Iranian Conundrum

This is alittle off topic, but you should know; I've started to actively write in my blog again. However, don't expect me to write in it like every day of the week. I am doing work AND college now and am doing about 2 hours of studying a night for college, so I almost have no free time these days.

This post is about all the saber rattling by Iran and as they're finding out. Iran is supplying insurgents with weapons capable of shooting down our helicopters, plus fabricating metal used to make advanced IEDs that can slide through a tank.
This really, to be honest has got me really upset. It really pisses me off that Iran is supplying this stuff to the enemy. It's previous obvious as to why they would do it. They are trying to keep our hands tied in Iraq. As long as we are there in major numbers, it makes it hard for us to stop Iran from doing what it wants to do.
What really gets me is Iranian is doing some MAJOR miscalculating that the USA is weak and cannot do anything. So, they boldly support our enemies, think we are powerless to stop them. Which could have HUGE consequences for Iran. As one smart man said over the radio, that Iran is treading very dangerous waters by thinking we are weak and believing we are powerless to stop them, that in reality the USA is not as weak as it is preceived to be and could do some very serious damage to Iran militarily, air strikes and such.
This is exactly what I think, Iran is pushing and pushing, but they forget that we are still a Superpower with vast military resources. We have 2 of THE largest and most high tech and best trained air forces in the world. The USAF and US Navy Aviation.
For those who doubt our military, including Americans. I can assure you, from personally seeing our military in action. That Iran could not possibly fathom what we are capable of. First off, I want to dispel this myth that since we don't have enough ground troops, and we don't, that we don't have a hope of beating Iran in a fight. All we would have to do is have like 10 B52s up in the air bombing their troops and tank concentrations for days straight before they are so demoralized that they give up or surrender. Remember how everyone said Iraq was gonna be really tough in the first gulf war? We bomb the crap out of their troops with B52s and that was all she wrote. We'll also have total air superiority from our jet fighters, so they wont be able to engage our bombers. That is just one example, but our troops are very well equipped and very well trained. 1 US tank division probably has the same amount of firepower that 4 Iranian tank division may have.
This isn't flag waving, America is #1 crap I am spewing. These are facts that I am talking about. My point would be that Iran should not preceive us as weak and do something, such as provide weapons to our enemies that could provoke us into taking action against them, because it will be a massive mistake for them to believe that they can get away with this type of stuff. Just because we have lost a few thousand lives in Iraq, and haven't done a great job at stabilizing it, doesn't mean we still can't inflict great harm on them. They should be really careful not to force our hand.

The New Iraq?

100+ people kidnapped in broad day light from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. This is just so outrageous. Someone needs to do something about this, the situation is TOTALLY out of control. I am so furious about this, is this the kind of crap me and my close buddies put our lives on the line for!? I've lost some of my best friends over there, actually doing their job trying to help the situation get better and this is what all our tears, sweat and blood has gone into? We can defeat any conventional army on the earth, but we can't even stop these militias from pulling these kinds of stunts. The jig is up, it has gotten to the point to where our troops cannot improve the situation anymore by staying there. Hats off to Donald Rumsfeld for completely stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. I feel very depressed for the Iraqi people who have to endure such hard times. Even their own government (Interior Ministry) is deep in this. I can't believe how bad things have gotten, this is just incomprehensible. I think it is time to pull our troops out, they're doing the best damn job they can, but it is incompetence all the way to the top and our presence does not improve things at all.

Iraq War Books and Other Topics

Recently I read the book "No True Glory" by Bing West. This book is a detailed telling of the assault on Fallujah by Marines and the US Army. I thought it was very good and I rate it highly along with Black Hawk Down (The book). Now, I've been reading "My Year in Iraq" by Paul Bremer. I'm about 4/5th's through the book and it is really good so far. For someone like me, who has been on the ground for a total of a year and half it was real enlightening to see the whole situation in Iraq from a top level view. So, I'm kind of trying to be an expert on the Iraq war. Seeing as I have been there and all that I have experienced, plus all these books I've been starting to read.

Since my time out the military, I definitely miss the comradery with being with the guys. You just can't get a relationship like that in the civilian world, where your life is in the hands of the men to your left and your right and their life in yours. However, I have had enough of the military. I've done what I wanted to do, and I think it is time to move on. I still am in close contact with many of my buddies. In fact, one of my close buddies who recently earned his Green Beret (Special Forces), recently got sent to Afghanistan. Once he gets back, me and many of my old Army buddies are planning to have a get together in North Carolina. Talk about the good times and the bad, drink beers and eat some BBQ.

Muqtada Al-Sadr is up to his old tricks again. I seriously get frustrated that a man like this is running around free with his own militia. The guy has a warrant for his arrest for murdering Abdul Majid Al-Khoei yet he is still free causing havoc. I seriously think this is a criminal trying to get into power by shooting his way in. I also don't really think he is very sane, in that I've heard about some of his surmons sounding like it was coming from a drunken raving lunatic. Now it is also pretty clear that he has ties to Iran. I don't really believe this guy is really trying to calm the current situation down. I believe he is still ordering his Mahdi Army to go out and cause problems although he gets on television as if he is a man of peace calling for the Shia to not fight back.

New War Movies

Lately, I have seen 2 movies which are about both the current war with Iraq and Desert Storm. Both are mostly just about the soldiers and marines who faught there. I saw Jar head last night. It was a decent movie, I would say. I can't really say how accurate the movie is. I think some of it was Hollywood, like the Squad of Marines walking in the desert totally alone. It just doesn't seem right to me. Also, they're just walking in the desert. That is ALOT of ground to cover just on foot. I however, agree with the whole goofing off image of the unit of Marines. I can totally relate to that. I think most Infantry units are comprised of some people who goof around like they did. Though, that was mostly just in the Rear. In theater, we were busy training. However, We did get time to have a Company football competition. Where It would be Platoon vs. Platoon. Our Platoon when I first got there were always the team to beat. But since then, we had degraded to a not so good team in football. However, the Company Commander recognized us as his best most dependable platoon in the Company. Some critics say this war movie doesn't have enough action and no politics involved. I think most people know that unless you were a Tanker in the 1st Gulf War, you probably did not see any action. It was mostly Army & Marine Mechanized units and Air Force and Navy fighters and bombers that saw any fighting. It is a true story, what do you expect? It wouldn't be a true story if it was like a D-Day invasion with Marines in the movie getting shot up and blown up everywhere. I also liked the fact they didn't talk to much about politics because it was about the MARINES. I always thought how amazing it was that politics were so important back in the United States. After all, my family ALWAYS talk about politics, but once you were over there. Politics went out the window. No one really talked about politics, we were too busy staying focused on more important things, like drilling on how to clear a jammed machine gun or drilling on urban combat. We never bothered to worry too much about politics. Though, once in a great while we would maybe talk about it for a minute.

The other movie I saw was "Occupation: Dreamland" which is actually a documentary like Gunner Palace. Except, it is about a REAL Infantry unit, not a bunch of pogues who were cannibalized into a fighting unit because of the small numbers of actual combat forces in the Armed Forces. BTW, for all the uninitiated a Pogue is a derogatory military slang used by front line troops to describe staff and other rear echelon or support units/troops. It was about a Unit in the 82nd Airborne serving in Al-Fallujah, Iraq. If you want to see NO-SPIN movie about what is happening in Iraq. Then, this movie is for you. Unfortunately, it only appeared in a few movies theaters in the nation, but I am sure it will be on DVD like Gunner Palace. I thought it was pretty good, and it reflects well on the 82nd Airborne.

That's all I have for now. This is a non-political web site, so I am not going to write about politics on here, and I am not in Iraq anymore to write about what is going on over there. Soon, I may post pictures on my blog of when I was in Iraq on the second tour.

Vote on Constitution

Earlier, the Iraqis went to the polls on a historical vote for their won constitution. It was great to see once again, the Iraqis defying the insurgents and terrorists and making their voices heard, whether it be "Yes" or "No." I hope some good will come of this. Though, more than likely, the violence will not stop. It is getting to the point where the Iraqi Army is nearly ready to take over security. We worked with them in June when I was in Iraq and they seemed to do fine.

In light of all of this. I think the USA should seriously consider giving a date for our withdrawal. We are not there to take their land. So this would be a good gesture of our will. They have their own elected government, their own constitution, their own security forces. They should be on the track of success now. They may have to deal with the insurgency and terrorists for a few years, but I don't think they have the ability to undo the things that have been set in motion. Now, I find it really ironic people are criticizing us for the Iraqi government having ties with Iran. This is regrettable, if it is true. However, it is the IRAQIs deciding that, not the Americans. If they have a mostly Shi'ite government that has connections to Iran it is because they chose it. We have completed our mission objectives in Iraq.

New Found Arab American Blog

I found a good website from an Arab American. She has alot of interesting views. She is an athiest currently who lives in the USA and is from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. She goes back and foreth alot so she knows the culture there pretty well of course. So, with what little of an audience that I used to get I hope you guys will spread the word. http://nadz101.blogspot.com

Pics To Be Added Soon

Soon, I think, though not sure. I am still debating on if I should or should not do this. I may post a section on my blog where I will post many of my pictures I took while I was over in Iraq. I am going to carefully pick each picture to make sure it will not violate OPSEC in ANYWAY that could give the enemy possible intelligence. Mostly, they'll be pictures of me, my friends and our activities while in Iraq. I brought a Nikon 8700 8megapixel with me to Iraq on the second tour. For a number of reasons, I could take as many pictures as I wanted without fearing of running out of film or having to buy more and more disposable cameras. My first tour I only got about 90 or so exposures. This time, I was able to get 300+ and many of my friends have pictures of their own that I could even get. If I decide to post some of my pictures, they will be all from my second tour.