I finally started asking the questions...

[Captain Angry]

Hey there,

A few weeks ago you all helped me give a great welcome back to my little brother on his safe return from Iraq.

A lot of you asked me to ask some things, and I said I was waiting for him to have a few steaks and to sleep in his bed (with his wife) for a bit.

Well, I began the questioning at dinner tonight. Some of the questions, in no particular order...

CA: Captain Angry
LB: Little Brother

CA: How is the surge going?
LB: It's working, sort of. Many of the places that are getting the extra attention are quieting down, but the areas that we've left alone are getting worse. There are problems everywhere, but there are no problems in the places that we can patrol actively. Some parts of the country have one incident a month now. Some parts have 5+ a day.

CA: What have you been doing during this last tour?
LB: Guarding KBR as they moved stuff, mostly fuel, around the country and to different bases. We do this in such an obvious way that it's no wonder we're hit with IEDs all the time. The convoys are laid out the same way every time, the convoy leader is in the middle of the convoy. Everybody knows it. So, when an IED is set off, or an attack happens, they just wait for the front escort vehicles to drive by, and they nail the important stuff in the middle.

CA: What was different during this tour as opposed to last time you were there a couple of years ago?
LB: We can't go out and talk to people anymore. People used to wave at us. We could go out in a small group, and buy something from a street vendor. You don't ever leave without a vehicle and ready to shoot anymore. (Last tour, he brought me a stack of Hussein Dinars. This tour, they weren't allowed outside to speak to people enough to try to get some of the new currency.)
LB: Last time, people would point us to the "bad guys." Local children would tell us about people that were acting funny or had guests that had a lot of money, etc. (A lot of money means $750,000 cash in US Dollars.)

CA: How safe is it to travel around the country? Is it like a state fair in Indiana?
LB: Hell no. When big name political types come, they need a massive security detail. And that's after the town is swept and the rooftops are covered with snipers. There are zones that you know something will happen. You know that there have been 5+ attacks in the same stretch of road in the last week. Some roads have craters so deep that you could put a whole Humvee in them. We don't have enough people (between US and Iraqi soldiers) to watch the roads constantly. When we go back to base, somebody plants a bomb in the same place that the IED just went off. They can put these devices in the middle of the road, and drive away. Some roads are nearly impassable due to multiple bombings at the same location.

CA: What did you think of Petraeus?
LB: We had no interaction with him, and heard next to nothing from him. But he wasn't popular.

CA: Are there really IEDs, explosives and such coming in from Iran?
LB: Yep, we had people stationed in the area that watched the trucks coming across the border.

CA: Why the hell wasn't the border covered, and anything coming in from Iran buried?
LB: Good question, but we all could see the stuff coming in.

CA: Anything coming in from Syria?
LB: Nope, the Marines have that half of the country completely locked down, informants in the little towns, etc.

CA: What do you think of the war? (This was my leading question in case he hadn't heard about the phony soldier bit)
LB: We're not being used correctly, the training of the Iraqis isn't happening, and the country as a whole is much worse now. It's a total disaster.
CA: You know, Rush Limbaugh says you're a phony soldier for disagreeing with how things are going.
LB: Rush can go over there and count the dead. The cemetery back at my base is now full.

CA: What pisses you off the most?
LB: Fred Phelps. (My brother's base is in Kansas, so Phelps is around all the time protesting at the funerals of soldiers.)
LB: We saw him protesting one time outside of our base. We gave him the finger as we drove by. We casually mentioned it to some people when we got back to base, and all of a sudden 8 truckloads of soldiers carrying bats filled up and started speeding towards the gate where Phelps was. The base police saw what was happening, and knew Phelps was at that gate. They knew they couldn't stop the soldiers, so they sealed the base to make sure that nobody got killed that day.

CA: Anything you left out in your phone calls so that we could sleep?
LB: Yeah, I didn't get hit by one IED, but three. If the guy who set #3 hadn't been an idiot, I'd be dead. There are several types of IED, most make loud booms, some break stuff. And some kill everything within 50 feet. They have a new kind of shaped charge/copper bearing bomb that when it explodes, it goes through the ceramic armor, the steel, the .50 cal weapon, the steel on the other side of the vehicle, and the ceramic on the other side of that steel. We don't have anything that can protect us against them. They must be expensive because we've only heard of a few of them being used. I'm just lucky the guy who set the one we hit had faced it the wrong direction.
CA: (This is about the time I almost threw up.)

So, I'm luckier than I knew that he's home, and doing well.

Any more questions you'd like me to ask?

I left out the parts of our conversation about devil music (our fond term for loud music), Family Guy, the NHL, etc. :-)

[kysrsoze]

1. Naw, just tell him we appreciate the sacrifice he and his fellow soldiers are making

Regardless of what I think about this war, he's got some serious balls to be over there and I can't say anything bad about him.

Then again, you could ask him how Mr. Eddie's father is doing. He he.

[Greyhound]

2. This just pisses me off so much.

I'm ready to declare war on our whole damn government.:grr:

I've been hearing this kind of shit my whole life and it never changes. Shitheads with no clue running the show and wasting lives for the benefit of others.

Tell little bro, "Welcome home, glad you made it".
:kick: & R #5

[Captain Angry]

4. I forgot to add one of his statements.

He said that a lot of guys just got sent over, and they failed their "readiness" test. They were deployed anyway. Nearly 200 of the recent American deaths in Iraq were from this group. He mentioned this in the bit about Limbaugh and the cemetery that no longer has any room.

I didn't press because he was very upset about it.

But the sweetest kid you'll ever meet told me that he was ready to shoot somebody (in our government) over the fact that these guys were sent in unprepared. He said that before the unit was sent in that they asked his unit for volunteers with experience. They said we don't want married guys or people on stop-loss.

I will be poking in on this one a little more when I feel like it's ok. I want details on that deployment.

[babylonsister]

3. I'm glad you started asking, and your bro was into answering.

Is it worth it? Really? Will any effort on our part help, or is it beyond redemption in Iraq?

[Captain Angry]

5. He's no General.

I get the feeling, that from his point of view that he thinks the entire strategy is a failure, and that we should have left 2 days after Hussein was deposed.

But I don't get the feeling that he has any hope that it's going to end with the strategy currently being employed.

[orleans]

10. he won't be going back will he? if he is redeployed again will he go?

i saw something about 10,000 troops from this war are awol

they have just got to stop and say NO. (hey, if the resident in the white house can do it so can they!)

WHAT IF THEY GAVE A WAR AND NOBODY CAME?

[Captain Angry]

12. His enlistment ends in December.

ACTUALLY, it ended last year, but the Army said they would miss him, and felt it was better for all involved if he'd just head back to Iraq again.

So, since they already extended his enlistment for a year once, I don't think they're ready to do it twice. He has papers in hand with a date on it that says "Bye!"

He'd go back, for the same reason most troops go back. To be there with the other troops, to watch their back.

He's a hell of a lot tougher than me. That's for sure.

[truedelphi]

26. "He'd go back, for the same reason most troops go back

To be there with the other troops, to watch their backs."

How can such an inhumane activity leave intact anyone's sense of decency?

Kudos to your brother's strength of spirit and heart.

[babylonsister]

11. We need to change that mindset here poste haste. The men and women

should not be there, for something they and we don't believe in.

[Captain Angry]

13. A lot of people believe in the fight.

I still haven't gotten a straight answer out of any of those types though. I go for the logical conclusion questioning.

If victory is declared when there are no more people shooting at us anywhere, isn't the logical conclusion that you have to kill everybody that is there? Just in case?

The people who are fully behind this invasion and occupation are never able to answer that one without admitting that yes, in their opinion, the world would be a better place if we just nuked them all. Since some people there don't like us, the whole region must be useless.

It's a good thing that I'm a law abiding citizen, because if I could get away with it, I'd be smacking a bunch of people on a regular basis.

[babylonsister]

14. Ha. Who? nt

[babylonsister]

16. Nuked them all? Jeeze, I take back any support I put on this thread. nt

[Ghost in the Machine]

20. read it again...

he's saying that that's what some of these fervent war supporters would have to admit to if they held themselves true to their beliefs.

He's not saying that's how he or his brother feels..

:hi:

[Captain Angry]

41. Thanks for re-reading it.

That's what I was trying to say. Nobody in their right mind could think that way. But a lot of people do, and it's damn depressing.

I have distanced myself from the war mongers in my life. Life is too short to deal with idiots.

[lonestarnot]

50. Tell him we are sorry he had to lick bushitler ass.

[Fleshdancer]

6. great thread

thank you so much for sharing this with us.

[gateley]

7. I'd love for every single member of the House and Senate to read this. And

maybe Olbermann.

Thank you so much for this. I'm grateful your brother his home. And thank him for us.

[Captain Angry]

8. I told him that several hundred awesome people thanked him for his service

and for getting home safe.

He wasn't sure how to react to that. :-) He was very appreciative.

[gateley]

9. As are we -- if he only knew. nt

[Lasher]

15. Please add one more to that list.

Welcome back, LB, and thanks for your service. I am glad you made it home safely.

Lasher

[Duppers]

54. I just wrote to Sen. Webb

and quoted Captain Angry and link to this thread.

I want an answer as to why troops witness explosives coming in from Iran and are unable to do anything about it. I said,

"I do not support a war with Iran, yet I do not want any more of our soldiers killed. I hope you can use your influence within the Pentagon to investigate why that border is not sealed and why our soldier who witness these transport from Iran have no authority to fire upon them.

This neglect would leave one to draw a most sickening conclusion that this administration wants to continue to bankrupt this country, financially and morally, by continuing to fund contractors in Iraq, i.e. keep this war going, just as Bill Moyers of the PBS reported in "Buying the War."

I do note that Sen. Webb and Sen. McCaskill are pushing an important amendment:

Webb-McCaskill Amendment Wins Approval for Landmark Wartime Contracting Accountability

Washington, DC - A landmark provision sponsored by U.S. Senators Jim Webb (D-VA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and their seven Senate Democratic freshman colleagues won unanimous approval in the Senate today. The provision, to establish an independent, bipartisan Commission to investigate U.S. wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, was debated during consideration of the Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Defense for fiscal year 2008.
"This is an historic moment," said Webb. "On the campaign trail last year, we talked about the need to restore basic accountability to our government. We talked about the need to ensure that the federal government works in an honest and efficient manner-and that American taxpayers get real value for their investment. Today, we're one step closer to that goal."

more here: http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=284477&


Angry Captain, I thank you for your post and your brother for his service.

-d

[CGowen]

17. If there was evidence for Iranian weapons, we would be in Iran

Given all this, you would probably be well advised to keep your forces, including clandestine forces, as far away from the Iraqi border as you can. You might even consider bringing in some neighbors to verify that you are not shipping arms next door.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/unsolicited-advice-to-the_b_65984.html

In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran. “Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on our forces and the Iraqi people,” Bush told the national convention of the American Legion in August. “The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased. . . . The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And, until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops.” He then concluded, to applause, “I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities.”

The President’s position, and its corollary—that, if many of America’s problems in Iraq are the responsibility of Tehran, then the solution to them is to confront the Iranians—have taken firm hold in the Administration. This summer, the White House, pushed by the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff redraw long-standing plans for a possible attack on Iran, according to former officials and government consultants. The focus of the plans had been a broad bombing attack, with targets including Iran’s known and suspected nuclear facilities and other military and infrastructure sites.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/08/071008fa_fact_hersh

[democrank]

18. Glad you made it home safely, LB.

~PEACE~

[Swamp Rat]

19. k&r

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

21. Those shaped charges are nasty.

Unfortunately, they aren't especially hard to make (at least with the things in America). It is VERY good for our soldiers that most of the fighters there ARE idiots. I'm so glad that your brother is back :hug:

[fed-up]

22. how do we at home override the brainwashing of the troops and make it clear they are needed at home

to work on bringing the rest of the troops home

we need their war stories/impressions to be on the front page of every paper

we need them to understand that the best way to support their fellow troops is to speak out and get them out of the clusterf*ck now

that they have a choice and going back to Iraq/Afghanistan is NOT the best way to end this war



and glad he made it home safe

[LWolf]

23. Thank you for sharing,

and thank whatever you believe in for bringing your brother home.

This fall I will be housing a former soldier; my son's best friend. He's been discharged for a year, after a stop-loss extension of his terms of service that kept him there for an extra year. He's been living in the state he was deployed from, not doing very well, and has decided to come home, not to his parents, but to our home, which has been a 2nd home to him since high school.

I'm worried. I worried about him the whole time he was there, of course, but he would never talk, at all, about what he was doing. I know he was a sniper, and was stationed at Mosul for most of his tour. That's it.

I know he's been troubled since his release, and had various associated problems. I know my son says he is a "different person." I don't know what to expect, but I hope he finds some comfort here.

[shireen]

27. he's got a safe loving place to start the healing process

The love and support of your family will do wonders for his spirit.
Please let him know that we thank him for his service.

[LWolf]

39. I will do so,

and your kind words mean much to me tonight.

[nadinbrzezinski]

68. And whatever you do, don't do any sudden noises around him

especially if he's sleeping

Oh and sleep...

Nice theory

My hubby came home for the last time in 2002 and he was in the navy.

He saw some things... and sleep at times eludes him. So that will be one problem

As to your son saying he's different, he is. War changes people

And give him a hug (assuming he'll take it) from the rest of us

He will need time and you may want to softly encourage him to go down to the VA and talk to other vets

It is strange, but one reason why my hubby speaks is I also was shot at during my service as a medic somewhere else

Trust me, being scared shitless does not chage just becuase I spoke a different language, and wore a different uniform.

Oh and do expect the thousand mile stare, some MOS's produce more of that, and scout snipers are particularly bad

In time he should be able to function in normal society.

Why we should never slip the dogs of war just because

[LWolf]

71. Great suggestions, thank you. n/t

[annabanana]

24. Thank you for this post.

What we get on TV is so completely filtered by the B*sh friendly CEOs of the 5 companies that own everything. I wish more people had the opportunity to hear this dialog and others like it.

[robinlynne]

25. some really interesting knowledge there. This is the second time I've read about

oil convoys driving around. I wonder how the warmongers would feel if they knew our men were dying to protect fuel convoys?

[MANative]

28. My deep appreciation to your brother for his

service. As the daughter of an Army vet (2 tours in Vietnam and total 27 years), I know first-hand how difficult it is to be one of those waiting at home, so my heart goes out to you too, Captain Angry. I'd love to know more about how he views the Iran involvement issue. I've heard so many conflicting things on this, I just don't know what to believe.

[Captain Angry]

45. Thanks.

When I started asking about Iran, I was trying to figure out if he'd seen things, been told things, or heard from reliable sources.

As somebody as far down the food chain as he is, it's hard to tell how much he'd have access to.

I'm going to keep trying to figure it out. He really had no idea the drumbeat for hitting Iran was so loud here.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

29. I am glad he still appears "whole". Lucky you to have a healthy enough relationship,...

,...to talk about the war and his willingness to share his thoughts/feelings.

I hope your (and my) little bro' isn't forced to go back.

Thank you for sharing.

[SaveAmerica]

30. Don't these two things go hand in hand?

"CA: Why the hell wasn't the border covered, and anything coming in from Iran buried?
LB: Good question, but we all could see the stuff coming in.

CA: Anything coming in from Syria?
LB: Nope, the Marines have that half of the country completely locked down, informants in the little towns, etc."

One border has proof that they CAN keep stuff out, one border is open wider than Madonna. It wouldn't help their purpose if the border is blocked as it should be. The worst part about this, IMO, is that our troops (like your brother) are watching it happen, they know it's happening. They know what the military can do when they get the order to do it. How does that make them feel to know that this border is not being guarded as it should be? It HAS to feel like your government is setting you up for a fall. They do not have our military's back (duh).

Tell your brother thanks from my family, his service is truly appreciated. I hope that he and all his buddies get whatever support and benefits they're supposed to.

[riderinthestorm]

34. My guess: the open border with Iran is to ensure nasty shit gets into Iraq

so we have our "excuse" to make war on Iran....

It's no coincidence that our govt is allowing the Iranian border to remain a sieve at this point in time, imho.

[Roland99]

31. What's his take on allowing stuff in from Iran? on purpose to start next war?

[understandinglife]

32. please tell him thank you ...

[cmd]

33. Thank you both

You for the questions; your brother for his service and his answers.

[VLC]

35. It disturbs me that they were taking tips from children

on who was acting funny... Actually it disturbs me that they would take such tips from anyone. I wonder how many innocent but weird people are in Guantanamo or similar because of this.

[Captain Angry]

43. I wasn't very clear...

Some of the tips were about people brandishing grenades and such. They'd call it in, and if they could eliminate any potential of it being an ambush, they'd check it out.

Other tips were from local citizens (adults) when they saw a neighbor receive visitors from out of country. These visitors came with a lot of luggage. They know the accents, they know the mannerisms, and are able to pass along some good information.

[phantom power]

36. "Rush can go over there and count the dead." Fuckin A.

[Yael]

37. Thank you for sharing this

and thank him for his service.

I will say that I about vomited with you when I saw the comments about the IED helmet inserts. :grr:

[nam78_two]

38. K&R

And glad LB made it home safe :toast:

[sce56]

40. Yes what is his ETS? And I hope it is soon!

Got Fascism Yet?
http://web.archive.org/web/20030602211200/
Fascism Accomplished!


PS for those not in the know, ETS = Expiration Term of Service or the day you are set free!

[Captain Angry]

42. He's done with the enlistment in December.

I think they can bring him back as inactive reserve for another two years.

[sce56]

46. Good to hear and yes they incure a total of eight years active and inactive

That is 8 from the day he first signed up even if he did not go in right away! But that don't keep them from trying to fool people that have finished their eight years I have heard of some being called back after they were out for ten since first enlistment. Thankfully my Son did his full time straight he got out last year after eight and he is done period after two tours of duty in Iraq. I'm now past a total of thirty active and retired reserve 20 + 10. Good luck to your Bro and I hope he gets everything he can from the VA. By the way for those not in the know a Cal Vet who has a disability rating will earn free tuition for their children in California even with a zero disability rating that means a lot so it is something to get done for the childrenS!

[Captain Angry]

48. He knew about the start date. I remember him mentioning that now.

He signed up well in advance, so that period is indeed shorter than it could be.

[Stump]

52. Hopefully...

They won't hit him with a stop-loss...I've heard that's pretty common these days.

[Captain Angry]

57. That's how he got to back to Iraq in the first place.

He was due to be out last year, and the Army said it would be awfully nice of him to not leave and head back to Iraq.

I don't think they can stop-loss him twice.

But I have already told my brother that if we hit Iran and the Army comes a callin', that I'll put $20,000 in his hand and send his ass to Canada. :-)

[sce56]

59. One more thing you can do for him is clue him in on the possible health problems he might develop

have due to his service. He might want to network it with his buddies as well.
From http://www.beyondtreason.com/




Please fax your name, address, and DD214 Form to: [phone]
or mail duplicate DD214 to: Veteran's DVD - P.O. Box 85 - Versailles, MO 65084

The use of DU weapons over there means they have contaminated a lot of the countryside with radioactive dust!
Best of luck to him!

[Xenotime]

44. Just shows how wrong Rush is. good work.

[Maestro]

47. Thanks for letting us in the conversation.

Send this to Limpballs as well!

[natrat]

49. glad he's home safe

my theory is that at the highest level cheney and iran are in cahoots and want instability so they let the weapons in from iran

[MrMickeysMom]

51. Thanks to your conversation, I heard real news today.

I guess I won't need to tell you how special your LB is. Thanks to you both-

:patriot:

[Captain Angry]

53. Real news is hard to come by.

I will say this though, if it weren't for Amy Goodman, I would have no regular source of real news at all.

I'm going to let him settle back in a while more, and then I'll start asking a lot more clarification questions. About Iran, about the lack of training that new people coming in are experiencing, etc.

LB is a fantastic kid. I like to think that I might have made it out of Iraq alive, but I have way too big a mouth. LB knows what is right/wrong, but he also knows that having an opinion while in a warzone is hazardous to ones health.

[MrMickeysMom]

56. Sounds like good self reflection...

... You're right about Amy Goodman. THAT is real news.

Perhaps through your "mouth" and your LB's acquired wisdom during his tours, he has the makings of a memoir... "What did you see in Iraq, little Bro?"

For the sake of all of us, keep these conversation up, please.

[The Straight Story]

55. A kick and thanks to your bro! (nt)

[Triana]

58. THANK YOU AG, and PLEASE thank HIM, most importantly. (n/t)

[ooglymoogly]

60. no other way to put it;, good men/women on a fools errand

Guess who are the fools.

[Seabiscuit]

61. I've never heard of Fred Phelps. Who is he and what kind of protest does he conduct at funerals?

Is he protesting the war at funerals? What exactly is the message of his protests? And what is he doing hanging around military funerals and military bases?

Your brother doesn't seem too happy about the war, so what exactly is his beef with Fred Phelps?

Some guy who protests something or other at funerals should be the least of your brother's concerns.

[Roland99]

62. Enjoy.... >>>>

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fred+phelps&btnG=Google+Search

[Seabiscuit]

64. Thanks - Phelps is a nut case's nut case.

[Roland99]

65. that's an insult to nutcases the world over!

;)


Phelps is just a vile piece of sh*t.



Hmm...and that's an insult to vile pieces of sh*t.

[Seabiscuit]

73. A steaming pile of horse manure.

Which is an insult to noble horses and venerable manure piles everywhere.

[Captain Angry]

69. Roland got to you before I could.

Phelps is an awful person that thrives on attention, and will go anywhere he can to get it.

Protesting a war is one thing.
Protesting a dead soldier because he was in an Army that allows homosexuals in it is something totally different.

[Seabiscuit]

74. I was gratified to see that as an attorney he was disbarred.

Apparently he only learned enough about the law to be dangerous to his clients and others.

[sandnsea]

63. Just give him a hug

and tell him we're all glad he made it. Fucking war.

[whoneedstickets]

66. That may be among the most informative things I've read about this war...

please keep asking questions and posting info from the ground.

[Captain Angry]

70. I'm warming up some questions about Iran and the training issues I mentioned.

He's heading home to introduce his wife to the extended family, so I won't get to talk to him until next week.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. From one phoney military family to another, thank you

and tell him that if he can do it... not everybody can... writing things down may be a good thing.

Oh and give him a big hug from one phoney to another

You know, the worst thing Rush could have happen is all of us taking his phoney remark as a badge of honor...

After all this know nothing yellow backed chickenhawk would not know a real soldier if it came to him and hit him in the face

:-)

And yes, we are glad that he's home and the idiot didn't place that IED in the right direction

I'll take dumb luck any day of the week and twice on sunday

[zanne]

72. I'm so glad that he's home....

If he makes even a hint about going back sometime, lock him in a room or something! I can't imagine how relieved you are.