- Oct 24, 2000
- 29,767
- 33
- 81
Good Speech. Worth the 6 Minutes!
- Thread starter GTaudiophile
- Start date
- Oct 24, 2000
- 29,767
- 33
- 81
This is a good man who has experienced a lot and we should listen to him. I agree that we should support our troops, but I don't know if giving them more funding and sending more troops is the way to go. I don't have the qualifications to make that call. I think the way things are in Iraq right now, we should change our direction just a little. Maybe even talk to our enemies.
But the problem is, I don't think its that easy to label our enemies as we thought. Also, we need to do a better job at winning the hearts of the Iraqis, not losing them. I wouldn't blame the Iraqis for hating us because they have many reasons to do so. I think the result of the Iraq war could be that future generations of Iraqis end up being radicalized and hate America.
But the problem is, I don't think its that easy to label our enemies as we thought. Also, we need to do a better job at winning the hearts of the Iraqis, not losing them. I wouldn't blame the Iraqis for hating us because they have many reasons to do so. I think the result of the Iraq war could be that future generations of Iraqis end up being radicalized and hate America.
- Oct 24, 2000
- 29,767
- 33
- 81
My view of Iraq by SPC "Doc" Shurley:
Following the article I sent about Bush's national address and troop
increase, I thought it was a good idea to let you all know what the
perspective is over here. I'm tired of hearing the media's skewed
version, the politicians squabbling over what they read in a report,
and the average ill-informed American ranting about things he knows
NOTHING about.
I've been over here a couple of months now, and I've learned more
about this country than a year's worth of watching CNN. I've sat in
mission briefs with Colonels, talked with village elders, had tea
with Shieks, played with the kids. And I agree with the President. We
need more troops and we need to take greater action.
There are 3 major factions here. The Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. The
Shiites are in the majority, but Saddam was a Sunni, so he kept the
Shiites in check. Everyone hates the Kurds, who are Christian and in
the vast minority. The Kurds received the brunt of Saddam's murderous
tyranny. Now that Saddam is gone, the Shiites have taken control of
Baghdad. The largely peaceful Sunnis are now the victims of radical
Shiite terrorism. So the young Sunni men, who can no longer go to
work and support their families, do what all young men would do. They
join the Sunni militia and battle the Shiites. And thus the country
sits on the brink of civil war.
But this war is between them. They largely do not concern themselves
with the U.S. troops. The insurgents who battle the Coalition Forces
are from outside the country. And the biggest problem down here isn't
the insurgents. Its the politicians. The local politicians. Even
though the country is controlled by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
downtown Baghdad is controlled by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr. The Shiites follow al-Sadr and thus the Prime Minister does
what al-Sadr says. Think of it as
if a warlord controlled New York and blackmailed the President into
diplomatic immunity.
When 1st Cav (mainly 2/5 Cav) came here in 2004, they took downtown
Baghdad (known as Sadr City) by force. It cost many lives, but after
a year, we held an iron grip on the largest insurgent breeding ground
in Iraq. The insurgents were afraid of the Horse People, and
rightfully so. But when 1st Cav left, al-Sadr influenced the Prime
Minister to kick out the Coalition forces from that area of Baghdad.
He said the Iraqi military forces could hold the city. But all that
happened was al-Sadr regained control of his cty, and it is now a
heavily guarded fortress. A place where insurgents and terrorists can
train and stockpile arms. And we cannot go back in becuase the Prime
Minister won't let us. Our hands are tied.
So where does al-Sadr get his backing? From Iran and Syria. Iran
supplies him with money and Syria supplies the terrorists. The
insurgents that battle the Coalition Forces are from Syria, Somalia
and dozens of other places outside of Iraq. Iraq is literally a
terrorist breeding ground. They have terrorist and sniper schools
here. Why not? They train by teaching them to attack the military
forces here. And they have an endless supply of these training tools.
They have factories in Sadr City to build bombs. Both Iran and Syria
have openly proclaimed their number one goal in
life is to destroy the great Wes tern Devil and the little Wes tern Devil
(America and Britain). Iran wants to control Iraq to further this
purpose. Al-Sadr will get to "run" the country and live like a king, but
in reality Iran will pull the puppet strings. Iran will have access to
thousands of radical Shiites who will do whatever al-Sadr tells them to.
And Iraq will be used as a breeding ground for terrorism. Terrorism that
will be targeted directly at America and Britain. The Iraq Study Group
advised we should let Iran and Syria help with rebuilding? Bravo to
President Bush for striking that idea down and vowing to keep those two
countries out of Iraq.
So how do the Iraqi people feel about everything? Of course they
don't want the Americans here. But they would far rather have us here
than the Iranians. My platoon visited an average Sunni village on a
patrol a few days ago. Their only source of income was to farm, as
they could not go to the city to work for fear of violence. Many of
the young men had already run off to join the militia for no other
reason than to feed their families. They had no school or hospital
near them and the community was dying. The village elder's
granddaughter was very sick and I was able to treat her. Afterwards
he invited me and my Platoon Leader to sit in his house and have tea
with him, and we talked about the situation.
The people want peace. The Shiites kill the Sunnis because al-Sadr
tells them to do so. The Sunnis fight back because they have no
choice. They are glad Saddam is dead (Sunni or not), but do not want
to replace him with another dictator in a politician's clothes (which
is what al-Sadr will become). And they especially don't want Iran in
charge. Many innocent Iraqis will die if this happens. These are the
words that came out of the elder's mouth:
"We do not want America here, and America does not want to be here.
But you cannot leave because the militias controll the country.
America must use the might of its giant army and sweep through, root
out and destroy the militias. Then Iraq can be free and you can
leave."
What appears to have happened within our diplomatic community, is
that Prime Minister finally realizes that his days are numbered. If
al-Sadr remains, he will be kicked to the curb. So hopefully he is
about to allow us to reenter Sadr City, root out and destroy the
enemy. A dramatic troop increase will allow us to do this. And the
Horse People are back and ready to finish what they started over 2
years ago.
If we leave now, it will be a failure for democracy. Iran will
contoll Iraq and the end result will be more terrorist attacks on
America. The American people don't want soldiers dying over here, but
its better than American civilians dying over there. Do NOT forget
9/11. They will do it again. The moment we loosen our grip on the
noose, they will do it again. And the only way to root out the evil
here is to stop beating around the bush, increase troops and destroy
the insurgents once and for all. The Iraqi government cannot do this
on their own. The Iraqi security forces are inadequate for this task.
We are the only ones who can stop al-Sadr.
Feel free to share this with whomever wants a real soldier's opinion
about the war.
SPC "Doc" Shurley
2/5 Cav, 1st CB
Following the article I sent about Bush's national address and troop
increase, I thought it was a good idea to let you all know what the
perspective is over here. I'm tired of hearing the media's skewed
version, the politicians squabbling over what they read in a report,
and the average ill-informed American ranting about things he knows
NOTHING about.
I've been over here a couple of months now, and I've learned more
about this country than a year's worth of watching CNN. I've sat in
mission briefs with Colonels, talked with village elders, had tea
with Shieks, played with the kids. And I agree with the President. We
need more troops and we need to take greater action.
There are 3 major factions here. The Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. The
Shiites are in the majority, but Saddam was a Sunni, so he kept the
Shiites in check. Everyone hates the Kurds, who are Christian and in
the vast minority. The Kurds received the brunt of Saddam's murderous
tyranny. Now that Saddam is gone, the Shiites have taken control of
Baghdad. The largely peaceful Sunnis are now the victims of radical
Shiite terrorism. So the young Sunni men, who can no longer go to
work and support their families, do what all young men would do. They
join the Sunni militia and battle the Shiites. And thus the country
sits on the brink of civil war.
But this war is between them. They largely do not concern themselves
with the U.S. troops. The insurgents who battle the Coalition Forces
are from outside the country. And the biggest problem down here isn't
the insurgents. Its the politicians. The local politicians. Even
though the country is controlled by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
downtown Baghdad is controlled by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr. The Shiites follow al-Sadr and thus the Prime Minister does
what al-Sadr says. Think of it as
if a warlord controlled New York and blackmailed the President into
diplomatic immunity.
When 1st Cav (mainly 2/5 Cav) came here in 2004, they took downtown
Baghdad (known as Sadr City) by force. It cost many lives, but after
a year, we held an iron grip on the largest insurgent breeding ground
in Iraq. The insurgents were afraid of the Horse People, and
rightfully so. But when 1st Cav left, al-Sadr influenced the Prime
Minister to kick out the Coalition forces from that area of Baghdad.
He said the Iraqi military forces could hold the city. But all that
happened was al-Sadr regained control of his cty, and it is now a
heavily guarded fortress. A place where insurgents and terrorists can
train and stockpile arms. And we cannot go back in becuase the Prime
Minister won't let us. Our hands are tied.
So where does al-Sadr get his backing? From Iran and Syria. Iran
supplies him with money and Syria supplies the terrorists. The
insurgents that battle the Coalition Forces are from Syria, Somalia
and dozens of other places outside of Iraq. Iraq is literally a
terrorist breeding ground. They have terrorist and sniper schools
here. Why not? They train by teaching them to attack the military
forces here. And they have an endless supply of these training tools.
They have factories in Sadr City to build bombs. Both Iran and Syria
have openly proclaimed their number one goal in
life is to destroy the great Wes tern Devil and the little Wes tern Devil
(America and Britain). Iran wants to control Iraq to further this
purpose. Al-Sadr will get to "run" the country and live like a king, but
in reality Iran will pull the puppet strings. Iran will have access to
thousands of radical Shiites who will do whatever al-Sadr tells them to.
And Iraq will be used as a breeding ground for terrorism. Terrorism that
will be targeted directly at America and Britain. The Iraq Study Group
advised we should let Iran and Syria help with rebuilding? Bravo to
President Bush for striking that idea down and vowing to keep those two
countries out of Iraq.
So how do the Iraqi people feel about everything? Of course they
don't want the Americans here. But they would far rather have us here
than the Iranians. My platoon visited an average Sunni village on a
patrol a few days ago. Their only source of income was to farm, as
they could not go to the city to work for fear of violence. Many of
the young men had already run off to join the militia for no other
reason than to feed their families. They had no school or hospital
near them and the community was dying. The village elder's
granddaughter was very sick and I was able to treat her. Afterwards
he invited me and my Platoon Leader to sit in his house and have tea
with him, and we talked about the situation.
The people want peace. The Shiites kill the Sunnis because al-Sadr
tells them to do so. The Sunnis fight back because they have no
choice. They are glad Saddam is dead (Sunni or not), but do not want
to replace him with another dictator in a politician's clothes (which
is what al-Sadr will become). And they especially don't want Iran in
charge. Many innocent Iraqis will die if this happens. These are the
words that came out of the elder's mouth:
"We do not want America here, and America does not want to be here.
But you cannot leave because the militias controll the country.
America must use the might of its giant army and sweep through, root
out and destroy the militias. Then Iraq can be free and you can
leave."
What appears to have happened within our diplomatic community, is
that Prime Minister finally realizes that his days are numbered. If
al-Sadr remains, he will be kicked to the curb. So hopefully he is
about to allow us to reenter Sadr City, root out and destroy the
enemy. A dramatic troop increase will allow us to do this. And the
Horse People are back and ready to finish what they started over 2
years ago.
If we leave now, it will be a failure for democracy. Iran will
contoll Iraq and the end result will be more terrorist attacks on
America. The American people don't want soldiers dying over here, but
its better than American civilians dying over there. Do NOT forget
9/11. They will do it again. The moment we loosen our grip on the
noose, they will do it again. And the only way to root out the evil
here is to stop beating around the bush, increase troops and destroy
the insurgents once and for all. The Iraqi government cannot do this
on their own. The Iraqi security forces are inadequate for this task.
We are the only ones who can stop al-Sadr.
Feel free to share this with whomever wants a real soldier's opinion
about the war.
SPC "Doc" Shurley
2/5 Cav, 1st CB
IronWing
No Lifer
- Jul 20, 2001
- 72,852
- 33,912
- 136
The careful exclusion of mentioning Saudi backing of Sunni insurgents noted. Must be make-up-crap-that-indicts-Iran week at the Whitehouse. The time that anyone believes "letters from soldiers in Iraq" has long passed. Time to bring the real troops home.
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