I just thought this was a good read and give more insight to the real situation in Irag than the news media ever gives us.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

All: I haven?t written very much from Iraq.
There?s really not much to write about. More exactly, there?s
not much I can write about because practically everything I do, read or hear is
classified military information or is depressing to the point that I?d
rather just forget about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in
between all of that are filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed
camp. So it?s a bit of a struggle to think of anything to put into
a letter that?s worth reading. Worse, this place just consumes
you. I work 18-20-hour days, every day. The quest to draw a clear
picture of what the insurgents are up to never ends. Problems and
frictions crop up faster than solutions. Every challenge demands a
response. It?s like this every day. Before I know it, I
can?t see straight, because it?s 0400 and I?ve been at work
for twenty hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process.
And once again I haven?t written to anyone. It starts all over
again four hours later. It?s not really like Ground Hog Day,
it?s more like a level from Dante?s Inferno.

Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured
I?d just hit the record setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq.
These are among the events and experiences I?ll remember best.

Worst Case of Déjà Vu
- I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà vu until I arrived back
here in Fallujah in February. The moment I stepped off of the helicopter,
just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just as I had left it ten months before -
that was déjà vu. Kind of unnerving. It was as if I had never
left. Same work area, same busted desk, same chair, same computer, same
room, same creaky rack, same . . . everything. Same everything for the
next year. It was like entering a parallel universe. Home
wasn?t 10,000 miles away, it was a different lifetime.

Most Surreal Moment -
Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and unload a truck load of
flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had put the word out earlier
in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were looking for Bad Guy X, who
was described as a midget. Little did I know that Fallujah was home to a
small community of midgets, who banded together for support since they were
considered as social outcasts. The Marines were anxious to get back to
the midget colony to bring in the rest of the midget suspects, but I called off
the search, figuring Bad Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his
companions rounded up by the giant infidels.

Most Profound Man in Iraq
- an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by
Reconnaissance Marines (searching for Syrians) if he had seen any foreign
fighters in the area replied ?Yes, you.?

Worst City in al-Anbar
Province
- Ramadi, hands down. The provincial capital of 400,000 people.
Killed over 1,000 insurgents in there since we arrived in February. Every
day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us with giant bombs in the road,
snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast them with tanks, attack
helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better than theirs), and every weapon
that an infantryman can carry. Every day. Incredibly, I rarely see
Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out here in the west as Baghdad.
Yet, Baghdad
has 7 million people, we have just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar
province is the most violent place in Iraq
by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no accident that the
Marines were assigned this area in 2003.

Bravest Guy
in al-Anbar
Province
- Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD Tech). How?d you
like a job that required you to defuse bombs in a hole in the middle of the
road that very likely are booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy
who?s just waiting for you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the
detonator? Every day. Sanitation workers in New York City
get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and commitment.

Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province
- It?s a 20,000 way tie among all the Marines and Soldiers who venture
out on the highways and through the towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if
it will be their last - and for a couple of them, it will be.

Best Piece of U.S.
Gear - new, bullet-proof flak jackets. O.K., they weigh 40 lbs and aren?t exactly
comfortable in 120 degree heat, but they?ve saved countless lives out
here.

Best Piece of Bad Guy Gear
- Armor Piercing ammunition that goes right through the new flak jackets and
the Marines inside them.

Worst E-Mail Message -
?The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need blood type A+ stat.?
I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I get these messages, but I
never give blood - there?s always about 80 Marines in line, night or day.

Biggest Surprise - Iraqi
Police. All local guys. I never figured that we?d get a
police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I estimated that
insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest. Well,
insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming. The
insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes and on
the streets, but the cops won?t give up. Absolutely incredible
tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding
them than we are. - and they are finding them. Now, if we could just get
them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp . . .

Greatest Vindication -
Stocking up on outrageous quantities of Diet Coke from the chow hall in spite
of the derision from my men on such hoarding, then having a 122mm rocket blast
apart the giant shipping container that held all of the soda for the chow
hall. Yep, you can?t buy experience.

Biggest Mystery - How some
people can gain weight out here. I?m down to 165 lbs. Who has
time to eat?

Second Biggest Mystery - if
there?s no atheists in foxholes, then why aren?t there more people
at Mass every Sunday?

Favorite Iraqi TV Show - Oprah. I have no idea. They all have
satellite TV.

Coolest Insurgent Act -
Stealing almost $7 million from the main bank in Ramadi in broad daylight,
then, upon exiting, waving to the Marines in the combat outpost right next to
the bank, who had no clue of what was going on. The Marines waved
back. Too cool.

Most Memorable Scene - In
the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield, watching the better part of a
battalion of Marines packed up and ready to go home after six months in
al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young faces even in the moonlight.
Then watching these same Marines exchange glances with a similar number of
grunts loaded down with gear file past - their replacements. Nothing was
said. Nothing needed to be said.

Highest Unit Re-enlistment Rate
- Any outfit that has been in Iraq
recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home,
all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here - all are outweighed
by the desire for young men to be part of a 'Band of Brothers'
who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when
they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat
experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.

Most Surprising Thing I Don?t Miss
- Beer. Perhaps being half-stunned by lack of sleep makes up for
it.

Worst Smell - Porta-johns
in 120 degree heat - and that?s 120 degrees outside of the porta-john.

Highest Temperature - I
don?t know exactly, but it was in the porta-johns. Needed to
re-hydrate after each trip to the loo.

Biggest Hassle -
High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a rocket
attack. VIPs demand briefs and ?battlefield? tours (we take
them to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our
briefs and commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived notions of
what?s going on in Iraq.
Their trips allow them to say that they?ve been to Fallujah, which gives
them an unfortunate degree of credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about
the insurgency here.

Biggest Outrage -
Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about the war in Iraq,
not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are consistently both
grossly simplistic and politically slanted.

Best Intel Work - Finding Jill Carroll?s
kidnappers - all of them. I was mighty proud of my guys that day. I
figured we?d all get the Christian
Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up
yet. Talk about ingratitude.

Saddest Moment - Having the
battalion commander from 1st Battalion, 1st Marines hand me the dog tags of one
of my Marines who had just been killed while on a mission with his unit.
Hit by a 60mm mortar. Cpl
Bachar was a great Marine. I
felt crushed for a long time afterward. His picture now hangs at the
entrance to the Intelligence Section. We?ll carry it home with us
when we leave in February.

Biggest Ass-Chewing - 10
July immediately following a visit by the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Zobai.
The Deputy Prime Minister brought along an American security contractor (read
mercenary), who told my Commanding General that he was there to act as a
mediator between us and the Bad Guys. I immediately told him what I
thought of him and his asinine ideas in terms that made clear my disgust and
which, unfortunately, are unrepeatable here. I thought my boss was going
to have a heart attack. Fortunately, the translator couldn?t figure
out the best Arabic words to convey my meaning for the Deputy Prime
Minister. Later, the boss had no difficulty in convening his meaning to
me in English regarding my Irish temper, even though he agreed with me.
At least the guy from the State Department thought it was hilarious. We never
saw the mercenary again.

Best Chuck
Norris Moment
- 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government center in the small town of Kubaysah
to kidnap the town mayor, since they have a problem with any form of government
that does not include regular beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There
were seven of them. As they brought the mayor out to put him in a pick-up
truck to take him off to be beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the bad Guys
put down his machinegun so that he could tie the mayor?s hands. The
mayor took the opportunity to pick up the machinegun and drill five of the Bad
Guys. The other two ran away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our
top twenty wanted list. Like they say, you can?t fight City Hall.

Worst Sound - That
crack-boom off in the distance that means an IED or mine just went off.
You just wonder who got it, hoping that it was a near miss rather than a direct
hit. Hear it every day.

Second Worst Sound - Our
artillery firing without warning. The howitzers are pretty close to where
I work. Believe me, outgoing sounds a lot like incoming when our guns are
firing right over our heads. They?d about knock the fillings out of
your teeth.

Only Thing Better in Iraq
Than in the U.S.
- Sunsets. Spectacular. It?s from all the dust in the
air.

Proudest Moment -
It?s a tie every day, watching my Marines produce phenomenal intelligence
products that go pretty far in teasing apart Bad Guy operations in
al-Anbar. Every night Marines and Soldiers are kicking in doors and
grabbing Bad Guys based on intelligence developed by my guys. We rarely
lose a Marine during these raids, they are so well-informed of the
objective. A bunch of kids right out of high school shouldn?t be
able to work so well, but they do.

Happiest Moment - Well, it
wasn?t in Iraq.
There are no truly happy moments here. It was back in California
when I was able to hold my family again while home on leave during July.

Most Common Thought -
Home. Always thinking of home, of Kathleen
and the kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along.
Regretting that I don?t write more. Yep, always thinking of
home.

I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for
me, kiss a cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I?ll try to write
again before too long - I promise.

Semper
Fi,

thanks, good read (the sunsets are spectacular aren't they)

The forgotten of this war are the thousands of wounded and maimed men and women who are going through painful physical therapy in hospitals all over the country, so they can adapt to life without limbs. They should take all the politicians, assign them flak jackets and send the lot of them to Ramadi. Bastard parasites. What was all this carnage and suffering for? Explain it to the kids that have lost their fathers or mothers.

Yes, the sunsets are spectacular in the desert and having just come back I'd just as soon never have to see one of them again there. I'd rather see desert sunsets in Israel where it is much nicer and safer.

quote:

Originally posted by Kurtz_:
The forgotten of this war are the thousands of wounded and maimed men and women who are going through painful physical therapy in hospitals all over the country, so they can adapt to life without limbs. They should take all the politicians, assign them flak jackets and send the lot of them to Ramadi. Bastard parasites. What was all this carnage and suffering for? Explain it to the kids that have lost their fathers or mothers.

They're not forgotten by any of us who serve in uniform. I've made plenty of CACO calls, so until you are actually in the position of speaking to the families and helping them in their pain I'd respectfully suggest you take it offline.

quote:

Until you are actually in the position of speaking to the families and helping them in their pain I'd respectfully suggest you take it offline.

Geist,

I'd suggest you not assume that Kurtz isn't himself dealing with people that are adapting to "life without limbs". You're not the only person who deals with people affected by this BS war.

I'd respectfully ask that you take your assumptions offline.

Re-read your post and see if it comes across as holier-than-thou, to thou, as it does to me.

What kind of shyte is that to say to someone? Jesus.

Danger

quote:

Originally posted by Kurtz_:
The forgotten of this war are the thousands of wounded and maimed men and women who are going through painful physical therapy in hospitals all over the country, so they can adapt to life without limbs. They should take all the politicians, assign them flak jackets and send the lot of them to Ramadi. Bastard parasites. What was all this carnage and suffering for? Explain it to the kids that have lost their fathers or mothers.

Why do you think that they are forgotten? That's just liberal, media driven drama gueen drivel, dude! Nobody has forgotten any of those who have fought and died or been wounded in service of their counrty in Iraq. Where you contrived that idea, I haven't a notion. I live in a military town. Our soldiers are honored daily and we appreciate their sacrifices for the sake fof freedom.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Self indulgent, self important, presumptuous and wholly irrelevant.

Kurtz can feel free to speak for himself, so feel free to sod off.

People who work with injured veterans and their families know quite well that they're not forgotten. We don't leave our people behind literally or figuratively.

Geist, I don't know whether to tell you to talk to the hand or the finger. Now, the rest of this post is going to be directed at someone else, so you can't reply, okay? That would be you speaking for someone else.

Thumper, I think Kurtz is speaking about the fact that the mainstream media isn't bringing us stories, of the thousands of injured veterans, to our living rooms. That's what I think he means by "forgotten".

Also, the reports are inaccurate. When reports are released, they reference combat related injury counts. But what about the non-combat related injuries?

Not that there is no media coverage, but most coverage centers around other stories related to Aghanistan and Iraq.

I live in a military city too. Most of my friends are military families. Nobody is forgetting the injured except the media when it comes to reporting on the fact that they're coming home without body parts, not to mention with mental health issues.

According to the Pentagon, "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq." Stories about these soldiers should be on the front page of every news source on a daily basis.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/

Charmingly mature as always ROT, nice to see that your grasp of logic is as slippery as it has been. Remarkably enough, you're still not letting Kurtz answer for himself.

To argue that injured veterans are "forgotten" is highly subjective. They're certainly not forgotten by the military, the government of their families. They're also not forgotten by the medical professionals (both military and civilian) who care for them. Nor are they forgotten by the civilian employees who help them transition back to civilian life if they are unable to continue serving in the military.

ROT, the DOD reports do contain non-combat related injuries. They come out daily and in some cases more often then that. At one point they were part of the TDB, and may still be - I just haven't looked at it in a while. Those reports are also highly accurate up to the point of the best information available. That last part is important, because they're often based on the immediately available information and that is not always accurate. Re-classification of casualties is a regular occurrence.

There is also media coverage, and it's somewhat odd that you would argue that the front page story should be non-combat injuries (the majority of which are relatively minor) as opposed to combat casualties and major operations. Embeds usually don't report on a PFC who lost his leg due to slipping under a M1A1, or rather they do report it as an event but not an actual story. However, the DX between that same unit and some insurgents could indeed be quite a story. Reporters also regularly call veterans trying to get their stories and most veterans don't want to talk to them.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Okay simpleton, try answering the question this time around.

I see you're back to petty personal insults again. Try and behave like an adult and engage in civil discussion rather than trying to make things personal.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Why aren't there more stories about wounded soldiers?

I'm not a reporter or an editor. The argument "if it bleeds it reads" may apply since wounded soldiers is less or an attention grabbing headline than "massive assault in [X], [X] killed." Wounded soldiers doesn't sell newspapers as much as an assault on an enemy stronghold. However, there are indeed headlines about wounded soldiers. Usually they accuse the government of hiding the numbers or the soldiers themselves, such as claiming that they're "forgotten."

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
And isn't it true that the lack of headlines related to the topic make it appear as if the main stream media (not the DoD, genius) has forgotten about these individuals?

See above, not that challenging a concept. The media doesn't generally care about individuals they see as less worthy than they are or that don't sell newspapers or help in the ratings. Amputees generally don't sell as well as explosions. Many soldiers aren't willing to talk to the media for a variety of reasons, and that compounds this perception.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
It's a simple two-part question for a simple guy.

Much of which I already wrote about.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Don't waste everyone's time with your tirades that have nothing to do with the point. If you're unsure as to why I would say that, which I'm sure you are, see the first three paragraphs of your last ridiculous response.

Yadda yadda yadda. It's highly entertaining how personally you seem to take a message board. have you considered switching to decaf?

It's a suggestion, and possessing neither a hand mirror nor a lingerie drawer your continued attempts to insult and personalize fall flatter than your attempts to psychoanalyze.

Remarkably enough, this topic had nothing to do with what Kurtz initially posted either. I responded to that, and then you felt the need to "interject yourself into a topic that has nothing to do with you." I disagreed with what Kurtz said, and your post seems to show that you disagree with my choice to post anything at all. That's your problem, as are your continued attacks on me and my person as you attempt to read into things that exist in your mind only.

Your selective reading seems to have missed the fact that media does indeed do stories on wounded veterans, usually with a skewed perspective that claims they are forgotten. We hear it all the time, and no one I've served with believes it or has any stomach for that line of bull. The publicly available reports talk about exactly what you said reports didn't talk about. The only claims that the wounded are forgotten come from the media, and are artificial at that. You asked a question - rudely, and I did you the courtesy of replying. Rather than read and comprehend, you launched another personal attack.

You have a problem with what I write, by all means please write about it and we can discuss (key word here- "discuss," not "argue") it. Trying to create a problem with me (which you seem quite intent on continually trying to do) and that's solely your own issue to deal with, so you might want to think about why you seem to take a message board so seriously.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
My problem isn't taking the message board too seriously. It's taking you too seriously. The difference is, that the message board actually has something to offer.

Entertaining attempt at a riposte, but since you do not know me despite your many assumptions that is simply baseless.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
If you're not going to read slowly enough to comprehend what someone types (what Kurtz typed), then please don't respond.

Reading speed has nothing to do with it (perhaps for you it does, for me it does not - something you now won't have to assume, it's a pity freebie). I think I understood quite well what Kurtz typed, and until such time as Kurtz corrects me there is no reason to assume otherwise. You are not a moderator nor are you the arbiter of understanding. If you can prove your assumptions, by all means please do so. until such time as you are able to do so, they remain assumptions.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
This is like talking to an obstinate child. You don't listen, then you argue about what you percieve the issue to be, when it is not.

I speak to obstinate children all of the time, and most of them eventually see reason. You seem intent on everything being an argument rather than a discussion, and were this a more appropriate forum that might be considered projection. Please deal with your own issues and don't cast them onto me or anyone else.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
You need a time out, Undue Angst (my new nickname for you).

An odd choice of nickname since I'm not experiencing any angst. But I'll happily file that under "under assumptions."

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Kurtz wrote, "The forgotten of this war are the thousands of wounded and maimed men and women who are going through painful physical therapy in hospitals all over the country, so they can adapt to life without limbs. They should take all the politicians, assign them flak jackets and send the lot of them to Ramadi. Bastard parasites. What was all this carnage and suffering for? Explain it to the kids that have lost their fathers or mothers."

Where in any of that does it say that anyone in particular has forgotten about the injured?

I see precisely what Kurtz wrote, and it's the phrase "the forgotten of this war are..." Now if you somehow missed that despite your cutting, pasting and coloring it green that's again your problem. In your quest to pursue some form of argument or personal vendetta you seem to be ignoring reality or in this case simply ignoring written words.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Yet you take offense. If anything, the offended should be the bastard parasite politicians.

I took offense? News to me. Oh wait, that's yet another assumption on your part. That's really quite a bad habit of yours.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
That is why, assuming that YOU were being singled out, or even included, is self-indulgance. Can you grasp what I'm saying?

What you're saying is fairly simple, but nonsensical as you attempt to apply it to me since it is based solely on your assumptions and not anything I wrote, said, think, feel or do. You need to step back from the distorted image of yourself you're casting on/for me and deal with the situation. Kurtz made a comment, I responded. You seemed to take it upon yourself to somehow feel offended on Kurtz's behalf and begin your general pattern of making petty and insulting remarks and then pretending that you are the aggrieved party.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
Don't bother. Your responses never reference the question. I've lost my faith in your capability to hold a conversation with anyone other than yourself.

That's nice, and when you're ready to actually converse and behave in a manner befitting a civilized and mature individual I'll be more than happy to give you yet another chance. Your refusal to accept something in no way changes the nature of reality much less forces it to conform to your desires.

quote:

Originally posted by ROT_Danger:
You are a ridiculous waste of time. It's comical. Half diarrhea mouth (never stops) and half Chatty Cathy doll. Just another pseudo-intellectual blabber mouth with a closed mind and an open mouth.

Yes, those are a few more assumptions on my part. Live with it.

No, those are simply more irrelevant and petty insults. If you can't handle basic discussion on an Internet forum you might want to consider taking a break. Feel free to waste your time in any other way you see fit as long as it does not harm yourself or anyone else.

Shocking?????I go on holiday and come back half expecting the PC & 360 forums to have burned to the ground during the house party but no they have both behaved very well and all is well?..however I pop in here and all hells breaking loose and there?s only 2 at the party


Geist like it or not you asked for the fight in this thread.

First you insult Kurtz for his opinion suggesting he knows nothing and until he does he?s not welcome to post here (not your exact words but without doubt the insinuation)
Then someone else posts to explain what they interpretated Kurtz?s post to mean and you tell them to sod off?.if you speak to others like this you should expect them to respond in the same manor.

Needless to say this thread is being locked.

Should the ?superior? attitude I?ve witnessed recently continue there will be some changes around here?..not that I want to need to make changes but be under no illusion I WILL make them if pushed.