Can you believe the spin in this article? I mean, it's not like the Mindless Killing Machine has actually been over there, what the hell does he know.

"USA Today, A Marine sees what defeatists don't.
By Ben Connable
RAMADI, Iraq — This is my third deployment with the 1st Marine Division to the Middle East. This is the third time I've heard the quavering cries of the talking heads predicting failure and calling for withdrawal. This is the third time I find myself shaking my head in disbelief.

Setbacks and tragedy are part and parcel of war and must be accepted on the battlefield. We can and will achieve our goals in Iraq.

Waiting for war in the Saudi Arabian desert as a young corporal in 1991, I recall reading news clippings portending massive tank battles, fiery death from Saddam Hussein's "flame trenches" and bitter defeat at the hands of the fourth-largest army in the world. My platoon was told to expect 75% casualties. Being Marines and, therefore, naturally cocky, we still felt pretty good about our abilities.

The panicky predictions failed to come true. The flame trenches sputtered. Nobody from my platoon died. Strength, ingenuity and willpower won the day. Crushing the fourth-largest army in the world in four days seemed to crush the doubts back home.

Twelve years passed, during which time America was faced with frustrating actions in Somalia and the Balkans. Doubt had begun to creep back into public debate.

In the spring of last year, I was a Marine captain, back with the division for Operation Iraqi Freedom. As I waited for war in the desert, just 100 miles to the north from our stepping-off point in 1991, I was again subjected to the panicky analyses of talking heads. There weren't enough troops to do the job, the oil fields would be destroyed, we couldn't fight in urban terrain, our offensive would grind to a halt, and we should expect more than 10,000 casualties.

Remembering my experience in Desert Storm, I took these assessments with a grain of salt. As a staff officer in the division command post, I was able to follow the larger battle as we moved forward. I knew that our tempo was keeping the enemy on his heels and that our plan would lead us to victory.

But war is never clean and simple. Mourning our losses quietly, the Marines drove to Baghdad, then to Tikrit, liberating the Iraqi people while losing fewer men than were lost in Desert Storm.

In May of last year, I was sitting with some fellow officers back in Diwaniyah, Iraq, the offensive successful and the country liberated from Saddam. I received a copy of a March 30 U.S. newspaper on Iraq in an old package that had finally made its way to the front. The stories: horror in Nasariyah, faltering supply lines and demonstrations in Cairo. The mood of the paper was impenetrably gloomy, and predictions of disaster abounded. The offensive was stalled; everyone was running out of supplies; we would be forced to withdraw.

The Arab world was about to ignite into a fireball of rage, and the Middle East was on the verge of collapse. If I had read those stories on March 30, I would have had a tough time either restraining my laughter or, conversely, falling into a funk. I was concerned about the bizarre kaleidoscope image of Iraq presented to the American people by writers viewing the world through a soda straw.

Returning to Iraq this past February, I knew that the Marines had a tremendous opportunity to follow through on our promises to the Iraqi people.

Believing in the mission, many Marines volunteered to return. I again found myself in the division headquarters.

Just weeks ago, I read that the supply lines were cut, ammunition and food were dwindling, the "Sunni Triangle" was exploding, cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was leading a widespread Shiite revolt, and the country was nearing civil war.

As I write this, the supply lines are open, there's plenty of ammunition and food, the Sunni Triangle is back to status quo, and Sadr is marginalized in Najaf. Once again, dire predictions of failure and disaster have been dismissed by American willpower and military professionalism.

War is inherently ugly and dramatic. I don't blame reporters for focusing on the burning vehicles, the mutilated bodies or the personal tragedies. The editors have little choice but to print the photos from the Abu Ghraib prison and the tales of the insurgency in Fallujah. These things sell news and remind us of the sober reality of our commitment to the Iraqi people. The actions of our armed forces are rightfully subject to scrutiny.

I am not ignorant of the political issues, either. But as a professional, I have the luxury of putting politics aside and focusing on the task at hand. Protecting people from terrorists and criminals while building schools and lasting friendships is a good mission, no matter what brush it's tarred with.

Nothing any talking head will say can deter me or my fellow Marines from caring about the people of Iraq, or take away from the sacrifices of our comrades. Fear in the face of adversity is human nature, and many people who take the counsel of their fears speak today. We are not deaf to their cries; neither do we take heed. All we ask is that Americans stand by us by supporting not just the troops, but also the mission.

We'll take care of the rest.

Maj. Ben Connable is serving as a foreign-area officer and intelligence officer with the 1st Marine Division."

RLTW


-- Modified on 5/20/2004 8:52:41 AM

A dose of reality to counter the nattering nabobs of negativism.

Don't expect the far Lefties here to get the point, however.

You actually read and give credence to these joke sources, and yet you dismiss legitimate news sources like the N.Y. Times, The Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, and you are surprised when you find mindless drivel?  Of COURSE you will find mindless drivel in U.S.A. today.  Who do you think that the target audience is?

I seem to recall your saying last month that the NY Times got it all wrong in reporting the results of the media consortium Florida recount.

The notable Captain, states:

"Crushing the fourth-largest army in the world in four days seemed to crush the doubts back home!!!!!!!"

An army that could not even make a handgun, could not build an aircraft, could not even successfully fly the aircraft acquired, could not even build an equivalent of a measely Jeep!!!  This was the fourth largest army? What was the metrics here?  Dick size?

If our beloved Captain is such a simpleton that believes Iraqi Army was the 4th largest in the world, love him, adore him, take him out to dinner, but, take it easy in viewing him as a tower of intellect, and a source and beacon of geopolitical pearls of wisdom!  

Meanwhile, Harry Turman once said:  
"The only thing new in this world is the history you do not know,"  the biggest fear of people in the Middle East is colonialism. Unfortunately, we have re-ignited that fear.  As a true patriotic American, I am worried as hell that our real nemeses [not insignificant third world countries], would start aligning themselves with the muslim world, and put us in awkward and painful positions.




-- Modified on 5/21/2004 12:30:08 AM

-- Modified on 5/21/2004 6:58:46 AM

Marines are resilient people, to say the least.  I expect them to do what they have to psychologically, in dire circumstances, to keep up their work, even if it means a resort to some foolhardy optimism.  

Let's look at his list of why things are so good:

There's plenty of ammunition and food
(read: we can still fight)
The Sunni triangle is back to status quo
(depends on how good that status quo was, and if it fell out of SQ, it wasn't too good to begin with)
Sadr is marginalized
(Some people don't like him)

Added to that, the fact that we lost so few people taking Iraq, and we already knew that.  Besides that, he gives no counterarguments to the bad reports and casualties we're seeing.

/Zin

 Its peculiar that the Taliban and the rest of the warlords are roaming freely in Afghanistan these days, Al-qaida has comfortably set up shop in Iraq(brings tears to my eyes that they have a new roof over their heads, truly a touching tale),  hardline Shia nationalists will be in control of most of Iraq, Iran is well on its way to developing nuclear weapons,  US soldiers in Iraq are serving as a perfect recruitment call for new terrorists every day, our gov't is still in bed and gives BBBJTCIM to most of the corrupt leaders in the region.  
  No but we are safer because there are now schools open and the water is running and they have electric.  Well that should quell the anti-American fire throughout the Muslim world.  
  You see, they are not the Camel Jockeys, sand niggers, or the backward towel heads our truly ignorant public and media makes them out to be.  You see our gov't has been equating the Arabs as less than humans for quiet some time as is evident in our foreign policy of the past 50 years.  And now they are pissed off.  
  How would we feel if they tried to "Arabize, or Islamize"  our society by constantly propping up corrupt presidents(which by the way we don't need their help with) who suppressed our freedoms and liberty every day.  If they tried to impose the Sharia type of govt on our society because they had the power to do so and that was in their "foreign policy" interests.  Oh and just imagine thousands of Muslim troops close to DC every day.  
  By god, I think we would start to blow things up in the Middle East.

Foolhardy optimism? Hardly. It's a "will do" attitude, which is one of the hallmarks of being a professional soldier. It's also one of the main reasons why we will prevail in Iraq.

RLTW

The Taliban are hiding in caves along the tribal regions of the Afghani-Pakistan border because they are being aggressively hunted by 10,000 soldiers and Marines. If any are foolish enough to "roam freely the lands of Afghanistan", they are quickly provided assistance in their quest to meet Allah.

Facts are your friend EV. While some of your points on past policy mistakes are valid, your hyperbolic rants about the dire situation in Afghanistan are way off the mark.

RLTW

  Check the many reports and accounts of how the Taliban and the warlords have taken over much of Afghanistan again.  Not where the marines are on the northern border, but pretty much everywhere else they are roaming free like the birds on a clear sky.  Seriously, try reading ALL the new accounts of the situation in the rest of Afghanistan.  
  You are right they are not roaming freely near the northern border, but Afghanistan has other parcels of land other than the northern border.  

I gather information from a wide variety of different news sources from all over the Web. Also from a nephew who's an officer in the 82nd Airborne and has actually been there three times, along with several Army buddies who are still active duty and very much involved in the operations being conducted by CENTCOM and SOCOM. And they do not spin for EvilBush(tm), they tell it to me like it is, whether it's good, bad or ugly.

You claim to be an enlightened, objective observer. But your past few posts reveal a very biased viewpoint, fast and lose with unsupported claims of conspiracy. And when challenged, you immediately resort to the easy, cheap retort of labelling those with opposing views as being ignorant morons.

RLTW

-- Modified on 5/21/2004 1:50:24 PM

The Times article you cite stated that Bush WOULD HAVE won the recount.  that might be true, but it had nothing to do with the post I made, that you took issue with.

I stated that the Supreme Court ACTUALLY installed Bush as the President, and cut short the recount.  That remains a fact.  
My point was that Bush was illegitimate NOT because he would have won or lost the recount, but because he sought court relief to cut it short.  That happens to be fact.  It's a shame that this is beyond your comprehension, and remains so even after it's been explained to you several times.

I didn't hear or see any of the following stories, Im just dreaming them up.  

1.  Powell last sunday admitted much of the intelligence given him was either from shady and uncredible sources or that it was deliberately misleading.  
2.  Gen. Abizaid, the commander of our troops said violence is going to get much worse even after the handover of June 30th.
3.  Bush himself admitted that the claim of Uranium "didn't rise to the level of a State of the Union Address."
4.  Doug Feith and Rumsfeld set up the office of special plans to cherry pick intelligence from Chalabi and other sources to pass it up to the higher up, even though the CIA and State dept were questioning many of the claims coming out of Feith's office.
5.  The war has cost 160 billion so far and Wolfowitz is already asking for 75 billion more for next year.
6.  Estimates are that US troops will have to stay in Iraq atleast until 2010.
7.  No WMD's have been found

  Again I would go on and on with my list of "ignorant assumptions" which I completely dreamt up and have no basis in reality.  My sole purpose is to "give aid and comfor to the enemy."  
  Thank you for pointing them out to me!!

The "ignorant assumptions" is referring to your habit of discounting as ignorant anyone who disagrees with you.

RLTW

PS: You forgot to add the "Berg Conspiracy" and the "Secret Iraqi Oilfield Map Conspiracy" to your above list.



-- Modified on 5/21/2004 11:02:24 AM

Some date as early as 03.  Actually I wrote the stories personally as a part of my conspiracy theory, and made them look like actual stories.  

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C86190%2C00.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897048/posts

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2003/09/25/afghan_officials_see_taliban_resurgence/

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/911163/posts

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/08/attack/main572004.shtml

Come on EV. Your basing your claims on news stories that are six months to a year out of date? Even those out of date stories do not support your initial claim that the Taliban are running rampant all over Afghanistan. No one can dispute that Coalition Forces are engaging pockets of Taliban fighters and renegade warlords. That's why we're still there providing security and building a viable Afghani Security Force. But the fact is you are incorrect in your initial assertion that the situation is out of control and when I challenged you on it, you reflexively accused me of not being informed.

RLTW

Pretty intense research... not.

He popped over to Google after I challenged him and that's all he came up with.

RLTW

You seem to have difficulty reading things carefully.  No fool even came close to claiming Saddam had the 4th largest army in the 2nd Gulf War.

Is not the same as saying that it is an illigitimate news source.  I have not idea how you could have made such a connection.  I disagree often with every legitimate news source that I utilize for news.

From ABC News dated May 7, 2003:

"The Iraqi armed forces are still the largest in the region, with 375,000 men in its army and about 400,000 in its reserves — a far cry from the 1.2 million soldiers it claimed as the world's fourth-largest army during the Gulf War, but still superior to those of its neighbors, at least in terms of numbers."

If you need more let me know, Captain America.

RLTW

A "can do" attitude is also "foolhardy optimism" in the wrong siuation.  His can-do attitude is not enough to compensate for the fools who wasted it putting him to work in Iraq.  Can-do attitude is indispensible on the ground, it's foolhardy when it's being used as a political, or strategic, argument, as is attempted here.

When the optimism doesn't prevail, your response, and most likely his, will be to blame it on the pessimists for messing up the mojo, or is that the juju?  Even if the pessimists work like optimists to help him.  

This man has already been betrayed, and not by me, but by George W. and his company, who used optimism and "can-do" when they should have been using strategy.  And who were warned, by countless of people that the strategy wasn't sound.  

We need people like this Marine, but we need better strategy, and a miracle, to make it work.  

/Zin

We've only been in Iraq for just over a year. It's too soon to call it a quagmire and use comparisons with Vietnam, which lasted nearly a decade and costs thousands of lives per year. Hell, by the standards we are using to judge the Iraq mission, we would have to classify Kosovo a quagmire also. By all accounts the violence in Sadr City, Najaf, and Fallujah has slowly begun to decrease. Sadr is becoming isolated and losing support from more moderate clerics, and the Fayadeen remnants in Fallujah are isolated to the northern area of the city.

If the situation in Iraq is the same in another six to eight months, then I'll start to worry. For now I think that the quagmire-Vietnam analogy is off-base, and more of a talking point for people who have disagreed with the War from the start. There is no doubt that mistakes have been made by the Administration and the Pentagon, but that is the case with all military actions. The Army saying is absolutely true - no operational plan survives initial contact with the enemy.

RLTW