The Real Story From The Ground in Iraq

[Linkster]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/opinion/19jayamaha.html

An OpEd written by 7 members of the 82nd Airborne - all enlisted soldiers - with quite a telling view of what is really going on (of course it matches exactly what most civilian Iraqis are saying in their blogs as well)

[Bill]

Yes, I read that yesterday, and thought it was a darn good strategic analysis of the political consequences and likely political future of the invasion.

A little self-congratulatory, as in "our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant", but we all gotta do something to justify ourselves and ameliorate guilt.

"... the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. “Lucky” Iraqis live in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls that provide them with a sense of communal claustrophobia rather than any sense of security we would consider normal.

In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, “We need security, not free food.”

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal. "

[Moby]

The White House will release it's report and tell you exactly what's happening.

Now, who are you going to believe? People that are there are afraid to take a stroll in the market or the people that appointed Brownie head of FEMA?

[Linkster]

As expected many "conservative" talking heads and "experts" on the MSM shows had to get their two cents in - many who have never even been in the middle-east and the rest that went there on guided military tours for a few days - and berated these soldiers as dissidents and stand-outs - Im surprised that Coulter didnt pipe in and congradulate the person that shot one of these soldiers the other day in the head

Heres what Military.com has as a good response to these talking heads:
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,146609,00.html?wh=news

[nofear]

death chaos fear division displacement..the powers love all this shit..they feed off it like maggotts on a corpse..

again the asleep at the wheel american public just keeps taking Sally to her dance class and of course young soft pussyfied Tucker has to get to fencing practice on time..

meanwhile back in reality, powers behind the scence that have plans and agendas keep tip toeing us towards a prison planet..but at least the slaves they strive to create out of this brain dead humanity will be entertaining with all they have learned while being totally oblivious of there pending doom..

[LadyMod at scam.com]

http://tailrank.com/2458811/82nd-Airborne-Soldiers-Come-Under-Fire-From-MSNBC-s-Tucker

82nd Airborne Soldiers Come Under Fire From MSNBC's Tucker (http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/21/tucker-carlson-82nd-airborne)


On MSNBC’s Tucker yesterday, host Tucker Carlson attempted to refute a recent New York Times op-ed, entitled “The War As We Saw It,” authored by members of the 82nd Airborne Division finishing up a 15 month deployment to Iraq. They wrote that “recent press coverage” of Iraq has “neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day.”

Speaking with retired Col. Jack Jacobs, Carlson said he was “a little bit uncomfortable with” the op-ed because he says “weighing in on a political question such as this” may “squander the awesome moral authority that these guys have.” “I think there is some detriment to the moral authority,” agreed Jacobs.

While saying he “instinctively” respects “people who are serving in a war zone,” Carlson went on to attack the op-ed, saying that he also “instinctively distrust[s]” some of the assertions made by the soldiers, such as their argument that “a vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure and view us as an occupation force.”

Watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFSuGvfJSlQ

While Carlson claims to have respect for people serving in a war zone, he appears to have no hesitations in calling out the credibility of soldiers when they present a viewpoint that doesn’t confirm his own. On MSNBC’s Countdown last night, Paul Rieckhoff — executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) — said soldiers are the “subject matter experts” when it comes to Iraq. “That’s why this op-ed is so important,” he explained. He added:

The soldiers who wrote this piece just completed a 15-month tour. One of them was actually shot in the head before this piece was published, and he’s recovering in the U.S. now. These guys know what they are talking about and they present a very nuanced understanding of the battlefield that the politicians and the policy wonks haven’t been able to provide.

Additionally, Carlson’s feigned skepticism of the soldier’s assertions about Iraqi views is contradicted by actual studies of Iraqi public opinion. A national survey of Iraq from June 2007 found an “ebbing hope in a landscape of loss“:

– 39 percent of Iraqis said they feel their lives are “going well,” compared to 71 percent in November 2005.”

– 26 percent of Iraqis said they feel “very safe” in their neighborhoods, compared to 63 percent in November 2005.

– 82 percent of Iraqis said they “lack confidence” in coalition forces.

– 69 percent of Iraqis said coalition forces make “the security situation worse.”

Faced with the sophisticated argument that the soldiers present, Carlson is resorting to simple-minded, ignorant views to discredit their op-ed.

[Linkster]

Carlson is one of the biggest idiots floating out there - living off his Swanson Foods inheritance to come and riding daddys coattails (although at least dad did something worthwhile when he ran the Corp for Public Broadcasting)

CNN woke up when they fired him after John Stewart decimated him a few years back - figures that he went running to his buddies at NBC

Of course if he were really interested in what was happening in Iraq he could have enlisted - they are happy to have college dropouts

[moonman]

The hypocracy on the right shows through in Tucker Carlson. Whatever happenned to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. Seven incredibly brave guys risk poltical and career repurcussions for the sake of telling us the truth as they see it.

An uncle of mine said during Vietnam, that the "Vietcong just showed the world how to defeat us. We are too civilized for doing what is necessary to win guerrilla wars." The article echoes his sentiment.

As one who was against Operation Iraqi Freedom from the beginning I'm not at all surprised our boots on the ground our telling what many of already knew and know. In part I agree with my uncle but mostly I believe that war is unnecessary and in this war is the direct result of blowback. It is the result of 50 years of our stupid interference on behalf of big oil.