So, this happened:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/al-qaeda-force-captures-fallujah-amid-rise-in-violence-in-iraq/2014/01/03/8abaeb2a-74aa-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html
and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/world/middle_east/battles-intensify-for-control-of-fallujah/2014/01/04/5ef4d3a8-9166-4037-af56-4ed6822a8609_video.html
Apparently al Qaeda has taken back Fallujah in every real sense of the
word; national flags torn down and replaced, no ISF, IA, or IP's
anywhere to be found (no real change there), large scale firefights,
it's like someone got into their flux capacitor enabled blue Bongo truck
(or maybe it's a maroon Opel?) and went back in time to 2004.
And
you know what? Fuck 'em, they can have it. I don't know anyone who
deployed to Iraq because they genuinely wanted to help the Iraqi people
and give them freedom. Save that shit for interviews with people who
have more stars on their collar or stripes on their sleeves than brains.
And you know what? They don't believe it either. Speaking for myself,
at no point in either of my deployments did I shoulder on my 60 pound
med bag on top of another 60 pounds worth of armor, ammo, water, and
other assorted gear to wander around the 100+ degree night and splash
oh-so-playfully in a canal whose express purpose was less "irrigation"
and more "open air feces conveyance," while getting shot at and hoping
like hell that the piece of concrete I'm kneeling on isn't camouflaging
an IED because I wanted the Iraqi people to be able to get a 10 piece
extra crispy on the way home from the local al Walmart.
Sure,
there was talk down at the street level of the war about "winning
hearts and minds," but no one took that seriously. Come on, we may have
been filthy, uneducated enlisted men, but even the cannon fodder knows
that giving some guy a generator and case of JP8 tainted water after
blowing up his house, shop, friends houses, and car is a lot like giving
your wife gas station flowers and half a box of chocolates as an
apology after she catches you defiling her sister and best friend at the
same time... in your shared bed... with all of her co-workers watching.
Its so half-assed its worse than no apology at all.
No,
I didn't leave the comforts of America and spend two, 7 month all
expenses paid vacations in the largest cat box around because I wanted
to give the Iraqis freedom, or because I wanted "fight the terrorists in
Iraq so they don't come to America," or because I believed it was
making the world or my nation safer. I did it because I was ordered to,
and that's what you do after you sign on the dotted line and raise your
hand. I did it because I wasn't about to let a platoon of men that I had
grown to love (and hate) like my own family go without me, because I
didn't trust anyone else to take care of them, and I wouldn't want to go
with anyone else. And I doubt I was alone in that.
Its
an old cliche` that you don't fight for a flag or a country, you fight
for the man next to you. And just because its a cliche` doesn't mean it
isn't true. That Iraq has become a bloody shit hole and all of the gains
made by the men and women who fought and bled there are being lost
doesn't come as a surprise. Hell, even the most boot Marine around in
2005 thought it would all go to hell when the US left. And that's coming
from someone whose capabilities are trusted so little that he's
required to have dummy cords on his other dummy cords and has to inform a
superior when he goes to the head.
The sting of
having fought in a war that was initiated by lies, managed by fools, and
paid for with the blood of our nations youth doesn't lessen much with
time, but it becomes more bearable. Seeing the ground we fought for
retaken by the enemy just freshens the feeling. It also brings up anger,
disbelief, and at least a little bit of betrayal considering the
governments treatment of veterans lately, but if this development is
going to spawn anything other than a few more drunken nights of "no
shit, there I was..." war stories, then it should be action. Action to
educate, remember, and prevent things like the Iraq war from happening
again.
OIF and OEF has created an incredible segment of
American society. We now have hundreds of thousands of young men and
women who are more educated, informed, and trained than generations of
American warfighters that came before them. We have a generation that
has the means to achieve great things in life and the drive to do so.
The battles in Fallujah, Ramadi, Nasiriyah, Baghdad, Kandahar, Bagram,
Sangin, and Gardez weren't fought by the meek. They were fought by the
very finest our nation has to offer. And the fight isn't over yet.
As
it stands many of our fellow vets are homeless, jobless, suffering the
physical and mental pains of war, behind bars or headed there soon. We
have elected officials who seem to want to forget the Iraq war, the
actions that lead to it, and the consequences that came as a result. I
find it hard to watch senators screech and flap their arms on TV in an
effort to get American troops sent in to Syria or Libya, it would seem
that the McCain's of the senate and house have forgotten what it's like
to have fought in a needless war. Perhaps they need a reminder.
Perhaps
they need to see the men and women who have fought in Iraq or
Afghanistan leading from the front in local, regional, and national
politics, challenging the embarrassment our national legislature has
become. Perhaps they need to see modern day veterans creating
organizations that not only help their fellow warriors in need, but
bolster our collective voices. Perhaps they need to see vets as
something other than a talking point or line item, or political weapon,
and instead see them as the most powerful force for potential change in
our nation that is out there. Perhaps they need to see that while most
of America is willing to sweep this whole bloody mess under the rug and
pretend it didn't happen, her veterans, the men and women who agreed to
be the pointed tip of our nations spear with no questions asked, are not willing to "go gentle into that good night."
Losing Fallujah and Ramadi hurts. But losing our memory of how we got there will be lethal.
Yut, err, kill. Blah, blah, blah.
