US Army Apologizes in Iraq

[billvon 3,111]

>Which makes sense otherwise the extremist wouldn't have to
>import others to fight the "cause."

Most insurgents are Iraqi.

[jcd11235 0]

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Funny how 1st hand accounts are not as accurate in your eyes as NPR. I saw a number of accounts of Iraqi's thanking the troops for freeing them. Perhaps your view of the world and the "evil US" shades what you see. You felt the 1st gulf war was all about oil and you were wrong then and wrong now.

There may in fact be many people that support US troops. Also, many don't.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[DexterBase 1]

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And frankly, a soldier on the ground gets a very blinkered view of the situation. It's a bit like suggesting that an insurance clerk has a better understanding of the running of the insurance company than market analysts specialising in insurance. The clerk is a small cog in a big machine.

Actually, I was part of the personal security detachment for the assistant division commander. From time to time, the division commander (The man in charge of the entire 1st Marine Division) would use our jump team to escort him to various high level meetings between Iraqi officials and american commanders.

So, I would say my view of the "bigger picture" over there was much more clear than the average warrior in country. When you hang around with Generals on a daily basis, you're privy to a lot of information about the situation, tactics being used and their effect. Just by the fact that you're on the jump means you sit in on many classified and secret briefs that pertain to the operational situation in the country. This is necessary to give us the best chance of getting him from point A to point B alive.

I won't discuss any of that information online or elsewhere though so don't ask.

Hell, we escorted the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, and on one occasion, the secretary of the Navy.

In addition to that, my platoon was tasked with counter mortar patrols around the base which kept us outside the wire in Iraqi neighborhoods on a daily basis. I got a chance to interact with the Iraqis very regularly. We would often have crowds of children following our patrols around (not always good from a tactical standpoint) and we would see small children run from their parents feet up to us to get a small piece of candy.

We had a translator assigned to our platoon that was formerly an officer in the Iraqi army. His bed was right next to mine. We talked at length about the situation in Iraq and how the people felt about it. Be actually became good friends. I think his opinions should mean something and be pretty un-biased toward the US.

I would say that I have a good idea about what I'm talking about.

Can anybody else here say they have this first hand experience rather than just reading what's on the internet?


Oh yeah, I got to have it out with insurgents from time to time as well. In fact, I was awarded the Bronze Star for my actions in a firefight on April 9th, 2004. Remember that day? I sure as hell do.

I've seen all sides of this conflict.

[bodypilot90 0]

Chad thanks for your service and thanks for your 1st hand account. You make us proud.

[crozby 0]

So how would you explain the inconsistency between your account of Iraqi feelings towards the coalition and that suggested by the polls conducted by the various (US owned) polsters?

[Botellines 0]

Perhaps it is because Irakis who don´t like U.S presence in Irak soil don´t get close to the military forces for fear to be sent to gitmo. So the U.S forces only see the friendly irakis.

[falxori 0]

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please keep in mind that I am just the regular guy, next door. I don't have a fancy education or degree. Can I offer you the Unified Theory of Political Everything? No!

so maybe you should spend some time reading about conflicts you know nothing about before making harsh statements like "... It's treatment of Arabs and Palestinians is at times akin to genocide." about the israeli-palestinian conflict.

and as for the UN, in your words "Only the UN has that (moral) authority..."
really? with an automatic arab/muslim majority to any and every decision against israel?
check the stats about how many times israel was put on trial in the UN as opposed to any other country.
the US use of its veto right is pretty much the only thing keeping the UN from becoming a total absurd in this issue.
and if you want the whole list and stats, it was posted here awhile back.

O

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."