Coalition Forces stomp Qaeda up North, when's hollyweird gonna tell the story

Saw this on the MNF-I press releases and thought I would share: Coalition forces target al-Qaeda networks; six terrorists killed near Samarra. Samarra is up north in Salah ad Din province where the famous mosque is located that got bombed in February 2006 and sparked large-scale sectarian conflict. It's minarets got hit in June 2007 as well. Just another Al-Qaeda tactic to try to escalate strife in this country leading to sectarian cleansing and destabilization. Abominable! But now the troopers are really putting the hurt on these guys. From yesterday's press release:

"During the operation, two of the armed men were seen leaving the first building and maneuvering into a second building. Coalition forces called for the building's occupants to come out, but no one complied. Perceiving hostile intent, Coalition forces engaged the armed men, killing four terrorists. As the ground force secured the buildings, they found three of the terrorists killed were wearing suicide vests, including one that had detonated. They also found a weapons cache, improvised explosive device making materials and a media cache. Coalition forces called for supporting aircraft to safely destroy the two buildings, which were assessed to be structurally unsafe."

Radio BBC Arabic ran it word for word, but haven't seen much from the wire services. Of course I can't comment on the "boots on ground" aspect of the story due to my pogueness, but it's good to know the guys outside the wire have got our backs. Terrorists fighting with suicide vests on is certainly a dangerous business. Of course, people stateside seem to have forgotten about the threat of terrorism, and are more concerned with the legality of water-boarding these crazies. You certainly aren't going to hear about good things happening here from richey-rich Mark Cuban (see the Vox Veterana blogpost here) who thinks the troops rape and pillage in their spare time, when not bored. Well I for one blog about clowns like Mark Cuban and Brian De Palma when I'm bored, so excuse me for not fitting your preconceived notion. This gross misconception of reality from the limousine liberal crowd may explain why the recent spat of Anti-War flicks are stinkin' up the joint at the box office. Check that out from Time here. Well if I was some Hollywood producer-type living in the hills and I wanted to make some money for pickin up hot babes at the Skybar, I would make a movie about the US forces putting the hammer down in operations like this one near Samarra. That'd be a goddamn movie.

The Latest Victims of GWOT: Congressional Democrats?

Ah yes, the latest victims in Iraq are not from death squads, suicide attacks, or IEDs, but from little pamphlets the Public Affairs folks hand out when dealing with congressional visits. Check out the NY Times story here about Rep Tauscher (D-CA) who says she felt "slimed", because (*gasp*) people were briefed prior to her visit that she was not supportive of the OIF campaign. Apparently, we're supposed to be good little boys and girls when these CODELs roll through, and be all smiles and happy to know that "The US congress supports the troops and our families!" If the US congress wanted to support the troops, they would pass funding to enable winning the war and knockoff the slander of our boss, GEN Petraeus.

This is from Tauscher's August "Iraq diary" found on her website.

"It is stunning to hear our military and diplomatic leadership's rationale and talking points...I'm convinced that Petraeus will say that we will marginally reduce troops in the Spring of 08 but will ask for my time. THEN have that 'we need to keep the military surge going' rhetoric parroted by the Iraqis. They use the same phraseology, pauses and anecdotes. I'm no doctor but I think I have diagnosed a virulent and dangerous new disease.... Green Zone Fog."

Green Zone fog eh? I'm convinced GEN Petraeus knows more about Iraq than most other Americans, you know why, it's called the chain of command you dunce! GEN Petraeus is not flying solo, he gets information from his subordinate officers in theater, which is the way it's worked for thousands of years.

"The most disturbing aspect of my trip is that I am convinced that too many of the Iraqi leadership, Maliki, Barham Salih, Heshimi live in the Green Zone. And, after nearly two years of a permanent government the Parliament meets only in the Green Zone, where no average Iraqis can visit. Talk about out of touch."

I particularly appreciate the implications that we need to "get rid of" the democratically-elected Iraqi leadership. This view has also been espoused by Senators Clinton and Levin. Thanks for the public diplomacy effort of giving justification for some kind of coup. It portrays the coalition presence as being ethically standing somewhere in line with the raging Mongol hordes that destroyed Iraq hundreds of years ago.

"Even though we are in the Green Zone, also called the International Zone, we have to wear our body armor and helmets when we move around. Every few yards there are 'Duck and Cover' concrete shelters where we are told to run to if the alarm goes off signifying in-coming mortars. Looks like we will have at least 8 seconds to get to cover."

Again, thanks for broadcasting that information to the world, you jackhole! Maybe you'd like to put little markers on a google-earth overlay of good places to hit with mortars on your website. I guess operational security protocol doesn't apply to you, because she's a "representative
of the people".

While Rep. Tauscher was prancing around over here bogarting air and security assets, I'm certain a statie could have used these assets to go meet some sheikhs in one of the provinces and convince their tribe that it's better to build markets and open infrastructure instead of blowing up coalition forces, AKA winning the war. Thanks Tauscher, you really "support the troops", as the "support center for military families" banner on your tax-payer funded website strangely juxtaposed with "Rep. Tauscher Speaks in Support of Resolution Opposing Troop Surge" signifies. Reminds me of the SGT Barnes line in Platoon when he gets upset that "politicans in Washington trying to fight this war with one hand tied around their balls". Some things never change.

Retort: From Ravinman on Leaving No One Behind

Ravinman writes

"Keeping you up to date on efforts to keep MIA's in the spotlite. We could also use some help out here in CO next June...Stay tuned in to http://mtkiamia.com/ on what's coming & how to help."

Great, thanks for the link, Ravinman. Every MIA is like a stab in the heart for us as Americans, an, I whole-heartedly support that we should never give up the search and keep them in our minds.

LT Nixon

Retort: From Anonymous on Milbloggin

Anonymous writes:

"yeah, doing everything over there as you would over here? How is it that you are partying so close to combat areas? or is it really far between the two? I would only assume the places you are enjoying, being large targets... "

This is presumably to comments I made about going to dance clubs in Sadr City.

Anonymous,

That was a flip remark I made. I apologize that my dry sense of humor may be evasive. Sadr City is the Shiite stronghold in the northeastern sector of Baghdad. I have not personally been there, although my hoochmate has and he called it "a little depressing", since he saw young boys splashing in sewage while they were playing with a soccer ball. It is also home to large portions of the Mahdi Army or Jaish al-Mehdi (JAM) which is Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's armed militia. Currently, Sadr has called for a ceasefire for the militiafor 6 months and it has partially contributed to the security situation improvements throughout Iraq. This was done after Shiite on Shitte violence erupted at the Karbala pilgrimage in late August. The coalition and Government of Iraq have welcomed this ceasefire but continue to target rogue elements who are engaged in criminal activity.

As for drinking, all US military personnel are prohibited from drinking under general order #1 while in-country. If you had visions that Iraq was like the Vietnam movies with mama-sans and booze flowing freely, I hate to dissapoint. I admit to being a drunken bum while stateside, however here I have been clean and sober for almost 6 months, which is the longest stretch in my memory.

I apologize if you found the remark offensive, I didn't mean to disparage the troopers and Provincial Reconstruction Teams working to spruce up the joint, but you should never, ever take my rants seriously (see disclaimer). Hope that helps!

LT Nixon

Milbloggin?

Well I just submitted this blog to milblogging.com which seems like a pretty respectable website. I've always perused the Milblogospehere, but never knew about a one-stop shop that they have set up. I'm not really interested in posting stuff about my personal life. It involves me working most of the time capped off with sitting bored out of my knickers in a trailer. When not deployed my free time is spent drinking frequently and passing out on my friends' couches. Not very interesting stuff. A lot of Milblogs have pretty interesting personal experience posts and you can check them out on the links over to the right.

What I am interested, and hopefully you are too, is characterization of this war in Iraq as it relates to our civilization as a whole. I've been a little disturbed about the lack of interest/media coverage concerning what's going on over here. As a person whose uniform, food, computer, and all-around livelihood is funded by the US taxpayer, I am compelled to portray the big picture of what's going on over here in a truthful manner. You will notice my staunch political beliefs intertwined with the posts, and if you don't agree with them please speak up! Nothing wrong with a little public debate now and then to arrive at some sort of conclusion. Drop me a line if you'd like, until they open up those wild n' crazy dance clubs in Sadr City, I'm just hanging out in Baghdad with not much to do except work. Oh yeah, be like Rowdy Rowdy Piper and be on the lookout for the evil amongst us!












LT Nixon

Leaving no one behind...

I have to pay my respects to my cousins in the Army. As a Navy guy, I can proudly say that we're the best at working long hours at sea, damage control, and drinking everyone under the table, but the Army has a pretty strong warrior ethos as evidenced in this article here:

Iraq raids target kidnappers of soldiers

Hope they find the two MIAs and kill/detain the Al-Qaeda crazies responsible.

Purging Ameriyah of terrorism

FOX News had a piece on "concerned local citizens" (as they are dubbed by us folks in the military) putting the boot up Qaeda's ass in the Sunni enclave of Ameriyah. It all started when the imam of a local mosque started working with the 1-5 Cav. Good example of how, yeah, the
Sunni population of Iraq may have some disagreements with the coalition presence, but we're a way better alternative to the brutality and reactionary fundamentalism of Al-Qaeda style rule.


I like this dude, Abu Abed, what a hardass. He's talking about schwackin the "White Lion" of Al-Qaeda Iraq.

"He said 'I'm muslim don't kill me'. Then I say 'You killed thousands!', and then I killed him."



It is of note that contrary to most opinion in the West, most Islamic terrorism is directed against other members of the Islamic faith. It's great to see Iraqi people getting fed up with this crap and taking action about it. If only our lousy congress could comprehend it instead of wanting the coalition forces to bag ass like brave Sir Robin and his merry band of minstrels.

Going after Cacciato in Iraq

Despite most of us military types getting shipped off to the sandbox without much complaining, there's a small, but vocal, minority of weenies giving the US Armed Forces a bad name by flying the coop to Canada. CBS had a good piece on it here. Now I know deployments aren't
much fun, no booze and a dull, exhausting routine that warps your mind. But this is military service you pussies!

"The reason I was being called back was to go to another tour in Iraq, and I didn't agree with that" -Some Army deserter in Canada.

Hey, ass, guess what, that's not your decision to make! The military is not a democracy. We don't decide which conflicts to get involved with or what our foreign policy dictates. The elected officials of America make those decisions and tell the US Armed Forces what to do. Did you
miss that class in 8th grade civics? And the anti-war zealots on the left are parading these bozos around like they're some kind of civil rights activists. I appeal to our friends in the great white north to clean house.







Get a haircut, you!

Petraeus was right

Yeah, you heard me! All you clowns who wanted to see the mission fail over here and Iraq erupt into civil war. General Petraeus' strategy of allying with former Sunni insurgents is making vast improvements in both security and governance. Here's a quick blurb off the wire about locals purging the once Al Qaeda stronghold neighborhood of Adhamiyah.




"A moderate armed Sunni group has ended Al-Qaeda's tight two-year grip on north Baghdad's volatile Adhamiyah neighbourhood and is now in control, an AFP correspondent witnessed on Friday. A local militia calling itself the "revolutionaries of Adhamiyah" took over the Sunni district on the east bank of the Tigris on November 10 in a swift and audacious raid that sent Al-Qaeda fleeing from its last stronghold in Baghdad. On Friday, members of the "revolutionaries of Adhamiyah" controlled main roads into the neighbourhood as well the square housing the famous Abu Hanifa mosque where Saddam Hussein made his last public appearance before fleeing Baghdad in 2003 as US-led forces invaded the country. A Sunni bastion encircled by Shiite districts, Adhamiyah had been one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad, under the tight control of Al-Qaeda "emirs"."


Even the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq is getting cozy with the idea of armed Sunnis working with coalition and Iraqi security forces. There was reporting of 7 VBIEDS (car bombs) cleared in the neighborhood earlier this week in the Iraqi news. Sadly, that's all your gonna hear of this story stateside. The media is focusing more effort on the Dems holding military spending money hostage. This is presumably so they have more money for the disastrous entitlement programs of Social Security and Medicare which are already sending federal spending skyrocketing as the baby boomers approach geezerdom. I'm glad fighting terrorism is less important than some broad named Flo pissing away her government paycheck at Harrah's casino in Laughlin, NV as she sucks down her Newport 100s. Oh yeah, then we get to foot the bill for her healthcare! Might have to do with the AARP being the most powerful lobby in Washington, but what do I know, I'm just some yahoo. But to all the troopers outside the wire kickin' ass, both coalition and Iraqi, keep up the great work!

Pursuit of crap we can't afford

There was an interesting blog post on Daily Galaxy about how the concept of encompassing consumerism as a means of enabling society leads to depression, unhappiness, etc. No shit! It is disheartening that with all the technological achievements our greatest achievements are revered as useless consumer products. Consumerism seems to be a convenient way to pacify a population (NASCAR, TV, sports, fashion, luxury cars, blah blah) across all walks of life. We can be ruled any way they want us to as long as we have our worthless gizmos and mind-numbing entertainment to occupy our time. Thank heavens I live in Iraq in a trailer far away from all the advertising and brain-washing in getting us to buy shit instead of looking at the world around us. I've never been happier!

Ben Stein and "The Troops"

Ben Stein is good people. He's a hilarious actor and (not that I'm an expert) but knows what the fuck he's talking about when it comes to money matters. He had a pretty supportive bit about "the troops" which you can check out here. I was sent another article from Ben Stein talking about why more people should join the military.

"I hear a lot of bragging from my pals about how their daughter got into Brown or their son is being courted by Goldman Sachs or their grandchild just got into a fancy prep school. What I never hear is bragging from parents who say, "My son just got into the Army Special Forces and is risking his life to keep your son and you alive." I never hear parents saying that their kids got into the 82nd Airborne and are now fighting in Afghanistan to give people there a decent life and keep Al-Qaeda tied down so they don't come here to attack us. Now, you may say, "All well and good, and it's great that these military families are so modest. But what does this have to do with me?" It has everything to do with you, my friend."

I totally agree with him on this one. Ever since Vietnam, the military ranks have been filled with what the elite class would consider a "subclass" or "expendable" group of people. It seems the folks of power in finance, media, and politics view us at best as "boorish" and at worst as sacrifices for whatever administration is in power. I think it has to do with the naïve ideology of the previous generation and the overall celebration of self-centeredness found in our society. It's not a pleasant thing to think about, and I'm growing incredibly weary of the people who will be in charge having spent the majority of their younger years working to get a nice BMW and have an "extreme" sporting outing jumping out of planes or some shit. As a matter of fact, the more I think about it, I am terrified. The military may be thankless and I have had plenty of days in my 5 years experience where I wanted to take a cheesegrater to my face, but at least you get an understanding for working hard and the effect of foreign policy decisions. And with less than 1% of the population in the military, I'm afraid many Americans don't get it.

"But I also get letters aplenty from men and women in the military. They love their jobs. They do exciting work. Dangerous, of course, but exciting. They have immense responsibilities. They get challenged on a scale they would never have dreamed conceivable. They bring more out of themselves than they knew they had."

Well I wouldn't exactly agree with that statement about "exciting work". The military and war in general has been best defined to me as "Days and days of boredom followed by sheer moments of terror". I'm not advocating that everyone be in the military, it is not fun times (although Thailand was cool), it is service. But some things are more important than where you go to college and that sweet job in New York City.

Hey De Palma, You Suck!

Looks like the Hollywood Elite are out to conjure up stereotypes of the military as baby-killers and sex-crazed maniacs with their newest tripe "Redacted". Fat fuck Brian De Palma has had some good movies I admit: Carrie, Scarface, but his more recent ones have been absolutely heinous: Mission to Mars, Snake Eyes, and Black Dahlia. I'm not sure what point he's trying to make with the comment he made seen on Huffington Post "The film shows an aspect of our troops that has not been shown before", (check it out here but it is clear that he holds a deep rooted bias to the forces that allow him to jetset around the world and bone hot babes with cocaine sprinkled on their tits. I find it a little disheartening since I thought this embarrassing mentality would get filed away with some of the other shameful pasts of America such as Jim Crow laws and the prohibitionist movement. Rather, it seems the people that carry the torch of 60's ideological nonsense just can't seem to die off fast enough. The guys the De Palma seeks to demonize make very little money and have a very tough job. By making this movie it shows America's growing disrespect for guys and gals who do this sort of work. What the fuck have you done De Palma besides provide propaganda for the enemy (and yes I'm sure they will use it), you're an asshole! I realize that I haven't seen the movie, but c'mon I'm in Iraq. I'll make sure to pay 1-2 bucks for the bootleg when it makes it out here.

Media Obsession with Military Deaths

FOX News has made a strong retort to anti-war factions by stating that more people died in the military in 1981 than now with two wars going on (obviously there was no war going on during 1981). They were citing a congressional report that they claimed was "non-partisan". The media's obsession with US deaths in this conflict is getting stale, since both wars have much different aims than simply body counts. Of course it's extremely positive that US deaths are down, however it has little to do with our goals in Iraq and Afghanistan... But never forget those who gave all....

Here's the stats they cite:

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS 1981
Total Active Duty: 2,093,032
Total Deaths: 2,380

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS 2005
Total Active Duty: 1,378,014
Total Deaths: 1,942

Honestly I wish the networks would go back to the important news like these two clowns in AZ:

More Pepperspray!

Apparently, there is a large group of troublemakers pouring cement on train tracks and blocking military shipments over here from Port Olympia. I first came across this story taking place in my adopted home state of WA on Michelle Malkin's blog. I think it's a huge embarrassment to the normally tolerant state of WA that a group would think it would be productive to halt much needed logistical supplies for us folks over here in Iraq. I've heard that they were blocking a shipment of Stryker vehicles apparently so that our hapless troopers can walk from point A to point B in Iraq dishing out hugs and Che T-shirts along the way. Not that I'm opposed to first amendment freedoms back stateside, but people need to realize that their actions get media attention over here making us look like a bunch of assholes. On the right is an Al-Jazeera screenshot from back in September, which doesn't exactly highlight our support to the Iraqi government and people. (Note: Al-Jazeera is the most watched station in the Middle East). But until people realize that their actions have unintended consequences over here, and while misguided protestors consider destruction of property viable, I suggest more pepperspray for the Olympia PD. Thanks for the hilarious photo Mike, maybe that'll be a grim lesson for this young lady in reality. Check out all the photos here.

Where is the good news in Iraq

Haven't heard much in the news about Iraq? Well you're not alone. Seems like the news outlets are cutting back on coverage in Iraq due to the lack of car bombs and death. I understand that there is some pressing issues elsewhere such as emergency rule in Pakistan, and Hamas opening fire on Fatah gathering in Gaza. However, it seems that American media would be happy to cover the developments in Iraq since it's generated so many sales in the past. Well, either "If it doesn't bleed it doesn't lead", or the media has an interest in assuring failure in Iraq to usher in a new administration in 2008, or people just don't give a damn. Only time will tell.

I think it has become quite clear that the Democrats want to see more deaths (particularly US ones) since that will justify full-scale withdrawal, defense budget cutbacks, and more money for to expand their entitlement bureaucracies. That was evident during the Petraeus/Crocker testimony when that yahoo SEN Boxer (D-CA) pulled out her own charts of the US death toll to illustrate her elation that it was the deadliest summer for US troops. But, hey, it's a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Well some big things have happened in the last couple of weeks. Former insurgents of the Islamic Army have taken on Al-Qaeda in the troubled Diyala Province:

"At least 18 people were killed in clashes between al-Qaida fighters and former insurgents who turned against the terror network, Iraqi police and a former insurgent leader said Saturday.

Most members of the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, joined U.S. forces battling al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year, though some of the group's leaders deny any contact with American troops.

A top Islamic Army leader, known as Abu Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that his fighters ambushed al-Qaida members near Samarra on Friday, killing 18 people and seizing 16 prisoners.

An Iraqi police officer in the area corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, and said the hostages would not be transferred to Iraqi police. Instead, he said he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al-Qaida. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity."


And leaders in the once written-off Anbar province (home to Fallujah, Ramadi) have visited the Prez in the hopes of encouraging reconstruction opportunities.

"RAMADI, Iraq_Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, who took over as leader of anti-al-Qaida Sunni tribes after his brother was assassinated, said he will leave Thursday for a two-week trip to the United States.

Abu Risha's younger brother, Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, was largely credited with bringing a measure of peace to Iraq's vast and western Anbar province by uniting tribal forces and siding with the U.S. military against the terror network. The Sunni stronghold, which shares borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, was among the most violent
in Iraq a year ago.
The Anbar Awakening Council founder was killed Sept. 13 in a bombing, just 10 days after he met with U.S. President George W. Bush in Anbar. Bush hailed the Sunni leader's courage and pledged to help rebuild the province.

Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, who took over the movement, told The Associated Press in an interview this week that he will leave Thursday and will visit Vermont, New York, Texas and Washington, D.C., where he hopes to meet Bush, although his itinerary was not fully determined.

"I will not come back to Anbar if I don't meet with President Bush. If he doesn't meet with me, I'll go to the Democrats and see what they have to say," he said, laughing.

The sheik said he wanted to learn how individual states work within the larger U.S. federal system. He hoped to attract investors to Anbar to provide jobs.

"We defeated al-Qaida, but what then? People need jobs," said Sameer Rashid, Abu Risha's assistant and translator.

Abu Risha said he will visit the 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor Division of the Vermont Army National Guard, a unit he befriended when they were stationed in Ramadi from July 2005 until June 2006. He also will stop at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, the nation's first private military college.

Abu Risha will travel with Maamoun Sami Rashid, the governor of Anbar.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad confirmed that Iraqi officials from Anbar were traveling to the United States as part of an international visitor's program, which aims to increase mutual understanding.

Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the delegates would meet with state and local leaders as well as hold meetings on the national level. But she declined to give more details about the trip or confirm the identities of the travelers."

Former insurgency groups working with us in Iraq has been proven to improve security and paving the way for economic development. It's squeezing Al-Qaeda which explains Osama's latest ruckus. The arabic media is abuzz of the sharp drop in violence, perhaps even a little too jubilant since there is still more fighting, reconstruction, and legitimizing the Iraqi government on the plate. You didn't hear anything about this? Well, no worries I got your back.

The Wizard, greatest movie of all time?

The tides have turned, the will of god has been done. "The Wizard" starring Fred Savage has been released on DVD. Mankind has strived to tell the story that defines the struggle of humanity: Homer's "The Iliad", Shakespeare's "Macbeth", Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", but they all fall short of the 1989 film about a kid's struggle to get to the nintendo world championship's in Los Angeles. Like the manifest destiny of our country's heritage, three youngsters struggle to get to California in search of the glory of the video armageddon title. With great quotes like "I love the power glove, it's so bad". and "I can't believe you got 50,000 points on double dragon", the film's dialogue provides the focal point for our character's yearning to have something more. What a tremendous movie.

Throwing in the Towel

Greetings, from Baghdad. I've always been a reader of blogs, but I thought the idea of starting one would be a little trite, since no one would care what I had to say. But this is getting ridiculous. It seems as though people in America are not understanding what's going on with our current conflict in Iraq, or they don't care. Success or failure in Iraq will have great repercussions for many years to come. I believe that is something we can all agree on whether you agree or disagree with the coalition presence in this country. But time and time again society has misplaced their focus and this war is no exception. People still are following in droves to news about the latest Britney Spears debacle and how much gas costs for their SUV in our country. It's time to start looking past this introverted spectrum and start realizing that the world faces vast problems. I tend to focus my thought process on Iraq, since I live here, but hopefully this will be a springboard of debate for other important issues. Oh yeah, I'll throw in some stupid shit once in a while. Thanks!




LT Nixon