"I'm leaving on a jet plane"

All,

This will be my last blog while in Iraq. Our replacement team just arrive this week and they are already eager to take over... more power to them, bc they can have it. I feel a lot like coming home from a mission, but not so socially disorientated. I'm still my old Clint self, but I will always be grateful for the things i have seen, heard, and experience. I felt like I grew up a little here. As a great relief to my parents, i have decided that i want to get married, start a family, and settle down a bit. As many of you know, I will be heading to Monterey CA to study Chinese for the military lasting around 2 years. the job Im gunning for a Chinese Foreign Affairs officer, working as a liaison between the Chinese and US government. For the first time i feel like i have a solid future. I wouldn't trade my time here for the world... ok I'd prob give it up for a buck 99 and a microwave, bc i just remembered all the nasty sandstorms, heat, and disappointments.

I feel like i have some stories to tell my grand kids and something for my family to be proud of. If/when i go to Afghanistan, i'll be better prepared. I'll be ready, I'll be prepared, and I'll be willing to serve my country when it calls for it.

Hit by an IED in Mosul

something crazy happened to me today. we were in mosul about to head to this iraqi base and my team got hit by an IED. it wasnt a big one and everyone is ok, but shook us up a bit. It hit right in front of my vehicle spraying the veh in front of me. and we saw the guy who detonated it running so we opened fire- but couldnt confirm if we got him. it was just like the movies, but A LOT LOUDER in real life. I remember i could feel the impact of the blast and some of the gunners on top of veh got damage to their ears and possible concussion. but all in all, we are good... except for my PTSD that i have now... jk. but seriously thank the Lord that the terrorist dude was too dumb to pack more TNT in that bomb, and that his timing was slightly off on detonation. we got lucky bc it could have been way worse, bc really the most dangerous thing is to have a small bomb like that go off and then while you are focused on that explosion, a car bomb comes at you from behind. THAT is what i was scared of, and as the last veh in the team, and after getting out of the "kill zone"i made sure my gunner was ok and then told him to watch for ANY car near and if light them up if he sees anything. luckly, nothing came.

infact that was just a horrible neighborhood bc and hour after that a car bomb went off and small arms fire after that, who knows that car bomb could have been for us and the retarded guy messed up the timing- who knows but we are cool- except that we got to go on this retarded mission tom in a bad news town. whatever- its going to be crazy as all the CFs are getting out of the cities and the iraqis are starting to take over. infact, all the terrorist are prob video tapping these attacks and claim that they are pushing out the infidels!... what a bunch of crap...

anyway- Just a bad day in mosul.

My Welcome home and those that fell

If any of you have experienced server turbulence on a flight you might be able to relate. So on the combat flight from Baghdad to Mosul, the pilot is required to do something called a combat landing. So right when you feel the C-130 (which is just a school bus with wings- with all your battle rattle on and cramped up like sardines) start to descend you know its coming, but this one was crazy. the plane will (on purpose) take a dive, shift from left to right and basically fly around like cracked out moth. well the first dive felt like a free fall ride like at 6 flags and lasted about 15 secs. the crazy part was that i heard a big bang right before the pilot initiated the fall so i was thinking that we got shot and that we were GOING DOWN! i remember the guy across from me was freaking out and as we were hovering in mid-air, he was trying to grab anything he could, including my leg. I guess i was freaked out, but what could i do at that point but laugh at the guy across from me (which i did). after we leveled out again, i asked if he needed to change his pants. it was funny.

So i got back to my duty location and sat down my gear and my team said mount up, bc we were going out to conduct some raids. but let me back up...

You may have heard (mom i know you did) about some killings that happened in my area. what happened is that in a base that we go to all the time an iraqi soldier entered a US area and just started shooting killing 2 and wounding many. Now i heard about this when i was grounded in Baghdad with the platoon leader of the guys who got attacked. he was freaking out and blamed himself. And i can tell you that the scariest thing is not to personally get killed or hurt, but actually it is NOT being there when your men or battle buddy does. that's really what i was worried about the most (and especially bc i knew about all the craziness that happening to our team right before i left) before i left on leave. But i consoled him at the time saying that it wasn't his guys and that the area was big with a lot of forces around, and really anything i could say to keep the guy calm. Bc at the time, we only had limited info. But it was his guys and i feel for him.

So right when i got back, my team told me that the Iraqis needed help to role up the key planners and bad guys in that area. Now it seems that it was just one guy that shot those men.... WRONG, think of all of these terrorist acts as an iceberg, where you only see the action take place or tip of the berg, but like ALL operations its way bigger then what you just see.

(Sorry to be so vague, but its for a reason) Knowing what happened and after looking at the Intel i was MORE THAN HAPPY to go get these guys. so hours after i got back into my AO, I was in the back of an Iraqi truck conducting raids on some of the key targets in that area. It was crazy bc this was by far the most dangerous thing i have done yet in this country and i was doing it right when i came back from leave!?!? I mean when i was in Europe, i kinda even forgot i was in the army and Iraq seemed like a distant memory. but i was shoved right back into the mess.

I was working with a commando team and they were all cool, but tired bc they hadn't slept for almost 2 days. so they were a little cranky and ready to kill someone. We hit houses and building all day all over this town, looking everywhere for these criminals. as an example of the stress involved, we hit this one house and rolled a guy who knew our targets and we had to "force" him to show us where the guy was hiding. While that was going on a drunk neighbor started shouting threats to the commandos. Well they were not having any of that. and before my interpreter could tell me what was going on, the commandos jumped the guy's fence and cocking there weapons and wrestling this drunk dude to the ground and searching his house. Now, you need to realize that this entire area are known insurgent supporters and basically the terrorist key leader neighborhood, NOT just a walk around meeting people and asking questions. I mean the area had its own little terrorist army hidden within the local populous. so any threat was taken seriously and squashed on site. Another example is that we went into a house of iraqi police man who knew and had the ID card of this guy we were looking for. We questioned him for a while and quickly found out that his loyalties were not with his country, but the hidden insurgents in the town. THAT is how corrupt this place is; even the good guys are covering for the bad guys. So we tied him up, blind folded him and threw him in the back of a truck for hours traveling all around town, then at the end of the day dropped him off in a field somewhere- serves him right. should have cooperated.

I can only equate the mission as something you would see in the movies and i got to kick doors and detain our targets. Raids are fun and a def adrenaline rush. So this was an all day thing and even into to the night, and i am more then happy to report that we got our guys. so rare is it that a unit has the privilege of getting those directly responsible for attacking and killing them. Usually the guy, after he attacks you, fades into the background and doenst re-appear for while until he does it again- at least the smart ones. but we got all of them and mom that is your Mothers Day present. You can sleep well tonight.

Exusted and sleep deprived, we turned the guys into the Iraqis and my only prayer is that they do the right thing and take all the evidence and guy to get tried and locked away. after all we can only do so much bc of the SOFA. but i think (mostly bc of our high interest in the case) they are seeing justice.

The next day i went to memorial of the 2 soldiers that were KIA. It was truly a sobering experience and will never forget it. i knew one of the guys after working with him on other missions. The CAV (the unit they belonged to) gave a professional and heartfelt service and his battle buddies were able to say goodbye is there way after (seeing them laughing, drinking redbull, and eat pizza in the PX area). The thing i found surprising is that the word got out that our team rolled up those guys and we received many thanks and appreciation for the actions we did the day prior. It was nice to do my part to honor those have paid the ultimate price of freedom.

the pic attached is when we were turning these guys in to the iraqis. "Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do, what you gonna do when i come for you...!"

Leave

Sooooo- im back now in the desert and it is def hotter then when i left it. my time away from this ordeal was refreshing and badly needed.

When i got to Kuwait i was told to change into civilain clothes and that was strange to be in pants again. I flew out of kuwait airport and took pics so my dad could see the difference of that back in 1992 when he fought his way into that same city. the flights i took had less and less military personnel until it was just me in alone in Amsterdam.

The next day my buddy flew in and it was on. we rented bikes and rode all over that city seeing the van gough museum, Rembrandt, and just reveling in the fact that i wasnt in iraq. the canals were amazing and we took a river tour all round the town with all the beautiful architecture all over the city. in iraq i have been hitting the gym and dieting pretty hard, but there i ate and ate and ate until i couldn't eat anymore... then i had dessert! the food was awesome. of course i felt naked without my 9mm pistol that i ALWAYS have on me here, but prob that i didnt have it.

It was kinda weird being around so many civilians and especially the chicks... but dont worry i was able to talk to many beautiful babies:) I tried my best not to talk shop, and in fact my cover story was that i was an English teacher from monterey CA. not far from the truth but you cant be too careful of bad guys. but when i was comfortable i told my story to those who were interested. One night i met a chick from Afghanistan and after a while i told her what i really did. we talked for hours about the situation in the middle east. she admitted that her family moved to the Netherlands bc the Taliban threatened her family when she was young. she had only heard bad things about the US in her country but after a heartfelt talk about my frustrations and intents with the war she started to understand what we were trying to do here. I shared some of my near misses and stories of corruption, murder, and death.... but that might have been a bit too much bc her friend that was with her started crying (bc she had a boyfriend coming here next month). well i tried to console her but then the Afghan chick started crying.... well after seeing that my job was done (by ruining their night) i quickly said that i was lying and that i really was janitor in Detroit and i didn't know anything... its sick but i kinda thought it was funny. chicks are so emotional.

Then it was off to the mini cruise from amsterdam to new castle, England. the cruise was awesome and the ocean view and breeze felt good on the soul. new castle was a trip and i couldn't stop mocking the English accent. i ate my weight in fish and chips. I knew nothing about new castle, but we were on a quest to find the "castle" part of new castle. it took some doing and after asking a bunch of the locals (which nobody knew of a castle) but we found it and stormed the gate and ran to the top and claimed the castle ours. (but prob the worst day to forget a camera).

my buddy was running low on $$ and so we took the mini cruise back to amsterdam with a plan to go to Spain. on the way back though i met a couple of girls who worked on the ship and after a while they invited me to the VIP lounge and they showered my with questions of the war and my experience. then the captain of the ship came in and kicked me out.... hater!

bc of low fundage my buddy didnt want to go Barcelona- fag. so we stayed in the dam and prob was a good decision bc it was queens day weekend. the streets were flooded with so many festivals and people from everywhere. it was the time that queen came to stay in her palace in amsterdam and tradition was that the people are to come out on the streets and celebrate. there was traditional music, reggae, jazz, and all sorts of out door concerts. was soooo incredible. but all too soon i found myself on a plane ride back to kuwait and eventually the dust storm hell hole of mosul iraq.

was def an experience to remember and so was the welcome home i got... more to follow

im out!

well im off to europe in a couple days for some well deserved RnR. Im meeting a buddy out there and then plan to go to a couple different cities like amsterdam, paris, rome, prauge, who knows... cant wait

i was nervous bc yesterday i had my last patrol through mosul and fearing Murphy's law, i grateful to report that nothing happened then, but unfortunately in the same exact place where we were stopped at, a huge car bomb went off with several KIA and WIA. happy it wasn't me, but remorseful for though who did get hit. the bad news is that when i get back from leave, we have to go to mosul a lot more to meet with some iraqi dudes up there so :(

but all is fair in love and war.. unless they use suicide bomber- then they are just retarded.

talk to you all later skaters.....

toe to toe with the Godfather

so i have told you about the iraqi army working like the mafia- well this was the first time i ever felt real danger from them, or should i say him... the Godfather.

in order to practice good operational security, i'll leave out some details, but here was the situation.

there i was, talking with the only honest officer in our iraqi unit. he was overly nervous that day like any minute he would find out that he was going to be squashed out by the godfather, or worst, his family. we were mid-conversation about our plan to get him out of the impossible situation he was in, which was, in laymans terms, get dirty, or get dying. the problem was that he was an honest man, he did not partake nor approve of the crimes that went on in the unit. he was 10xs the officer in both brains and courage then the godfather, who bought his way up to his position by shaddy deals and dark promises.

As we were talking about these things a knock came to the door and the godfather came in with a scowl on his face. he asked me what we were talking about and i made up something about training or something. but what i really wanted to say was that he was a crook. a cheater and he should be ashamed of his command, and that he belong in jail, or better off, dead (and i would be willing to act on the latter- if only he gave me a real reason) well he asked me to step in the hall and his personal protective guard (all 3 of them) all stepped closer toward me. My spider sense went off and i gripped my 9mm pistol and my mind went into a Jason bourne type thought of who i would shoot first, exit stratagies, etc... (ok im not bourne, but i was ready to rumble). he looked at me and i had to stare back at him, mostly bc if he wanted to have it out, i was ready. but he wanted me to come to his office and i declined saying that i had to get back to my HQ and that they were expecting me. he kept staring at me like he was trying to read my mind... "you got nothing", i thought, but most importantly i was trying to deflect his supision and anger from my counterpart, the honest officer. I think i successfully negotiation this task by talking about the newest fine looking women i spotted on the American side of the base. a crass move i know, but nothing can distract the guy like talk of the opposite sex. after an episode of light banter, and after the pressure was off my counterpart, i made my exit.

a little background of why this would take place:

our iraqi unit that we are (which is rather large) is filled to the teeth with known corrupt leaders, and for months they have become more prideful, defiant, and reckless with their real intentions. at least before, they would fake the funk to maintain the fasawd of cooperation with coalition forces and the freedom/stability of Iraq. but its gotten more and more dangerous and i'll tell you why...

the American people wanted a withdrawal date of troops in iraq from Washington- well fine and thats just dandy for the american people, BUT THAT DECISION IS PUTTING SOLDIERS AT RISK! I dont blame the pres and by my oath as an officer submit to his orders and decisions. But just trying to inform you of why that is a bad move for the guy on the ground (me and my brother cyle) and tactically unsound.

Just think about it, if i was an insurgent, with my main goal being to create a society of unrest, why would i fight the guys with bigger guns and better trained (not to mention better looking:)) soldiers when i could just wait, scheme, and plan my mouse attack after the cats have left.

but why do they want unrest?!?!? why dont they want the american values of peace, freedom, and the presute of happiness?? its all about vengeance, power, and money. whoever holds the most money, has the most power, and therefore can wage the most vengeance for how they were wronged when they were marginalized.... WTF right!

the sunnis are pissed bc they are out of power and their before abused pet, the shia are now holding the majority in the gov positions, and are taking revenge on the sunni "bastards" that abused them for so long under sadaam's rule. well the sunnis, now powerless want back their precious power and now finding themselves in an unforgiving situation, find that if they can prove to the people that the shia are doing a bad job being in charge, that people will demand them to take back control and establish their party as the power in iraq. and im not even talking about the kurds yet, who hate both of them and just want their own county.

now i need to be fair and say that i am only really talking about a small small percentage of the population of iraq. most iraqis really are peace loving, brotherly loving, Muslims desiring the freedom of that we offer. but the few ruin it for the whole.

The IA Mafia

Just extremely frustrated lately....

I work with the Iraqi Army (IA) Mafia. Literally, these guys are crooks. i met with a higher ranking officer today and he gave me an inside knowledge of the inner working of this army, government, country.
Not to be specific, but money and power are the only thing that drives the hearts and minds of those in power. now I'm not naive to the problems in our own country, but they are NOTHING compared the struggles a common good standing, good hearted man in Iraq faces. Corruption is at ALL echelons.....

and that is all i can go with this, but just know that it is my heart is sad, my mind is tired. I'm banging my head against this bloody wall built by the devil. and without a SERIOUS events in order to change the mind of those in power, my best advice to those Iraqis with the ability to leave this country.... is to leave and hopefully God will see it within His wisdom to do what needs to be done.

Not to say that the fight by US troops is in vain... but somewhere in turning over the country to the Iraqis, the noble fight is lost and hope diminished.

Sorry, just one of those days. Now i can understand the struggles of the ancient prophets of old in the Book of Mormon.

Iraqi and egos

So lately i have been working a lot with my Iraqi counterpart plan a couple non-lethal operations... its easy to load up and go get some bad guys, but to plan up close with the iraqis is simply frustrating. some of their ideals and methods of conducting planning, and even their rank-power structure is enough to drive any American mad.

For instance, the brigade commander is so egocentric that i have seen him sit in his chair, reach for a pen to sign something, find that it is just inches out of his reach, so he presses a button by his chair, moments later a soldier comes in and reports and he says that he needs that pen. The soldier then goes over to the get the pen and hands it to the commander, again, only inches away. The commander will sign it, then presses the button again to replace the pen. AND HE WILL DO THIS 6-7 TIMES A MEETING!!

I, like most of you all, could probably show him EXACTLY what he could do with his pen.

Sorry- just had to vent....

a hell hath no scorn...

I was asleep for about 2 hours when i got the call- mission, report to the TOC (Tactical Operation Center). at 0015 hours in the middle of the night it takes you a while to get your chi going...

We got an intel report that i thought was rather shady, but after your 2 cents of objection/input, orders are orders... so we linked up with our Iraqi counterparts for the operation. after hearing the operations brief i felt even less "warm and fuzzy" about the mission... whatever- i could always use a little adrenaline rush.

I was team leader of a search team, teamed up with a commando iraqi squad, the iraqi LT was cool and a real professional, a nice change, and focusing on our mission of counter insurgency- being curtious and kind, but careful.

The mission- find a pissed off chick with a vest that goes boom... thats about as much as i can tell you but I can say that waking up families in the middle of the night is not a smart thing to do....

I got to vent to you, and i dont want to say that IT WAS POINTLESS!!!!!!, put us in danger on a mission that could only yield a 1 in a 1,000 chance of finding anything. but i go where I'm ordered.. despite my team chief retard decisions. It sucks that i can better paint the picture, but thanks for hearing the frustration.

One situation- actually pretty funny:
We entered one house and I told the female searcher (you have to have a female soldier search the females unless you what a revolt on your hands) to stay right behind me. She was pretty new, but did well, and hugged my 6 o'clock. anyway, when got into a house and we separate the males and females, but as we were about to search this one lady, she started screaming "Alla Akbar!!!!!!!" I dont know if you have seen many videos of the terrorist attacking us, but right before they push the detonator they always say "Alla Akbar" (God is Great). so we got this lady screaming this in the middle of her living room, and knowing what we were looking for.... my interpreter looked to me and said "oh S*&T its her!!!" I felt my blood get cold, and waited for the blast..... but it didnt happen.... it turned out that she was crazy and her husband explained that she was nuts and apologised. So on that note, I cleaned the poop out of my pants (jk) and we went on to the next house.

anyway- that is whats pop'n in my neck of the woods. If you are feeling patriotic and want to see a couple movies that can paint a pretty go picture of what is going on over here, check out "the Lucky ones" and "Hurt Locker" sorry, not sure about the rating. Of course there are Hollywood errors and drama, but it hits some real scenarios that we see a lot.

A Bitter-Sweet Day

Today was a big day. It was the first day that we put a massive dent in the war. cant go into much details, but lets just say that money feeds the beast and our team took away the pantery. It really was a day of mixed emotions. I sway that bc no later where we about to celibrate our victory back on the FOB when we heard the LTC was killed along with his entire security detail up in Mosul. Mom/Dad if you hear something on the news, be asured its not me, but we do mourn the loss of a leader. It can do a lot to the moral of a unit when their commander taken. what a shame. Cyle- my heart goes out to the loss of the CAV. He was a good man.

So it was a slap in the face and a shock back to reality from the thoughts of invisiblity. Driving around all suped up in our armor it is easy to feel like superman. To feel like you can stop bullets and have a personal forcefield around you is a common feeling. It does prove something I say over here, that if its your time, its your time. now days it is nearly impossible to see the IEDs and threats outside the wire.

It was a bitter sweet day. One step forward, and a step back.

half way mark....

Here are some pics from c-mas and my turbin that was given to me by my interpeters. The other one is when we went to the range with our iraqi counterparts. I shot one of their shot guns. The big statue is in Kurdistan in the city of Erbil. It always amazes me how we can go out street shopping in a combat zone.

The SOI or sons of iraq is a group of concerned citizens in groups of villages. So all of you that think that local iraqi dudes arent doing anything... well your still right. usually the motivation behind signing up for this duty is bc it pays better and more regular then setting up IEDs and a hell of a lot better then a sucide carbomb or vest. but the US Army is done paying them off and the iraqi army has promised to pick up the bill. Good right? Maybe. I have already told you of wasta system and most iraqi army commanders are ok with is payment transfer bc the then have another source of income to skim off of. Well, my job is to not let that happen. In-Shalla...

Have a couple of big missions coming up, should shake things up around here and add a couple of nails to the terrorist's coffen. Wish us luck.

I remember then last couple months of my mission and trying hard to not become "trunky" or think of what i would do when i return to the states. Well as i offically reach my half mark as of 2 days ago, all i have is leave in 2 months, then 2 months after that... so monterey cali i come......

Successful Elections?

Successful elections?

Well after an all day voting event I am happy to report that the elections went rather smoothly. I was located in the 7th BDE IA headquarters, acting as a liaison between coalition and Iraqi units in the south Nineveh providence. At first, when the polls opened their were some rumors of areas that security were denying voters. but it turned out to be a miscommunication. Throughout the day with minimal SIGACTS (term used to explain any IEDs/Car bombs/ect. in the area), it was deemed a success.

so why is there a question mark? Well what this means is that Iraqi security forces or the ISF have been able to prove that despite the faults, corruption, and overall weakness of the military system in their country, they were able to come together and execute a successful operation. The turn out of all parties of voters, Sunni, Shia, Kurd, marked the victory of freedom in this country. threats to vote by terrorist organizations were small and unheard. As far as my job here is concerned, we are a mission complete. the rest is just a draw down of forces.
But the question still remains, are the leaders that are put in office able to support the country's desire to be free from terror and a long insurgency? who knows the real intent of politicians...? It's in the hands of hero's within the ranks of the citizens of Iraq. The country must improve from the inside out, not by the hand of a forgein government or military. Our piece is done.

My buddy and i were discussing this very point yesterday during the elections and he said, "Clint, you and I weren't here when the war started, but we are here today when the war no longer needs us." I agreed.

Now there is still an insurgency and a successful election will be avenged by those who hate the glory of freedom. Vigilance to the end. That is the key.

elections in iraq

As you all might know, the elections are 31 JAN 09 (tomorrow). Well either way its good to get it all over with, then on to the next big mission. but just so all of you know, regardless of who gets elected, Sunni, Shea, Kurd, or mix of them all, if all parties vote, we will have done our job. Allowing the people to even have the right to vote is a mission complete. Last elections many parties, namely Sunni, boycotted and many others were threatened not to support the elections by voting. If the people are able to contribute to the establishment of the government, regardless of creed, religion, or status, the elections have been a success.

In the south Nineveh area there are several security issues and some believe it is the last hold of terrorism in the country. pray for those in command to make the right decisions. to make choices that are best for the nation and not for self greed and hate. This is my prayer and what i work for while serving in Iraq. to do my best to make bad men good and good men better.

wrong place to break down...

Ok - I forgot to tell you about the second wrong place, wrong time event.

We were driving a 3 vehicle convoy through mosul, i was commander of the lead vehicle when i determined that it was in our best interest to cut through the city and change up our route. This is tactic used commonly as a way to throw off insurgents from patterns, limiting their ability to predict your movement and denying them the ability to fix you in time and space. anyway. We were in an area where an over-pass had been bombed and the only way was to go up the embankment on the right. however, when we got to the road, i saw a huge hole in the pavement and called it out. right after that, i got a call saying that the rear truck slid off the muddy bank and was at a 45 degree tilt. The M-RAP (the vehicles we drive) are top heavy due to armor and a 45 tilt was close to a roll over. we haulted and pulled front security, while the middle truck attempted to pull out the stuck veh. next thing i knew we got a call that the middle truck fell in the big hole that i called out. so 2 trucks down.

I dismounted along with a will yun in order to assess the damage. the middle veh snapped the air brake valve and couldn't move and the rear truck was stuck. luckily an MP unit came up helped assess the damage and assist in security.

Let me tell you a little about the location we were stuck in. the intersection gets a carbomb about every day. there are hide out all along the towering building for snipers. that area is a HIGH threat location. So as we were dismounted we were on the look out for charge veh with a deadly payload. as we were hooking up the middle truck to one of the MP's trucks we started taking AK-47 fire from some building that where across a field. we all took cover, but since no one saw exactly where it was coming from. The rules are that you need PID (positive ID) of a target before firing. well after a while it stopped and we continued to pull out the middle veh. we got it out and just then a ford truck of iraqi police came flying throw our area shooting rounds in the air. not knowing if they were shooting at anything- we took cover and and ready to shot. well, come to find out they just picked up a guy with a suicide vest on, threw him on the back of the truck (vest still on) and drove him throw our area. that was sooooooo stupid bc usually even if the guy's self detonator is take off or secured, there is all most likely a guys watching with a cell phone det, if the guys chickens out or something.

With all this going on we all got back into the trucks and waited for recovery help from the closest FOB. about an hour later they showed up and we got the rear veh out and towed the middle veh on base.

I dont know how more to tell you that we were sitting ducks and i know that God looks out for those in need.

wrong time and wrong place

well I'm still alive, but after the last couple days, i don't know if i should be. This is an example of the wrong time and wrong place.

Like i mentioned in my last entry, we attended a 4 star generals funeral. well after a little research i found out that this general who was killed was the iraq ground forces commander for the 1991 gulf war when Iraq invaded Kuwait. he was also commander when US invaded iraq 2002. so after, not 1, but 2 military defeats from the US, you can imagine his disdain for US forces. however since the gov change in iraq he was a force for regime change, but still never liked or trusted the americans. so looking back on this i started to realize the dirty looks that we got as we were at the funeral. for coalition forces to show up at his funeral was an insult to his family. The iraq brigade we work with intel officer said that since he was known to be close to US force, he would not attend bc of an attempt on his life. there was intel of carbombs, suicide vests, and sniper there and we would have sitting ducks. this is like a group of bloods gang members going to crips funeral. NOT cool. so that just goes to show that a little intel before the mission crucial. When finding out about it, i told my boss point blank that i didn't like it. we knew nothing going in, except that out iraq counterparts invited us. That is SOOO stupid. we have no idea what our iraq counterparts intentions are in that kind of situation. they could have been setting us up for murder. especialy with a bounty of $10,000 per US soldier killed!!!

I knew it was messed up and next time i will have to refuse orders. my boss means well, but is sometimes tactically retarded!!!

bombs and Obama

the elections are heating up here in the Nineveh area. This should be a historical vote for Iraq, and will possibly drastically change the nations views and politics. there are some good guys and bad guys running for office and after the end of this month we will know where this war stands in the eyes of the government.

Terrorist activity is believed to peak during the elections with all sorts of new ways to spread the message of terror and instability in the region. In fact, just last night a 4 star general with a extremely influential family was killed when a suicide bomber sneaked in to his home and ka-boom!

So this morning when i popped on the morning (your night before) news and hearing the widely known sware in for Obama, i started thinking. Hearing how, for better or worst, his election is mending the loose threads of our society, and uniting the political parties, make me feel grateful. Grateful for the blessing of unity and cooperation in times of trouble. seeing this country torn into pieces, each party thinking they are right. killing and bombing until there is nothing left. I thank God that America has the honor and decency to "for the sake of the nation" forgive trespasses, extinguish the fire of hate, and love thy brother.

So any man (whether i voted for him or not) that this nation can hold as a symbol of peace and healing, i am OK with and accept him as my commander and chief. (not that i really had a choice)

Starting 2009 with a BANG....

No seriously there was a couple big bangs at the stroke of mid-night. I was in my room with some friends counting it down when... 4....3....2....1.... HAPPY NEW (Bang!!!!!!!!) year?!?! we all look at each other and knew it was close, at least within half a Km. we all ran outside to the bomb shelter when another one went off. then after a couple silent seconds, we all screamed Happy New Years again laughing. so this year really did start off with a bang. I figure it was either in-coming of mortar rounds, or the EOD (bomb guys) having fun on new years (but they usually warn us for a controlled blast.)

but anyways happy new years to all you back in the land of freedom.