony of a singer strumming an anti-war anthem on his guitar during "Open Mike" night, while at the same time a MEDEVAC helicopter flies overhead, rushing wounded to the Combat Support Hospital?

David Interlude (IX)

2006-09-28T10:54:00.000+03:00

Happy Nine-Month Birthday to the Little Guy! Here is what David's mother wrote in the blog entry that accompanied this picture:

As David figures out how to manage his body he is exploring more and more parts of his world. The latest pasttime is to pull all the books off of the book shelf just because he can. So, here is about fifteen minutes after he woke up on Monday morning. He wastes no time getting to "work". I guess there is no denying he is Ben's little boy!

Less than a month until I'm home on my mid-tour leave and we can pull all the books off the shelves together!

Best Wishes . . .

2006-09-25T12:50:00.000+03:00

To my Mother, who undergoes her first dose of chemotherapy today. The doctors say the prognosis is good that she will be completely cured of the cancer, but she will have to endure some rough days between now and then. She remains in good spirits and in my prayers.

To Everybody Else, L'shana Tova, Happy New Year!

In The News . . .

2006-09-23T12:02:00.000+03:00

A couple of news stories from the last couple of days that caught my eye.

First, remember all those stories before the 2004 election about how the war in Iraq was killing morale and recruitment for the U.S. military? Well, apparently the Army just had it best recruiting year since 1997. Funny how this story didn't garner the same frontpage treatment, isn't it?

Second, for the first time since October 2003, a majority of Americans support the war in Iraq. Although I think the Frank Warner overstates the significance of this poll, he is absolutely correct that the media repeatedly frames this issue in the worst possible way.

And finally, a piece on R. Lee Ermey and Unmet Needs, a charity dedicated to assisting military families facing financial hardship. For those who don't recognize the name, Ermey is the Vietnam veteran and former drill sergeant whose funny and frightening role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman made Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" a modern masterpiece. He is putting his celebrity to good use, and this is certainly a cause that deserves more publicity.