thedrifter
04-10-04, 09:18 AM
04-08-2004
Revenge of the REMFs
By David DeBatto
Boy oh boy, what a difference a day makes. Here I thought I was a good, patriotic American. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), prior service guy before that and a strong proponent of the global war on terrorism (GWOT), including the decision to invade Iraq and a citizen-soldier with the MA National Guard.
I re-enlisted (or enlisted, to be technically correct) after a nine-year break in service after viewing the Twin Towers disintegrate before my eyes on national TV that Sept. 11. As many of you know, in addition to writing for DefenseWatch, I have been doing a lot (my wife thinks too many) radio and TV interviews about the GWOT and my experiences in Iraq. I am also writing a book about it.
In every interview, I take great pains to tell the audience that what follows is my personal opinion and not that of any government agency. I realize that my experience as Counterintelligence Special Agent carries a lot of weight with some viewers and my opinion matters. That, my friends, is why I am doing these interviews. I knew that many people would tune in and actually listen to what I had to say.
When I was in Iraq, I made a promise to myself that should I survive (16 in my unit did not), I would write and speak the truth, the good, bad and the ugly about what is going on over there and with the GWOT in general. I do have a perspective, because of my training and experience, that many other people, soldiers included, do not have.
I had the opportunity, because of circumstances that only God and war can produce, that allowed me to do things that most soldiers, myself included, only dream about. Things like attending feasts with high-ranking government officials on both sides of the conflict. I am talking about generals, governors, ministers and so forth. I was able to speak before governmental bodies in Iraq and assist with the reconstruction of councils and assemblies. In one case, I was even being asked to set the price of grain in a province that had their economic infrastructure destroyed by both Saddam and the black market that ensued after his regime collapsed.
Yes, I also did have the joy (I guess a soldier can call it that) of capturing and throwing some Iraqi secret police and assassin types in jail and participating on many raids with M-1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and even some helicopter gunships on occasion. All great fun and an adrenalin rush.
Well, fast forward to today. All hell is breaking loose in Fallujah, AR Ramadi, Najaf and other hotspots all over Iraq. We are now taking some of the heaviest casualties since the end of hostilities officially ended last May, and with no end in sight. The June 30 handoff date is in jeopardy and the Pentagon is scrambling to come up with contingency plans to deal with the new “unexpected” insurgency they now have on their hands. In short, they are scared. When any governmental agency gets scared, they look for a scapegoat.
Yesterday, that scapegoat was me.
The Army has launched what I can only describe as a smear campaign against me by trying to destroy my credibility. They are claiming, among other things, that I am trying to present my self as an official Army or Pentagon spokesman (God forbid!) and that I have been trying to set national policy (I never realized I had that much authority). They are, of course, trying to minimize my experience and expertise by saying, in effect; I don’t know what I am talking about. Pretty standard stuff for a large agency trying to muzzle someone who is speaking the truth about them.
Mind you, these accusations are being made primarily by men (I use the term loosely here) that either never served a day in Iraq or Afghanistan or spent their time in-theater in a nice, air-conditioned office with Internet and e-mail connections 24/7, showers, latrines, good food and never went over the wire except to re-deploy. This was done when soldiers like myself were going out, over the wire, on 3-4 mission a day, seven days a week and getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a day, if we were lucky.
We took incoming from RPG’s, AK-47’s, and 60 and 80 mm mortars every day and night. We were also exposed to the very real danger of attack from the enormous crowds that circled us every time we would stop and dismount in a town or village. As for my team, a THT (Tactical HUMINT Team) for which I was the team leader, we were responsible for some of the biggest and most significant intelligence collection efforts in the central Sunni Triangle area in which we operated. I am very proud of my team and what they accomplished, usually under very difficult conditions; conditions made all the more difficult because of poor leadership at the 0-4 and 0-5 levels, some of the very same people now leveling baseless allegations against me.
Here is how I see it. Some ticket punchers and wannabes are upset that I was able to do what I did in the Gulf and have the b**** to talk about it and what I see is happening over there right now. They are also getting pressure from above to shut me up. I understand. It’s an election year. The bottom line; I can look myself in the mirror every day with no problem. I know they can’t.
Oh, and to the folks at the Department of the Army, DoD and National Guard Bureau whose job it is to follow my media accounts, hello! I want to assure you that my personal, unofficial opinions on unclassified issues of the day will continue to be heard and read every day around the world, and it will be the truth. Hooah!
Contributing Editor David DeBatto is a resently discharged Army staff sergeant and Counterintelligence Special Agent who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was injured in combat. He is currently writing a novel based upon his military service. He can be reached at info@mrdavid.net. Send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ó 2004 by David DeBatto
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=436&rnd=7.313310460928979
Ellie
Revenge of the REMFs
By David DeBatto
Boy oh boy, what a difference a day makes. Here I thought I was a good, patriotic American. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), prior service guy before that and a strong proponent of the global war on terrorism (GWOT), including the decision to invade Iraq and a citizen-soldier with the MA National Guard.
I re-enlisted (or enlisted, to be technically correct) after a nine-year break in service after viewing the Twin Towers disintegrate before my eyes on national TV that Sept. 11. As many of you know, in addition to writing for DefenseWatch, I have been doing a lot (my wife thinks too many) radio and TV interviews about the GWOT and my experiences in Iraq. I am also writing a book about it.
In every interview, I take great pains to tell the audience that what follows is my personal opinion and not that of any government agency. I realize that my experience as Counterintelligence Special Agent carries a lot of weight with some viewers and my opinion matters. That, my friends, is why I am doing these interviews. I knew that many people would tune in and actually listen to what I had to say.
When I was in Iraq, I made a promise to myself that should I survive (16 in my unit did not), I would write and speak the truth, the good, bad and the ugly about what is going on over there and with the GWOT in general. I do have a perspective, because of my training and experience, that many other people, soldiers included, do not have.
I had the opportunity, because of circumstances that only God and war can produce, that allowed me to do things that most soldiers, myself included, only dream about. Things like attending feasts with high-ranking government officials on both sides of the conflict. I am talking about generals, governors, ministers and so forth. I was able to speak before governmental bodies in Iraq and assist with the reconstruction of councils and assemblies. In one case, I was even being asked to set the price of grain in a province that had their economic infrastructure destroyed by both Saddam and the black market that ensued after his regime collapsed.
Yes, I also did have the joy (I guess a soldier can call it that) of capturing and throwing some Iraqi secret police and assassin types in jail and participating on many raids with M-1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and even some helicopter gunships on occasion. All great fun and an adrenalin rush.
Well, fast forward to today. All hell is breaking loose in Fallujah, AR Ramadi, Najaf and other hotspots all over Iraq. We are now taking some of the heaviest casualties since the end of hostilities officially ended last May, and with no end in sight. The June 30 handoff date is in jeopardy and the Pentagon is scrambling to come up with contingency plans to deal with the new “unexpected” insurgency they now have on their hands. In short, they are scared. When any governmental agency gets scared, they look for a scapegoat.
Yesterday, that scapegoat was me.
The Army has launched what I can only describe as a smear campaign against me by trying to destroy my credibility. They are claiming, among other things, that I am trying to present my self as an official Army or Pentagon spokesman (God forbid!) and that I have been trying to set national policy (I never realized I had that much authority). They are, of course, trying to minimize my experience and expertise by saying, in effect; I don’t know what I am talking about. Pretty standard stuff for a large agency trying to muzzle someone who is speaking the truth about them.
Mind you, these accusations are being made primarily by men (I use the term loosely here) that either never served a day in Iraq or Afghanistan or spent their time in-theater in a nice, air-conditioned office with Internet and e-mail connections 24/7, showers, latrines, good food and never went over the wire except to re-deploy. This was done when soldiers like myself were going out, over the wire, on 3-4 mission a day, seven days a week and getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a day, if we were lucky.
We took incoming from RPG’s, AK-47’s, and 60 and 80 mm mortars every day and night. We were also exposed to the very real danger of attack from the enormous crowds that circled us every time we would stop and dismount in a town or village. As for my team, a THT (Tactical HUMINT Team) for which I was the team leader, we were responsible for some of the biggest and most significant intelligence collection efforts in the central Sunni Triangle area in which we operated. I am very proud of my team and what they accomplished, usually under very difficult conditions; conditions made all the more difficult because of poor leadership at the 0-4 and 0-5 levels, some of the very same people now leveling baseless allegations against me.
Here is how I see it. Some ticket punchers and wannabes are upset that I was able to do what I did in the Gulf and have the b**** to talk about it and what I see is happening over there right now. They are also getting pressure from above to shut me up. I understand. It’s an election year. The bottom line; I can look myself in the mirror every day with no problem. I know they can’t.
Oh, and to the folks at the Department of the Army, DoD and National Guard Bureau whose job it is to follow my media accounts, hello! I want to assure you that my personal, unofficial opinions on unclassified issues of the day will continue to be heard and read every day around the world, and it will be the truth. Hooah!
Contributing Editor David DeBatto is a resently discharged Army staff sergeant and Counterintelligence Special Agent who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was injured in combat. He is currently writing a novel based upon his military service. He can be reached at info@mrdavid.net. Send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ó 2004 by David DeBatto
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=436&rnd=7.313310460928979
Ellie