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January 31, 2007
Staff Sargeant In Afghanistan: 'It is only possible to defeat an enemy who kills indiscriminately by utterly destroying him.'
Black Five has a "manifesto of sorts from a Staff Sergeant in the fight in Afghanistan." Apparently he had an experience recently while on mid-tour leave to see his wife and baby boy that for him "was the last straw". Every damned word of it needs to be read twice, then sent to every politician in Washington.
Things that I am tired of in this war:There's not much that one can add to this in the way of commentary; this G.I. has just said it all in the way that it needs to be put. Thanks to Black Five for sharing this with us. The very least we can do is pass this on to every politician and left wing moonbat we know.I am tired of Democrats saying they are patriotic and then insulting my commander in chief and the way he goes about his job.
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a "phased redeployment" (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of the Democrats whining for months on T.V., in the New York Times, and in the House and Senate that we need more troops to win the war in Iraq, and then when my Commander in Chief plans to do just that, they say that is the wrong plan, it won't work, and we need a "new direction."
I am tired of every Battalion Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major I see over here being more concerned about whether or not I am wearing my uniform in the "spot on," most garrison-like manner; instead of asking me whether or not I am getting the equipment I need to win the fight, the support I need from my chain of command, or if the chow tastes good.
I am tired of junior and senior officers continually doubting the technical expertise of junior enlisted soldiers who are trained far better to do the jobs they are trained for than these officers believe.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.
I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing "news," with videotape sent to them by terrorists, of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment plant.
I am tired of following the enemy with drones that have cameras, and then dropping bombs that sometimes kill civilians; because we could do a better job of killing the right people by sending a man with a high powered rifle instead.
I am tired of the thousands of people in the rear who claim that they are working hard to support me when I see them with their mochas and their PX Bags walking down the street, in the middle of the day, nowhere near their workspaces.
I am tired of Code Pink, Daily Kos, Al-Jazzera, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CBS, the ACLU, and CAIR thinking that they somehow get to have a vote in how we blast, shoot and kill these animals who would seek to subdue us and destroy us.
I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck Hagel questions like "Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?" Meredith might not get it, but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for nothing.
I am tired of hearing multiple stories from both combat theaters about snipers begging to do their jobs while commanders worry about how the media might portray the possible casualties and what might happen to their career.
I am tired of hearing that the Battalion Tactical Operations Center got a new plasma screen monitor for daily briefings, but rifle scope rings for sniper rifles, extra magazines, and necessary field gear were disapproved by the unit supply system.
I am tired of out of touch general officers, senators, congressmen and defense officials who think that giving me some more heavy body armor to wear is helping me stay alive. Speed is life in combat and wearing 55 to 90 pounds of gear for 12 to 20 hours a day puts me at a great tactical disadvantage to the idiot, mindless terrorist who is wearing no armor at all and carrying an AK-47 and a pistol.
I am tired of soldiers who are stationed in places like Kuwait and who are well away from any actual combat getting Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay and the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion when they live on a base that has a McDonald's, a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Baskin Robbins, an internet café, 2 coffee shops and street lights.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who take it out and "measure" every time they want to have a piece of the action with their helicopters or their artillery; instead of putting their egos aside and using their equipment to support the grunt on the ground.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who are too afraid for their careers to tell the truth about what they need to win this war to their bosses so that the soldiers can get on with kicking the ass of these animals.
I am tired of Rules of Engagement being made by JAG lawyers and not Combat Commanders. We are not playing Hopscotch over here. There is no 2nd place trophy either. I think that if the enemy knew some rough treatment and some deprivation was at hand for them, instead of prayer rugs, special diets and free Korans; this might help get their terrorist minds "right."
I am tired of seeing Active Duty Army and Marine units being extended past their original redeployment dates, when there are National Guard Units that have yet to deploy to a combat zone in the last 40 years.
I am tired of hearing soldiers who are stationed in safe places talk about how hard their life is.
I am tired of seeing Infantry Soldiers conducting what amounts to "SWAT" raids and performing the US Army's version of "CSI Iraq" and doing things like filling out forms for evidence when they could be better used to hunt and kill the enemy.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who look first in their planning for how many casualties we might take, instead of how many enemy casualties we might inflict.
I am tired of begging to be turned loose so that this war can be over.
Those of us who fight this war want to win it and go home to their families. Prolonging it with attempts to do things like collect "evidence" or present whiz bang briefings on a new plasma screen TV is wasteful and ultimately, dulls the edge of our Infantry soldiers who are trained to kill people and break things, not necessarily in that order.
We are not in Iraq and Afghanistan to build nations. We are there to kill our enemies. We make the work of the State Department easier by the results we achieve.
It is only possible to defeat an enemy who kills indiscriminately by utterly destroying him. He cannot be made to yield or surrender. He will fight to the death by the hundreds to kill only one or two of us.
And so far, all of our "games" have been "away games," and I don't know about the ignorant, treasonous Democrats and the completely insane radical leftists and their thoughts on the matter, but I would like to keep our road game schedule.
So let's get it done. Until the fight is won and there is no more fight left.
-D
Update: In a commentary on the sargeant's letter, Blue Crab Boulevard has a message for the politicians that also needs to be passed along:
Your political posturing plays games with people and with their lives. Your senseless drive for higher political office or influence, no matter what the cost, has a price. You can drive hard to undermine the office of the president you seek with such naked lust. But ask yourself this: after you have done your best to gut the office to get to it, will it be worth having? Will the blood on your hands of those you betrayed on the way to your goal ever be washed away? Will there be a great nation left to guide or a greatly reduced nation waiting to be further humiliated by savages acting out seventh century barbarisms you were too frail and spineless to face?Cross posted from Hyscience
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Posted by Richard at January 31, 2007 11:37 AM
Comments
Not a lot has changed since Kipling wrote "Tommy"
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you; An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints: Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.
Who was it said, "The state which separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools"? Oh, yeh, Thucydides. well, we're only at the halfway point in that equation, since most of the military folks I know/have known over the years are at least better scholars of the lessons of history (and I especially include enlisted personnel here) than their counterparts in civilian life.
Which leaves the portion of Thucydides maxim concerning scholarship to refer to civilian scholars... and politicians and Mass Media Podpeople who annoint themselves as fonts of wisdom.
And yeh, field grade officers all too often suffer the same disease as the elite political and bureaucratic class, but the Peter Principle applies to officers and NCOs all the way down the chain, as well. And political correctness has no place in combat.
But. There remain those such as this staff sergeant at all levels of military service--non-political, ordering his life by a soldier's ethic; a willingness and even eagerness to get the job done in defense of his country.
And such need and deserve our support and admiration and lasting gratitude.
Posted by: David at January 31, 2007 5:13 PM
God Bless you Son It's hard to keep the passion if you feel your job is useless.
Posted by: Army Soldiers Mom at February 7, 2007 1:14 AM



