thedrifter
04-16-09, 09:03 AM
How’re Things in Iraq? Fine, Thanks.
A Marine’s Eye View of Fallujah
By Douglas Fraser, a master gunnery sergeant currently serving with1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-6 in Fallujah, Iraq.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It’s always been a little frustrating to come home from deployments (Persian Gulf, Cuba, Haiti, Somalia, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq) and be asked casually how things were over there. Not that I mind having meaningful dialogue about my experiences, but I’ve always wondered if folks know that I am not a policymaker, just a marine. After 19 years in the gun club—as a recruiter (in Santa Barbara), scout/sniper, drill instructor, and infantry unit leader—I think people put a lot more stock in what I have to say about my experiences lately, based on my rank and current duty, which is Fallujah. The fact still remains that I am not qualified to speak to policy and what we are doing collectively as a country or a corps. Moreover, I have come to realize that unless I package my responses in neat, nonchalant summations with centrist sound bites, people don’t really want to hear it.
During the past few years, it seems that most civilians deal with the situation in Iraq in terms of absolutes. I’ve heard everything from, “Let’s bomb the joint and let God sort them out” to, “Marines commit daily war crimes and should all be waterboarded.” Virtually every opinion I’ve heard, from those not close to me, is informed by Fox, CNN, Huffington Post, a bestseller, a movie, or other commonly-held-to-be-credible sources. I can tell you that these sources (including this fine publication) get it wrong when attempting to represent my point of view.
I have been asked to write a personal response to reporter Ben Preston’s Wartime Blog, which I commented on a few weeks ago when he was embedded in Iraq. First and foremost, your Marine Corps is doing great things on a daily basis in this city.
I am constantly amazed that whenever we go on patrol outside the wire, we rehearse and are prepared to execute violence of action on a scale most human beings will never know.
I am constantly amazed that whenever we go on patrol outside the wire, we rehearse and are prepared to execute violence of action on a scale most human beings will never know. Most all of these patrols involve engaging key leaders, supporting reconstruction teams, and conducting joint Iraqi-led missions, yet we plan for the worst. As the battalion operations chief, I help define our procedures, which include ensuring every marine has a plan for killing everyone they meet out in town, yet treating these same people with respect, dignity, and consideration for their culture. The dichotomy of our unit ethos—no better friend, no worse enemy—is utterly amazing to see in action and deed. I believe that this guiding principle, coupled with backbreaking work by your Marines, is what has helped put Iraq on the backburner for most people. See what I mean? Not very sexy to hear that things are going pretty well over here lately.
We experience the spectrum of emotion here, from weeping like a child over a fallen marine, to laughter that literally causes injury, to sheer terror, to immense pride in one’s unit, to perfectly controlled, focused rage directed at the deserving. I have never met a marine who gave a rat’s ass about policy when it came time to work. We join, serve, and execute our duties faithfully, seemingly only for the sake of the guys to our left and right. I’ve never known a marine who filled sandbags or manned a machine gun for apple pie, his mother, or his country.
There is no easy answer, no sound bite, and no absolute to what goes on in places like this. We have a general policy when it comes to dealing with the media, and that is to stay in one’s lane. This means we don’t talk about things we don’t have control or situational awareness over. I’ve always wondered why it is that most civilians I know have very strong, absolute opinions about war, Iraq, Afghanistan, the role marines (should or should not) play in such environments, and a seemingly expert solution. The more you read from more sources, I think, the more you’ll end up with a lot more questions than answers
Ellie
A Marine’s Eye View of Fallujah
By Douglas Fraser, a master gunnery sergeant currently serving with1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team-6 in Fallujah, Iraq.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It’s always been a little frustrating to come home from deployments (Persian Gulf, Cuba, Haiti, Somalia, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq) and be asked casually how things were over there. Not that I mind having meaningful dialogue about my experiences, but I’ve always wondered if folks know that I am not a policymaker, just a marine. After 19 years in the gun club—as a recruiter (in Santa Barbara), scout/sniper, drill instructor, and infantry unit leader—I think people put a lot more stock in what I have to say about my experiences lately, based on my rank and current duty, which is Fallujah. The fact still remains that I am not qualified to speak to policy and what we are doing collectively as a country or a corps. Moreover, I have come to realize that unless I package my responses in neat, nonchalant summations with centrist sound bites, people don’t really want to hear it.
During the past few years, it seems that most civilians deal with the situation in Iraq in terms of absolutes. I’ve heard everything from, “Let’s bomb the joint and let God sort them out” to, “Marines commit daily war crimes and should all be waterboarded.” Virtually every opinion I’ve heard, from those not close to me, is informed by Fox, CNN, Huffington Post, a bestseller, a movie, or other commonly-held-to-be-credible sources. I can tell you that these sources (including this fine publication) get it wrong when attempting to represent my point of view.
I have been asked to write a personal response to reporter Ben Preston’s Wartime Blog, which I commented on a few weeks ago when he was embedded in Iraq. First and foremost, your Marine Corps is doing great things on a daily basis in this city.
I am constantly amazed that whenever we go on patrol outside the wire, we rehearse and are prepared to execute violence of action on a scale most human beings will never know.
I am constantly amazed that whenever we go on patrol outside the wire, we rehearse and are prepared to execute violence of action on a scale most human beings will never know. Most all of these patrols involve engaging key leaders, supporting reconstruction teams, and conducting joint Iraqi-led missions, yet we plan for the worst. As the battalion operations chief, I help define our procedures, which include ensuring every marine has a plan for killing everyone they meet out in town, yet treating these same people with respect, dignity, and consideration for their culture. The dichotomy of our unit ethos—no better friend, no worse enemy—is utterly amazing to see in action and deed. I believe that this guiding principle, coupled with backbreaking work by your Marines, is what has helped put Iraq on the backburner for most people. See what I mean? Not very sexy to hear that things are going pretty well over here lately.
We experience the spectrum of emotion here, from weeping like a child over a fallen marine, to laughter that literally causes injury, to sheer terror, to immense pride in one’s unit, to perfectly controlled, focused rage directed at the deserving. I have never met a marine who gave a rat’s ass about policy when it came time to work. We join, serve, and execute our duties faithfully, seemingly only for the sake of the guys to our left and right. I’ve never known a marine who filled sandbags or manned a machine gun for apple pie, his mother, or his country.
There is no easy answer, no sound bite, and no absolute to what goes on in places like this. We have a general policy when it comes to dealing with the media, and that is to stay in one’s lane. This means we don’t talk about things we don’t have control or situational awareness over. I’ve always wondered why it is that most civilians I know have very strong, absolute opinions about war, Iraq, Afghanistan, the role marines (should or should not) play in such environments, and a seemingly expert solution. The more you read from more sources, I think, the more you’ll end up with a lot more questions than answers
Ellie