Marines, Iraqi SSF work to earn trust

[thedrifter]

Marines, Iraqi SSF work to earn trust
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004101265335
Story by Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Sept. 28, 2004) -- Distinguishing between 'friend' and 'foe' in Iraq can be difficult, but now Marines here have some allies to help recognize and win the trust of those who are willing to be their 'friends,'

With the help of Iraqi Specialized Special Forces, Marines with 4th platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, patrol through the streets in the Nasser Wa Salaam and Al Kharma areas with added intelligence.

Weapons Platoon added a few more riflemen to their ranks to become 4th Platoon. Iraqi SSF accompany the platoon on each operation and patrol, serving as interpreters in addition to operating as members of the unit.

"Many of the Iraqi SSF are war seasoned veterans who know the religion, culture and the streets of Iraq," said Staff Sgt. John T. Norred, platoon sergeant for 4th Platoon.

However, the SSF don't just help the Marines by giving them added man power and a native voice. They help with the locals' acceptance of a military presence.

"When the local people see that the Iraqi SSF are working with the Marines it reassures them that the Marines are trying to aid the country of Iraq," said Norred, 32, a Decatur, Ga., native. "The SSF help with building a trust between Marines and the Iraqi people."

The Marines have realized the importance of building that trust, but in order to win the war on terrorism, they must also get the Iraqi people involved.

"We have to bring pride to the people of Iraq, they have to take pride in cleaning up their own towns, getting the weapons off the streets and becoming a better country," according to Lance Cpl. Michael R. Kissell, 20, a native of Salt Lake City, and a machine gunner with 4th Platoon.

The SSF work alongside Marines in the hopes of earning the trust of the Iraqi people, an ongoing and oftentimes slow process. However, it appears that some members of the younger generation are more willing to accept the Marines' presence.

"The favorite part of my job is dealing with the Iraqi people, especially the children. To see a smile on their face makes you feel like you are accomplishing something," said Sgt. Justin W. Green, 23, a native of Whately, Mass., and a squad leader with 4th Platoon. "Being able to hand out candy and toys to the Iraqi children and assist their families, comforts them as well as us."

The Marines believe the children of Iraq are the ones who will ensure the country's stability and prosperity in the years to come.

"They put a smile on our face and we bring a smile to theirs," said Norred. "But it is bigger than that. Winning the (children) over is paramount to this country's future. They will remember our kindness and they will grow up and say the Americans are good people."



Lance Cpl. Jacob Scott M. Barlass, 20, a native of Prior Lake, Minn., and a machine gunner with 4th Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, provides security behind the 240 golf machine gun on the streets of Al Kharma, Iraq, Sept. 28. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...D?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

WELCOME BACK: PINCKNEYVILLE MARINES RETURN FROM IRAQ

BY CHRISTI MATHIS
FOR THE SOUTHERN
[Sun Oct 10 2004]

PINCKNEYVILLE -- After seven months of mortar attacks, extreme heat, primitive conditions and sand everywhere, William "Dustin" Patterson said he's decided, "I don't ever want to leave this country again!"

Lance Cpl. Patterson and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Nick Bebout, both members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, a reserve unit based in Bridgeton, Mo., arrived back at their homes in Pinckneyville about 1 a.m. Sunday after seven long and trying months serving their country in war-torn Iraq. The homecoming was a good bit later than expected as they waited three hours on planes in California for loading of equipment.

When the group arrived at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, they were in for a surprise, Patterson said. People lined the streets to welcome the 150 or so Marines home. Then, despite the late hour, a fire truck and police escort waited north of Pinckneyville at Oak Grove Baptist Church to lead the caravan back to the Perry County community where signs, banners, yellow ribbons, flags, and even hardy supporters waited to show appreciation. Banners bore messages of welcome, love, and even "Job Well Done."

The Patterson home was soon filled with family and friends, thrilled to be together again and much too excited to sleep.

"Even these little kids were up," said Dustin's mother, Sharon Patterson, watching grandson Caulden Lazenby, 6, scramble into his uncle's arms Sunday afternoon. Caulden and brother Chase, 8, and their cousin Jordyn Wieland, 8, all stayed up until after 3 a.m. and the rest of the family never did go to bed.

Dustin said it's unlikely he would have slept much anyway. Besides being excited to be home with his family and fiance Lauren Hottes, Patterson said conditions are so different than what he's been accustomed to, it will take some getting used to. From late February until late September, Patterson was sleeping in a tent on a US military base known as "Camp TQ" in the midst of the Sunni Triangle, seven miles west of Fallujah and near numerous other Iraqi cities where some of the fiercest fighting has occurred.

"I was right by all the towns you hear about on the news," Patterson said. About 4,000 Marines and Army personnel were stationed at the base, which Patterson said was virtually a city of its own where sleep was hard to come by.

"About every other night we would get mortared," Patterson said. "You don't know where they're going to hit. They're just coming in and you're just lying there in a tent. You'd just lie down at night and go to sleep and hope you would wake up in the morning and do it again. A lot of times we had to sleep with all our gear on, we were getting mortared so bad. They'd call a code red and you'd jump up and put your gear on, sleep in flacks and Kevlar."

ADVERTISEMENT - STORY CONTINUES BELOW

>> <<

Sometimes, the mortars ripped through tents and wounded or killed Americans. But strange as it seems, Patterson said it's been quite difficult for him and his buddies to sleep since returning to the United States a few days ago. In California, the nights were too quiet and the Marines missed the close proximity they'd grown accustomed to being in with their group.

"Hardly any of us slept in California," Patterson said.

Fear was a constant for the military in Iraq during daytime hours, too, Patterson said. Although his primary job in the Marines is motor transportation, while in Iraq he spent his time as a machine gunner and "basic grunt. I didn't even touch a vehicle while I was there," he said.

Many days, Patterson spent hours on patrol, never knowing what might happen next. On patrols from Kuwait to Iraq, convoys were frequently hit by improvised explosive devices, Patterson said. The homemade roadside bombs went off frequently and other enemy fire was there as well. Sometimes people within just a few feet of Patterson were hit.

"When it happens, your mind goes blank," Patterson said. "You just react. Everything you've been trained to do kicks in. You just go. You don't think twice until it's over and then you realize what just happened."

In the past two months, Patterson observed as power was shifted more to the Iraqi people, and instead of roving patrols, he spent most of his time guarding the Local National Control Point. There, he learned firsthand that freedom doesn't come for free, but saw many people are willing to pay the ultimate price to achieve it. A number of nationals including Jordanians, Hungarians, Filipinos and others worked at the LNCP, but so did many of the Iraqi people supporting the American efforts, Patterson said. There, Patterson got to know many average Iraqi citizens.

"They said they wanted us there, and what we got from them is the general public does, too," Patterson said. "Basically, the people there have two options: side with us or side with the terrorists, and the terrorists have no rules. They say, 'Fight for us or we're going to kill your families.' The people are afraid."

That fear is not unfounded, Patterson said. When Iraqis finished their work in the kitchen, laundry, and other positions on the base, the U.S. forces would escort them safely to the edge of the compound. Sometimes, within minutes, gunfire would ring out.

"The terrorists would kill them if they found out they were working for us," Patterson said. And yet, despite the risk, "they kept coming. They were willing to take the risk and try to help us. More and more came forward the longer we were there. They want a change."

Patterson said the pay of $6 per day is a lot of money for people in the poor nation, and teens as young as 16 would come to the U.S. base. But, he said, it wasn't about the money because no matter how much the support increased, each person who came was taking a chance.

"The terrorists are still there every time they come in and every time they go out, risking their lives working for us," he said.

After seven months of fighting, fear and danger, Patterson remains very supportive of the U.S. military work in Iraq.

"We're helping a country that really couldn't help themselves," he said. "Half the people in this country couldn't survive like those people do; no electricity, no running water; they survive scratching it out in holes in the desert.

"We're also keeping the terrorists there," he added. "If we hadn't, they'd have come here and come after us again and killed more people on our soil. We're making a point to the whole world that if you come after us again we'll come get you."

Patterson said during his stint overseas he saw more and signs that the people of Iraq will take the reins of their country and put a government of the people in place.

"It will take awhile but as soon as they get a form of government set up and realize they can stand up for themselves it will work," Patterson said. "They're used to fighting and scratching for themselves to stay alive. They are having to learn how to handle freedom ,but they want it and they're working at it. We saw more support every day."

Patterson said American forces also helped the Iraqi people in other ways. Orphaned children were frequently brought to the base and troops helped with funds or relocating them to safer regions.

One of the most frustrating things for the military personnel in Iraq is the media coverage of the war, Patterson said. Much of the news came to the military from people back home, on the Internet, or from days-old newspapers.

"They just report the bad," Patterson said. "The American media just reports the bad stuff people want to hear. They don't report the good stuff. They don't tell that nobody got killed today. They don't tell the good things we're doing. Sometimes it was frustrating. Sometimes people at home would tell us we were going to invade before we knew it was going to happen."

The people on the front line could, and did, see the value of their mission, Patterson said.

Patterson said he's thrilled to be back in America but "I'm still in shock, still trying to get used to it," he said. In addition to enjoying good home cooking and being with loved ones and friends after months of separation, the sheer luxury and freedom here are wonderful.

"It's nice not having to look over your shoulder, not having to worry if you would wake up in the morning, where you don't live in a tent, go to the bathroom in a hole, living like a human being instead of an animal," Patterson said. "It's different just being around normal people, regular civilians."

Patterson, 24, said he is just halfway through his six-year commitment as a Marine reservist and is now considering the possibility of becoming a full-time Marine. Although he's not sure if he'll do that or remain in the reserves, the man who has dreamed of being a Marine since he was a little boy said he'll certainly remain a Marine. He'll report back to the base Wednesday and learn more about the plans for his unit.

Patterson said his experiences overseas have taught him something important.

"You learn to value things you took for granted," he said.

mathis5@hcis.net 618-357-8391


http://www.southernillinoisan.com/re...op/TOP002.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Soldiers aim for truth with site on life in Iraq

Web postings give unvarnished view from battlefield
By Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 11, 2004


The soldier's posting, picked up from his own Internet blog by Operation Truth, is titled, "Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War." It is a reminiscence, written on the Fourth of July, about an afternoon in Iraq.

First, a private security contractor's red SUV riven with bullet holes roared past. Through the blown-out back window, the soldier saw "an individual lying down, completely covered in his own blood. He looked alive, but barely."

Moments later, the GI's patrol vehicle came upon another civilian security contractor's SUV in Mosul "all crooked up on the center divide." The SUV was white with "fresh red blood splattered all over." The driver was dead. Onlookers told an interpreter they hadn't seen anything.

"What's interesting about all this," the soldier, whose Internet handle is cbftw, writes, was that as his unit's medic prepared the body bag, he "discovered (the deceased) had on him a letter of resignation and he also had on him a one-way airplane ticket back to London, where he was from."

Combat vets typically don't say much about war, except maybe to other GIs who have been there. Operation Truth's mission is to change that.

The Web site – www.optruth.org – was launched between the major political conventions in August. It is nonpartisan, nonprofit and vows to stay as nonpolitical as possible, an exceedingly difficult task in the waning days of a presidential campaign.

"We're just a handful of vets who are sick of hearing on TV the talking heads, retired four-star generals and military consultants who were absent from the battlefield in Iraq," said Operation Truth founder Paul Rieckhoff, 29, an ex-platoon leader who raced across the desert to Baghdad with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in the March 2003 invasion.

"We're not here to give talking points; a lot of us aren't interested in being affiliated with the Bush or Kerry campaigns. The people on our Web site just want to get out there what it was really like."

Interest in Operation Truth, which links to cbftw's blog and several others posted by veterans, has grown steadily, Rieckhoff said by phone from his New York office.

Since its launch in late August, nearly 200 veterans have posted stories, opinions and reactions on the Web site, which is enlisting subscribers at a 5,000-per-week clip, he said. Some vets use their real names, others prefer anonymity.

"We have Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, Greens – people of all political persuasions," Rieckhoff said. "We will not endorse a candidate for president, and we aren't interested at this point about whether the war was right or not. We want to know what can be fixed."

But politics and opinions are inescapable in the current climate with Americans, Iraqis and others being killed and wounded daily in the war.

Keenly aware of that, Operation Truth will unveil a TV ad tomorrow featuring Robert Acosta, 20, an Army ammunition specialist who lost his right hand and use of his left leg when a grenade was thrown into his Humvee during a July 2003 patrol in Baghdad.

"Here in California, nobody really knows what the soldiers are going through, what's happening to them," Acosta, who is from Santa Ana, writes in his posting on the Web site. "They see on TV, oh yeah, two soldiers got wounded today and they think, yeah, he'll be all right.

"But that soldier is scarred for life, both physically and mentally, but like they don't understand. . . . Yeah, I got a Purple Heart. Awards don't mean nothing to me. I don't need anything to prove I was there. I know I was there. I got a constant reminder."

Rieckhoff said the ad featuring Acosta – which was paid for by donations and will run in markets yet to be determined – is "not anti-Bush or pro-Kerry. It's not an anti-war ad. It's a story about this soldier's experience in the war."

"Iraq has emerged as the most important issue in the election, but what's missing from the dialogue are voices of the people who have been there. Robert Acosta has been there," Rieckhoff said.

Rich Murphy spent many of his 15 months in Iraq as a military police officer, including a stint at infamous Abu Ghraib prison. He writes in Operation Truth's "Hear it from the Troops" section that he returned in August to American soil with a feeling of dread.

"In my time in Iraq, I witnessed the security situation deteriorate daily. . . . Before the war, I believed in the humanitarian cause of liberating the Iraqi people from the evil of Saddam, and I still believe in that cause."

But Murphy describes his experience on the ground as "troubling." He and 40,000 other soldiers had been sent to Iraq with Vietnam-era flak jackets. His mother, an elementary school teacher, found bullet-proof ceramic plates on the Internet and shipped them to Murphy. Thousands of fellow soldiers weren't as lucky.

"We rode in soft-shell Humvees equipped with flimsy fiberglass doors. A Volvo has more protection," Murphy writes. "I saw the blood of American soldiers spilled because of the lack of 'up-armored' Humvees."

Perry Jefferies, 43, spent 22 years in the Army and retired last May, eight months after returning from Iraq, where he was a sergeant with the 4th Infantry Division.

In his journal, part of which is posted on Operation Truth, Perry cites difficulties he encountered while striving to take care of his soldiers, including over-extended troops, deplorable living conditions and the lack basic necessities like food, water and supplies.

Characterizations of the insurgents fighting Americans in Iraq are wildly off the mark, Jefferies said. "They make it sound like there is an insurgency recruiting station in every town, and they sign up like we do. That's not how it works.

"It's disingenuous to portray them as one organized force. Some are Arabs from elsewhere, some are teen-age boys, some are old men. There are guys whose family members were killed, on purpose or by accident, and religious freaks, all fighting Americans.

"An Iraqi kid might wave and smile at us one day and heave a rock at a Humvee the next – and an insurgent is born. If the same kid is hired to burn garbage, he's suddenly a contractor; if he's bored that night and holds an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) launcher for his friend, Muhammad, he's an insurgent again.

"And if the next day, he points out a cache of small arms to our troops, he's a loyal Iraqi and a hero. But it's all the same kid."

A soldier from San Diego, who posted on Operation Truth from the war zone under the name "Madmedic," acknowledged that much of the bad news from Iraq is accurate.

But he told of helping to organize the first known baseball game there in the north, known unofficially as Kurdistan. "There we are loved," Madmedic writes.

"Winning a war is never easy. Winning this one will be hard, but it can be done," Madmedic writes. "I am sick of hearing things back home that keep on saying the mission is a bust and we should pull out now. People keep saying servicemen died in vain. I don't think so. . . . Nothing makes this medic madder than that."

Rich Murphy comes at it from a different angle.

He writes that enlisting in the Army Reserve after Sept. 11 "was one of the hardest and best decisions I have made in my life. I love the United States, the Army and my unit.

"Out of this deep love I ask that we as Americans take a long look in the mirror. . . . We as a nation must face the monster we have created in Iraq sooner rather than later. We must find a way out of the mess in Iraq with minimal loss of American and Iraqi life. We owe it to the soldiers on the ground and the embattled Iraqi people."

Operation Truth, Rieckhoff said, is a marketplace of ideas where all vendors are welcome, as long as they have the experience to know what they're talking about.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...1c11truth.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

October 10, 2004
Marines Welcomed Home

by Mike Corbin
24 Hour News 8

(Terre Haute) - 127 Marines were welcomed home in Terre Haute Saturday after serving at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. They were away from their loved ones for almost a year.

For Julie Hewitt of Kokomo, it was a double homecoming. First, her son Drew and then her son, Chad, both Marines now back in the U.S. after serving 10 months in Iraq.

"God Bless America. My boys are home in one piece. Safe and sound. Got 'em all home. The whole company. No casualties," said Julie.

Chad was reunited with his wife Jessica and met his brand new baby, Brody, for the first time. "It's amazing," Chad said when asked what it meant to hold his son. "There are no words to describe it right now. It's just overwhelming and exciting," said Jessica.

This was a celebration worthy of banners, picture-taking, hugs, tears, and merry-making. Corporal Travis Sweet returned home to the arms of lots of loved ones. "I'd say it's real important. Everybody needs something to come home to."

Corporal Christopher Russell also came home to a big welcome wagon. "It was a shock! Once we got off the bus and heard everybody's screams, it was something else," said Russell.

"This just shows that this is just fantastic. This is actually above and beyond what I expected and it's great. It's just great to see so many people in the United States come here and welcome these Marines back," said Major Rick Sorensen.

The Marines who returned home come from all over Indiana. Their duties in Iraq have been completed.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.a...0&nav=0Ra7Rpez


Ellie

[thedrifter]

SecDef Rumsfeld visits, fields questions from Marines at Al Asad
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 200410108294
Story by Cpl. Paul Leicht



AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 10, 2004) -- The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, visited with Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen at Al Asad for the first time here today to meet the troops in Iraq first-hand.

After meeting with senior Marine generals, including Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Rumsfeld later delivered a 15-minute speech dealing with terrorism, national security and Iraq.

"Because of your efforts we now have a government in Iraq that will not invade other countries, will not fire missiles at its neighbors, will not seek weapons of mass destruction, will not harbor terrorists, will not slaughter its own people and will not behead people," said Rumsfeld during his latest visit to Iraq since U.S. forces drove Saddam Hussein from power in 2003."You can be enormously proud of the contributions you are making."
Comparing the current global war on terror to the Cold War era, Rumsfeld noted that 50-year period, too, was a chapter of American history filled with uncertainty, division, self-doubt, setbacks and failures.

"Few things in life are a smooth upward path to victory," Rumsfeld said. "But our country showed perseverance, resolve, year after year, decade after decade, our leaders dared to aggressively fight what many thought was an unbeatable foe. That is a lesson every generation has to learn for itself. The lesson is weakness is provocative and that victory only comes to those who are resolute and steadfast."

With Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Shaalan al-Khuzaei at his side, Rumsfeld then entertained questions from the crowd of more than 1,500 servicemembers packed anxiously in a fortified hangar here.

Responding to a question from 24-year-old Denver native Sgt. Brandon S. Widener, switch chief, Marine Air Control Squadron 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, regarding possible separate campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan, the 21st secretary of defense said that the matter is still under proposal.

In response to another question from a Marine with Marine Wing Support Squadron 472 about the apparent failure of civilian news media to cover positive news about Iraq, Rumsfeld said it is extremely important for the news media to report as accurately as possible what is actually happening here in Iraq.

"It seems today that there is no news unless its bad news," said Rumsfeld. "No one seems to notice that Afghanistan is about to hold elections which is a breathtaking accomplishment."

Another Marine, 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ballor, heavy equipment operator, Marine Wing Support Group 37, from Mount Clemens, Mich., asked Rumsfeld for his thoughts on current troop rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The situation on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan determines what we have to do in the way of deployments and mobilization of (national) guard and (military reserve units)," the secretary said. "It is constantly under review, although the current rotation schedule will likely stay the way it is. We will stay as long as necessary and no longer, as we build up Iraqi forces, but it depends on the security situation here in Iraq."

Rumsfeld also made a point to note the importance of the National Guard and Reserve forces and thanked them for what they do for the country.

When asked a question regarding his opinion on the upcoming presidential election between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), Rumsfeld indicated his non-involvement.

"The President looked (Secretary of State) Colin Powell and me in the eye and said ...'the national security of this country and foreign policy of this country is too important to get messed up in politics and I want the two of you to stay out of it'," Rumsfeld said. "So I have stayed out of it."

Concluding his formal remarks at Al Asad, Rumsfeld was besieged with praise and thanks from servicemembers during his departure.

Thanking the many Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen in attendance, Rumsfeld left behind a central message for servicemembers.

"The road ahead is going to require courage, strength and determination and thankfully those are the characteristics of the servicemembers that serve our country. We are so fortunate that we can count on you in this time of peril," said Rumsfeld.

After Rumsfeld departed, Marines returned to their units and continued their duties in Iraq, but took a burgeoned sense of encouragement with them.

"Coming here and entertaining questions from Marines of all ranks is really a good thing and it shows that he truly cares about all of us," said 28 year-old 1st Lt. Steven Salyer, assistant aviation supply officer, Marine Aircraft Logistics Squadron 16, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd MAW, from Knoxville, Tenn. "The Marines really appreciate that and are proud to have someone like him as secretary of defense."



Secretary of Defense The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld shakes hands with Marines and Sailors shortly after delivering a speech at Al Asad, Iraq, Oct. 10. During his motivational visit to the Western Iraqi air base, Rumsfeld spoke to more than 1,500 servicemembers and fielded numerous questions from the troops. Photo by: Cpl. Paul Leicht

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...E?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Camp Foster group collects school supplies for Iraqi kids


By Fred Zimmerman, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, October 11, 2004


CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Despite being a world away from the war in Iraq, a group of individuals here decided to answer a call to help arm Marines with tools that will aid them in their mission.

But these aren’t tools that will destroy things; they are tools that can help create friendships and build minds.

Jessica Larson, the area clearance coordinator on Camp Foster, began a school supply drive dubbed “Operation Education” just more than a month ago. She said she got the idea from a news release she saw online about a Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit needing school supplies for Iraqi children.

Larson contacted the Marine in the news release, Lt. Col. Robert Labriola, who is with the MEU command element, and asked if he still was accepting donations. Labriola e-mailed Larson back, saying the unit was still in Iraq and putting the supplies to good use.

“We are using the school supplies as one way to break the ice and make a difference in someone’s life,” Labriola said in his reply.

Larson then went to work, sending an e-mail throughout the building where she used to work — the Installation Personnel Administration Center — asking workers to donate.

Several Marines and civilians donated items, and two Marines did even more by volunteering their time. Lance Cpls. Jenna Bennett, a passport office worker, and Spencer Watts, a personnel clerk, decided to give Larson a hand.

The group began collecting everything from backpacks and notebooks to tissues and glue. Larson said the most useful items they have collected are pens, paper, crayons and notebooks, but they haven’t received any three-ring binders — something they also would like to include, she said.

So far, Larson, Bennett and Watts have collected a total of 10 backpacks filled with an array of supplies.

Also included in each bag, Larson said, is a disposable camera and a poem. She said she hopes the Marines, and in turn the children who receive the items, take photos and send the film back so they can see the impact the supplies make.

While Larson, Bennett and Watts said they are pitching in to make a difference in Iraqi children’s lives, they also said the mission has an additional objective.

“I did it for the children, but also for the Marines,” Bennett said. “Because when a Marine gives the supplies to a child, maybe [the child will] understand that they’re there to help them, not hurt them.”

Watts added, “If this is what they need to do their thing, I’ll send it to them.”

The first shipment of supplies was being sent either Saturday or early this week, Larson said. But the group doesn’t want their efforts to stop there.

“There’s no limit on how much we’ll take,” Larson said. “We’re trying to get as much as we can.”

To find out more about Operation Education or to donate items, contact Jessica Larson at 645-2731, or Lance Cpl. Jenna Bennett at 645-2114. There are drop boxes in Bldgs. 5699, IPAC, and 447A, the Joint Reception Center.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?...&article=24838


Ellie

[thedrifter]

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinio...tperson11.html

Marine Corps corporal one of the lucky

Monday, October 11, 2004

By TOM TOMFOHR
GUEST COLUMNIST

Politics aside, the news is not good regarding both military and civilian casualties in Iraq. Department of Defense figures indicated that as of Sept. 29, there have been 1,053 service personnel killed and 7,290 wounded. It is estimated that 12,000 to 15,000 Iraqis have died.

In Washington state alone, Cpl. Steven Rintamak, Lynnwood; Sgt. Jason Cook, Okanogan; Lance Cpl. Caleb Powers, Mansfield; Lance Cpl. Kane Funke, Vancouver; Capt. Gregory Ratzlaff, Olympia; Sgt. Yadir Reynoso, Wapato, U.S. Marine Corps; and Sgt. Jacob Demand, Palouse, U.S. Army, died during August and September. Moreover, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw reports bitter dissent among the surviving families as to whether their loved ones' deaths were justified or they were needlessly sacrificed.

However, there is some good news. Cpl. Sean Carlin, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, USMC, son of Gary and Kari Carlin, Covington, has come home. This young 2002 graduate of Kentlake High School represents the good found in our youth and, I hope, our resiliency as a nation. Sean has represented his country in the finest traditions of the Corps in two Iraq tours: the initial push into Baghdad and, most recently, in the fighting in and around Fallujah.

At a recent gathering in his honor with family and friends, he was outwardly smiling and physically unscathed. It should also be noted that Carlin had been awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for valor.

Additionally, the conditions under which he served go far beyond what the greater society will ever have to endure. When I entered law school in the late '60s, the dean addressed the incoming class in part with these words, "Look to your right and left; only two of you will be here at graduation." I did not survive. The parallel is: Carlin did. This is the good news.

Carlin does wear one physical scar as a result of his Marine experience. Between tours, he came to the aid of a woman at an off-base Laundromat who was being harassed by three young men. Coming to her aid, he drove off his three attackers, but suffered a knife wound in the process.

Not wanting the Corps to question his off-base activities, he drove himself to a nearby civilian hospital for medical attention of a C-section size wound.

Leaving the party at Carlin's home, I momentarily engaged in conversation with a 49-year-old soldier, whose reserve unit recently had been called to active duty with service in Iraq as the potential next duty assignment.

It is my fervent prayer that a year from now we will once again celebrate "the good news" with this reservist's return.

Tom Tomfohr, first lieutenant, USMCR, 0109594, active duty 1968-1971, lives in Kent.

© 1998-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Major Assaults Delayed
HeraldNet
October 11, 2004

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives could affect the U.S. presidential race.

Although American commanders in Iraq have been buoyed by recent successes in insurgent-held towns such as Samarra and Tall Afar, administration and Pentagon officials say they will not try to retake cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi - where insurgents' grip is strongest and U.S. military casualties could be the greatest - until after Americans vote in what is likely to be a close election.

"When this election's over, you'll see us move very vigorously," said one senior administration official involved in strategic planning, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Once you're past the election, it changes the political ramifications" of a large-scale offensive, the official said. "We're not on hold right now. We're just not as aggressive."

U.S. officials point out that there have been no direct orders to commanders in the field to pause operations in the weeks before the Nov. 2 election. Top administration officials in Washington are simply reluctant to sign off on a major offensive in Iraq at the height of the political season.

Pentagon officials said they see a benefit to holding off on an offensive in the Sunni Triangle, the insurgent-dominated region north and west of Baghdad. By waiting, they allow more time for political negotiations and targeted airstrikes in Fallujah to weaken insurgents.

"We're having more impact with our airstrikes than we had expected," said a senior Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We see no need to rush headlong with hundreds of tanks into Fallujah right now."

Because U.S. commanders no longer have carte blanche to run military operations inside Iraq, they must seek approval from interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who has his own political future to consider, even though he owes his position to the United States.

[thedrifter]

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feat...11/10_400.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MotherJones.com / News / Feature

Breaking Ranks
More and more U.S. soldiers are speaking out against the war in Iraq -- and some are refusing to fight.

David Goodman
October 11 , 2004 MIKE HOFFMAN would not be the guy his buddies would expect to see leading a protest movement. The son of a steelworker and a high school janitor from Allentown, Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1999 as an artilleryman to “blow things up.” His transformation into an activist came the hard way—on the streets of Baghdad.

When Hoffman arrived in Kuwait in February 2003, his unit’s highest-ranking enlisted man laid out the mission in stark terms. “You’re not going to make Iraq safe for democracy,” the sergeant said. “You are going for one reason alone: oil. But you’re still going to go, because you signed a contract. And you’re going to go to bring your friends home.” Hoffman, who had his own doubts about the war, was relieved—he’d never expected to hear such a candid assessment from a superior. But it was only when he had been in Iraq for several months that the full meaning of the sergeant’s words began to sink in.

“The reasons for war were wrong,” he says. “They were lies. There were no WMDs. Al Qaeda was not there. And it was evident we couldn’t force democracy on people by force of arms.”

When he returned home and got his honorable discharge in August 2003, Hoffman says, he knew what he had to do next. “After being in Iraq and seeing what this war is, I realized that the only way to support our troops is to demand the withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq.” He cofounded a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and soon found himself emerging as one of the most visible members of a small but growing movement of soldiers who openly oppose the war in Iraq.

Dissent on Iraq within the military is not entirely new. Even before the invasion, senior officers were questioning the optimistic projections of the Pentagon’s civilian leaders, and several retired generals have strongly criticized the war. But now, nearly two years after the first troops rolled across the desert, rank-and-file soldiers and their families are increasingly speaking up. Hoffman’s group was founded in July with 8 members and had grown to 40 by September. Another organization, Military Families Speak Out, began with 2 families two years ago and now represents more than 1,700 families. And soldier-advocacy groups are reporting a rising number of calls from military personnel who are upset about the war and are thinking about refusing to fight; a few soldiers have even fled to Canada rather than go to Iraq.

In a 2003 Gallup Poll, nearly one-fifth of the soldiers surveyed said they felt the situation in Iraq had not been worth going to war over. In another poll, in Pennsylvania last August, 54 percent of households with a member in the military said the war was the “wrong thing to do”; in the population as a whole, only 48 percent felt that way. Doubts about the war have contributed to the decline of troop morale over the past year—and may, some experts say, be a factor in the 40 percent increase in Army suicide rates in Iraq in the past year. “That’s the most basic tool a soldier needs on the battlefield—a reason to be there,” says Paul Rieckhoff, a platoon leader in the New York National Guard and former JPMorgan banker who served in Iraq. Rieckhoff has founded a group called Operation Truth, which provides a freewheeling forum for soldiers’ views on the war. “When you can’t articulate that in one sentence, it starts to affect morale. You had an initial rationale for war that was a moving target. [But] it was a shell game from the beginning, and you can only bull**** people for so long.”


With his baggy pants, red goatee, and moussed hair, Mike Hoffman looks more like a guy taking some time off after college than a 25-year-old combat veteran. But the urgency in his voice belies his relaxed appearance; he speaks rapidly, consumed with the desire to get his point across. As we talk at a coffee shop in Vermont after one of his many speaking engagements, he concedes, “A lot of what I’m doing is basically survivor’s guilt. It’s hard: I’m home. I’m fine. I came back in one piece. But there are a lot of people who haven’t.”

More than a year after his return from Iraq, Hoffman is still battling depression, panic attacks, and nightmares. “I don’t know what I did,” he says, noting that errors and faulty targeting were common in the artillery. “I came home and read that six children were killed in an artillery strike near where I was. I don’t really know if that was my unit or a British unit. But I feel responsible for everything that happened when I was there.”

When he first came home, Hoffman says, he tried to talk to friends and family about his experience. It was not a story most wanted to hear. “One of the hardest things when I came back was people who were slapping me on the back saying ‘Great job,’” he recalls. “Everyone wants this to be a good war so they can sleep at night. But guys like me know it’s not a good war. There’s no such thing as a good war.”

Hoffman finally found some kindred spirits last fall when he discovered Veterans For Peace, the 19-year-old antiwar group. Older veterans encouraged him to speak at rallies, and steadily, he began to connect with other disillusioned Iraq vets. In July, at the Veterans For Peace annual meeting in Boston, Hoffman announced the creation of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The audience of silver-haired vets from wars in Vietnam, Korea, and World War II exploded into applause. Hoffman smiles wryly. “They tell us we’re the rock stars of the antiwar movement.”

Several of Hoffman’s Marine Corps buddies have now joined Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the stream of phone calls and emails from other soldiers is constant. Not long ago, he says, a soldier home on leave from Iraq told him, “Just keep doing what you’re doing, because you’ve got more support than you can imagine over there.”

Members of IVAW led the protest march that greeted the Republican convention in New York, and their ranks swelled that week. But the protest’s most poignant moment came after the march, as veterans from wars past and present retreated to Summit Rock in Central Park. Joe Bangert, a founding member of Vietnam Veterans of America, addressed the group. “One of the most painful things when we returned from Vietnam was that the veterans from past wars weren’t there for us,” he said. “They didn’t support us in our questioning and our opposition to war. And I just want to say,” he added, peering intently at the younger veterans, “we are here for you. We have your back.”


There was no Iraq veterans’ group for Brandon Hughey to turn to in December 2003. Alone and terrified, sitting in his barracks at Fort Hood, Texas, the 18-year-old private considered his options. He could remain with his Army unit, which was about to ship out to Iraq to fight a war that Hughey was convinced was pointless and immoral. Or he could end his dilemma—by taking his own life.

continued.....

[thedrifter]

Army private Brandon Hughey is one of six U.S. soldiers seeking refugee status in Canada.
Desperate, Hughey trolled the Internet. He emailed a peace activist and Vietnam veteran in Indianapolis, Carl Rising-Moore, who made him an offer: If he was serious about his opposition to the war, Rising-Moore said, he would help him flee to Canada.

The next day, there was a knock on Hughey’s door: His deployment date had been moved up, and his unit was leaving within 24 hours. Hughey packed his belongings in a military duffel, jumped in his car, and drove north. As he and Rising-Moore approached the Rainbow Bridge border post at Niagara Falls, Hughey was nervous and somber. “I had the sense that once I crossed that border, I might never be able to go back,” he recalls. “It made me sad.”

Months after fleeing Fort Hood, the baby-faced 19-year-old still sports a military-style buzz cut. Sitting at the kitchen table of the Quaker family that is sheltering him in St. Catharines, Ontario, Hughey tells me about growing up in San Angelo, Texas, where he was raised by his father. In high school he played trumpet and loved to soup up cars. But when his father lost his job as a computer programmer, he was forced to use up his son’s college fund. So at 17, Hughey enlisted in the Army, with a $5,000 signing bonus to sweeten the deal.

Quiet and unassuming, Hughey grows intense when the conversation turns to Iraq. “I would fight in an act of defense, if my home and family were in danger,” he says. “But Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. They barely had an army left, and Kofi Annan actually said [attacking Iraq was] a violation of the U.N. charter. It’s nothing more than an act of aggression.” As for his duty to his fellow soldiers, he insists, “You can’t go along with a criminal activity just because others are doing it.”

So far, only six U.S. soldiers are known to have fled to Canada rather than fight in Iraq. But in 2003, the Army listed more than 2,774 soldiers as deserters (military personnel are classified as having deserted after not reporting for duty for more than a month), and many observers believe the actual number may be even higher; the Army has acknowledged that it is not aggressively hunting down soldiers who don’t show up. The GI Rights Hotline, a counseling operation run by a national network of antiwar groups, reports that it now receives between 3,000 and 4,000 calls per month from soldiers seeking a way out of the military. Some of the callers simply never thought they would see combat, says J.E. McNeil, director of the Center on Conscience and War. But others are turning against the war because of what they saw while serving in Iraq, and they don’t want to be sent back there. “It’s people learning what war really is,” she says. “A lot of people are naive—and for a while, the military was portraying itself as being a peace mission.”

Unlike Vietnam, when young men facing the draft could convincingly claim that they opposed all war, enlistees in a volunteer military have a tough time qualifying as conscientious objectors. In the Army, 61 soldiers applied for conscientious objector status last year, and 31 of those applications were granted. “The Army does understand people can have a change of heart,” notes spokeswoman Martha Rudd. “But you can’t ask for a conscientious objector discharge based on moral or religious opposition to a particular war.”

Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey may be the most unlikely of the soldiers who have come out against the war. A Marine since 1992, he has been a recruiter, infantry instructor, and combat platoon leader. He went to Iraq primed to fight. “9/11 ****ed me off,” he says. “I was ready to go kill a raghead.”

Jimmy Massey went to Iraq a gung-ho Marine, but returned shaken after killing civilians.
Shortly after Massey arrived in Iraq, his unit was ordered to man roadblocks. To stop cars, the Marines would raise their hands. If the drivers kept going, Massey says, “we would just light ’em up. I didn’t find out until later on, after talking to an Iraqi, that when you put your hand up in the air, it means ‘Hello.’” He estimates that his men killed 30 civilians in one 48-hour period.

One day, he recalls, “there was this red Kia Spectra. We told it to stop, and it didn’t. There were four occupants. We fatally wounded three of them. We started pulling out the bodies, but they were dying pretty fast. The guy that was driving was just frickin’ bawling, sitting on the highway. He looked at me and asked, ‘Why did you kill my brother? He wasn’t a terrorist. He didn’t do anything to you.’”

Massey searched the car. “It was completely clean. Nothing there. Meanwhile the driver just ran around saying, ‘Why? Why?’ That’s when I started to question.”

The doubts led to nightmares, depression, and a talk with his commanding officer. “I feel what we are doing here is wrong. We are committing genocide,” Massey told him. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and given a medical discharge.

Back in his hometown of Waynesville, North Carolina, Massey got a job as a furniture salesman, then lost it after speaking at an antiwar rally. Two or three times a week, he puts on his Marine uniform and takes a long walk around the nearby town of Asheville carrying a sign that reads: “I killed innocent civilians for our government.” The local police now keep an eye out for him, he says, because people have tried to run him over.

When asked what he would say to someone who thinks the way he did before the war, Massey falls uncharacteristically silent. “How do you wake them up?” he finally responds. “It’s a slow process. All you can do is tell people the horrible things you’ve seen, and let them make up their own minds. It’s kind of the pebble in the water: You throw in a pebble, and it makes ripples through the whole pond.”


Jeffry House is reliving his past. An American draft dodger who fled to Canada in 1970 (he was number 16 in that year’s draft lottery), he is now fighting to persuade the Canadian government to grant refugee status to American deserters.

“In some ways, this is coming full circle for me,” says the slightly disheveled, 57-year-old lawyer. “The themes that I thought about when I was 21 years old now are reborn, particularly your obligation to the state when the state has participated in a fraud, when they’ve deceived you.” A dormant network has been revived, with Vietnam-era draft dodgers and deserters quietly contributing money to support the legal defense of the newest American fugitives.

House’s strategy is bold: He is challenging the very legality of the Iraq war, based on the Nuremberg principles. Those principles, adopted by a U.N. commission after World War II in response to the Nazis’ crimes, hold that military personnel have a responsibility to resist unlawful orders. They also declare wars of aggression a violation of international law. House hopes that in Canada, which did not support the war in Iraq, courts might sympathize with the deserters’ claims and grant them legal refugee status; the first of his cases was to be heard by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this fall.

On an August afternoon, I follow House as he darts through Toronto traffic on his way to see a new client—a young American who had been living in a homeless shelter for 10 months before revealing that he was on the run from the U.S. Navy. He disappears into a run-down brown brick building; moments later, a thin, nervous young man in shorts and a T-shirt emerges onto the sidewalk and introduces himself as Dave Sanders. Over dinner at a nearby Pizza Hut, he tells me his story.

Sanders dropped out of 11th grade in Bullhead City, Arizona, in 2001. He got his GED and was hoping to study computers, but couldn’t get financial aid. “The only reason I joined the military was to go to college,” he says. That was late 2002, and I ask Sanderswhether he then considered he might end up in combat. “I was told,” he says, “that everything would be ended by the time I got out of boot camp.”

Dave Sanders, age 20, left his Navy unit because he felt that Iraq was "a very unjust war."
Sanders completed boot camp in March 2003, two days before the United States began bombing Iraq. He started training as a cryptologist; in his spare time he surfed the web, reading news from the BBC and Al Jazeera. He was growing skeptical of the administration’s motives in Iraq. “Stuff wasn’t adding up,” he recalls. “Bush was trying to connect the terrorists with Iraq, and there was no proof for that. I was starting to think that we kind of put the blame on Iraq so we could go over there and make money for companies.” He considered what his job might be if he were deployed; as a cryptologist, he could have been handling information leading to raids and arrests. “I didn’t want to be a part of putting innocent people in prison,” he says. “I felt that what we were doing there was wrong.”

In October 2003, Sanders learned that his unit was headed to Iraq. For several weeks he agonized over what to do; then he bought a one-way Greyhound ticket and headed to Toronto. He picked up odd jobs and kept quiet about his predicament, fearing that authorities might send him back to the United States. Finally, he read an article about Jeremy Hinzman, another deserter who had fled to Canada and was being represented by Jeffry House. When I spoke to Sanders, House was helping him file for refugee status.

As we talk, Sanders keeps tapping his feet and twisting his long fingers. “Sorry if I seem nervous,” he finally blurts. “I never really talked to the media before. I’m a shy person.” I ask if he surprised himself by defying his orders. He nods. “I never really thought I could stand up to a whole institution.”

Though Sanders has kept away from the spotlight, other deserters have attracted headlines around the world—and drawn criticism from the war’s supporters. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly called their actions “insulting to America, and especially to those American soldiers who have lost their lives fighting terrorists.”

continued..........

[thedrifter]

But Sanders says he doesn’t actually consider himself a deserter. “I don’t think I did anything wrong by turning down an illegal order,” he says. “I don’t know what it’s called—I think it’s Nuremberg?—that’s what I followed by leaving.” When I ask if he would call himself a pacifist, he says he is not sure what the term means and asks me to explain. Then he shakes his head. “I believe if you’re being attacked you have a right to defend yourself. But right now, we are not the ones being attacked. That’s a reason I think this is a very unjust war.”

Sanders is an only child; his father served in the Marines for 13 years. “My family is pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-everything that’s happening,” he says. “They would really not support what I’m doing.” He has emailed them to tell them that he’s alive, but they have not replied. “I miss them,” he says, his eyes welling. “I love them. And I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”


Sergeant John Bruhns is sharply critical of soldiers who go AWOL. “I feel that if you are against the war, you should be man enough to stay put and fight for what you believe in,” he says. But he also doesn’t believe in making a secret of his opinions about the war. “I’m very proud of my military service,” he tells me from his post with the Army’s 1st Armored Division in Fort Riley, Kansas. “But I am disheartened and personally hurt, after seeing two people lose their limbs and a 19-year-old girl die and three guys lose their vision, to learn that the reason I went to Iraq never existed. And I believe that by being over there for a year, I have earned the right to have an opinion.”

Bruhns returned in February from a one-year deployment in Iraq. He is due to complete his Army service next March, but his unit may be “stop-lossed”—their terms extended beyond their discharge dates to meet the Pentagon’s desperate need for troops. Critics have called this a backdoor draft, a way to force a volunteer military into involuntarily serving long stints in an unpopular war. A California National Guard member has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, and Bruhns has considered joining the case.

“I’m really a patriotic soldier,” the 27-year-old infantryman tells me; he addresses me as “sir” and stops periodically to answer the squawk of his walkie-talkie. He signed up as a full-time soldier in early 2002, after serving five years in the Marine Corps Reserve. “I was really upset about what happened on 9/11,” he recalls, “and I really wanted to serve. I lost a buddy of mine in the World Trade Center. I believe what we did in Afghanistan was right.”

But what he saw in Iraq, Bruhns says, left him disappointed. “We were fighting all the time. The only peace is what we kept with guns. A lot of stuff that we heard on the news—that we were fighting leftover loyalists, Ba’ath Party holdovers—wasn’t true. When I arrested people on raids, many of them were poor people. They weren’t in with the Ba’ath Party. The people of Iraq were attacking us as a reaction to what the majority of them felt—that they were being occupied.”

Among his fellow soldiers, Bruhns adds, a majority still support the war. But, he notes, “This is a new generation. We have the Internet, discussion forums, cable news. Soldiers don’t just march off into battle blindly anymore. They have a lot more information.”


Vietnam figures prominently in soldiers’ conversations about Iraq. Nearly every one of the Iraq veterans I spoke with has relatives who served in the military, and nearly every one told me the same story: When they grew cynical about the Iraq war, the Vietnam veterans in their family immediately recognized what was happening—that another generation of soldiers was grappling with the realization that they were being sent to carry out a policy determined by people who cared little for the grunts on the ground.

Resistance in the military “is in its infancy right now,” says Hoffman, whose cousins, uncle, and grandfather all did their time in uniform. “It’s growing, but it’s going to take a little while.

“There was a progression of thought that happened among soldiers in Vietnam. It started with a mission: Contain communism. That mission fell apart, just like it fell apart now—there are no weapons of mass destruction. Then you are left with just a survival instinct. That, unfortunately, turned to racism. That’s happening now, too. Guys are writing me saying, ‘I don’t know why I’m here, but I hate the Iraqis.’

“Now, you realize that the people to blame for this aren’t the ones you are fighting,” Hoffman continues. “It’s the people who put you in this situation in the first place. You realize you wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t been lied to. Soldiers are slowly coming to that conclusion. Once that becomes widespread, the resentment of the war is going to grow even more.”

David Goodman is a Mother Jones contributing writer.

This article has been made possible by the Foundation for National Progress, the Investigative Fund of Mother Jones, and gifts from generous readers like you.

© 2004 The Foundation for National Progress



Ellie

[thedrifter]

October 18, 2004

Last untapped Reserve grunts to head to Iraq
But wartime pace hasn’t hurt retention

By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer


The last Marine Reserve infantry battalion to be activated was given its warning order Oct. 7 for a deployment to Iraq.
The leathernecks of 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, headquartered in Brook Park, Ohio, saw thousands of its fellow Reserve grunts deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti and other war zones while they stood by for more than three years.

Now, it’s their turn.

Although the mission for the battalion is not yet clear, the unit is due to deploy to Iraq by the beginning of 2005, a Reserve spokesman said.

However, the activation puts the Reserve in a bit of a dilemma.

As the last untapped infantry battalion, the 3/25 deployment leaves Marine Forces Reserve without fresh infantry resources.

Although the command has beefed up other battalions with volunteers and even created provisional units to fill in for some of the missions usually done by infantrymen, the Reserve nevertheless must adhere to rules set out in the Pentagon’s partial mobilization order, which limits mobilization lengths for reservists to 24 months.

By sticking to the Corps’ seven-month deployment schedule to Iraq, for example, and allowing at least 12 months at home before another mobilization, Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, Marine Forces Reserve commander, believes he can sustain the current pace of activations without bumping up against the Pentagon’s service limits.

“I believe we can manage this in such a way that by mobilizing people once … [and] giving them a sufficient time of at least a year or more to regroup in the United States and then to be remobilized a second time, we can sustain this effort for a considerable period of time,” McCarthy said in an Oct. 7 interview.

And although the tempo of operations for reservists has been intense, the Reserve is still filling the ranks. The force met its recruitment goals in fiscal 2004, bringing in 6,165 new Marine reservists well before the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Retention hasn’t been a problem either; the force retained nearly 100 more reservists in drilling units than the 39,600 needed for the Selected Marine Corps Reserve, Reserve officials said.

The statistics stand in sharp contrast to a recent Pentagon survey, which showed only 44 percent of Marine reservists who recently participated in Iraq operations intended to stay in the force. However, McCarthy said his own internal survey conducted as reservists returned home from occupation duty showed about 77 percent intend to stay.

McCarthy added that the Reserve is a force largely populated by first-term Marines, with prior service or career-force leathernecks filling only 30 percent of its ranks.

Spousal support declines

The Pentagon survey, conducted regularly as a morale benchmark across the services, describes sharp declines in such “leading indicators” as reservists’ desire to stay in uniform, satisfaction with military life and personal and unit readiness throughout the Guard and Reserve forces.

The survey, which was done in May by the Defense Manpower Data Center, found a significant decline in spousal support for participation in the Reserve among Iraq-vet families.

Only 50 percent of spouses and “significant others” supported their Marine’s further participation in the Reserve after Iraq duty, while 70 percent of those whose Marine did not deploy to Iraq supported continued participation in the Reserve.

While not commenting directly on the Pentagon survey, McCarthy did say that maintaining family support for Reserve Marines is a top priority.

“It’s the danger that has families concerned, and I understand that,” McCarthy said.

“We’re continuing to emphasize as a matter of highest priority” the Reserve’s family-related support programs. “We are pulling out all the stops … to support families of Marines,” he said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...PER-416407.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Veteran of Fallujah combat comes home

'Some days worse, but most were rough'

ERIC SAGARA
Tucson Citizen

Lance Cpl. Ryan McCalley thought of home constantly while he was in Iraq, but it was the nights when he stood guard duty in a hot building that got to him.
He would talk with friends about home and make plans for his future, knowing that there were months to go before he could realize his dreams.

"Some days were worse than others, but most of them were relatively rough," McCalley said. "I can't believe I'm finally back now."

McCalley's steps off an airplane and onto U.S. soil last weekend were the first steps toward those dreams.

He's hoping to finish the last year of a four-year stint in the Marines in Tucson.

For eight months, McCalley saw some of the worst fighting in Fallujah. He participated in combat missions against insurgents launching mortar fire and helped protect supply routes.

His mother, Shirley, has worried at her Northwest Side home.

"I don't want to go through this again," she said. "I don't want Ryan to go through this again. I don't want any of our young men and women to go through this."

The McCalleys were featured in a Tucson Citizen article in April. The Associated Press had transmitted a picture of the 21-year-old Mountain View High School graduate taking Communion on Easter in a house in Fallujah.

Fifteen days later, McCalley was caught in a firefight that left one Marine dead and others wounded and captured international attention as violence in Fallujah ended a two-week cease-fire.

Ryan McCalley is a little uncomfortable talking about it, but he said the fighting began after a platoon went into a block of buildings to ferret out snipers before sunrise.

"It was pretty rough," he said. "You could hear the screams coming from other buildings, and you wanted to go help them, but you couldn't. You have to stay and do your job."

The fighting went on for a few hours, but to McCalley it seemed like five minutes.

Even in the heat of combat, he thought of friends, family and loved ones - during "every firefight, every time rounds were coming at you."

Shirley McCalley and her ex-husband and Ryan's father, Michael McCalley, greeted him as he marched out with about 200 other Marines early Saturday morning at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. All the Marines looked the same, and at first they couldn't find him, she said.

Once they did, there were "a lot of tears and a lot of smiles."

She told the Citizen in April that she had difficulty sleeping and constantly monitored media reports for news of her son.

Over the past three months, she grew certain he would return, but she still had to see him to know that he was fine.

"It was intensely scary for me," she said. "I know Ryan got into it. He was definitely in some battles. It's just such a relief. It's heartwarming not to have that constant worry."

McCalley, an infantryman with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, had been in Iraq since late February. It was his second tour of duty there. The first time, his company was the first to cross the border from Kuwait to Iraq, to "kick down the door," he said.

It is nice to be out of uniform and away from the 65 pounds that military gear added to his 6-foot, 165-pound frame, McCalley said.

But he is still nervous when cars pass him, and he is constantly scanning for improvised explosive devices.

"Everything right now feels so surreal," he said. "I still think I'm in Iraq."

He will return today to Camp Pendleton, but he hopes to come home soon. He wants to finish his four years of service as a recruiter's assistant for the Marine Corps in Tucson. He also plans to attend the University of Arizona but does not know what he would major in.





Lance Cpl. Ryan McCalley (right) of Tucson poses at a bus stop on an Iraq air base with fellow Marine Cpl. Chad Lewis in a photo taken this month. McCalley returned to Tucson on Saturday

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.p...104a1_mccalley

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraqi Forces, Backed by U.S. Troops, Raid Mosques

BAGHDAD — U.S. forces stepped up operations today across a wide swath of the Sunni insurgent strongholds northwest of the capital, pounding targets in two cities from the air and supporting Iraqi troops in raids on mosques suspected of harboring insurgents.

The increased military activity coincided with the approach of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and appeared intended to avoid a repeat of the upsurge in attacks that took place last year.

U.S. warplanes struck twice in insurgent-held Fallujah, destroying a popular restaurant and a house, which the U.S. command said were used by members of Iraq's most feared terrorist organization. At least five people were killed and two wounded, the city hospital said.

More airstrikes were reported in Hit, where a hospital received two bodies. U.S. officials had no immediate comment.

At least 15 people were reported killed in an attack on an Iraqi National Guard outpost near the Syrian border. Residents claimed an American plane fired on the compound, but the U.S. Marines said insurgents staged the attack.

A 12:01 a.m. blast flattened the Haj Hussein restaurant in Fallujah as well as nearby shops, residents said. The restaurant was closed, but two night guards were killed, said Dr. Ahmed Thaer of Fallujah General Hospital.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad did not mention the restaurant but said the target was used as a meeting place for the Tawhid and Jihad terror network, led by Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The second blast occurred at 4:02 a.m. and flattened a building in northeastern Fallujah that the military said was a known terrorist safe house. Intelligence sources confirmed that al-Zarqawi associates were using the building at the time of the strike, the military said.

At least three people were killed and two wounded in that blast, Thaer said.

Residents reported hearing more explosions this evening on the eastern side of the city.

Al-Zarqawi's network has claimed responsibility for numerous car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages.

Today's strikes were the first in four days. The Iraqi government has reported progress in negotiations to restore control over the city 40 miles west of Baghdad.

American warplanes and helicopters struck in two parts of Hit, killing two people and injuring five, the hospital said. Residents went to the town hall to demand local authorities negotiate a cease-fire.

The previous day, U.S. aircraft attacked a town mosque and set it on fire after insurgents hiding in the shrine opened fire on Marines, the U.S. military said. Sporadic clashes continued through the night, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding 15, according to Hit General Hospital.

The Iraqi National Guard outpost east of Qaim was attacked in the early hours of the morning. Residents said U.S. warplanes were in action over the area, but the U.S. Marines said there were no American operations there and insurgents staged the attack. Between 15 and 20 people were killed in the attack, according to Hamid Ahmed Ali, a city hospital official.

The Marines sent a team to the outpost to assess the situation and see whether any assistance was needed.

Also today, a Marine patrol took fire, but there were no American casualties, they said.

In nearby Ramadi, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. soldiers and Marines raided seven mosques in suspected of harboring terrorists, storing weapons, promoting violence and encouraging insurgent recruitment, the U.S. command said.

Sheikh Abdul-Aleim Saadi, the provincial leader of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, was detained at Mohammed Aref Mosque, his relatives and followers said.

Angry residents accused Americans of breaking down doors and violating the sanctity of city mosques.

"This cowboy behavior cannot be accepted," said cleric Abdullah Abu Omar of the Ramadi Mosque. "The Americans seem to have lost their senses and have gone out of control."

The 1st Marine Division said the raids followed a pattern of insurgent activity in and around Ramadi mosques in recent weeks. The city 70 miles west of Baghdad has seen fierce clashes recently between U.S. and insurgent forces.

"The 1st Marine Division respects the religious and cultural significance represented by mosques," it said in a statement. "However, when insurgents violate the sanctity of the mosque by using the structure for military purposes, the site loses its protective status."

American Marines and soldiers provided backup and protection for Iraqi security forces during the raids but did not enter the mosques, said Maj. Francis Piccoli, a Marine spokesman.

Both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and White House officials have said they plan to use a mix of diplomacy and military force to try to wrest control of dozens of key cities from insurgents before planned January elections.

On Friday, a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strategy of stepped-up military action had already been seen in recent clashes over Najaf and Samarra -- and "you see it in offensive military actions that are taking place now in parts of the so-called Sunni triangle."

Meanwhile, Shiite fighters in Baghdad's Sadr City unloaded cars full of machine guns and grenade launchers on the second day of a five-day, weapons-for-cash disarmament program. A lasting peace in the sprawling slum would allow U.S. and Iraqi forces to focus on the mounting Sunni insurgency in Fallujah, Ramadi and elsewhere.

Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr promised the government last weekend they would hand over medium and heavy weapons for cash in a deal considered an important step toward ending weeks of fighting with U.S. and Iraqi forces. Iraqi police and National Guardsmen will then assume security responsibility for the district, which is home to more than 2 million people.

In return, the government has pledged to start releasing al-Sadr followers who have not committed crimes, suspend raids and rebuild the war-ravaged slum.

Rumsfeld, on a trip to Romania, said he was following the disarming of al-Sadr's followers.

"It is true, some elements are turning in some weapons," he said, adding that it was too early to know its significance. "One hopes that over time, all of them" will turn in their weapons, he said.

Also today:

• Video surfaced on a Web site known for its Islamic content showing the beheading of a man identified as an Arab Shiite Muslim, presumably Iraqi, who purportedly confessed to serving the U.S. Army by "assassinating Sunni leaders." The authenticity of the video, posted in the name of the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, could not immediately be verified.

• Iraqi, Italian and Romanian forces raided the southern village of Um Eniej, detaining 10 people accused of kidnapping foreigners, police said.

• Unknown assailants shot and killed Abdul Majeed al-Antar, a member of the Nineveh provincial council, as he was en route to his office in Mosul, a council spokesman said. Insurgents regularly target government officials perceived as collaborators with U.S. forces, and Nineveh has seen a number of similar attacks, including the high-profile killing of the provincial governor in July.

• A bomb planted in a trash can in Basra exploded outside the complex of the British and American consulates as a British convoy drove out, police said. No major casualties were reported.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...home-headlines


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Conservatives Must Face Iraq Facts

October 10, 2004


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by W. James Antle III

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Iraq Survey Group headed by Charles Duelfer has released its report on the status of Iraqi weapons programs and the results confirm what many had long suspected: When the United States invaded, Iraq did not posses weapons of mass destruction, was hardly engaged in serious efforts to produce them and Saddam Hussein’s nuclear capabilities were actually deteriorating rather than advancing.

These findings contradict prewar statements by President Bush and top administration officials, and seriously undercut the rationale for the Iraq war. In an essay appearing in the New York Times on Sunday, Franklin Foer observed that even many conservative intellectuals and journalists are now entertaining second thoughts about the war, in some cases reaching conclusions more consistent with the old right’s noninterventionist traditions.

But these doubts are not necessarily reverberating among the conservative grassroots. In fact, an October 6 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 62 percent of self-described Republicans, a fair if imperfect proxy for the rank-and-file right, believed that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks against America. Fully 50 percent believed that the Iraqi dictator was personally involved in planning the attacks.

These are claims that the administration does not make and did not even endorse prior to the war, although the campaign may not mind collecting votes based on these misperceptions. Indeed, Steve Sailer has expressed concern that Karl Rove’s strategy may be to rely on the “dumbing down of Republicans” on these issues.

My readers are decent, thoughtful, patriotic Americans (and, of course, friends of America in other countries). Many of you supported the Iraq war, out of loyalty to the president and a sincere desire to keep the U.S. safe from WMDs in the hands of madmen. Although I was skeptical of an Iraq campaign from the beginning, I found persuasive many of the same arguments that convinced you to support to the war – so much so that I tempered my opposition shortly before the invasion and declared myself undecided on the question. More than the arguments, however, I softened my position because I trusted and wanted to believed pro-war figures in the administration I held in particularly high regard. But experience is sometimes kinder to our doubts than our hopes.

The evidence is in and it has been gathering since Baghdad fell. According to the Duelfer report, there were “no credible indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions" after 1991, and “no direct evidence that Iraq, after 1996, had plans for a new BW [biological weapons] program.” Contrary to warnings that Saddam had reconstituted his nuclear program and was perhaps a year away from having weapons, the Iraqi nuclear weapons program had been stopped in 1991 and the survey group found "no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart” it.

It’s tempting to respond that virtually all the players, including leading Democrats from Bill Clinton to John Kerry and every major Western intelligence agency, believed that Iraq possessed WMDs. But some experts did have doubts. And while there was a broad, if inaccurate, government consensus on Iraqi WMDs, the notion that this constituted a risk serious enough to justify immediate, preemptive war was a minority viewpoint. There were also many uncertainties in the intelligence, partly as a result of limited Western knowledge of the facts on the ground in Iraq after the first Gulf War, and political assertions made on the basis of disputed intelligence estimates. In short, long before we received the conclusive evidence we have today there were sufficient doubts to call into question the wisdom of war.

Without the weapons, there remain two primary conservative justifications for the war. The first is the neoconservative dogma that democracy in Iraq will promote democracy throughout the Middle East, altering the political conditions that currently breed terror. But even if true, this does not mean that the U.S. can necessarily effect this transformation militarily through democratic nation-building. The second – which appears to be Duelfer’s own position – is that the sanctions regime was eroding and would have eventually ended, at which point Saddam would have been likely to resume WMD production. Yet it is difficult to see why this much more speculative threat would have required drastic, immediate and unilateral action by the U.S. during a global war on terror with numerous other threats.

And the existence of myriad threats highlights the real problem: there are opportunity costs in this dangerous world to being bogged down in a WMD-free Iraq. Yes, presidents sometimes have to make decisions based on imperfect intelligence. But there were substantial prewar doubts. We conservatives have too often allowed this president to soft-pedal those doubts and, worse, conflate the war aims with its actual results.

Many conservatives have been too slow to grapple with new data unfolding on the ground in Iraq, preferring the comfort of familiar talking points. But it is not disloyal to our brave troops, a thousand of whom have already made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, to question the war. Nor is this presidential campaign the wrong time to raise such questions, for fear of helping Kerry, whose position on the war is indecipherable and is otherwise banally liberal. In additional to the election, something else is at stake: the credibility of conservatism as the guarantor of responsible national defense.

William F. Buckley, Jr., who more recently confessed that the case for the Iraq war was inaccurate and that in hindsight he would have opposed it, once described conservatism as the “politics of reality.” If liberals are seen by the American people as more realistic on Iraq, conservatives will come to regret it – eventually, if not on November 2.

W. James Antle III

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive...ntle101004.htm


Ellie