Gone

Contributed by fellow IVAW member Clifton Hicks

When you leave for Iraq they put you in a great long file stretching all the way from the terminal to the door of the airplane which will ferry you to the battlefield. The uniforms are new, the colors bright and un-faded, un-blemished by the howling dust, un-spattered by the midnight oil, yet to be torn by the razor wire, yet un-christened by the ignorant sweat and the innocent blood.

As you trudge on, ever forward toward the stair case and the cockpit, you chance to look around at your surroundings. Not much to see really, the back of a helmet before you, a blank stare behind, tarmac beneath your boots and flood lights to blind your eyes. But do look around, and remember what you see, for everything you witness will surely be for the last time. Once you step onto that plane you leave in your footprints forever your entire life and the world as you once knew it, for the person who goes to Iraq can never be the person who returns.

By now the uniforms are threadbare. Tattered pockets flicker in the breeze, back and shoulders bleached white from the glaring rays, caked and coated in a year of rusty dust, scarred fingers peering through chewed up splitting gloves, cigarette holes smoldering on the collar, smears of black and drops of red on the boots. The skin of the face, neck, and hands appear dry, dark, leathery; the eyes dwell in shadows, the feet drag forward.

As one appears on the outside, so too has one become on the inside; faded and worn, shredded and stretched, nearly to the limit, forever torn apart. Never again will you gaze upon what once was, never again will you smell the same rain or feel the same breeze. Still the boots tramp on, forever forward, on to the next slaughter.

An Active Duty Marine Tells Me, "The war is total bullshit, and everyone knows it."

A googlechat conversation I had last night with a Marine I know from Camp Pendleton:

X: hey whats going on

me: holy shit, where are you?

X: I am in Colorado right now...I leave June 5 [to go back to Camp Fallujah]

me: no shit, where in colorado?

X: [name of city], at my parents house.... where are you at?

me: I happen to be in Dallas right now

X: nice...you bounce all over the place dont you? lol

me: i do get around. are you still shipping out of Pendleton?

X: I flew into Dallas when I came home... I have already been over there for 6 months, I had to go to CPEN for shit [details of shit redacted] and then they let me come home for a week to see [Z]. [X's son]

me: from where?

X: from Kuwait

me: jesus. what is CPEN?

X: Camp Pendleton

me: ha! never saw that acronym, guess i was never one of the cool kids

X: shut the hell up cool kids lol

me: you know who you are. [Z] is with your parents?

X: yeah, since I have custody of him, he stays with them while I am deployed. what do you mean you know who you are?

me: you cool kids know who you are

X: whatever dude, I guess you were apart of us "cool kids" then, since you were always with us...

me: yeah, for a while, but only because I knew you . . . but now all the cool kids are in IVAW

X: yeah yeah....how is all of that going for you? You know you came up in my investigation when I did my lat move? ["Lat move" is military parlance for lateral move, or a change in your MOS, military occupational specialty, that happens mid-carreer.]

me: really? they asked you if you knew me?

X: yeah, they said that they knew you [redacted] with me and that I kept in contact with you currently over email and myspace and wanted to know my involvement with you

me: HOLY SHIT! are you afraid to speak out now? because of that bullshit?

X: yeah it was pretty crazy...not really. because of my job now they know everything anyways, so Its not like I can hide anything.

me: so are you going to join ivaw anyway?

X: I got 3 years left buddy...Once I get out the war will be over lol PROBABLY NOT!! Even though the war is total bullshit, and everyone knows it.

me: ok, so you accept that it's bullshit. Do you really want to sit back and just watch more marines die for that bullshit?

X: not at all...and it is sad to see it happen. I dont know I am very confused on the whole subject...we need to pull us out so we dont lose any more, but if we do leave, that place will get ran the fuck over. Ive been in Basra and Sadr to see what is happening there so I dont know... I am totally against this war and us being over there, and seeing how much money we are spending, the lives that are lost and for what? So these fucking doon coons can make no progress in a modern society and as soon as we leave go back to the way they were thousands of years ago living their primitive lives

me: they have been in the business of civilization a lot longer than we have, they will manage

X: these people are never going to change. NEVER. Its not our place to make a little USA of them.

me: It is almost racist to presume that the arabs inhabiting the longest-civilized part of the world won't figure shit out with out our help!

X: agreed. let them do it on their own as everyone else in the modern islamic world has.

me: Well then fucking do something about it!

X: i am one person bro, with my hands tied. i have 3 years to keep low and a son to worry about, i dont need any crazy shit going on in my life right now...i just got rid of the crazy shit i dont need anymore.

me: and what kind of world do you want your son to grow up in? evil only triumphs when good men do nothing.

X: im moving him to switzerland when I get out...LOL

me: well, maybe we'll get around to nuking switzerland before we get over this whole fascism thing

X: yeah. well...I dont know. You make my head hurt thinking about all of this! :)

me: that is the pain of weakness leaving the soul [A take-off on the popular Marine expression, "Pain is weakness leaving the body."]
you have to get past the cognitive dissonance
you have to exercise your full freedom of mind without fear

X: yeah well maybe in 3 years i can have that luxury...for now...I keep lo pro

me: excuses are like assholes. no offense, it's part of being human, it's just not the best of our nature. the opposite of love is not hate, but rather fear

X: you are CRAZY. you have nothing to fear, I on the other hand do. For good reason

me: nothing to fear but fear itself, right?

X: oh man, I really dont want to go down this road...ill be back in a second, its 9, time for [Z] to go to sleep. If you are on we will talk more. If not you can reach me at ***-***-**** or my parents house ***-***-****. Try cell first.

me: i'll be here

A Music Video Tribute to Adam Kokesh

Very flattering, somewhat embarassing:

Alien Art Tattoo Offers Deal For Camp Lejeune Marines, IVAW

Help Us Get the WSIA Documentary Out by September!

HELP MAKE A NEW FILM AND A DIFFERENT FUTURE

This year, a scrappy, determined band of soldiers and veterans turned this country on its head.

On March 13-16, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) held Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan / Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations in Washington, DC. Over one hundred active duty soldiers and veterans publicly testified—from their own experience–about what they consider to be the immoral and illegal nature of those occupations. They demanded immediate and unconditional withdrawal, and intend to force this issue onto the national stage.

Displaced Films and Northern Light Productions are producing the only documentary film that will be made about this historic moment, and the intense battle leading up to it. If you liked Sir! No Sir! you will love this new film. Winter Soldier/Iraq and Afghanistan will answer the question “Can a new GI Movement happen today?” with a resounding “Yes!”

The Winter Soldier Investigation was by any account a powerful, explosive, and controversial antiwar event, timed to mark the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq five years ago. No one who witnessed it could come out the same. But just as importantly, it transformed everyone involved in profound and unexpected ways. That transformation, both large-scale and deeply personal, is the subject we explore in our film.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We are in a desperate race to make the film and have it in the world by September this year, right in the height of the election campaign. We cannot make it without your financial support, and the more money we raise the faster the film can be completed. Every donation of $50 or more will get an advance copy of the DVD when it is available. Donations of $1,000 or more will be credited in the film.

But don’t limit yourself. This is a chance to play a direct, critical role in making history and forging a new future.

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

Send a check to:

Pangea Productions
c/o Displaced Films
3421 Fernwood Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90039

For secure credit card donation, go to: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=24841

PROUTness, IVAW Speaks Out, a Survey, a Break Up, and a Fat Army F*** In a Chow Hall in Iraq

Yesterday, I broke up with my girlfriend (long distance, Santa Cruz) of nearly one year by text message. Before you start throwing vegetables, let me explain. I was in California recently, and for a long time, the plan had been for her to move in at least for the summer, and she was going to fly back to DC with me. Well, I found out two days before leaving for California that she had not yet bought her ticket, and was not planning on coming out at all. Apparently, she was not ready.

I had rearranged a lot of my life for her, both literally and figuratively. I had even gotten her the furniture she had asked for and made room for it, including a desk in what would have been “our” bedroom. However, it was not the first time that she had made me feel foolish. There had been various times that she would seem to disappear for a week or so and not answer phone calls, emails or text messages.

We used to send each other a dozen text messages or so a day just to keep up and remind each other of our love. I would call her every night before going to bed and she would usually call me every morning when she woke up, even if just to say, “I love you. Have a great day. I'll be thinking about you.” So when she stopped answering my calls, I would always get worried, only to find out that she was just sick or something and was embarrassed, and did not want to speak to me.

Then, I decided to give her another chance after coming back from California, alone. Of course, all of my house mates asked where she was. She said she could come out for three weeks in June and for a while it seemed like things were patched up and we were going to go back to our lovey dovey calling and texting mode, but then she started ignoring me again, and I could not take it. Then she texted me, but would not call me, or answer when I called her, or respond to my text messages. I could not take it any more. After realizing that, I tried to call her several more times to no avail, and even left a few messages. Then I broke up with her by text message, and she finally texted me back to say she would mail me the things I had left with her, including my dog tags.

I still love her, and I think that I always will. Tragically, we had a close call, but as much as the stars seemed to be aligned in our favor, perhaps it was not meant to be.

So, on to lighter fare. “What is PROUTness?” I can hear you asking yourselves. Well, while I was breaking up with my girlfriend, I was driving down to Radford, VA, from Washington, DC for the World PROUT Assembly “Building a New World” Conference. I had committed us to doing a panel and a truth-in-recruiting workshop so I dragged along James Gilligan, James Morriss, Ray Curry, and Bill Main to help me out. Jason Hurd also hitched a ride up from Asheville with Dahlia Wasfi. We got in Thursday in plenty of time to get settled before the opening session.

In her keynote address, Lynne Stewart, quoted John Brown very poignantly, “Had I interfered in the matter which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved . . . had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, or the so-called great . . . and suffered and sacrificed, what I have in this interference, it would have been all right. Every man in this Court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.” When the conference organizer, Garda Ghista introduced us, she said that we had affirmed we were no longer soldiers of the rich and corrupt powers in America.

And it occurred to me that we as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are not just witnesses and advocates. We are people who were all at one point ready to commit our lives to something we believe in. And we still are. And in “the movement” there are many warriors and we by no means have a monopoly on this role. Or as Camilo Mejia said at the end of Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan, “We are your new winter soldiers.” I don't know if he meant it that way, but I get it in a new way now and it really makes me want to shave my head again and get IVAW doing more close order drill.

So we did our panel yesterday and it was a resounding success. We tried an entirely different format from what we would normally do and it created an amazing energy in the room. That's the only way I can describe it without spilling the beans, but it was recorded, so hopefully the video will be posted soon. A significant chunk of the conference attendees were there, and it seems to have created quite a buzz. Apparently, they will all be at the workshop this afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Take the Washington Post Survey "Should Veterans For Peace be allowed to march in the Memorial Day parade?"

This photo was sent in from a Marine buddy of mine, who also happens to be an IVAW member. The image says a lot, but the best part by far is the smirk on the Marine's face. Hoorah!

The VA Is Stealing Memorial Day From the Fallen

The VA has a new tradition. At least, this year is only the second time that the VA has campaigned to ask veterans to wear their medals on Memorial Day to “show your pride.” Memorial day is supposed to be a day for honoring and remembering the fallen, not to celebrate the accomplishments of the living. Nor is it intended as a day to find the most shameless self-promoting grease-head from whom to buy a used car. The pamphlet that is being distributed also says, “Your medals tell a story of service in the cause of freedom that all Americans need to hear.” My medals tell the story of occupation. But I do not need to wear my medals on Memorial day for every American to hear.

Some veterans are proud of their service, and rightly so. I am very proud of the reasons I served, but I would like to take Memorial Day to honor the Marines that fell fighting in Fallujah without celebrating my own accomplishments. In fact, there are many of us who are not particularly proud of the role that we played in the occupation that was the result of what can only be referred to as the war of choice that led to the deaths of our comrades in arms.

I mentioned this to Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs James Peake when I met him recently at the National Press Club.* He said it was his predecessor that initiated the campaign, and he supported it because he thought it was a good way for veterans to identify themselves as a community on this day that should be very important to veterans.

But that's what Veterans Day is for. Memorial Day is supposed to be for the whole country, for all of us as a nation to express our gratitude for, and to remember those who have fallen in the service of this great country. Is Memorial Day more important to the guy who racked up a chest full of medals in peace time, or to the mothers whose sons were killed because of Bush's choice? Sons who may have been buried with little more than a purple heart.

We all have a choice to make this Memorial Day. We can continue the perversion of patriotism that has turned national pride into unquestioning international arrogance, or we can take a day to appreciate the sacrifices that have been made, and honor those who gave their lives in support of this great experiment in democracy known as the United States of America. I will be with my brothers and sisters who live that appreciation every day by continuing to fight for those freedoms we have only by the blessing of our forefathers who fought to keep tyranny at bay. I will be fighting alongside the greatest patriots I have ever known: my fellow members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. None of us will be wearing our medals.**

*After his talk at the National Press Club on May 20th, 2008, James Peake answered a number of questions from cards that had been passed to the front table and were selected by the host. One was about the new GI bill, and it asked if he supported Webb's version or McCain's, and specifically if he was concerned about McCain's criticism that Webb's would be too good and encourage service members to get out of the military. Of course he did not challenge McCain's position, and did not take a firm stand, but I did get to talk to him afterwards. I told him that I had not gotten an ID card in the whole year I had been going to the VA here in DC despite trying to get one at almost every visit. He promised to do something about it and asked for my name. I gave him my card and got a call from someone in his office the same afternoon. We'll see how that goes. I also got a chance to point out to him that by McCain's logic (if you can call it that) for opposing the new GI bill, we should also do away with the entire VA, because it might be encouraging people to leave the military.

**On Memorial Day, May 26th, 2008, a group of IVAW members including myself will be convoying to Jacksonville, NC to get memorial tattoos at Alien Art Tattoo. The shop is owned by April Somdahl, whose brother committed suicide after coming back from his second tour, despite having been diagnosed with PTSD and being undeployable after his first tour. We will be there to honor him, and all of our brothers and sisters who have fallen. I will be getting a field expedient memorial (helmet and rifle) over an outline of Iraq.

IVAW Members Meet Iraq Ambassador, Discuss Restoring Iraqi Sovereignty

On May 17, 2008 three other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and myself met with Iraqi ambassador Samir Sumaida’ie at the Iraqi Embassy open house. We got there just in time to get in line before they closed the gate. We started taking pictures with the plaque on the outside of the building when one of the embassy staff members, a gentleman in his mid thirties wearing a suit, approached us and offered to take our picture so we could all be in it.

I thanked him in Arabic and we started chatting. I told him about my time in Fallujah and asked him where he was from. He said Baghdad, and Mark Wilkerson asked him what was the last time he was there. He said he had been living in the US since 1982, the year I was born.

On the way in, we passed through a security checkpoint similar to the ones used at airports. I forgot that I was wearing steel-toe boots after taking my metallic personal effects out of my pockets, putting them on a little plastic tray, and stepping through the metal detector. The Iraqi man on the other side motioned me towards him and said, “No problem,” before waving me down with the wand. Having performed the same procedure without the courtesy of a wand on thousands of Iraqis, the irony was a kick in the nuts to say the least. We were now on sovereign Iraqi soil. Except for the sovereign part.

We were led into what seemed like a reception room with a handful of tourists where for thirty awkward seconds or so, we watched a video on a flat screen TV of an interview with two non-Arabs who seemed to be talking about Iraq. Then we were led back across the hall into another room that had a number of ancient artifacts and paintings on display.

There were also flat screen TVs around the room playing a sideshow that guided the viewer through the history of Iraq since at least its independence in 1932. While the first seventy years or so were pretty glossed over and left out a lot about the coup and the Iran-Iraq war, the recent history was much more thorough. As the slides changed, I eagerly awaited the timeline to get to 2004, to see the battles of Fallujah, or at least the handover of power, on June 28th, but both were noticeably absent.

While I was captivated by this sideshow, the other IVAW members were making their way around the room and meeting various staff members. Matthis Chiroux was particularly struck by the ancient artifacts on display; some were the recovered remains of collections that were looted after the invasion, most of which are still missing. One that caught his eye in particular was the statue of Entemena, a headless statue of a king from around 2400 bc that was excavated in Ur.

The statue has a very interesting history, even just since being dug up in the early 20th century by a joint expedition of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum. It was stolen during the looting of the Iraq National Museum in April of 2003. Ironically, it has been said that the statue may have originally came to Ur as a war trophy, since the inscription says it originally stood in Lagash. It was recovered in 2006 by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement wing of DHS, and is considered on of Interpol's most significant recoveries.

According to a press release from the Embassy of Iraq from June 25th, 2006 that was on the table there, “Maliki and Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff participated in a ceremony marking the repatriation of the diorite statue of Entemena to the Iraqi Government, at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq.” As if to say, “we're sorry,” I guess.

Meanwhile, Kristofer Goldsmith was purchasing a book entitled History Begins At Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts In Recorded History from one of the embassy staffers. He was explaining to Kris how the proceeds from the book were going to raise awareness about artifacts that were looted during the invasion, and Kris was more than happy to support the cause.

Mark Wilkerson had already proceeded through the building and was downstairs checking out the two rooms that opened out onto the rear driveway, where a garage might have been. One of them was a souvenir shop and the other was a gallery with photos of various landmarks in Iraq like the Ruins of Ur and the Minaret at Samarra. There were also two pictures depicting Americans in Iraq. One was a photo of Petraeus sitting on a couch with an Iraqi in a suit and the other was an anonymous soldier smiling face to face with a little boy. I knew that Maliki would only send an ambassador who endorsed “his” platform, but it would be interesting to see with how much enthusiasm.

By then I had joined Kris and was talking with the staffer who sold him the book. He had left soon after the invasion and was very supportive of what we were doing, but was nervously quiet about it. Then the ambassador himself came in with his little entourage, which included a rather burly and surly Iraqi General with a mustache, who seemed to be a carbon copy of the half-dozen or so Iraqi generals that I met in Iraq.

The first thing the ambassador hit me with was something to the effect of, “We want to make sure that your comrades and all Americans who have sacrificed so much have not done so in vain.” I had to reply with the all too gory lawnmower metaphor to quickly deconstruct this dangerous emotional appeal. “If you're working on a lawnmower, and you get a couple fingers chopped off by the blade, would you ever think that you had to put your arm in up to the elbow so that your fingers weren't lost in vain?” We went back and forth for a while and I had a chance to explain the essence of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and communicate my reasons for being a member, before I let him take a nearly uninterrupted thirty minutes to explain his platform.

We discussed Iran for a while, and he mentioned the power vacuum and the susceptibility to Iranian influence. He explained to me the significance of Ahmadinejad visiting Baghdad and being welcomed, but not getting to visit certain religious sites, which as a Shi'ite guest to Iraq, is very significant. But he did acknowledge the contrast to President Bush's visits, which only happen in secrecy and under the cover of darkness. He described Iraq as a carcass, or piece of meat that a circling group of vultures were taking pieces out of. He was afraid that in a “power vacuum” Iran would be able to get a bigger piece of influence. The implication was that American protection was needed, but he recognized that American contractors have also become vultures pulling at the carcass.

I had two points I had to make when he was done, however, and he graciously gave me his attention. I explained that from my experience, I realized that a single Iraqi cop has more of an effect of creating rule of law, which is what Iraq really needs, in a small Iraqi town, than an entire platoon of Marines who can impose martial law, piss people off, and make targets of themselves. He enthusiastically agreed that the best way Americans could support Iraq was to help get more Iraqi security forces on the streets rather than doing the patrolling ourselves.

He had also mentioned the numerous mistakes made by L. Paul Bremmer, a man I had served under for the first half of my time in Iraq, until the handover of power on June 28th. I told him that I had met Bremmer, served under him, looked him in the eyes, and even had a chance to question him when he spoke at my college after I came back, and I did not believe that all of the mistakes were honest mistakes because of the obscene profit that is to be had from instability.

I also pointed out that the best way to prevent future “mistakes” was to keep Americans from being in a position to make them, and to keep American corporations from being able to tear off chunks of Iraqi flesh. He ended by saying, “There is a lot of truth in what you say. I wish you the best of luck.”

He shook all of our hands and introduced us to a son of one of the staffers who was missing his right index, middle, and ring fingers. Apparently, he had lost them because he voted in 2004. Kris had a moment when he said that he recognized him from Iraq from right before the elections, but as Kris's appearance has changed drastically since then, the recognition was not mutual, although the Iraqi was taken aback and unsure for a while. He was now enjoying life as a student at an American university.

He told us of a time when students at his university in Baghdad had been killed and Mahdi Militia members were taking things from their bodies, even rings from their fingers, when US soldiers came and chased them away. He was a strong advocate of an American presence patrolling the streets, but was under the impression that Iraqis could continue to patrol side by side with US patrols, and somehow the Iraqis would eventually take charge and be able to establish rule of law with US-style military patrols. Matthis took the opportunity to quote Ben Franklin, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” The Iraqi said he did not want Americans there forever, but could not describe a way for a transition to occur.

By then the open house had been over for a couple of hours and we were the only ones left who did not seem to have some business being there. So we said our goodbyes and found ourselves in a very nice alley behind embassy row. We walked back down Massachusetts Avenue to spend the rest of the afternoon laying on the grass in Dupont Circle, talking politics and reflecting on our visit to the the not-so-sovereign piece of Iraqi territory in Washington, DC.

Subject: II MEF MARINES OUT OF CONTROL WITH CONTROL

I have seen some silly shit in my 18 years in the Marine Corps. This comes close to taking the cake.

What I have sent you is a 14 page acknowledgement form that is being required of every Marine assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force to initial and sign. We are told that everyone needs to print and complete a paper copy of this form to be maintained by the unit's Safety Officer. There are more than 47,000 Marines and sailors in II MEF. LtGen Keith Stalder is currently the Commanding General.

I recognize that we do subject ourselves to some silly rules when we serve in the military, but this is over the top. They tell us this is about safety. The reality is that this is just a means to inflict punishment on Marines. It also serves a method to avoid paying for Marines' injuries if they should get hurt operating a motor vehicle.

Feel free to post this Safety Form around as you see fit. This will be a shining example of stupid shit that I will share with prospective applicants who think they want to be Marines. Until we get out of Iraq, I would like to see no one volunteer for military service.

Semper Fidelis,

Jeff ******

And something from Jacqueline:

Adam Kokesh Proudly Welcomes Fellow Marine Marcus "Tex" Whitfill to IVAW

I first met Marcus while trying out for the Marine Corps Rugby Team in 2005. We hit it off, but I haven't seen him since then, and most of our communication has been through his annoying facebook applications. About six months after we met, he left the Marines and started thinking. Five months later he wrote the blog post below for his myspace profile. For some reason, he waited until just today to show it to me, and I asked him if he was a member of IVAW yet. In our facebook chat, he said, "Should I be?" To which I replied, "you bet your ass you should be, you have not only a right, but a responsibility to speak out once you realize that not only did those Marines that have passed die for a lie, but that more die for a lie every day." Thanks to our secure server, he will soon be a member of IVAW. "Welcome to the struggle, brother."
 
Marcus' Theory On Our War
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

I have been out of the Marines for 5 months now, and people always ask me what I think about this conflict that our country has got itself into. So I think I will share my thoughts on the subject.

First of all, I was in boot camp when 9/11 occurred. I could have been like you, walking around aimlessly, or in school. But i was in what some would call hell. Think of Marine Corps boot camp as a forced 3 month thought process, or for some, I can relate it to an extended wrestling practice.

My thoughts on that day weren't about lives lost or national emergency. They were selfish thoughts about how i could do this to myself. I joined for the college money; I didn't want to aim at anyone; or be aimed at for that matter. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. I saw people cry that day, but it wasn't about 9/11, it was a selfish and cowardly cry.

I came home to endless amounts of patriotism and it made me sick to my stomach. I like to think it was ludicrous that a country needed something like that to come together and rally around each other. The funny thing was that before I left in late June, my family, friends, and acquaintances had advised me that my decision to defend the country in return for an education was a bad one. When I got home on September 21st the same people treated me like a war hero. I don't know if it was the impending doom that I could have faced or that I was a crusader for their vindictive agenda. It was a weird time for me and I didn't even try to understand what had happened and ignored all media surrounding it. This was because I was under a rock that day and I could have never understood the fear that people felt that day.

I look at the conflicts that have occurred since and make this analysis:

Afghanistan wasn't the only country that was harboring terrorists and al-q. Several of my colleagues and eventually myself went on deployments all over southeast Asia as a pre-emptive strike against the Muslim religion as a whole. I don't know the exact figure but a lot of Muslims live in places like Singapore, due to religious profiling by our society and military leadership, we administered blanket coverage of all that is Muslim. This was because of the buzz term jihad. "If they are Muslim, then they have jihad in their hearts" I heard Bill Reilly say. The media expedited fear throughout the world.

I spent a fast two years in Japan with the fear of North Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. I originally planned to only stay a year there, but the Iraq war started and they placed a hold on everybody in the USMC.

The Iraq war seemed to come on fast. Bush was very pressing with congress, almost to the point of being coercive. That really bothered me. Up to that point our country had been about 50/50 between neo-liberalism and neo-realism. We still had respect for the U.N and tried not to hop when they said no. Bush changed the regime in our country to a 85/15 between "n.r" and "n.l" leaning more towards the diplomacy of a bullet than the diplomacy of global sanction. I understand that we tried to sanction Iraq several times without any compliance. But did we need to undermine the authority of our global system?

Probably not, and here is why: France hates us, Spain has disdain for us, Russia disapproves, China is very careful about taking a stance but hasnt offered any support, and Saudi Arabia has us walking on eggshells. The only friend we have is the U.K. and its various territorial interests, i.e. Australia. The mob in the U.K. has placed enough pressure on blair for supporting us that he is going to resign though, so dont count on that for too much longer.

The bottom line is this: If you look at it objectively, if we weren't as hegemonic as we are and "representative democracy without religious influence" was somehow unpopular. If we had control of a large portion of one of the world's most consumed natural resource, and we had a leader who could be viewed as a complete "state"sman, or global system cowboy who worried about his own region. If we trying to build up our defenses to match the capabilities of our threats and were constantly hounded about it. What if somebody came into your backyard and thwarted your leader by force, and started to install a foreign system foregoing the "this is how we have always done it" mentality? Would you not see some dude in Parma firing up his combine and running over the "occupying force" What about american innovation when it came to improvised weapons? We have teenagers who can walk into schools and launch a full scale suicide mission on his/her fellow classmates. The only motivation behind those cases were the inability to fit in and being ostricized for it. Could you imagine what our citizens would do?

So to that situation I ask, why are we doing it to others? We are taking over by brute force and installing "a better way" to do business. A person of middle eastern descent predicted the future for me. Afghanistan and iraq are geographic neighbors to Iran, So militarily, that is a perfect situation for invasion. I hope this doesn't come to fruition, because that will mean i have to go back and support a cause i obviously do not believe in.

I hope you gained something from this and will think about supporting my brothers and sisters in arms. The policing actions of our neo-realism ideology need to stop, we lose credibility by trying to install democracy by force.

Have a nice day/evening/morning