Greetings from Baghdad
Ray,
How's it going? Sorry it's taken so long to respond back to your e-mail from about two weeks ago. I was over in Baghdad in the Green Zone taking care of some business when your e-mail hit the net. I couldn't respond from the computer I had access to at the Embassy so I forwarded your address to my military account back here at Al Asad. I was going to respond back once I returned to Al Asad Air Base and could get onto my computer. Unfortunately the day I got back we commenced a major offensive operation out west on the Syrian border. You might have seen it on the TV or read about it. It was called OPERATION MATADOR. We put a serious hurting on the insurgents out there for about a week. We killed close to a hundred of them and captured a whole bunch more. Our guys (Force Recon) didn't really get too involved in the killing them part but we were definitely cleaning house on the capturing them part. We captured numerous high ranking foreign fighters and cell leaders. Almost to a man they've been singing like canaries during interogation which has lead us to more senior operatives and we've now captured them as well. So while we are keeping busy and having much success our work in never done. Anyway, now that we're back and I went to e-mail you back I'd somehow accidnetly deleted your e-mail address. I got a hold of Rich and he resent it to me.
Rob got wounded while I was over in Baghdad. He is my assistant over here and he was riding in my seat of the CO's HMMWV on a mission. Had the CO not sent me to Baghdad on another mission I think I would've been the one that got wounded. Timing is everything! Anyway, Rob got hit in the face and right leg with an armor piercing bullet that entered into the HMMWV through the windshield and then started ricocheting around inside the vehicle. He was very lucky in that the wounds could be treated with motrin and band-aids. During that particular incident our unit was rolling onto an objective to capture a couple of bad guys and they got ambushed on the way. There were about 30 insurgents who'd set up the ambush. I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into because on that particular mission we had 24 vechiles and almost 110 Marines on the mission. Every one of our vehicles had at least a medium machinegun on it and many had .50 Cal machineguns and a couple had MK-19 grenade launchers too. Plus every Marine had his rifle to shoot back with. As if having the bad guys outgunned like that wasn't enough we also had a section of Cobra gunships flying overhead and there was also two F-18's orbiting above them. As soon as our vehicles got done dishing out death and destruction the CObras rolled in and let loose with the Hellfire missles and finished off the fight. The F-18's up above caught the whole thing on their FLIR tapes so we got to watch it from the pilots perspective. It's pretty cool to watch. It's like watching some skinny little weakling trying to pick a fight with the biggest, baddest bully in school. We totally stomped their ass and killed over half of them and the rest ran away like frightened children. Plus Rob got a purple heart medal out of it.
Semper Fi, MGG
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"an objective to capture a couple of bad guys"
"It's pretty cool to watch."
"the biggest, baddest bully in school"
"We totally stomped their ass and killed over half of them"
Is it just my imagination or does MGG sound like a 15 year old describing his favorite computer game?
Comment by homicidal maniac— 2005/05/30 @ 02:37 AM — (Reply)
I think he's doing what he's been trained to do. There is some satisfaction in that.
Comment by elmer's bro— 2005/05/30 @ 04:29 AM — (Reply)
His name is Greg and he is a Master Guns in the Marine Corps.
Comment by — 2005/05/30 @ 05:42 AM — (Reply)
Maniac- it is your imagination.
Comment by — 2005/05/30 @ 05:43 AM — (Reply)
And that's OK?
Comment by homicidal maniac — 2005/05/30 @ 03:43 PM — (Reply)
Greg gets satisfaction out of protecting our country and if that means getting rid of someone who would rather hurt you or I, yes that's ok.
Comment by elmer's bro— 2005/05/30 @ 04:01 PM — (Reply)
News flash, Elmer's Bro. Iraq is thousands of kilometers from any American border.
USA invaded Iraq.
The 'bad guys' are protecting their country from the USA and homicidal maniacs like: Greg Master Guns Marine Corps.
Comment by "We'll Smoke 'em Out!"— 2005/05/30 @ 08:14 PM — (Reply)
Comment by elmers' bro— 2005/05/31 @ 03:36 AM — (Reply)
Comment by — 2005/05/31 @ 03:38 AM — (Reply)
Yes elmers, we should sit back and allow every tom ,dick and Iraqui to invade our country and kill our civillians and then we should let them keep doing this untill freedom, including the freedom to have ones own opinion, is a dream forgotten in the past. Lets see, they attack us, kill lots of people and then gloat about it. so we go over there and try and destroy the oppressors while aiding the innocent civillians. whos the bad guy maniac and Smoke em out? think about it, if it were not for America going over and "invading" these other countries we would have been taking over by communists years ago, and then you both would have been executed for voicing an opposing opinion. so lets try to be real, step out of your rebelious i wanna argue worlds and show respect to those who have earned your freedom while you sit idolly by and waste it.
Comment by Dallas — 2005/05/31 @ 12:23 PM — (Reply)
The difference between Iraq and Nazi Germany is the Nazi's invaded their neighbors.
In the lead up to the war the Iraq army was weaker than ever. The USA was the only member of the UN security council that believes Iraq was not complying with the UN cease fire:
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ
February 23, 1998
1. The Government of Iraq reconfirms its acceptance of all relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including resolutions 687 (1991) and 715 (1991). The Government of Iraq further reiterates its undertaking to cooperate fully with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Comment by God Bless Texas— 2005/05/31 @ 04:00 PM — (Reply)
Dallas you claim:
"they attack us, kill lots of people and then gloat about it. so we go over there and try and destroy the oppressors while aiding the innocent civillians"
Even before September 11, the UN estimated that millions were being sustained, barely, by international food aid. On September 16, the national press reported that Washington had “demanded [from Pakistan] the elimination of truck convoys that provide much of the food and other supplies to Afghanistan’s civilian population.” There was no detectable reaction in the U.S. or Europe to this demand to impose massive starvation; the plain meaning of the words. In subsequent weeks, the world’s leading newspaper reported that “The threat of military strikes forced the removal of international aid workers, crippling assistance programs”; refugees reaching Pakistan “after arduous journeys from Afghanistan are describing scenes of desperation and fear at home as the threat of American-led military attacks turns their long-running misery into a potential catastrophe.” “The country was on a lifeline,” one evacuated aid worker reported, “and we just cut the line.” “It’s as if a mass grave has been dug behind millions of people,” an evacuated emergency officer for Christian Aid informed the press: “We can drag them back from it or push them in. We could be looking at millions of deaths.”
The UN World Food Program and others were able to resume some food shipments in early October, but were forced to suspend deliveries and distribution when the bombing began on October 7, resuming them later at a much lower pace. A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that “We are facing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions in Afghanistan with 7.5 million short of food and at risk of starvation,” while aid agencies leveled “scathing” condemnations of U.S. air drops that are barely concealed “propaganda tools” and may cause more harm than benefit, they warned.
Exactly WHO gives a S@#$ about innocent civilians?!?!
Comment by TruthMonger— 2005/05/31 @ 04:10 PM — (Reply)
As far as the rest of the Security Council is concerned...ever heard of the Oil for food Scandal...and if we were the only ones who believed he had violated the cease fire by restarting his WMD program why were there over 30 countries that joined us...3 of which I served with over there. Saddam gave lip service to the UN while he maintained an active interest in WMD. I invite you to read Saddam's Bomb Maker by Khidhir Hamza, Saddam's chief Nuclear Engineer. If you read that book you will see a lot of parallels between Herr Hitler and Saddam.
Comment by Elmers Bro— 2005/05/31 @ 04:58 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Bro— 2005/05/31 @ 05:04 PM — (Reply)
Saddam's bomb-maker speaks out
By 2002 FDD Student Fellow
The Collegian, Grove City College Newspaper
February 21, 2003
Web site: http://www.gcc.edu/news/collegian/02-21-03/Saddam.htm
Most who oppose military action in Iraq think that the vocal opposition France and Germany have been spreading is based on wholly altruistic beliefs. Those same people probably also believe that the Easter Bunny still comes to visit them. Anybody who really wants to know the truth should look into a book by Khidhir Hamza titled “Saddam's Bomb maker: The Terrifying Inside Story of the Iraqi Nuclear and Biological Weapons Agenda.”
Recently, excerpts from this work were seen in the Wall Street Journal, yet most of the media saw fit to show angry Australian war protesters than to release the truth about the most evil dictator of the last 20 years. So where does France and Germany fit into this whole scheme? Let me tell you.
The French Government is so vocal about continued inspections because they know that there is no way that a team of 200 inspectors can even hope to disarm Iraq in the near future when a team of 6,000 could not do it in seven years. Even if the inspectors do happen to stumble across weapons Saddam is not allowed to possess, France will be more than willing to sell him new weapons and technologies at a staggering markup.
An example of this French profiteering is when an Iraqi delegation of scientists (headed by Mr. Hamza) traveled to France to purchase a 40-Megawatt research reactor. Iraqi sources told the delegation that this should cost them no more than $50 million dollars, but the final price tag from the French was $200 million. In the words of Mr. Hamza, “With these kinds of deals coming their way, is it any surprise that the French are so desperate to save Saddam's regime?”
And it is not just the French who are profiteering. Germany, which was a major hub of illicit technological purchases during the 1980s, was given billions of dollars for weapons technology by Ali Abdul Hutalib, the Iraqi Commercial Attaché. In 1989, a German engineer named Karl Schaab sold the Iraqi regime gas centrifuges necessary for the enrichment of weapons-grade Uranium. Since then, German authorities have investigated and charged Mr. Schaab with selling nuclear secrets; his sentence: five years of probation and a $32,000 fine, that is more than a sales tax for conducting one illegal sale to Iraq, let alone dozens of such sales.
Even Russia got into the action after the Gulf War. The have been re-supplying the Iraqi military with rifles, tanks and armored personnel carriers at a markup that would make the execs at Enron smile. Through all of these shady dealings and their cover-ups, the three most vocal voices of opposition to the end of Saddam's regime are also the ones who stand to benefit the most from his savagery and butchery. The next time you turn on CNN and hear the world outcry against war to oust Saddam, think of who stands to gain the most from his continued power and who cries out the loudest against his removal.
“The irresponsibility and lack of morality of these states are displaying in trying to keep the world's worst butcher in power is perhaps indicative of a new world order. It is a world of winks and nods to emerging rogue states -- for a price. It remains for the United States and its allies to institute an opposing order in which no price is high enough for dictators like Saddam to thrive” (Khidhir Hamza, Feb. 10, 2002).
Wade K. Ewing is an Undergraduate Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Comment by elmer's bro— 2005/05/31 @ 05:19 PM — (Reply)
Comment by elmers bro— 2005/05/31 @ 06:33 PM — (Reply)
The story continues. In December, speaking at a joint press conference with Secretary of State Baker, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze proposed a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East if Iraq withdraws from Kuwait. Baker gave "qualified support," the press observed, but "carefully avoided using the words `nuclear-free zone' " -- for the reason just noted. A week later, Iraq offered to "scrap chemical and mass destruction weapons if Israel was also prepared to do so," Reuters reported. The offer seems to have passed in silence here. Iraq's more recent call for "the banning of all weapons of mass destruction in the region" as part of a negotiated settlement of its withdrawal from Kuwait has already been mentioned.
Bush, not 'w' could have ended the WMD issue then and there, but balked. cause it's ok for the US and its allies to pick on the small and weak (palenstinians) and threaten the region with WMD.
Comment by Noam Chomsky— 2005/05/31 @ 09:48 PM — (Reply)
The US military is a tool for implementing USA's economic agenda.
Anyone that thinks the US military's mission is to promote world wide democracy and human rights must be blind, illiterate, an american citizen or most often, all three.
Comment by homicidal maniac— 2005/05/31 @ 09:56 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Bro— 2005/06/01 @ 03:04 AM — (Reply)
Comment by elmers bro— 2005/06/01 @ 03:17 AM — (Reply)
Homicidal..... you must be a french citizen, no reason, just a guess. And as for the "wonderfull" taliban and sadamm regimes and their ever ongoing attempts to comply with the UNs requests. That my friend is as Elmers said, only lip service. It has been confirmed that these groups had loyalty only by fear. They would do things such as have their own brothers killed for opposing. america is a land where you can get the things you need to survive even if you do not aggree with those in power. Over there, if you disaggree and voice that you would be lucky if all that happened was a lack of supplies. Both of my brothers served in Afghanistan and whitnessed villages getting raided and bombed simply for talking to or accepting assistance from the US soldiers. On several occassions the troops themselves, US troops that is, donated goods from their own supplies to help the local children as well as their parents. And think about one thing, All these media sources that you are quoting saying the US is responsible for cutting off supplies and causing starvation, are the same media sources that idiotically give millitary possitioning away and cause deaths , as well as retract story after story for being false or misleading. Why dont you get an opinion of your own based on facts as opposed to the "medias" opinion. Anybody can repeat what they read in Americas most popular news source, but it takes someone with brains, hell with eyes to see who the real bad guy is here, and it isnt the US.
Comment by Scrivener79— 2005/06/01 @ 09:25 AM — (Reply)
"america is a land where you can get the things you need to survive"
like health care?
Comment by canadian bacon— 2005/06/01 @ 08:06 PM — (Reply)
the canadian medical system is not exactly what you want. They wait months sometimes years to see a doctor and it is illegal for them to travel to the US fot seek the same medical care. You should be asking for tort reform so it would be cheaper for doctors to treat us
Comment by elmers brother— 2005/11/14 @ 05:37 PM — (Reply)