War stories thread

Salvadoran soldiers praised for Iraq role
Cpl. Samuel Toloza of El Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion displays his bloodstained knife that he used to fend off Iraqi gunmen in Najaf, Iraq, last Saturday.


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432nd Thanks Local Students for Helping Iraqi Children

Soldiers from the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion are thanking Ashwaubenon High School students for collecting school supplies for Iraqi children.

Part of the battalion's mission in Iraq was rebuilding schools. Three soldiers visited Ashwaubenon High School Thursday morning to tell the students about life in Iraq and how their donations made a difference.

They walked into the auditorium to applause, but the room soon got quiet as soldiers talked about what they experienced in Iraq. They talked of Iraqi lives and seeing mass graves.

"What was hard was Iraqis played dirty with us. They hid all their weapons in their mosques and they still do. We still don't go in the mosques because it's holy ground," Specialist Angela Graben remarked.


"I know it's hard for people this young to even imagine what it must have been like to be over there. They at least got to know a little of what it was like to be there," said Specialist Amy Schroeder.

The soldiers told students the school supplies they collected earlier this year had a direct impact on how the soldiers were viewed there.

"For the most part the Iraqis did want us there. The people we worked with regardless of the cities, they love us a lot," Spc. Graben said.

"Now that I know we made a difference, not only to the troops but to the people in Iraq, and to hear about it, it just makes me feel very good about myself and what you've done," freshman Brianna Bauer said.

Lindsay Gore, a freshman, reacted, "You think about where the supplies are going but you don't really think about what's going on over there, you don't realize that they're risking their lives over there every day, and it's amazing that they'll come here and share their experience with us."

As part of their thank-you, soldiers presented the high school with a Wisconsin state flag that flew in both Iraq and Kuwait.

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OK
Nice stories. Now it's time for the troops to pack up their gear and come home.

This is a VERY long story but it's extremely well written and compelling. I couldn't stop reading it and had to post it here.

The following is Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl's account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. It's a long and beautifully written and it deserves to be read in it's entirety. It's about Valor, Honor and Respect. Thanks to Jarhead Dad for sending it to me.

23 Apr 04 - The enclosed article was written by LtCol M.R. Strobl USMC who is assigned to MCCDC Quantico, VA and served as the officer who escorted the remains of PFC C. Phelps USMC from Dover AFB, DE to his home. PFC Phelps was assigned to 3d Bn, 11th Marines - an artillery unit functioning as a provisional infantry battalion during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 2. PFC Phelps was killed in action from a gunshot wound received on 9 Apr 04 during combat operations west of Baghdad. He was buried in Dubois, WY on 17 Apr 04.


Chance Phelps

TAKING CHANCELink

Tarantulas, when you are done masturbating maybe we will talk to you.

The following is a military blog entry in the April 18 to April 24 time frame:

Big and Small Wars:

It appears that the war has entered a new phase. My conclusions are that things are about to escalate sharply; that the Bush administration is aware of it, and has decided to support escalation; and that we should expect to see, in the near future, much higher rates of casualties and an enlarged scale of warfare. There are two roads for such warfare, which I will outline below. I will conclude with some remarks on the upcoming election, and how we need to change the debate.

I. Drums at Night

The story on the Syrian firefight appears to be wrong on a critical point. The news media is claiming that the attackers were breakouts from Ramadi and Fallujah. That is highly unlikely, for two reason:

1: The numbers involved in the attack on the border were as large, or larger, than the total forces we've seen committed to battle anywhere else. With a cordon around Fallujah and Marine Recon in Ramadi, it is highly unlikely that this number of forces escaped without our notice, assembled unwatched with their mortars and equipment, and attacked in surprise. It is much more likely that these are infiltrators rather than exfiltrators, from Syria rather than from deeper in Iraq.

2: The attack was majestically coordinated, with three waves of surprise attacks carried out almost flawlessly. This is not the work of a cobbled-together force of breakouts, but of a unit that has trained together for some time.

This should not be surprising. Enemy statements and recovered evidence have suggested increased collusion between the non-state actors in the region: consider the statements, cited below, by Hezbollah's leadership and al-Sadr which are mutually reinforcing; consider also the extended tribal ties that bind so many in this region, but particularly al-Sadr and the leadership of Hezbollah; and consider the expansion of coordinated bombing of bridges on caravan routes. According to a letter published in National Review Online, 82 truck convoys have been hit in the last ten days.

The stakes in the region likewise suggest collusion, both between state and non-state actors: al-Sadr, as mentioned frequently on this page, has to win or die. The stakes are also very high for Iran, which is on the list of "Axis of Evil" nations, suffering domestic unrest against the mullahs, and which has standing border issues with Iraq and will continue to under any new government. The stakes for Syria are also high, and the reverence with which Assad regards Hezbollah suggests that he would be amenable to joining an expanded war on their side. There is every reason to believe that the war in Iraq has unified certain domestic militants with foreign opposition, which is providing (Iran, Lebanon) or at least not restricting (Syria?) overland routes, training bases, and havens for guerrillas.

II: Small Wars

If the analysis is correct--and I have seen no reason to doubt it, but could spend three days pulling up more OSINT to reinforce it--we should expect to see a wider, and harder, guerrilla war. When considering how to respond, it is not enough to look at the static situation. We have to consider not just how to respond to the threats faced today in Iraq, but to the threats likely to be faced in the future. Steps taken to address the current attacks will be met with responses from the enemy. That said, we need a strategy that isn't based on reaction to threats as they occur, but rather an overarching strategy to win this kind of war, regardless of the particular new threats which arise. "Action beats reaction" is a standing piece of military wisdom. What actions are possible? How do you beat a guerrilla war? There are two answers available, the first of which needs little argument, and the second a great deal.

The first--the standard--answer is to engage in "clear and hold" tactics. In American military history, the USMC pioneered this technique, and used it with great success in Vietnam, in contrast to the Army and air campaigns:



The basic approach is sound, but the particulars--especially the definition of "terms favorable to American forces"--need to be updated for the war in the Middle East. Such warfighting is done with an eye toward the medium and long term, and can result in heavy casualties at times. Nevertheless, there is a century of success behind the policy.

The key features of USMC "Small Wars" as it would apply to Iraq are: keeping the regular military confined to Iraq; using special operations and air forces to eliminate training camps and supply depots inside Syria, Iran, or elsewhere; trying to maintain control of major population centers rather than trying to engage the enemy; and patrolling the regions we need to protect to secure supply lines, but leaving the areas we do not need to control to the enemy. Control the towns, let him have the deserts. In this way, you reduce the amount of damage that the enemy can do to small-scale bombings and sabotage, which kills some but leaves the majority of the population and economy untouched. Protecting the population, over time, denies the guerrillas the 'sea in which they swim,' to paraphrase Mao Tse-Tung. It also gives you time to train local forces that will be loyal to the new government, who can prosecute the war after your withdrawal.

III: Big Wars

This does not appear to be the route the Bush administration has chosen. In accord with the "Bush doctrine," they appear to have decided to fight not a small war but a big one. The underlying philosophy for such a war is sound, but it is a risk. It is genuinely dangerous, though "dangerous" does not mean "bad." Sometimes great danger is worth daring if there are great rewards. As Tolkien reminds, in the voice of Gandalf the White Wizard, "Dangerous? And so am I." So is the US military.

The Bush administration has a different answer to the question, "How do you fight a guerrilla war?" They appear to be drawing, not on the American model, but the Israeli one. Negotiation fails: guerrillas who are fighting a successful campaign use negotiation only to extort concessions while they rearm and strengthen. In addition, the guerrillas and terrorists opposed to the U.S., like those opposed to Israel, have very large goals. A negotiated settlement with someone whose goal is to see the last Western soldier (or the last Jew) out of the Middle East is unlikely to prove fruitful: withdrawing half the soldiers just means they feel they can fight harder; withdrawing from half the territory just gives them more havens from which to fight.

The West has an option that Israel does not have, which is to withdraw. The unity of our enemies would collapse if we did not provide them with a common enemy. Once that collapse occurs, much or all of their strength is wasted on infighting. After the groups have wrecked each other and the last one standing rules, in a decade or in fifty years, the West can return and fight only the straggler--you return, ally with a few of the survivors from among the opposition, and make them kings. Consider Afghanistan, where the Taliban were the strongest remnant of a shattered Mujahedeen, which once destroyed the Russian army. By allying with the Northern Alliance, tenuously holding a fraction of Afghanistan, we quickly eliminated the government and have been able to move to antiinsurgency operations with less than a tenth of the forces used in Iraq.

The problem with this approach in Iraq is that it is the approach. We could withdraw, but we just did. Fifty years back the place was under British rule. We've let the opposition sort itself out, allied with the exile and Kurdish groups, and are now making them the kings. Withdrawing again doesn't fix the problem, it just puts it off. There is a second problem, which may be called the China problem, again after Mao--once a guerrilla army has beaten its opposition, it is ripe for overthrow only until it develops nuclear weapons. Recent events have shown how close we are to seeing that even in Iran.

If negotiation and withdrawal are not options, what remains in this Israeli model is escalation. Guerrilla fighters must be forced off their game by creating situations in which time is not on their side. Instead of letting them "strike and fade," you have to force them either to attempt to hold ground, or to engage in conventional fighting. The usual two methods for this are assassination of leadership agents, which reliably causes reprisals; and an assault on a region that they feel bound, out of honor or religion or for pure practicality, to defend. By forcing the guerrillas to take the field in a conventional war, you eliminate their advantages and make them fight on the terms least advantageous: a stand up fight against a regular army. You dare them to do their worst--indeed, you force them to do it--and then you fight them down.

Does this sound familiar? It is exactly what the Marines have been doing to Saddamite elements in Fallujah. It is what Israel is doing by assassinating Hamas leadership targets with a new prejudice. Bush has changed two major policies this week as regards Israel, both of which move the US out of the "honest broker" role, and into a partisan role: the tacit endorsement of Israel holdings in the West Bank, and the rejection of "right of return." Now project forward: the Coalition has surrounded Najaf and Karbala with thousands of troops. Both Iranian and Iraqi insurgents--as well, it might be noted, as more responsible voices in Iraq--are warning that an assault on those cities would be intolerable. It is territory that the enemy has to defend.

Conclusion

As this is an election year, there is an opportunity to have this debate among the citizenry and force the politicians to adhere to what we decide. Currently no such debate is engaged. The Bush administration is not forthcoming as to their intentions, and the Kerry campaign appears to lack serious military thinkers necessary to address the question. Kerry's recent "plan" for Iraq addresses exactly none of these points, nor outlines which strategy he might use in the war. Calling for reinforcements--which is essentially what he does by asking for UN guidance and NATO forces--is not a strategy. I have seen nothing to suggest that his campaign contains anyone who understands the issue, which is exactly what is to be expected from a man whose career, inspired by his antiwar protests, has been run for two decades against "the military-industrial complex" and the intelligence community. Nevertheless, there are strategists on the Left, both inside and outside of the Democratic party. The party needs to engage them.

I said at the beginning that there are two options in Iraq, but in fact there are three. The first is the American model, "Small Wars" campaign. The second is a broader, Bush-doctrine campaign that will aim to widen the war and eliminate terrorist havens--first Fallujah, then perhaps Najaf or Karbala, Iran, Syria. The third is to fail to adopt an overall antiguerrilla strategy, attempting to bring stability through the use of military forces in a police action, or engaging in a withdrawal. Any such non-strategy will result in defeat in the medium to long term.

As it stands now, I believe a vote for Bush is a vote for option two, and a vote for Kerry is a vote for option three. We need a candidate for option one. If enough people understand the issue and can bring it forward in the campaign season, we may get one--either Bush or Kerry may move to that position if pressure is brought to bear. Ideally the election should be a referrendum on whether the Global War on Terror is fought as a series of small wars, or one big war.

What we don't need is to have a choice made by default. This is a free Republic, and we are here considering the largest of questions. It is proper to consult the citizenry, and I see no evidence that anyone in the government wishes to do so.

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Shiite leadership tell Sadr militia to go home, 20 killed by US forces

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr's uprising was dealt a pair of blows as the Shiite Muslim establishment in this holy city told them to return to their homes, while US troops killed 20 of his militiamen.

Respected cleric Sheikh Sadreddin Kubbanji issued an unequivocal denunciation of Sadr's Mehdi Army in a sign that US political and military pressure could be bearing fruit and time may be running out on Sadr's month-long insurrection.

"Listen to the advice of the learned ones. You are our beloved youth and we care about you, but go back to your home where you came from and fight the occupation and the Baathists there," Kubbanji told thousands of worshippers at weekly Friday prayers at the Imam Ali Mausoleum, one of the most revered shrines in Shia Islam.

"The Najafis will be responsible for protecting Najaf," he said of the holy city, 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Baghdad.

Minutes later, gun-toting militiamen from the Badr Organisation, the armed wing of the main Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (news - web sites), whisked Kubbanji away.

Kubbanji's sermon came after 150 Shiite religious and tribal leaders met Tuesday in Baghdad and called on Sadr to end the rebellion he launched in first week of April.

The insurrection has choked all economic life in the city and a rival militia has reportedly sprouted up, carrying out hit-and-run attacks on Sadr's men. Locals have also accused the Mehdi Army of looting shops and carrying out vigilante-style justice in Najaf.

Tensions have long festered between Sadr and the city's senior clerics, but Kubbanji, who has strong ties with the Shiites' most influential religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had been reluctant to lash out at Sadr.

The city has tired of the US military's month-long siege of the city, and Sadr's rebellion has deflated considerably. His men have lost control of cities they seized in April including Karbala, Diwaniya, Nasiriyah and Kut.

In the past week, the US military has intensified its raids to capture and kill Sadr's men across the south.

Twelve Sadr followers died in running battles around Najaf and a US aircraft dropped a 500-pound bomb on a Sadr mortar position outside the city, a coalition military spokesman told reporters.

Another eight militiamen were killed and 14 others wounded during fighting with US troops in nearby the shrine city of Karbala, a doctor said there.

Medics carried the bodies of men, clothed in the Mehdi Army's black uniform, and ambulances pulled up with more casualties at the city's general hospital.

US forces killed 41 of Sadr's supporters around Kufa, just to the northeast, on Thursday and seized the governor's building in the holy city, about a kilometre (about half a mile) from the Imam Ali Mausoleum.

That violence coincided US overseer Paul Bremer naming a new governor for Najaf.

Yet Sadr carried on defiantly Friday afternoon, circumventing US checkpoints on foot with armed followers to deliver a fire-and-brimstone sermon in Kufa.

Sadr, who promised his followers Tuesday he would lead them to martyrdom, demanded that US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) stand trial in Iraq over the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib detention centre.

The Americans want Sadr, whose father was a grand ayatollah assassinated on the orders of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in 1999, to stand trial in an Iraqi court for the murder of a rival cleric last April.

A top coalition official said Thursday the Americans were holding talks with sheikhs and tribal leaders as part of their bid to isolate Sadr and promised "several hundred million" dollars to spend in and around the city to try to wrest control of the area from the cleric's armed followers.

The US-led coalition also plans to strengthen the security forces in Najaf, and nearby Karbala, to drive out Sadr's men.

Sadr rocketed to fame in the post-war power vacuum on the strength of his family name and his appeal to the poor and unemployed Shiite youth around the south and the slums of Baghdad.

Sadr, no older than 31, has championed a theocratic state, but is not a high-ranking cleric in Najaf's cloistered religious world.

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They should barricade Najaf while he is gone and not allow him back into the holy city.

A nice M1A1 escort to the nearest jail would be nice too.

Here's a war story that shouild make you guys real proud to be Americans. It covers the brave actions of our soldiers:
Soldiers rape 12 yo girl.

Does that story make you feel proud? Do you wish you could have been there? Does it get your dicks hard? Make you wanna look at your medals and reminisce? Stupid sheep!

Frisbees near Fallujah

Following is a message and photos from LtCol John Lutkenhouse about the Marines giving Frisbees and soccer balls to children near Fallujah. You'll enjoy it.

You'll see that the Marines say, "None of them wanted frisbees at first" but that it turns out to work. When the Marines asked us for Frisbees in January it was specifically because they would foster interaction between the Marines and the local children. The Marines knew there was not much they could teach Iraqi children about soccer but Frisbees offered a teaching and laughing opportunity. The real point is the interaction - that's where relationships are built and true perceptions formed. The gift itself in these circumstances is more of a side note. That said, soccer balls are very popular and we're providing them, too.



Message from LtCol Lutkenhouse

Jim,

Here is a little write-up from a guy by the name of LtCol Colin McNease. He is the Civil Affairs Officer with RCT-1 (Regimental Combat Team 1), the guys that were involved in the recent fighting in Fallujah. He talks about a recent event in which the items donated by Spirit of America really helped him establish a positive relationship with folks in a local village. This is all the more significant when you note that the village is only 3K from Fallujah, the site of the heavy fighting a couple of weeks back. These are LtCol McNease's own unedited words and description of events. I thought you might like it. Also attached are some photos. LtCol McNease is the one standing in the group of children. Thanks again for your support and to all those who have donated to Spirit of America.

SF,

John


----------------
Message from LtCol McNease

We went out to the village where the tank got stuck, about 3 km northeast of Fallujah. The area is a dirt road farming village of conrete or mud brick houses strung along a single road which runs from a cemetery to a 'T' intersection. The people have gotten to know the Marines since the tank spent a week there before we could pull it out. They were friendly to the Marines who already felt bad about trashing their canals and fields while trying to unstick the M1A1. When we went out to pay damage claims for all the lost crops and date plam trees and torn up roads, we saw a lot of kids around and met a few of them. This made us think of the SoA stuff, especially the soccer balls and frisbees, we had been sent and had back on Camp Fallujah.

The next time we went to visit the village, we took as many of the soccer balls and frisbees as we could fit into the open space in the back of our hummers (around chow, water, ammunition, radio batteries, etc.) When we arrived at the village and parked the HMMVWs in the center, some shy but curious kids were peeking out from doorways or looking out their windows. But when we pulled out the soccer balls and handed the first one out, they started coming out like ants to a picnic.

None of them wanted frisbees at first, all really wnated the soccer balls. But when we ran out of soccer balls and kept handing out frisbees they would line up to take them, sometimes trying to get more than one, and many making sure their little brothers or sisters got one as well. They didn't know what to make of the frisbees at first, holding and throwing them like dinner plates, but once they had a little professional military education on how to operate the frisbee and were checked out on it, a lot of them became surprisingly good surprisingly quickly. I spent almost 45 minutes tossing the disc with one very young girl who got to be quite accomplished.

Some of the the kids' parents and some of the older kids who could read did pick up on the friendship message and would point to the english and then point to the arabic and give us a thumbs up to show that they understood that they meant the same thing in both our languages.

This took place at a time when we were being shot at in most every other place we went so it was particularly gratifying, and it was nice to have something good to give them. Other things they seem particularly crazy about are sunglasses (they always want ours) and colored pens.







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In this one, the man is handing the lady soldier a flower.

Well done Tarantulas! Love the pictures.

Hobitbob, you disgust me. Nowhere in your excerpt or your linked unsubstantiated story does it say "Soldiers rape 12 year old girl". Was the truth not disgusting enough for you (assuming the story's accusation was true in the first place)? Is it that important to you to discredit American soldiers that you have to make up lies about them? There's a word for people who make up lies, Bob; LIAR.

Cool stories.

Seems that theres just as much good as bad to be spread around. We just have to make sure its more of the former than the latter.

Sadr Lieutenant Captured, Militia Members Killed
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2004 -- Coalition forces in Iraq captured a key lieutenant of radical Islamic cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf and killed a "large number" of Sadr's militia overnight in Sadr City, a senior coalition military official in Baghdad said today.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Multinational Force Iraq, said Riyad al-Nouri was handed over to Iraqi authorities.

Nouri was wanted by Iraqi authorities on an outstanding warrant in connection with the murder of Ayatollah Sayyed Abdul Majeed al-Khoei in April 2003. Nouri is related to al Sadr by marriage.

Kimmitt also reported that a "large number" of Sadr's militia was killed during 21 separate engagements in Sadr City, where coalition forces went up against small teams firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. He said the operations resulted in no coalition casualties or damaged equipment.

"Al-Sadr certainly has less forces today than he had yesterday," Kimmitt told reporters. "Al-Sadr certainly has one less lieutenant today than he did yesterday. One more person associated with the murder of Ayatollah Majeed al- Khoei is now going to face Iraqi justice. We are constantly chipping away at his militia."

Kimmitt said his understanding is that no civilians were killed during the overnight fighting.

Though he said he could not provide a number of militia members killed, Kimmitt said they were "sadly, a very large number, a very large number of probably wayward youths that were somehow convinced, corrupted, connived by persons such as Muqtada al-Sadr into picking up weapons against the coalition and against their fellow Iraqis."

Despite continued engagements with Sadr, Kimmitt said, the coalition still is committed to finding a peaceful resolution. "But until that peaceful resolution comes forward that shows Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraqi custody to face Iraqi justice for his part in the murder of Ayatollah al-Khoei and the disarmament of his militia, we will continue to conduct military operations directed against his forces," he said.

In the 24 hours leading up to today's news conference, coalition forces conducted 1,874 patrols, 24 offensive operations and 40 Air Force and Navy aircraft sorties, and captured 55 anti-coalition suspects.

Kimmitt also reported on other developments in Iraq:

- Some 600 detainees will be released May 28 from the Abu Ghraib prison.

- In the northern zone of operations, the coalition public works team delivered more than $1.1 million worth of equipment and supplies donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Nineveh water and sewer department for infrastructure repair.

- A total of 150 former regime police officers graduated from a three-week transition integration program in Mosul. To date, 14,628 police officers have been retrained through the program.

- In the north central zone of operations, the Khalis chief of police was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baqubah. His driver was also killed.

- In the southeastern zone of operations, angry Iraqis gathered outside the oil metering station on the Faw Peninsula southeast of Basra to protest the lack of fuel for the town's power generator. The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, with coalition help, dispersed the crowd peacefully.

- No cease-fire violations have been reported since May 3 in Fallujah. Reconstruction efforts there continue, employing more than 1,200 Fallujans. About 1,900 more will be hired in the coming weeks for reconstruction efforts in the city.

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Nice pictures...and I bet tarantulas is excellent on handing out propaganda... whoops, I think I said too much, my fault...

And hobbitbob: your post is full of suggestions, but evidence? One man telling the story is not enough. I expected more from you... If it's true by the way, I do find it discusting (well, duh...)

No soup for you!

Good work Tarantulas

We definitely need more of this-----as it is now we hear all of the bad and nothing good.

As an employee of an electric utility, this story is near and dear to my heart. They strung over five thousand MILES of transmission lines!

Partnership Continues to Improve Electrical Grid in IraqLink