24
Sep
Boo.
I find this article very disheartening.
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"These things are fun, and fun is good."
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Walter
I’m not really sure how I feel about this article.
Who are the Chuckle-heads that talked to the media? Were they given permission? Is this really how it is or just an opinion?
They’re also looking down on the Iraqi Soldiers because they won’t leave home. They’re assuming their family structure is similar to ours and it’s not. It’s completely different.
Karyn
I don’t know that it’s that they’re looking down on them because they won’t leave home. I know they have different family structure and values…but what they said in the article really struck a chord with me:
“‘They have to step up, make sacrifices. We’ve made thousands of sacrifices for our own country’s freedom,’ said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Chinnis, 30, of Richmond, Virginia.”
What I think I would have said in addition to this is that we’ve made thousands of sacrifices for their country’s freedom as well. 2,695 and counting, to be exact. And they can’t be bothered to show up on time to back us up while we search for weapons?
I’ve heard a lot of rumbling about the IAs and I don’t think these are isolated opinions. I think this is just the first time it’s come to light publicly.
Kristina
So what’s the solution?
The Chuckle-Head
The quote was not printed in it’s entirety. What was said was that the Iraqi people as well as the Iraqi Army must step up and take their country if they ever want to see independence.
They both live in fear of the insurgent activity and as long as they are suppressed to it, nothing will change. It will go back to the way they used to be governed. By fear and fear alone. Everyone knows this. Even the Iraqi people and they don’t want that. How do I know this? Because I’ve spoken personally to hundreds. Can you say that Walter??? Been there???
And yes, this is how it is. Don’t believe? Then I guess you’ll just have to keep watching TV, reading articles and posting opinions about things you don’t know anything about except what you read and hear.
To conclude, know this. We HAVE made sacrafices for our country AND theirs. I do believe that Iraq can be an free country but it cant be done by US forces alone. And for freedom sake, support the Troops. There isn’t anything more discouraging than reading comments from an American who is enjoying their freedoms while bashing those who protect it.
karyn
Well, before you get too huffy about it, Mr. Chuckle Head, the article is gone now but it was there when I originally posted it. I know that Walter read the article when it was posted because we also discussed it in person, in our trailer that we lived together in in Camp Victory. Iraq. So yes, we’ve been there. I can’t say either of us have talked personally to hundreds, but don’t assume for a moment that we get our opinions solely by the media and that “we don’t know anything about what we read and hear.”
And as far as Walter’s support of the troops, maybe you shouldn’t make any assumptions from the one post you read. She and I both proudly wear the uniform of a United States Navy Sailor every day and we both volunteered - we were not sent, we volunteered - to go to Iraq.
Walter
You’re also forgetting that we have mutual friends that run the company that trains the Iraqi Special Forces. And knows first hand how they react given the situation. You remember our mutual friends, don’t you? You know… Our friends that we meet while we were in Baghdad. Iraq.
Super Psycho Magnet » Blog Archive » The Chuckle-Head = Douche Bag (An open letter)
[...] up this morning and as soon as I logged on I got an IM from my best friend, Karyn, telling me to go here. She accompanied the link with this message, “You MUST READ. You will be appalled and laugh [...]
Karyn
It’s a good thing I used a quote in my comment because that’s the only way I could’ve ever found this article. There was only ONE website that google found with that quote, and it’s some random backwoods website, and since I don’t know how long it’ll be before it’s taken down, I’ll paste the text here:
Notes From A Lost War:
“They’re Working Against Us”
“There’s Nothing We Can Do,” Came The Reply From Senior Officers
9.24.06 By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer [Excerpts]
The plan was simple: Iraqi troops would block escape routes while U.S. soldiers searched for weapons house-by-house.
But the Iraqi troops didn’t show up on time. When they finally did appear, the Iraqis ignored U.S. orders and let dozens of cars pass through checkpoints in eastern Baghdad, including an ambulance full of armed militiamen, American soldiers said in recent interviews.
It wasn’t an isolated incident, they added.
Senior U.S. commanders have hailed the performance of Iraqi troops in the crackdown on militias and insurgents in Baghdad. But some U.S. soldiers say the Iraqis serving alongside them are among the worst they’ve ever seen, seeming more loyal to militias than the government.
Last week, for example, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Sheehan could barely contain his frustration when he discovered that barriers and concertina wire that were supposed to bolster defensive positions had been dragged away, again, under the noses of nearby Iraqi soldiers.
“(I) suggest we fire these IAs and get them out of the way,” Sheehan, of Jennerstown, Pa., reported to senior officers, referring to Iraqi army troops.
“There’s nothing we can do,” came the reply.
U.S. soldiers from the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment eventually blocked the road again while Iraqi troops watched from a distance.
Some Americans speculated the missing barriers were dragged off to strengthen militia defenses in nearby Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite neighborhood that is a stronghold of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
“They’ve been doing this all week. They’re working against us,” said Sheehan, who resorted to waking up the senior Iraqi officer at the checkpoint to complain, futilely.
During another mission, Iraqi soldiers were suspected of looting the house of a wealthy resident, U.S. troops said.
“From my perspective, you can’t make a distinction between Iraq army Shiites and the religious militias. You have a lot of soldiers and family members swayed and persuaded by the religious leadership,” said Col. Greg Watt, who advises one of two Iraqi divisions in the city.
He then pointed to the nearby guards of an Iraqi army division commander.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he has soldiers who are followers of religious leaders,” Watt said. “Are they loyal to the division commander? Yes. But they may be loyal to both.”
One immediate solution would be to bring in more units from outside Baghdad. Although many of those units are largely Shiite, too, the soldiers would be less likely to have family living under militia control.
But many Iraqi troops refuse to serve away from home. The commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. James Thurman, said his requests for 3,000 more Iraqi soldiers have been refused because the troops won’t leave their home areas.
That attitude frustrates American soldiers.
“They have to step up, make sacrifices. We’ve made thousands of sacrifices for our own country’s freedom,” said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Chinnis, 30, of Richmond, Va.
“I think they think the Iraqi people don’t support them.”
Walter
SO THERE!
:::kicks Mr. Chuckle-Head in the shins:::