Ma Deuce Gunner Sounds Off Against the Anti-War Crowd

I became a fan of MDG late during his posting to Iraq. To me he typifies all that is right about the modern American Soldier. He's back home with his family now and what follows is something he had to get of his chest. If you haven't been reading MDG but you do support the troops, you should get aquainted with him. Here's his post:

Monday, November 14, 2005

An Open Letter to the Anti-War Crowd
To my loyal and supportive readers...this is not directed towards you. I know that you all support, encourage, and agree with me, the leadership of this country, and this war.

To all you anti-war folks, I have to get something off my chest.

You all are a disgrace to the country you call home. You abuse the freedoms that I, and many others, have sweated and bled to protect with your vitriolic rants and seditious acts and statements.

You hide behind the First Amendment, claiming the bile you spew forth is protected under the right to free speech. Some of you claim that you "Support the Troops, but not the war". I submit to you that this is a preposterous assertation. In order to truly and honestly support the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who have sworn to "Uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America", you must also support the endeavor that they are currently undertaking. Our job is to safeguard you, to kill, disable, or catch the human scum who have made it their mission in life to blow you into chunks of human gore, sever your head from your torso, incinerate you, collapse your office building, gas you on the subway, or murder your children with television cameras rolling live.

Their aim is to scare you into submission. Scare you so much, inject so much fear into your mind that you willfully throw your freedoms out of the window in the name of 'security'. If we can kill them, disable them, or catch them before they are able to inflict the horrors of their idiom on you, then you should be grateful.

I am not attempting to heap praise upon myself. The words you are reading are not for my glory, nor are they intended to glorify anyone, but to show the fallacy of your words and actions. True, you are free to believe what you wish and to voice your opinion as such, but I am also free to do the same.

The words on your screen that you are reading now are intended to cause you to think about the ideology to which you cling. To make you see that folks like 'Code Pink', Fred Phelps, Cindy Sheehan and their ilk are morally bereft individuals. Dark, vile people who do not want others to have their freedoms, but abuse the same to do the shouting.

Your inability to understand the gravity of the situation in which we, as a nation, are embroiled is appalling. In my eyes, you do not understand what dangers this country faces from these terrorists, nor do you understand what it takes to protect you from this peril.

I think back to the Jews who were led out of Egypt whined that they were tired of eating manna, trekking through the desert, facing the danger of wild animals, desert heat, and uncertainty as to what the next mile in the sand might bring. They longed to be back in bondage, slaves to the Egyptians, with full stomachs, roofs over their heads, and a place to call home. They would have rather been forced to perform manual labor by Draconian task-masters rather have their freedom. They knew that they would be fed, have a permanent house, regardless of the way they were treated, as slaves doing forced HARD labor.They were not willing to travel the hard road, to fight for their freedoms. It was easier to go back and be oppressed by the Egyptians rather than press forward and fight for their own nation, for their own freedom. I use the word fight. I mean the term both militarily and in simple reference to the struggle to maintain resilience of spirit.

Some of you will immediately discount the previous reference for the simple fact it is Biblical. Regardless of what you believe spiritually, the parallel draws the conclusion. People who are willing to trade freedom for security are sorry individuals. Freedom is costly to maintain, financially, but also costly of life, resolve and dedication.

Some of you will argue that Iraq has nothing to do with 9-11. It has everything to do with that terrible fall day. The terrorist action on that day was not simply an attack against four airliners, two high profile structures and the people in the planes and buildings, but on the sovriegnty and safety of the USA. In the Declaration of Independence, we all know the clause, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". The terrorists want nothing more than to take those rights from you, and they did, from almost 3000 people on that day. A great majority of the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. That is one of the anti-war crowd's talking points. The concept which I believe you fail to grasp is that they were part of a larger network, a community of evil people who despiseus. Let us use illegal drugs as an example.

For instance, if a person is arrested for selling drugs, do the law enforcement agencies stop there?? Do the stop with the person who carries out the crime at the lowest level?? No, they attempt to take down the whole network, and go as high as they can to try and eradicate the problem at the top. They go to the mid-level suppliers, then the clearinghouses of the nation, the couriers, the financiers, and the kingpins and cartel bosses. An investigation that starts somewhere say, Cleveland, could lead to Chicago, thenMiami, then Cuba, and then to Bogota. The trail could branch anywhere in the chain, and in our instance, the trail led to Iraq.

Another parallel can be drawn from the example of narcotics. A proactive stance is essential in taking care of the problem. We can sit back inside our borders, hoping to catch the drug runners at the borders, or we can go on the offensive, find the problem at its source and deal with it at its origination. Similarly, do we set up treatment centers and simply hope that addicts will happen to decide to come in for help with their problems, or do we seek them out, advertise, reach into the community and try to bring aid to them??

Our expedition into Iraq and Afghanistan is the exact same concept. We are attempting to stop the terrorists where they breed, where they are steeped in their radicalism, where they do not harm OUR citizens, my family and yours. It may seem callous, but I mean no insult towards anyone of different nationality. Another hypothetical example...a ship is sinking. A seaplane lands to rescue the people on board.The seaplane is owned by a ficticious nation...let's use Atlantis. The seaplane is capable of carrying 30 people other than the aircraft crew. There are 34 people in need of rescue. Thirty of the passengers on the ship are Atlantean. Who are the crew of the plane going to take with them?? The Atlantean's, of course. They will rescue their countrymen first, and if possible, they will come back for the others, if possible. You take care of your own. You protect your countrymen, protect your homeland and its people. Not to say that others are worth any less as human beings, but you take care of your own.

We are taking care of our national interests. Making sure that OUR borders are safe, fighting the enemy in their homeland, not ours. I would rather fight the enemy where they do not put American civilians at risk. It is my job to fight the enemy and remove his ability to attack Americans. Would you rather wait and have us fight in the streets of St. Louis or New York or L.A. or Smalltown, USA, or would you rather we kill them before they can even pose any danger to you in your hometown??

We removed a regime that supported terrorism. He supported an ENEMY of the United States of America, and was an evil person. Saddam Hussein was a terrorist in his own right, against his own people. A friend of my enemy is my enemy.

So, enough with your venomous, acrimonious rantings. If you don't like the fact that your government is making aCONCERTIED EFFORT to preserve your freedoms, go somewhere else. You are parasitic dregs, stealing from the people who secure yourfreedoms, abusing the freedoms to malign them, all the while being behind the shield of protection they so willingly provide.Let me define parasite for you :

"something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return"Now, ask yourself...does this in any way apply to you??

You are stealing my blood, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Go back to your dark holes and brood, for you and your logic isnot welcome, and many more people than you think feel the same way I do. You are evil, as evil as our enemies.

This is something I have wanted to get off my chest for a long time, but I did not think that while I was in Iraq I should post this. Now that I am home, and see and hear the anti-war crowd and their message through a different set of eyes, I believe my words are appropriate. Jen over at Jennifer's Musings emailed me a month ago and asked me for my opinionand what I would say to the Anti-War protestors. She posted it here. You will find many sentiments in this article were echoed in that one, as that post kind of became a rough draft for this one.

Thanks.
SCOUTS OUT!!!

MDG...OUT.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8234857

The Fallen

The price of freedom is a heavy one. I believe that what is happening today in Iraq will ultimately determine whether or not the Western World remains free. People are dying on a regular basis to preserve these freedoms. Every now and then we are given a gut wrenching glimpse of who the fallen are, up close and personal, and what they mean to there comrads in arms and to the cause of freedom. They must never be forgotten.

Here are but a few names, followed by links to their eulogies.

COL William W. Wood

CPT Michael MacKinnon

CPT Raymond Hill

SPC Shakere Guy

http://thunder6.typepad.com/365_arabian_nights/2005/11/all_souls_day.html#comment-10883281

http://currierd.typepad.com/centurion/2005/11/soldiers_have_f.html#comments

"High Flight"

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer, John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Time to Get Out The Wood Chipper

According to Reuters and Agence-France Presse, the Jihadi's best friends in the media next to Al-Jazeera, the announcement that Saddam's legal team has resigned due to security concerns, makes it "doubtful that Saddam can receive a fair trial". These of course are the concerns of Amnesty International and other loonie-left "human rights" groups. If these groups were so concerned about human rights they would be making a stink about the murderous acts of barbarism committed by terrorists in Iraq and Israel on a regular, bloody, basis.

It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation with Saddam. My own belief was that they should have shot him out of hand when they found the bastard. But I can understand the dilemma the American administration was facing at the time with respect to former allies in Old Europe and Democratic critics at home.

I don't know what current Iraqi law is, but here in Canada, a defense team would be assigned to the odorous piece of slime and the trial would proceed. Hopefully the same happens in Iraq.

Then, try him, find him guilty, and bring out the wood chipper. The only humanitarian question here is whether Saddam gets to go in the chipper head or feet first. I'm voting for feet first if there's a vote.

Time to end it.

My Review of Colby Buzzell's "MY WAR"

This has been my first experience witnessing the birth of an author. The experience is all the more compelling, knowing I have witnessed the metamorphosis of a talent unleashed during the chaos of the war in Iraq.

I first stumbled on CB’s blog, “MY WAR”, in the last days of August 2004, I don’t recall how, when he had already published the infamous post “MEN IN BLACK”. This post was his account of the surreal, chilling, mind-numbing events he participated in, while being ambushed, by who else, as many as 100 foreign fighters, all dressed in black. This was in the city of Mosul on 04 August 04.

“MEN IN BLACK” recounts CB’s experience as a contradiction of the CNN version of events. His stream of consciousness style of writing is so powerful you can feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, while he relives the insanity of being caught in the middle the of the first all out, coordinated attack, by foreign terrorists in Iraq to date.

“MEN IN BLACK” was the entry that started lighting up Colby’s blog like the Fourth of July and finally started ringing alarm bells all the way to the pentagon. He shut his blog down voluntarily not too much longer after that. And the rest is history.

Interesting blog posts do not necessarily translate into interesting books. Fortunately, in this case they do. CB has a wicked sense of humor that is infectious. I read the first two parts of the book with a big smile on my face, when I wasn’t laughing out loud. This is the work of a natural writer, and as I alluded to at the top, writers are born, not taught, at least not formally. Colby is very well read. Probably more so than most of his contemporaries are, which is why, at 26 he found himself drifting from one dead end job to another, not fitting in anywhere, and thinking there’s got to be more to life than this.

His telling of the events that led up to his joining the army, to literally “be all that I could be” are hilarious. Especially his dealings with the Army recruiter who lured him away from the Marine recruiting office next door with the magic words “signing bonus”, an episode which caused me to laugh out loud.

This is a very well written book. The book’s basis is the story of how Colby Buzzell talked himself into the war in Iraq, his adventures during army training, which he found to be the “best job I ever had”, through the reality of serving with Bravo Company 2nd Platoon (the Tomahawk Battalion), 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd (Arrowhead) Brigade, 2nd infantry Division, in boredom and in battle, in Iraq.

It’s also about how he managed to talk himself out of the army, amidst all the flak he was getting form nervous superiors, with an Army Commendation Medal after serving the full two years he signed on for and not getting in the deep shit for pissing off higher command so royally.

Incidentally, CB’s Stryker Brigade was the very first of it’s kind to be deployed in the field. One of my favorite parts in the book is when he first saw a Stryker retrofitted with the “birdcage” an ugly but very effective piece of additional armor. Here’s how he describes the way the “birdcage works:

“ The birdcage, in theory, works the same way as the chicken-wire fence in the Blues Brothers did. In case you have no appreciation for fine cinema and have never viewed this classic, or maybe you’ve just forgotten the scene I’m referring to, It’s the part where Jake and Elwood get the band back together, and they have that gig at that Okie redneck bar that plays both kinds of music, country and western, and they open up the set by playing the song “Give Me Some Lovin’,” and the stage that they’re playing on has a chicken-wire fence in front of it to shield the band form the incoming Budweiser bottles being thrown at them by the local rednecks. The bottles impact and explode on the chicken-wire fence first, rather than on Jake or Elwood as they try to play. The birdcage around the Stryker works the same way.”

If you are familiar with CBFTW and his blog, or if you are interested in what the reality in Northern Iraq was in 2004, or better yet if you just want to read a good book, buy “MY WAR: Killing Time in Iraq” by Colby Buzzell. You’ll be glad you did. Hell yeah.

Gods and Generals and The Killer Angels

Sometime last year I was chatting on-line with a military history buff and the conversation turned to the American Civil War ( sometimes referred to these days by some Southerners as The War of Northern Aggression.) This was a subject with which I was only vaguely familiar and I asked for the recommendation of some reading material. It was suggested that I would do no better in understanding the nature and the substance of the conflict than by reading the historical novel 'The Killer Angels' Michael Shaara's 1974 Pulitzer prize winning novel.

Circumstances delayed that until one day the week before last, when I was browsing in my favorite used book store and put my hand on a copy of Jeff Shaaara's 'Gods and Generals' purely by accident. For those who don't know, Jeff is Michael's son and his book is a prequel to his fathers book. The book deals with the issues leading up to the war, starting in 1855 and deals primarily with four main characters: Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, William Scott hancock and Joshua Chamberlain. All, except the latter, were graduates of West Point and decorated veterans of The Mexican Wars. The book is riveting and very hard to put down. It leads us through build up to and the first battles of the war, all victories for the South, up through the Battle of Chancellorville.

'Gods and Generals' is the perfect introduction to 'The Killer Angels', both of which provide an understanding of the times, the history, the morals and the character of those involved. Currently I am engrossed with 'The Killer Angels' which deals with the first three days of July 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg.

General Norman H. Shwarzkopf said of this book: "The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read." You'll notice he doesn't qualify which war. High praise indeed.

This is a bit of a delicious dilemma for me as today's mail brought a copy of 'My War: Killing Time in Iraq' by Colby Buzzell, best known to the blogosphere as CBFTW.

I had written a post about Colby's book and was kindly offered an advanced copy by John Lawton of the book's publisher Putnam. I am really keen on roaring thorugh Colby Buzell's book, but I can't leave Longstreet and Lee as they are about to commit themselves at Gettysburg. So I'm going to have to finish it hopefully tonight and then turn my attention to 'My War'. It's a good day.

P.S. My writing 'style' such as it is, isn't normally this flowery, but I can't get my head out of the South of 1863.

The Burden

I have been following Thunder6 for some time now. His writing is always eloquent; at times poignant and sometimes, as in his most recent post quite sad. Thunder6 bears many burdens: the rigors of doing his job amid a terrorist uprising, and all the attendant dangers thereof, in some of the harshest climate conditions in the world. He carries the burden of being away from wife, family and friends. As well he is charged with caring for the safety and well being of his men. And, finally as he wrote most recently, he bears the burden of loss. Here is his post:

September 19, 2005
Loss

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. - Albert Pike

As another day passed into memory the men of the Nightstalker Battalion gathered together to pay their final respects to SSG Alfredo B. Silva. In this world of growing shadows SSG Silva burned as bright as the morning star. Chamuco’s resplendent inner fire and fierce love for his men were beyond earthly measure – he was the stalwart lighthouse whose radiance ensured others could navigate these troubled waters.

I wish with all my heart I had the ability to properly memorialize SSG Silva, but any words I could weave would be but a hollow echo of our fallen hero. Instead I will include part of 1LT Irish’s final respects.

How do you summarize a life of an individual? That is what I have been asked to do here today. It is impossible for anyone to do justice to a lifetime in a few moments. Every individual is something to someone. To your mother you are always her baby, and to your child you are always a parent. Time will not and cannot change those things. I cannot be so presumptuous as to speak to what SGT Silva was like prior to the time I met him. Nor can I speak as to how he was viewed by his family, for unfortunately fate did not allow me the chance to meet them. Instead I will speak to you about the man that I knew and loved as a comrade in arms.

The last memory I will share with you is from about a week ago. I was in the S7 office and Chamuco walked in and shook my hand. I could tell by looking at him that something was the matter. He seemed a little bit sad. I asked him what was going on. He told me that he was worried because he felt his time was up. I told him that I understood how he felt. He smiled and said that he wasn’t worried about himself; he was worried for his guys. He said it’s all just a matter of time until we get it. That worried me, and I tried to assure him that everything was going to be alright. I guess he knew better than I.

I know that in my heart SGT Silva would have done anything to prevent his soldiers from getting hurt. These men were not just his soldiers they were his friends. Those of you who have been around FISTER’s know that it we are a tight knit community. Even by our standards, Delta was tighter than most. I dare say that SGT Silva viewed his soldiers as his own children. He wanted nothing but the best for them. He was willing to go out even after he felt that his own death was imminent. He was willing to lay down his own life for those men.

So what can I say further? There is nothing left. SGT Silva was a man who walked uprightly before all. He conducted himself bravely as a soldier and nobly as a Non-Commissioned Officer. He died as an NCO leading his men. He would have wished that things were different and that he would be going home to see his wife and family. But I believe that he also would be grateful that it was he who died rather than one of his boys. So SGT Silva until we fall in for that last roll call before the Gates of Heaven you will remain in our hearts and in our prayers.

SSG Silva was the living embodiment of an Army NCO, but he was more then just a collection of diamond hard skills. He was a good and honest man, and his heart burned with an unyielding love for his wife, his daughter, and for his soldiers. And he in turn was loved by all who had the good fortune of knowing him. God Speed SSG Silva, your light will ever burn in the hearts of the Nightstalkers.

http://thunder6.typepad.com/ If you have any interest in reading about the calibre of the men and women who stand in harms way to save democracy and freedom for those of us in the Western World who are under the threat thatt is Islamo-Fascism, your should be reading Thunder6.

CBFTW: after His War

I started this blog a year ago because I came across the most amazing blog called 'My War' subtitled Fear and loathing in Iraq. The blog was written by CBFTW; the first two letters stand for his name and it doesn't take much imagination to figure out the other three.

The reason I started the blog is because that was the only way to post a comment at My War.

His writng was very much Gonzo style stream of conciousness; graphic and compelling. This remarkable man became famous in the media as a wartime ground breaker. He finally shut down the blog because it was interfering with his job as a machine gunner in the Stryker Brigade in Mousul. My favorite post was one he called Men in Black. I was actually sweating after reading it.

He also forced the Pentagon to look at this new military phenomenon and finally set some ground rules for Soldiers blogging from a war zone.

He's now back from Iraq and has a successful book to be published in October, called of course My War: Killing Time In Iraq. From what I have read at his blog it's sure to be an amazing no holds barred book about the War in Iraq. You can check out the archive for his very first post in June 2004 at: http://cbftw.blogspot.com/ You can read a review of the book here:http://kimponders.blogspot.com/2005/08/from-blog-to-book-my-war-by-colby.html

Today I was amazed to get an e-mail from him. He's going back and reading all of his e-mails and answering every one of them. Ya gotta love it! Here's what he wrote:


Jim,
You probably dont remember me, but i was a soldier in Iraq who did the
blog cbftw.blogspot.com, you sent me an email while I was over there,
but since my time at the internet cafe was limited, and volume of
email I recieved while over there I was unable to respond back, and I
apoligize for that, I'm going thru all my emails and re reading them
and trying to respond back to everybody who sent me an email, I know
I'm a little late (like almost a year late) but hopefully later is
better than never, attatched is the email you sent me since you prob
forgot what you wrote, I just wanted to drop an email back to you and
say thanks for the email and words of support you sent me while I was
over there, it really did helped me alot when I was over there.
thank you
-colby Buzzell

The guy is a class act. Now to get the book.

Iraqi Soldiers Donate to Katrina Victims

I was made aware of this on the blog of SGT Steven Kiel, whose tour of duty is coming to an end in Iraq. SGT. Kiel and his wife have done a great deal of work to get relief supplies to Iraqis, especially Iraqi children, so I found this item to be quite touching. You can contact Sgt Kiel at: http://www.stevenkiel.blogspot.com/ He's a remarkable young man.

Iraqi soldiers collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

By Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq

TAJI, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2005 — Iraqi soldiers serving at Taji military base collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil, Iraqi base commander, presented the money to U.S. Col. Paul D. Linkenhoker, Taji Coalition base commander, at a Sept. 5 staff meeting.

"We are all brothers. When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain."
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil“We are all brothers,” said Abbas. “When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain.”

The amount of money is small in American dollars - roughly $680 - but it represents a huge act of compassion from Iraqi soldiers to their American counterparts, said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Goyne.

“I was overwhelmed by the amount of their generosity,” Goyne said. “I was proud and happy to know Col. Abbas, his officers, NCOs and fellow soldiers. That amount represents a month’s salary for most of those soldiers.”Abbas read a letter he wrote after giving the envelope to Linkenhoker.

"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander,” Abbas wrote.

“On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you."