Two days before Christmas, I was surprised to hear from a friend of mine in the National Guard...suprised because this was the first any of my group of friends had heard from him, as we were not sure if they would be allowed leave over Christmas. Thankfully, he was. He leaves on the 27th for Iraq, so I dropped what I was doing and met him at a local establishment along with my roommate. The talk was positive while recounting past exploits and current feelings [of the "it's nice to see you guys" type], but we all knew the discussion that lay ahead.
"So what's you're opinion on this whole thing? You're the only one of us with an inside view."
The conversation that followed finally cemented my opposition to this war. Some things I had heard of before. Others made my jaw drop. I got up, asked the bartender for a pen to take notes on what my friend was saying. I asked my friend if it would be alright for me to post the things he talked about on this site. He agreed: "These are things people should probably know about."
More Below the fold
[editor's note, by Clever] I have not included any personally identifying material for reasons of privacy. While my friend did not say that his name could not be used, I personally feel that there should be some obfuscation to avoid 'unofficial' reprisal. We have too often seen the reputations of Americans dragged through the dirt to denigrate and revenge comments made to educate on the realities of this war and this administration.
Training
My friend had been training at a base in Oklahoma. Being a testosterone-filled male, his only true "complaint" was the lack of attractive women around the base. I have to chuckle at that...definately something he would have liked to know about before signing up.
Children used as IEDs
The first thing my friend touched on was that they were informed of the use of children strapped with explosives by the insurgents. An insurgent would conceal explosives on a child and have them walk up to a group of soldiers, detonating the device. I asked him if this was a forward thinking type of training [as if this had yet to happen]. He replied that there had been numerous accounts of this tactic being used. "I don't want to be the guy shown on CNN shooting a kid, but I really don't want to be the guy who gets his unit blown up either. That's how fucked up it is." By the time a child is close enough to be deemed a danger, he said, they are close enough to be deadly. "If it's between the child an my unit, I will choose my unit. But I don't like either [choice]."
Update [2004-12-27 10:39:6 by Clever]:- From Al Jazeera dated Nov. 10, 2003:
The IOC recently supplied pictures to Aljazeera.net showing US soldiers frisking a four-year-old boy in an Afghan village in Paktika as part of a military operation.
A senior officer justified the action at the time saying the child could have been carrying explosives. He added the security of US soldiers came first before any hearts and minds operation.
This is over a year old and from Afghanistan, so it shouldn't seemed farfetched that they are looking for the same in Iraq. Couldn't find anything on Google saying that it has happened, but it doesn't make the idea any less henious.
Update [2004-12-27 10:49:0 by Clever]: - More on this as a tactic. Not from Iraq, but from the Israeli-Palestinian side of things...
IDF Saves Arab ‘Decoy’ Child .
The two Golani soldiers recently were manning a check post near Gush Katif when a 10-year-old boy suddenly ran towards them. Despite fears that the child was carrying explosives, the soldiers did not fire.
"The child fell into the arms of one of the soldiers," said the troops’ officer. "He hugged him to make sure he was not carrying a bomb. The child apparently received a few shekels to run towards the soldiers and provoke them into shooting."
Dismissing Standards
"I literally walked."
My friend is in good shape. He's been in the guard for 4 years.[editor's note, by Clever]{This used to read three. Would have left it but it makes a real difference: He was in before Sept. 11, so he belongs to that group which didn't 'sign up for Iraq'. As well, his original reason for joining was for a girl.}. He's active besides. Many others in his unit are not. The previous quote harkens at the reality that many of the soldiers we are sending are not up to Guard standards. While running in formation during PT [Physical Training], everyone must keep pace. During such an exercise, my friend had to slow his pace down to a speed walk as to not leave behind many in his unit. That's when he dropped this bomb:
"They don't have PT standards anymore. They have them, they're just not enforced. It's about numbers...if they did [enforce standards], we'd lose a lot of guys."
My friend also voiced concern over a diabetic in his unit. He had asked the medical officer what to do if his friend went into shock. He did not like the reply:
"You couldn't do much. If he slipped into a coma he'd be gone. We couldn't get him out in time."
I must wonder aloud why we are sending diabetics into highly physical and stressful combat duty. There was a diabetic on my football team in high school. He had to check his blood sugar at least twice during every practice [practices were two hours]. They trained our equipment manager on what to do if he went into shock. He would get a little loopy if his blood sugar got to low and would need to eat a candy bar or sometimes give himself an injection. Do you think this would be possible in a firefight?
Physical standards are not the only ones being shirked:
"They're passing guys on shooting proficiency with 12's [out of 40]. The normal cutoff is 24."
I think I've finally figured it out, all the positive reviews of the war: They're grading on a curve.
Fiscal Mismanagement
"We could have done it at our base."
The Guard spent $150,000 to bus my friend's unit to Fort Hood, TX for two days of "special training." Afterwards, my friend wondered what the reasoning was, as all the training they did could have been done at their own base. One of the highlights was "Glass House" training, where one stakes out an invisible perimeter to operate inside.
Poor Coordination
During a "live" combat exercise, my friend's unit was outfitted with a "laser tag" type system: you wear a vest that will indicate when shot, your gun is outfitted with a laser to "shoot" other combatants. Your tax dollars at work, providing as close to live fire as allowed...except for two things:
- neither team was given blanks. "We made bang-bang noises."
- The opposing team was not outfitted with the "laser tag" system.
Take from that what you will.
Mentality
Branding
As one would suspect, there is contempt in the military [and according to my friend, this is highly prevalent in his unit, mostly made up of Bush supporters] for anything branded [rightly or wrongly] as liberal. While not going into details, my friend said that "liberals" are treated differently, as if suspect, which is why he has not discussed any misgivings with his commander. I do not disagree with him on this, if only for the story I am about to relate:
A soldier in my friend's unit had a sick mother. It was relayed to that soldier that his mother's condition had taken a turn and there was about a 30% chance that she would make it through the week. It was the week of Thanksgiving. There were no drills scheduled due to it being Thanksgiving. The commander denied the soldier's request for emergency leave to visit his mother. The soldier was finally given leave 4 days later after the unit's chaplain had intervened and convinced the commander to approve the request. The soldier's mother died two days later. Her son was able to see her before she died.
Go ahead and brand me a bleeding heart liberal...that type of indifference pisses me off. I must give that chaplain credit...especially if it took him four days to convince the commander.
Casualties
As with all wars, there are civilian casualties. Some wars more than others. One would hope to minimize them, but my friend relayed to me that this is not the case for this conflict:
"Shooting a grenade [from a grenade launcher] into a crowd of people to kill one insurgent amongst the crowd is acceptable. Better to kill them all than to let them [the insurgent] go is the idea, I guess."
My friend put this into context, however. For him, the scenario would be an insurgent waiting to ambush a group of soldiers [with an IED] lurking in the crowd. Once again, with a choice of who is to die, my friend reiterated: "I would choose my unit. I would fire the grenade."
Inequality
"Our gear is half green and half tan. It's almost comical...green in the desert."
While Marine and most army camouflage is tuned to the desert climate, guard and reserve camo is not even close. He was issued two sets of warm weather fatigues: on tan and one green. His cold weather gear is all green. [The desert gets to near freezing at night.]
Personal Thoughts
My friend spoke of much more, even citing publications [most notably the Army Times], that he found disturbing, but as I am currently unable to substantiate these references, I will omit them for the time being. He did however have a couple opinions to share.
Middle Management
My friend, even after the aforementioned story of the soldier with his dying mother, respects his commander. He sees him doing about as much as he can to keep his men in the know and preparing them for what they'll be doing when they get over to Iraq. He does harbor contempt for those above his commander, the middle management and appropriations area of the military. From what he's seen there is great favoritism place on equipping and training those of more "conventional" military while passing leftovers down to the Guard and Reserve. "It's like a business, with the 'better clients' being favored." By doing so, my friend reasons, he and his unit lack essential training and equipment for doing the job right when they get there. "I'm worried about how we'll be treated when we get there. At best we'll be put on small duties, like guarding doors. At worst, we could be put out there to absorb bullets so the "real" soldiers don't get killed." With 40% of the troops in Iraq being guard or reserve, this is a real possibility, intentional or not.
Why I fight
The following is verbatim.
"I don't fight for Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney...I'm fighting for the people with me. I'm with my friends. That's who I'm fighting for."
It is his character. It is why I call him friend. It is why I support our troops. It is why they should come home.
Beyond all the chants of "freedom" and "democracy," it is the reason why our soldiers fight...for each other.
Conclusion
My friend is 3rd in command in his unit. With the decline in officers in the Guard and the promotion of those of longstanding service to higher positions, there is a real chance he will end up in command. I am glad that there are people such as he willing to be devoted to his unit as much as they are devoted to reason. I have no doubt he will do his best to keep himself and his friends safe.
There is, however, a large chance that he will not come back. His function in his unit is disarming IEDs, one of the most dangerous positions available. It is why I feel a duty to relay the information and opinions he has given me.
It is also because he is my friend.