Back from Babylon

[Kusala]

This is the first time I've heard a regular soldier say it's not a quagmire. He also says he didn't see low morale either. Of course, he is a texan and probably a diehard Bush supporter.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-10-09/news.html/1/index.html

The war Strange saw and was part of differs from that many back home have been hearing and reading about. "Morale isn't low," he firmly insists. "In fact, it is very good." Why? "Once you become aware of how much you're helping people who not only need it but want it," he says, "you feel good about what you're doing. I saw a lot of happy faces along the way. That's the kind of thing that kept us going."

Reluctant to discuss the political furor the war has generated stateside, the young Marine says he's avoided reading newspapers or watching the news since returning home. Only when prodded will he suggest that the media reports he's been made aware of in recent months "have put out things a little differently" from what he saw and experienced. Words like "quagmire" clearly are not part of his vocabulary.

[Kusala]

1. shameless bump

bump.

[sistersofmercy]

2. Some cities are stable in Iraq perhaps he was there.

I read the article very quickly but I get the sense the soldier was not in the Sunni triagle which contains 60% of Iraq's population. Also a comment about the palace and the ruins, who wouldn't want to live in between beautiful ancient ruins if they could? National Geographic has a wonderful article with pictures of various ancient monuments located in Iraq, it's amazing to me that Saddam isn't getting credit for preservation and restoration of these magnificent structures.

[sistersofmercy]

3. That's this month's National Geographic!

[Bandit]

4. I'm sure things look different from rear areas

Not all soldiers or troops or jarheads or whatever you call our guys over there experience the same things. some have it demonstably better than others.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

5. There is something fishy about this guy's claims

First, he says:

Strange was not in Baghdad when the Saddam statue was toppled and the capital city was taken over by coalition troops. "By the time we got there," he recalls, "Baghdad was pretty well secured, so we were sent east into the Karbala-Babylon region." There they quickly quelled minor uprisings as the main combat wound down.

But he was a member of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. Now read this:

1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment returns from Iraq
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The last Camp Pendleton-based infantry battalion to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, are scheduled to return home Sept. 12-15, after nearly eight months in Iraq.

The approximately 1,000-man battalion of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans will reunite with family and friends at Camp Horno here. They are set to arrive home in waves throughout the weekend.

The battalion deployed from Camp Pendleton in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on Jan. 17. While pressing toward Baghdad, the unit fought in numerous firefights and later pushed into Saddam City, a district of Baghdad, where it engaged in intense house-to-house fighting.

After the combat phase, the battalion conducted security and stability operations within the Babil province. Its efforts included rescuing an orhpanage, repairing utilities, conducting security patrols, guarding vital Iraqi infrastructure and providing humanitarian aid to the citizens of Iraq.

Four of the battalion's Marines were killed during operations in Iraq.
http://www.cpp.usmc.mil/media/tempsys/detail.asp?ReleaseID=77

Notice that Strange says that by the time he got there Baghdad was pretty well secured, but the USMC media release says that the 1st Battlion, 4th Marines were involved in "intense house-to-house fighting" in Saddam City, a district of Baghdad. How could he forget such intense house-to-house fighting?

The article also claims he did not see much in the way of what is being described as a quagmire. Yet after the fall of Baghdad his unit was stationed in the Babil Province:

North Babil is the most restive part of the Marines' area of responsibility but is primarily used by U.S. Army forces. The army established a large supply base in north Babil to resupply its troops in Baghdad and to the north. The trucks leaving the base, known as Dogwood, have to pass through a major highway intersection. Roads to the intersection have become major targets for guerrilla attacks, usually in the form of roadside explosives, drive-by shootings and rocket-propelled grenade launches.
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/bl/Uiraq-poland.RZ6t_DaQ.html

For those who don't know, "restive" means "stubbornly resisting control". It seems that this guy was stationed in one of the most active places for attacks on convoys with RPG's and roadside bombs.

And yet he didn't see a quagmire?

Perhaps the reality is better explained by reading this part of the article:

Reluctant to discuss the political furor the war has generated stateside, the young Marine says he's avoided reading newspapers or watching the news since returning home. Only when prodded will he suggest that the media reports he's been made aware of in recent months "have put out things a little differently" from what he saw and experienced. Words like "quagmire" clearly are not part of his vocabulary.

Remember the punishments that were dished out to members of the armed forces that complained about their situation? If you ask me, what we see here is a reporter that is trying to get Strange to say something and he is doing his best to say nothing that could get him into trouble. It isn't Strange that says he hasn't seen a quagmire, it is the REPORTER that says it.

The only thing he says directly is that the press has "put out things a little differently" to what he experienced. Does that mean the press are overplaying the resistance, or could it mean they are UNDERPLAYING it?

Remember the area he operated in was one of the most dangerous in Iraq, and yet in my search for information regarding his unit I haven't found much in the way of articles about them.

Could it be that this is another case of the media lying about what is going on by cornering a soldier who is trying to avoid getting in trouble (remember he is only on leave, he is not out of the Marines), forcing him to make ambiguous statements, and then interpreting those statements in the best possible light for the Bush admin?