Words from Iraq

To: Wayne Bush
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 7:31 PM
Subject: FW: From a USMC IntelOff in Al Anbar..Thanks Top


Well worth forwarding. Pay particular attention to "Biggest Surprise" and
"Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate".



Thanks Col B.



Wayne

"When they murder children at a school in Beslan . or blow up commuters in
London . or behead a bound captive . the terrorists hope these horrors will
break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they have
miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep
it." -President George W. Bush


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


All: I haven't written very much from Iraq. There's really not much to
write about. More exactly, there's not much I can write about because
practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military information
or is depressing to the point that I'd rather just forget about it, never
mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are filled with the
pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So its a bit of a struggle to
think of anything to put into a letter that's worth reading. Worse, this
place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days, every day. The quest to
draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are up to never ends. Problems
and frictions crop up faster than solutions. Every challenge demands a
response. Its like this every day. Before I know it, I can't see straight,
because its 0400 and I've been at work for twenty hours straight, somehow
missing dinner again in the process. And once again I haven't written to
anyone. It starts all over again four hours later. Its not really like
Ground Hog Day, its more like a level from Dante's Inferno.

Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured I'd just
hit the record setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq. These are among the
events and experiences I'll remember best.

Worst Case of Déjà Vu - I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà vu
until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I stepped off
of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just as I had left
it ten months before - that was déjà vu. Kind of unnerving. It was as if I
had never left. Same work area, same busted desk, same chair, same
computer, same room, same creaky rack, same . . . everything. Same
everything for the next year. It was like entering a parallel universe.
Home wasn't 10,000 miles away, it was a different lifetime.

Most Surreal Moment - Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and
unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had put the
word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were looking
for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I know that
Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded together for
support since they were considered as social outcasts. The Marines were
anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the rest of the midget
suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad Guy X was long gone on
his short legs after seeing his companions rounded up by the giant infidels.

Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area
who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for Syrians) if
he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."

Worst City in al-Anbar Province - Ramadi, hands down. The provincial
capital of 400,000 people. Killed over 1,000 insurgents in there since we
arrived in February. Every day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us with
giant bombs in the road, snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast them
with tanks, attack helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better than
theirs), and every weapon that an infantryman can carry. Every day.
Incredibly, I rarely see Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out
here in the west as Baghdad. Yet, Baghdad has 7 million people, we have
just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar province is the most violent place
in Iraq by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no accident that
the Marines were assigned this area in 2003.

Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse
bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are booby-trapped
or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for you to get close to
the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day. Sanitation workers in
New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and
commitment.

Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - It's a 20,000 way tie among all
the Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the
towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last - and for
a couple of them, it will be.

Best Piece of U.S. Gear - new, bullet-proof flak jackets. O.K., they weigh
40 lbs and aren't exactly comfortable in 120 degree heat, but they've saved
countless lives out here.

Best Piece of Bad Guy Gear - Armor Piercing ammunition that goes right
through the new flak jackets and the Marines inside them.

Worst E-Mail Message - "The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need blood
type A+ stat." I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I get
these messages, but I never give blood - there's always about 80 Marines in
line, night or day.

Biggest Surprise - Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that we'd
get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I estimated that
insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest. Well, insurgents
did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming. The insurgents
continue to target the police, killing them in their homes and on the
streets, but the cops won't give up. Absolutely incredible tenacity. The
insurgents know that the police are far better at finding them than we are.
And they are finding them. Now, if we could just get them out of the habit
of beating prisoners to a pulp . . ..

Greatest Vindication - Stocking up on outrageous quantities of Diet Coke
from the chow hall in spite of the derision from my men on such hoarding,
then having a 122 mm rocket blast apart the giant shipping container that
held all of the soda for the chow hall. Yep, you can't buy experience.

Biggest Mystery - How some people can gain weight out here. I'm down to 165
lbs. Who has time to eat?

Second Biggest Mystery - If there's no atheists in foxholes, then why aren't
there more people at Mass every Sunday?

Favorite Iraqi TV Show - Oprah. I have no idea. They all have satellite TV.

Coolest Insurgent Act - Stealing almost $7 million from the main bank in
Ramadi in broad daylight, then, upon exiting, waving to the Marines in the
combat outpost right next to the bank, who had no clue of what was going on.
The Marines waved back. Too cool.

Most Memorable Scene - In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield,
watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to go
home after six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young faces
even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange glances
with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file past -- their
replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.

Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate - Any outfit that has been in Iraq recently.
All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home, all the
horror, all the frustrations with the fight here - all are outweighed by the
desire for young men to be part of a 'Band of Brothers' who will die for one
another. They found what they were looking for when they enlisted out of
high school. Man for man, they now have more combat experience than any
Marines in the history of our Corps.

Most Surprising Thing I Don't Miss - Beer. Perhaps being half-stunned by
lack of sleep makes up for it.

Worst Smell - Porta-johns in 120 degree heat - and that's 120 degrees
outside of the porta-john.

Highest Temperature - I don't know exactly, but it was in the porta-johns.
Needed to re-hydrate after each trip to the loo.

Biggest Hassle - High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a
rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them to
quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our briefs and
commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived notions of what's
going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they've been to
Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in
perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.

Biggest Outrage - Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about the
war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are
consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. .

Best Intel Work - Finding Jill Carroll's kidnappers - all of them. I was
mighty proud of my guys that day. I figured we'd all get the Christian
Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up yet. Talk
about ingratitude.

Saddest Moment - Having the battalion commander from 1st Battalion, 1st
Marines hand me the dog tags of one of my Marines who had just been killed
while on a mission with his unit. Hit by a 60mm mortar. CPL Bachar was a
great Marine. I felt crushed for a long time afterward. His picture now
hangs at the entrance to the Intelligence Section. We'll carry it home with
us when we leave in February.

Biggest Ass-Chewing - 10 July immediately following a visit by the Iraqi
Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Zobai. The Deputy Prime Minister brought along
an American security contractor (read mercenary), who told my Commanding
General that he was there to act as a mediator between us and the Bad Guys.
I immediately told him what I thought of him and his asinine ideas in terms
that made clear my disgust and which, unfortunately, are unrepeatable here.
I thought my boss was going to have a heart attack. Fortunately, the
translator couldn't figure out the best Arabic words to convey my meaning
for the Deputy Prime Minister. Later, the boss had no difficulty in
conveying his meaning to me in English regarding my Irish temper, even
though he agreed with me. At least the guy from the State Department thought
it was hilarious. We never saw the mercenary again.

Best Chuck Norris Moment - 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government
center in the small town of Kubaysah to kidnap the town mayor, since they
have a problem with any form of government that does not include regular
beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There were seven of them. As they
brought the mayor out to put him in a pickup truck to take him off to be
beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the bad Guys put down his machine-gun
so that he could tie the mayor's hands. The mayor took the opportunity to
pick up the machine-gun and drill five of the Bad Guys. The other two ran
away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our top twenty wanted list. Like
they say, you can't fight City Hall.

Worst Sound - That crack-boom off in the distance that means an IED or mine
just went off. You just wonder who got it, hoping that it was a near miss
rather than a direct hit. Hear it every day.

Second Worst Sound - Our artillery firing without warning. The howitzers
are pretty close to where I work. Believe me, outgoing sounds a lot like
incoming when our guns are firing right over our heads. They'd about knock
the fillings out of your teeth.

Only Thing Better in Iraq Than in the US - Sunsets. Spectacular. Its from
all the dust in the air.

Proudest Moment - Its a tie every day, watching my Marines produce
phenomenal intelligence products that go pretty far in tearing apart Bad Guy
operations in al-Anbar. Every night Marines and Soldiers are kicking in
doors and grabbing Bad Guys based on intelligence developed by my guys. We
rarely lose a Marine during these raids, they are so well-informed of the
objective. A bunch of kids right out of high school shouldn't be able to
work so well, but they do.

Happiest Moment - Well, it wasn't in Iraq. There are no truly happy moments
here. It was back in California when I was able to hold my family again
while home on leave during July.

Most Common Thought - Home. Always thinking of home, of Kathleen and the
kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along. Regretting that I
don't write more. Yep, always thinking of home.

I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss a
cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I'll try to write again before too
long - I promise.

Semper Fi,

How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
know, to be fair and balenced?



"Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:CtadnQ2PscALco_YUSdV9g@ptd.net...[color=blue]
> To: Wayne Bush
> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 7:31 PM
> Subject: FW: From a USMC IntelOff in Al Anbar..Thanks Top
>
>
> Well worth forwarding. Pay particular attention to "Biggest Surprise" and
> "Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate".
>
>
>
> Thanks Col B.
>
>
>
> Wayne
>
> "When they murder children at a school in Beslan . or blow up commuters in
> London . or behead a bound captive . the terrorists hope these horrors
> will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they
> have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep
> it." -President George W. Bush
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> All: I haven't written very much from Iraq. There's really not much to
> write about. More exactly, there's not much I can write about because
> practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military
> information or is depressing to the point that I'd rather just forget
> about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are
> filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So its a bit
> of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that's worth
> reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days,
> every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are
> up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions.
> Every challenge demands a response. Its like this every day. Before I
> know it, I can't see straight, because its 0400 and I've been at work for
> twenty hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And
> once again I haven't written to anyone. It starts all over again four
> hours later. Its not really like Ground Hog Day, its more like a level
> from Dante's Inferno.
>
> Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured I'd just
> hit the record setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq. These are among the
> events and experiences I'll remember best.
>
> Worst Case of Déjà Vu - I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà
> vu until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I
> stepped off of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just
> as I had left it ten months before - that was déjà vu. Kind of unnerving.
> It was as if I had never left. Same work area, same busted desk, same
> chair, same computer, same room, same creaky rack, same . . . everything.
> Same everything for the next year. It was like entering a parallel
> universe. Home wasn't 10,000 miles away, it was a different lifetime.
>
> Most Surreal Moment - Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and
> unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had put
> the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were
> looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I know
> that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded
> together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The
> Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the rest
> of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad Guy X
> was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded up by
> the giant infidels.
>
> Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area
> who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for Syrians)
> if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."
>
> Worst City in al-Anbar Province - Ramadi, hands down. The provincial
> capital of 400,000 people. Killed over 1,000 insurgents in there since we
> arrived in February. Every day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us with
> giant bombs in the road, snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast them
> with tanks, attack helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better than
> theirs), and every weapon that an infantryman can carry. Every day.
> Incredibly, I rarely see Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out
> here in the west as Baghdad. Yet, Baghdad has 7 million people, we have
> just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar province is the most violent place
> in Iraq by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no accident that
> the Marines were assigned this area in 2003.
>
> Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal
> Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse
> bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are
> booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for you
> to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day.
> Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk
> about courage and commitment.
>
> Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - It's a 20,000 way tie among all
> the Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the
> towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last - and
> for a couple of them, it will be.
>
> Best Piece of U.S. Gear - new, bullet-proof flak jackets. O.K., they
> weigh 40 lbs and aren't exactly comfortable in 120 degree heat, but
> they've saved countless lives out here.
>
> Best Piece of Bad Guy Gear - Armor Piercing ammunition that goes right
> through the new flak jackets and the Marines inside them.
>
> Worst E-Mail Message - "The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need
> blood type A+ stat." I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I
> get these messages, but I never give blood - there's always about 80
> Marines in line, night or day.
>
> Biggest Surprise - Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that
> we'd get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I
> estimated that insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest.
> Well, insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming. The
> insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes and
> on the streets, but the cops won't give up. Absolutely incredible
> tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding
> them than we are. And they are finding them. Now, if we could just get
> them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp . . ..
>
> Greatest Vindication - Stocking up on outrageous quantities of Diet Coke
> from the chow hall in spite of the derision from my men on such hoarding,
> then having a 122 mm rocket blast apart the giant shipping container that
> held all of the soda for the chow hall. Yep, you can't buy experience.
>
> Biggest Mystery - How some people can gain weight out here. I'm down to
> 165 lbs. Who has time to eat?
>
> Second Biggest Mystery - If there's no atheists in foxholes, then why
> aren't there more people at Mass every Sunday?
>
> Favorite Iraqi TV Show - Oprah. I have no idea. They all have satellite
> TV.
>
> Coolest Insurgent Act - Stealing almost $7 million from the main bank in
> Ramadi in broad daylight, then, upon exiting, waving to the Marines in the
> combat outpost right next to the bank, who had no clue of what was going
> on. The Marines waved back. Too cool.
>
> Most Memorable Scene - In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield,
> watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to
> go home after six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young
> faces even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange
> glances with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file past --
> their replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.
>
> Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate - Any outfit that has been in Iraq
> recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home,
> all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here - all are
> outweighed by the desire for young men to be part of a 'Band of Brothers'
> who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when
> they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat
> experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.
>
> Most Surprising Thing I Don't Miss - Beer. Perhaps being half-stunned by
> lack of sleep makes up for it.
>
> Worst Smell - Porta-johns in 120 degree heat - and that's 120 degrees
> outside of the porta-john.
>
> Highest Temperature - I don't know exactly, but it was in the porta-johns.
> Needed to re-hydrate after each trip to the loo.
>
> Biggest Hassle - High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a
> rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them
> to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our
> briefs and commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived notions
> of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that they've
> been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of credibility in
> perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.
>
> Biggest Outrage - Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about
> the war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are
> consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. .
>
> Best Intel Work - Finding Jill Carroll's kidnappers - all of them. I was
> mighty proud of my guys that day. I figured we'd all get the Christian
> Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up yet. Talk
> about ingratitude.
>
> Saddest Moment - Having the battalion commander from 1st Battalion, 1st
> Marines hand me the dog tags of one of my Marines who had just been killed
> while on a mission with his unit. Hit by a 60mm mortar. CPL Bachar was a
> great Marine. I felt crushed for a long time afterward. His picture now
> hangs at the entrance to the Intelligence Section. We'll carry it home
> with us when we leave in February.
>
> Biggest Ass-Chewing - 10 July immediately following a visit by the Iraqi
> Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Zobai. The Deputy Prime Minister brought along
> an American security contractor (read mercenary), who told my Commanding
> General that he was there to act as a mediator between us and the Bad
> Guys. I immediately told him what I thought of him and his asinine ideas
> in terms that made clear my disgust and which, unfortunately, are
> unrepeatable here. I thought my boss was going to have a heart attack.
> Fortunately, the translator couldn't figure out the best Arabic words to
> convey my meaning for the Deputy Prime Minister. Later, the boss had no
> difficulty in conveying his meaning to me in English regarding my Irish
> temper, even though he agreed with me. At least the guy from the State
> Department thought it was hilarious. We never saw the mercenary again.
>
> Best Chuck Norris Moment - 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government
> center in the small town of Kubaysah to kidnap the town mayor, since they
> have a problem with any form of government that does not include regular
> beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There were seven of them. As they
> brought the mayor out to put him in a pickup truck to take him off to be
> beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the bad Guys put down his
> machine-gun so that he could tie the mayor's hands. The mayor took the
> opportunity to pick up the machine-gun and drill five of the Bad Guys. The
> other two ran away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our top twenty wanted
> list. Like they say, you can't fight City Hall.
>
> Worst Sound - That crack-boom off in the distance that means an IED or
> mine just went off. You just wonder who got it, hoping that it was a near
> miss rather than a direct hit. Hear it every day.
>
> Second Worst Sound - Our artillery firing without warning. The howitzers
> are pretty close to where I work. Believe me, outgoing sounds a lot like
> incoming when our guns are firing right over our heads. They'd about
> knock the fillings out of your teeth.
>
> Only Thing Better in Iraq Than in the US - Sunsets. Spectacular. Its
> from all the dust in the air.
>
> Proudest Moment - Its a tie every day, watching my Marines produce
> phenomenal intelligence products that go pretty far in tearing apart Bad
> Guy operations in al-Anbar. Every night Marines and Soldiers are kicking
> in doors and grabbing Bad Guys based on intelligence developed by my guys.
> We rarely lose a Marine during these raids, they are so well-informed of
> the objective. A bunch of kids right out of high school shouldn't be able
> to work so well, but they do.
>
> Happiest Moment - Well, it wasn't in Iraq. There are no truly happy
> moments here. It was back in California when I was able to hold my family
> again while home on leave during July.
>
> Most Common Thought - Home. Always thinking of home, of Kathleen and the
> kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along. Regretting that I
> don't write more. Yep, always thinking of home.
>
> I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss a
> cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I'll try to write again before too
> long - I promise.
>
> Semper Fi,
>[/color]

"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...[color=blue]
> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
> know, to be fair and balenced?[/color]

Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.
[color=blue]
>
>
>
> "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
> news:CtadnQ2PscALco_YUSdV9g@ptd.net...[color=green]
>> To: Wayne Bush
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 7:31 PM
>> Subject: FW: From a USMC IntelOff in Al Anbar..Thanks Top
>>
>>
>> Well worth forwarding. Pay particular attention to "Biggest Surprise"
>> and "Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate".
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks Col B.
>>
>>
>>
>> Wayne
>>
>> "When they murder children at a school in Beslan . or blow up commuters
>> in London . or behead a bound captive . the terrorists hope these horrors
>> will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they
>> have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep
>> it." -President George W. Bush
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> All: I haven't written very much from Iraq. There's really not much to
>> write about. More exactly, there's not much I can write about because
>> practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military
>> information or is depressing to the point that I'd rather just forget
>> about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are
>> filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So its a bit
>> of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that's worth
>> reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days,
>> every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are
>> up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions.
>> Every challenge demands a response. Its like this every day. Before I
>> know it, I can't see straight, because its 0400 and I've been at work for
>> twenty hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And
>> once again I haven't written to anyone. It starts all over again four
>> hours later. Its not really like Ground Hog Day, its more like a level
>> from Dante's Inferno.
>>
>> Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured I'd
>> just hit the record setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq. These are among
>> the events and experiences I'll remember best.
>>
>> Worst Case of Déjà Vu - I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà
>> vu until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I
>> stepped off of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just
>> as I had left it ten months before - that was déjà vu. Kind of
>> unnerving. It was as if I had never left. Same work area, same busted
>> desk, same chair, same computer, same room, same creaky rack, same . . .
>> everything. Same everything for the next year. It was like entering a
>> parallel universe. Home wasn't 10,000 miles away, it was a different
>> lifetime.
>>
>> Most Surreal Moment - Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility
>> and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had
>> put the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we
>> were looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I
>> know that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded
>> together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The
>> Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the
>> rest of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad
>> Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded
>> up by the giant infidels.
>>
>> Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote
>> area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for
>> Syrians) if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes,
>> you."
>>
>> Worst City in al-Anbar Province - Ramadi, hands down. The provincial
>> capital of 400,000 people. Killed over 1,000 insurgents in there since we
>> arrived in February. Every day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us
>> with giant bombs in the road, snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast
>> them with tanks, attack helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better
>> than theirs), and every weapon that an infantryman can carry. Every day.
>> Incredibly, I rarely see Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out
>> here in the west as Baghdad. Yet, Baghdad has 7 million people, we have
>> just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar province is the most violent
>> place in Iraq by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no
>> accident that the Marines were assigned this area in 2003.
>>
>> Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal
>> Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse
>> bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are
>> booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for
>> you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day.
>> Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk
>> about courage and commitment.
>>
>> Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - It's a 20,000 way tie among all
>> the Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the
>> towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last - and
>> for a couple of them, it will be.
>>
>> Best Piece of U.S. Gear - new, bullet-proof flak jackets. O.K., they
>> weigh 40 lbs and aren't exactly comfortable in 120 degree heat, but
>> they've saved countless lives out here.
>>
>> Best Piece of Bad Guy Gear - Armor Piercing ammunition that goes right
>> through the new flak jackets and the Marines inside them.
>>
>> Worst E-Mail Message - "The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need
>> blood type A+ stat." I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I
>> get these messages, but I never give blood - there's always about 80
>> Marines in line, night or day.
>>
>> Biggest Surprise - Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that
>> we'd get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I
>> estimated that insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest.
>> Well, insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming.
>> The insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes
>> and on the streets, but the cops won't give up. Absolutely incredible
>> tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding
>> them than we are. And they are finding them. Now, if we could just get
>> them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp . . ..
>>
>> Greatest Vindication - Stocking up on outrageous quantities of Diet Coke
>> from the chow hall in spite of the derision from my men on such hoarding,
>> then having a 122 mm rocket blast apart the giant shipping container that
>> held all of the soda for the chow hall. Yep, you can't buy experience.
>>
>> Biggest Mystery - How some people can gain weight out here. I'm down to
>> 165 lbs. Who has time to eat?
>>
>> Second Biggest Mystery - If there's no atheists in foxholes, then why
>> aren't there more people at Mass every Sunday?
>>
>> Favorite Iraqi TV Show - Oprah. I have no idea. They all have satellite
>> TV.
>>
>> Coolest Insurgent Act - Stealing almost $7 million from the main bank in
>> Ramadi in broad daylight, then, upon exiting, waving to the Marines in
>> the combat outpost right next to the bank, who had no clue of what was
>> going on. The Marines waved back. Too cool.
>>
>> Most Memorable Scene - In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield,
>> watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to
>> go home after six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young
>> faces even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange
>> glances with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file
>> past -- their replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be
>> said.
>>
>> Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate - Any outfit that has been in Iraq
>> recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home,
>> all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here - all are
>> outweighed by the desire for young men to be part of a 'Band of Brothers'
>> who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when
>> they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat
>> experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.
>>
>> Most Surprising Thing I Don't Miss - Beer. Perhaps being half-stunned by
>> lack of sleep makes up for it.
>>
>> Worst Smell - Porta-johns in 120 degree heat - and that's 120 degrees
>> outside of the porta-john.
>>
>> Highest Temperature - I don't know exactly, but it was in the
>> porta-johns. Needed to re-hydrate after each trip to the loo.
>>
>> Biggest Hassle - High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a
>> rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them
>> to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our
>> briefs and commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived
>> notions of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that
>> they've been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of
>> credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.
>>
>> Biggest Outrage - Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about
>> the war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are
>> consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. .
>>
>> Best Intel Work - Finding Jill Carroll's kidnappers - all of them. I was
>> mighty proud of my guys that day. I figured we'd all get the Christian
>> Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up yet. Talk
>> about ingratitude.
>>
>> Saddest Moment - Having the battalion commander from 1st Battalion, 1st
>> Marines hand me the dog tags of one of my Marines who had just been
>> killed while on a mission with his unit. Hit by a 60mm mortar. CPL
>> Bachar was a great Marine. I felt crushed for a long time afterward.
>> His picture now hangs at the entrance to the Intelligence Section. We'll
>> carry it home with us when we leave in February.
>>
>> Biggest Ass-Chewing - 10 July immediately following a visit by the Iraqi
>> Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Zobai. The Deputy Prime Minister brought
>> along an American security contractor (read mercenary), who told my
>> Commanding General that he was there to act as a mediator between us and
>> the Bad Guys. I immediately told him what I thought of him and his
>> asinine ideas in terms that made clear my disgust and which,
>> unfortunately, are unrepeatable here. I thought my boss was going to have
>> a heart attack. Fortunately, the translator couldn't figure out the best
>> Arabic words to convey my meaning for the Deputy Prime Minister. Later,
>> the boss had no difficulty in conveying his meaning to me in English
>> regarding my Irish temper, even though he agreed with me. At least the
>> guy from the State Department thought it was hilarious. We never saw the
>> mercenary again.
>>
>> Best Chuck Norris Moment - 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government
>> center in the small town of Kubaysah to kidnap the town mayor, since they
>> have a problem with any form of government that does not include regular
>> beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There were seven of them. As they
>> brought the mayor out to put him in a pickup truck to take him off to be
>> beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the bad Guys put down his
>> machine-gun so that he could tie the mayor's hands. The mayor took the
>> opportunity to pick up the machine-gun and drill five of the Bad Guys.
>> The other two ran away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our top twenty
>> wanted list. Like they say, you can't fight City Hall.
>>
>> Worst Sound - That crack-boom off in the distance that means an IED or
>> mine just went off. You just wonder who got it, hoping that it was a near
>> miss rather than a direct hit. Hear it every day.
>>
>> Second Worst Sound - Our artillery firing without warning. The howitzers
>> are pretty close to where I work. Believe me, outgoing sounds a lot like
>> incoming when our guns are firing right over our heads. They'd about
>> knock the fillings out of your teeth.
>>
>> Only Thing Better in Iraq Than in the US - Sunsets. Spectacular. Its
>> from all the dust in the air.
>>
>> Proudest Moment - Its a tie every day, watching my Marines produce
>> phenomenal intelligence products that go pretty far in tearing apart Bad
>> Guy operations in al-Anbar. Every night Marines and Soldiers are kicking
>> in doors and grabbing Bad Guys based on intelligence developed by my
>> guys. We rarely lose a Marine during these raids, they are so
>> well-informed of the objective. A bunch of kids right out of high school
>> shouldn't be able to work so well, but they do.
>>
>> Happiest Moment - Well, it wasn't in Iraq. There are no truly happy
>> moments here. It was back in California when I was able to hold my
>> family again while home on leave during July.
>>
>> Most Common Thought - Home. Always thinking of home, of Kathleen and the
>> kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along. Regretting that I
>> don't write more. Yep, always thinking of home.
>>
>> I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss
>> a cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I'll try to write again before
>> too long - I promise.
>>
>> Semper Fi,
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The fact
is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are at
war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are willing to
defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that understand
efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
political gain, is a travesty.


mike hunt



"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...[color=blue]
> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
> know, to be fair and balenced (sic)?
>
>
>
> "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
> news:CtadnQ2PscALco_YUSdV9g@ptd.net...[color=green]
>> To: Wayne Bush
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 7:31 PM
>> Subject: FW: From a USMC IntelOff in Al Anbar..Thanks Top
>>
>>
>> Well worth forwarding. Pay particular attention to "Biggest Surprise"
>> and "Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate".
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks Col B.
>>
>>
>>
>> Wayne
>>
>> "When they murder children at a school in Beslan . or blow up commuters
>> in London . or behead a bound captive . the terrorists hope these horrors
>> will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the Earth. But they
>> have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep
>> it." -President George W. Bush
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> All: I haven't written very much from Iraq. There's really not much to
>> write about. More exactly, there's not much I can write about because
>> practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military
>> information or is depressing to the point that I'd rather just forget
>> about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are
>> filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So its a bit
>> of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that's worth
>> reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days,
>> every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are
>> up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions.
>> Every challenge demands a response. Its like this every day. Before I
>> know it, I can't see straight, because its 0400 and I've been at work for
>> twenty hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And
>> once again I haven't written to anyone. It starts all over again four
>> hours later. Its not really like Ground Hog Day, its more like a level
>> from Dante's Inferno.
>>
>> Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured I'd
>> just hit the record setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq. These are among
>> the events and experiences I'll remember best.
>>
>> Worst Case of Déjà Vu - I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà
>> vu until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I
>> stepped off of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just
>> as I had left it ten months before - that was déjà vu. Kind of
>> unnerving. It was as if I had never left. Same work area, same busted
>> desk, same chair, same computer, same room, same creaky rack, same . . .
>> everything. Same everything for the next year. It was like entering a
>> parallel universe. Home wasn't 10,000 miles away, it was a different
>> lifetime.
>>
>> Most Surreal Moment - Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility
>> and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had
>> put the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we
>> were looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I
>> know that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded
>> together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The
>> Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the
>> rest of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad
>> Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded
>> up by the giant infidels.
>>
>> Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote
>> area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for
>> Syrians) if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes,
>> you."
>>
>> Worst City in al-Anbar Province - Ramadi, hands down. The provincial
>> capital of 400,000 people. Killed over 1,000 insurgents in there since we
>> arrived in February. Every day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us
>> with giant bombs in the road, snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast
>> them with tanks, attack helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better
>> than theirs), and every weapon that an infantryman can carry. Every day.
>> Incredibly, I rarely see Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out
>> here in the west as Baghdad. Yet, Baghdad has 7 million people, we have
>> just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar province is the most violent
>> place in Iraq by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no
>> accident that the Marines were assigned this area in 2003.
>>
>> Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal
>> Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse
>> bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are
>> booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for
>> you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day.
>> Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk
>> about courage and commitment.
>>
>> Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province - It's a 20,000 way tie among all
>> the Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the
>> towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last - and
>> for a couple of them, it will be.
>>
>> Best Piece of U.S. Gear - new, bullet-proof flak jackets. O.K., they
>> weigh 40 lbs and aren't exactly comfortable in 120 degree heat, but
>> they've saved countless lives out here.
>>
>> Best Piece of Bad Guy Gear - Armor Piercing ammunition that goes right
>> through the new flak jackets and the Marines inside them.
>>
>> Worst E-Mail Message - "The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need
>> blood type A+ stat." I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I
>> get these messages, but I never give blood - there's always about 80
>> Marines in line, night or day.
>>
>> Biggest Surprise - Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that
>> we'd get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I
>> estimated that insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest.
>> Well, insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming.
>> The insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes
>> and on the streets, but the cops won't give up. Absolutely incredible
>> tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding
>> them than we are. And they are finding them. Now, if we could just get
>> them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp . . ..
>>
>> Greatest Vindication - Stocking up on outrageous quantities of Diet Coke
>> from the chow hall in spite of the derision from my men on such hoarding,
>> then having a 122 mm rocket blast apart the giant shipping container that
>> held all of the soda for the chow hall. Yep, you can't buy experience.
>>
>> Biggest Mystery - How some people can gain weight out here. I'm down to
>> 165 lbs. Who has time to eat?
>>
>> Second Biggest Mystery - If there's no atheists in foxholes, then why
>> aren't there more people at Mass every Sunday?
>>
>> Favorite Iraqi TV Show - Oprah. I have no idea. They all have satellite
>> TV.
>>
>> Coolest Insurgent Act - Stealing almost $7 million from the main bank in
>> Ramadi in broad daylight, then, upon exiting, waving to the Marines in
>> the combat outpost right next to the bank, who had no clue of what was
>> going on. The Marines waved back. Too cool.
>>
>> Most Memorable Scene - In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield,
>> watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to
>> go home after six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young
>> faces even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange
>> glances with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file
>> past -- their replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be
>> said.
>>
>> Highest Unit Reenlistment Rate - Any outfit that has been in Iraq
>> recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home,
>> all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here - all are
>> outweighed by the desire for young men to be part of a 'Band of Brothers'
>> who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when
>> they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat
>> experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.
>>
>> Most Surprising Thing I Don't Miss - Beer. Perhaps being half-stunned by
>> lack of sleep makes up for it.
>>
>> Worst Smell - Porta-johns in 120 degree heat - and that's 120 degrees
>> outside of the porta-john.
>>
>> Highest Temperature - I don't know exactly, but it was in the
>> porta-johns. Needed to re-hydrate after each trip to the loo.
>>
>> Biggest Hassle - High-ranking visitors. More disruptive to work than a
>> rocket attack. VIPs demand briefs and "battlefield" tours (we take them
>> to quiet sections of Fallujah, which is plenty scary for them). Our
>> briefs and commentary seem to have no affect on their preconceived
>> notions of what's going on in Iraq. Their trips allow them to say that
>> they've been to Fallujah, which gives them an unfortunate degree of
>> credibility in perpetuating their fantasies about the insurgency here.
>>
>> Biggest Outrage - Practically anything said by talking heads on TV about
>> the war in Iraq, not that I get to watch much TV. Their thoughts are
>> consistently both grossly simplistic and politically slanted. .
>>
>> Best Intel Work - Finding Jill Carroll's kidnappers - all of them. I was
>> mighty proud of my guys that day. I figured we'd all get the Christian
>> Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up yet. Talk
>> about ingratitude.
>>
>> Saddest Moment - Having the battalion commander from 1st Battalion, 1st
>> Marines hand me the dog tags of one of my Marines who had just been
>> killed while on a mission with his unit. Hit by a 60mm mortar. CPL
>> Bachar was a great Marine. I felt crushed for a long time afterward.
>> His picture now hangs at the entrance to the Intelligence Section. We'll
>> carry it home with us when we leave in February.
>>
>> Biggest Ass-Chewing - 10 July immediately following a visit by the Iraqi
>> Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Zobai. The Deputy Prime Minister brought
>> along an American security contractor (read mercenary), who told my
>> Commanding General that he was there to act as a mediator between us and
>> the Bad Guys. I immediately told him what I thought of him and his
>> asinine ideas in terms that made clear my disgust and which,
>> unfortunately, are unrepeatable here. I thought my boss was going to have
>> a heart attack. Fortunately, the translator couldn't figure out the best
>> Arabic words to convey my meaning for the Deputy Prime Minister. Later,
>> the boss had no difficulty in conveying his meaning to me in English
>> regarding my Irish temper, even though he agreed with me. At least the
>> guy from the State Department thought it was hilarious. We never saw the
>> mercenary again.
>>
>> Best Chuck Norris Moment - 13 May. Bad Guys arrived at the government
>> center in the small town of Kubaysah to kidnap the town mayor, since they
>> have a problem with any form of government that does not include regular
>> beheadings and women wearing burqahs. There were seven of them. As they
>> brought the mayor out to put him in a pickup truck to take him off to be
>> beheaded (on video, as usual), one of the bad Guys put down his
>> machine-gun so that he could tie the mayor's hands. The mayor took the
>> opportunity to pick up the machine-gun and drill five of the Bad Guys.
>> The other two ran away. One of the dead Bad Guys was on our top twenty
>> wanted list. Like they say, you can't fight City Hall.
>>
>> Worst Sound - That crack-boom off in the distance that means an IED or
>> mine just went off. You just wonder who got it, hoping that it was a near
>> miss rather than a direct hit. Hear it every day.
>>
>> Second Worst Sound - Our artillery firing without warning. The howitzers
>> are pretty close to where I work. Believe me, outgoing sounds a lot like
>> incoming when our guns are firing right over our heads. They'd about
>> knock the fillings out of your teeth.
>>
>> Only Thing Better in Iraq Than in the US - Sunsets. Spectacular. Its
>> from all the dust in the air.
>>
>> Proudest Moment - Its a tie every day, watching my Marines produce
>> phenomenal intelligence products that go pretty far in tearing apart Bad
>> Guy operations in al-Anbar. Every night Marines and Soldiers are kicking
>> in doors and grabbing Bad Guys based on intelligence developed by my
>> guys. We rarely lose a Marine during these raids, they are so
>> well-informed of the objective. A bunch of kids right out of high school
>> shouldn't be able to work so well, but they do.
>>
>> Happiest Moment - Well, it wasn't in Iraq. There are no truly happy
>> moments here. It was back in California when I was able to hold my
>> family again while home on leave during July.
>>
>> Most Common Thought - Home. Always thinking of home, of Kathleen and the
>> kids. Wondering how everyone else is getting along. Regretting that I
>> don't write more. Yep, always thinking of home.
>>
>> I hope you all are doing well. If you want to do something for me, kiss
>> a cop, flush a toilet, and drink a beer. I'll try to write again before
>> too long - I promise.
>>
>> Semper Fi,
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:42:02 GMT, "sharx35" <sharx35@hotmail.com>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...[color=green]
>> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
>> know, to be fair and balenced?[/color]
>
>Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.[/color]

LOL....

Short sweet and to the point...

Art will be the first to cry when Iran nukes Israel....


--

Scott in Florida

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:19:07 -0400, "Mike Hunter"
<mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The fact
>is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
>there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are at
>war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are willing to
>defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that understand
>efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
>political gain, is a travesty.
>
>
>mike hunt[/color]

I just talked to one of my son's friends.

He volunteered to switch from Reserve Army to Regular Army....just so
he could go to Iraq.

He said he had to do a few things he didn't really like, but he did
them and he said he would go again.

When is open season on terrorist loving leftists?



--

Scott in Florida

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:28:54 GMT, Scott in Florida
<askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:42:02 GMT, "sharx35" <sharx35@hotmail.com>
>wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>>"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>>news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...[color=darkred]
>>> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
>>> know, to be fair and balenced?[/color]
>>
>>Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.[/color]
>
>LOL....
>
>Short sweet and to the point...
>
>Art will be the first to cry when Iran nukes Israel....[/color]

I guarantee that Israel will not let it get that far. They will turn
Iran into a puddle of glass long before that point.

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:31:27 GMT, Scott in Florida
<askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>When is open season on terrorist loving leftists?[/color]

Some of us Liberals aren't particularly terrorist-loving, will shoot
back, and just might be better shots than you. (You don't want to face
me and my FR-8 or any of several toys designed by St. John Moses
Browning.) :-)

I would love to hear some of the kooks spouting off their crap in any
American Legion, they do not have a clue what those in the military think
about our war with the radical Islamic terrorists.


mike hunt


"Scott in Florida" <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote in message
news:vto8h2p9la13n1egc2beecp0oeop8iuggg@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:19:07 -0400, "Mike Hunter"
> <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The
>>fact
>>is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
>>there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are
>>at
>>war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are willing
>>to
>>defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that understand
>>efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
>>political gain, is a travesty.
>>
>>
>>mike hunt[/color]
>
> I just talked to one of my son's friends.
>
> He volunteered to switch from Reserve Army to Regular Army....just so
> he could go to Iraq.
>
> He said he had to do a few things he didn't really like, but he did
> them and he said he would go again.
>
> When is open season on terrorist loving leftists?
>
>
>
> --
>
> Scott in Florida
>[/color]

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:08:43 -0400, [email]jd@mongo.krivis.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:28:54 GMT, Scott in Florida
><askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:42:02 GMT, "sharx35" <sharx35@hotmail.com>
>>wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>
>>>"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>>>news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>>> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq. You
>>>> know, to be fair and balenced?
>>>
>>>Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.[/color]
>>
>>LOL....
>>
>>Short sweet and to the point...
>>
>>Art will be the first to cry when Iran nukes Israel....[/color]
>
>I guarantee that Israel will not let it get that far. They will turn
>Iran into a puddle of glass long before that point.
>[/color]

They had better do it quickly....

Time is running out on Israel....


--

Scott in Florida

"Scott in Florida" <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote in message
news:vto8h2p9la13n1egc2beecp0oeop8iuggg@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:19:07 -0400, "Mike Hunter"
> <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The
>>fact
>>is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
>>there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are
>>at
>>war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are willing
>>to
>>defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that understand
>>efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
>>political gain, is a travesty.
>>
>>
>>mike hunt[/color]
>
> I just talked to one of my son's friends.
>
> He volunteered to switch from Reserve Army to Regular Army....just so
> he could go to Iraq.
>
> He said he had to do a few things he didn't really like, but he did
> them and he said he would go again.
>
> When is open season on terrorist loving leftists?
>[/color]

If I hear, I will let you know.

In article <b5r8h2doqmrehjr5j2540i03pfceaf2ao7@4ax.com>,
[email]jd@mongo.krivis.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:28:54 GMT, Scott in Florida
> <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
> >On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:42:02 GMT, "sharx35" <sharx35@hotmail.com>
> >wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> >>
> >>"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
> >>news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >>> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq.
> >>> You
> >>> know, to be fair and balenced?
> >>
> >>Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.[/color]
> >
> >LOL....
> >
> >Short sweet and to the point...
> >
> >Art will be the first to cry when Iran nukes Israel....[/color]
>
> I guarantee that Israel will not let it get that far. They will turn
> Iran into a puddle of glass long before that point.[/color]

I agree. Israel will take care of business.
--

But if they do the radical Islamic terrorist might get mad and kill more
Israeli woman and children in Iraq.

mike hunt


<jd@mongo.krivis.com> wrote in message
news:b5r8h2doqmrehjr5j2540i03pfceaf2ao7@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:28:54 GMT, Scott in Florida
> <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:42:02 GMT, "sharx35" <sharx35@hotmail.com>
>>wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>
>>>"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>>>news:iJIQg.10799$v%4.5368@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>>> How about posting a few where the guys don't want to go back to Iraq.
>>>> You
>>>> know, to be fair and balenced?
>>>
>>>Fuck off and die, terrorist loving asshole.[/color]
>>
>>LOL....
>>
>>Short sweet and to the point...
>>
>>Art will be the first to cry when Iran nukes Israel....[/color]
>
> I guarantee that Israel will not let it get that far. They will turn
> Iran into a puddle of glass long before that point.
>
>[/color]

[color=blue]
> "Scott in Florida" <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote in message
> news:vto8h2p9la13n1egc2beecp0oeop8iuggg@4ax.com...[color=green]
>> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:19:07 -0400, "Mike Hunter"
>> <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The
>>>fact
>>>is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
>>>there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are
>>>at
>>>war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are willing
>>>to
>>>defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that understand
>>>efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
>>>political gain, is a travesty.
>>>
>>>
>>>mike hunt[/color]
>>
>> I just talked to one of my son's friends.
>>
>> He volunteered to switch from Reserve Army to Regular Army....just so
>> he could go to Iraq.
>>
>> He said he had to do a few things he didn't really like, but he did
>> them and he said he would go again.
>>
>> When is open season on terrorist loving leftists?
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Scott in Florida
>>[/color][/color]

"Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:bmednXNyXtSp7YnYUSdV9g@ptd.net...[color=blue]
>I would love to hear some of the kooks spouting off their crap in any
>American Legion, they do not have a clue what those in the military think
>about our war with the radical Islamic terrorists.
>
>
> mike hunt[/color]

Really? Things have sure changed since the 80s and 90s when I was a young
soldier. So now young guys on leave go hang out at the local American
Legion post? Get a clue yourself.

Some do I guess when the Legion and the local church is the only place to go
in small town America, but a hell of a lot of reservist that have served in
Iraq and Afghanistan sure do. Get a clue indeed.


mike hunt


"Truckdude" <notmymail@cox.net> wrote in message
news:dT_Qg.100$Wi1.96@trnddc06...[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>> "Scott in Florida" <askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote in message
>> news:vto8h2p9la13n1egc2beecp0oeop8iuggg@4ax.com...[color=darkred]
>>> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:19:07 -0400, "Mike Hunter"
>>> <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Naturally there are many who do not want to go back to a war zone. The
>>>>fact
>>>>is many RA DO want to go to Iraq, even many reservist are on second duty
>>>>there by chose. The military, unlike many in the US, understands we are
>>>>at
>>>>war with all of the racial Islamic terrorist of the world and are
>>>>willing to
>>>>defend those at home. We can be thankful there are those that
>>>>understand
>>>>efforts to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorists, for
>>>>political gain, is a travesty.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>mike hunt[/color][/color]
>
> "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
> news:bmednXNyXtSp7YnYUSdV9g@ptd.net...[color=green]
>>I would love to hear some of the kooks spouting off their crap in any
>>American Legion, they do not have a clue what those in the military think
>>about our war with the radical Islamic terrorists.
>>
>>
>> mike hunt[/color]
>
> Really? Things have sure changed since the 80s and 90s when I was a young
> soldier. So now young guys on leave go hang out at the local American
> Legion post? Get a clue yourself.
>[/color]