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MAF Presents: The Daily File Blog
Here at the Move America Forward Daily File we chronicle the good news on the War on Terrorism you might
not have heard about on the evening news. We also shine the spotlight on those whose conduct against our
country and our military is unbecoming.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Update: Move America Forward team heading home
After an amazing journey of over a week here in Iraq, the Move America Forward team is heading home.
Right now we are in Baghdad waiting for a military flight that will take us to Kuwait, where we may have to wait a day before taking a commercial flight back to the states. If all goes well we will be home just in time for 2008
I want to thank everyone for all their support and e-mails while we have been here in Iraq, it has really helped tremendously.
Also I want to remind everyone to please stay tuned for the next few weeks. As we sort through everything that has happened, its going to take days and days of writing to tell the whole story. So keep checking back because we still have many amazing things to share!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Shock : Pakistani candidate Benazir Bhutto dead in apparent terrorist attack!
It is a sad day for politics all around the world.
Less than an hour ago, I had just come out of my room here at our Forward Operating Base in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. We have been working all day long on making travel arrangements for home.
It’s been a little stressful because when we’re dealing with the military, trying to schedule flights and things, your plans may change at any minute, up to the last second you get on that plane/helicopter/whatever.
I saw Mary in the hallway and we decided we would go get dinner, on the way over we saw Debbie Lee on her way back from the ‘chow hall’. She was on her way back to resume trying to make the arrangements...by the time Mary and I made it to the mess hall and got our food to sit down, the big screen TVs were already running the headlines.
Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister and recently returned political exile, who was campaigning in Pakistan for a return to power, has been assasinated in an apparent terrorist attack.
The perpetrator of this horrible crime shot Bhutto three times at point-blank range, then blew himself up, taking the lives of 20 other Pakistanis, in a terrible suicide bombing. Early statements from the Pakistani government blame terrorists, and judging by their tactics, this would make sense. Who knows which group is responsible. Whoever did it, this is a deplorable action which will not go unpunished.
I am sure that President Bush is on the phone with Musharrif right now, ensuring him that our finest special forces and investigators are available to give whatever help he needs to bring those responsible to justice.
I can’t say for certain who could be responsible for these attacks. Already there are people in Pakistan pointing the finger at Musharrif himself. I doubt he would do such a thing but I guess anything is possible. Al Qaeda may have been behind it, which I think sounds the most probable ( they have threatened Bhutto AND Musharrif before ) but even if it was another organization, it does not matter. It goes to show that Al Qaeda and terrorist organizations LIKE them represent a GLOBAL problem.
I can only imagine how difficult it would be to control terrorism if our troops were pulled out of Iraq and there was no one to keep order.
In any case, I am sure more news on this will be coming out shortly, for now, all I can offer is my own condolences and those of all of us here at Move America Forward in Iraq tonight. Debbie Lee and Mary Pearson both expressed their sadness and concern to me earlier.
To the family of Benazir Bhutto, you are in our thoughts and prayers in Baghdad tonight…
Dec 27 - Christmas Recap
December 27, 2007
A very merry Christmas to you all.
I hope everyone has recovered from a night of drinking and being merry and that everyone’s holiday has been safe and joyous with family and friends.
Move America Forward’s Iraq delegation is still here, with our favorite friends of all, our brave servicemen and women serving here in Iraq. We’ve been here in southern Baghdad for a almost a whole week and our troops have shown us many wonderful things since we arrived.
We have been out on the streets of Baghdad, seen the progress and the great work that our soldiers have done.
We have been in the mess hall and wandered around base to see how the soldiers spend their days. We have passed out Christmas cards and wished out troops a Merry Christmas.
We have interviewed dozens of soldiers to get in-depth views of their thoughts on the war, the military life, their families back home and how they feel during the holidays.
We’ve been taken behind closed doors to see how our military negotiates with and works with political parties, neighborhoods, and Iraqi security forces to produce safety and a better way of life for the Iraqi people.
We’ve been shown first-hand how our troops walk the neighborhoods and goes into homes to visit with the Iraqis.
We have seen how our military does it’s job, flushing out terrorists from the neighborhoods and bringing them to justice, and been shown exactly how they’re doing it, and with what great success.
We have seen the professionalism, the leadership, the compassion, the maturity, the determination, the sense of responsibility and duty, and the strength that defines a new generation of fighting men and women who are committed to excellence and the success of their mission.
All of these things have been shown to us by our men and women here in Iraq who have taken excellent care of Mary, Debbie Lee, and I this Christmas. It’s been an immensely enjoyable and educating experience so far, and it’s not even over yet.
I keep thinking to myself…how do I sort through it all? There is so much to see here, we haven’t even scratched the surface. And all that we have seen, how do we tell the story? We have been bombarded with so much information, we have seen so much, I can’t even begin to tell of all the wonderful things that the soldiers here have shown me and told of. It will take days and days of writing to even attempt to impart a little of that back to our readers back home, but we will do our best.
In the mean time, please check out these photos of our troops at Christmas time. I must say, I arrived there with Debbie Lee and Mary Pearson thinking that we were coming to brighten THEIR holiday season. But really, they have lightened our loads this Christmas, they have made OUR Christmas better, by showing us that they did not need us to lift their spirits. Their spirits are already high, their attitudes and smiles have shown that.
We came here to thank them, but every time we try, they thank us. We came here to show them a Merry Christmas, but it is they who have shown us a wonderful time this holiday.
These men and women, our sons and daughters in the armed forces, have shown a selflessness and grace - even after we have asked so much of them - that is truly remarkable. They have gone to war for their country and taken up arms in defense of a fledgling nation of people they have never known before, sacrificed time and time again, and sacrificed so much, and ask nothing in return. They continue to give and give.
We honor you. We thank you and praise you for the good work you do, and wish you a Merry Christmas…our American Soldier.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas in Iraq - From Debbie Lee (Gold Star Mom)
It’s Christmas morning 2007 and I arise, but not to the typical Christmas traditions. There is no Christmas Tree with sparkling lights to be plugged in, no presents to be opened, no stockings are hung, no Stereo to play the Christmas CD’s. There will be no Christmas table set with fine china and family gathered around smelling the aroma of a roasting turkey or pumpkin pies. No children or grandchildren with their excitement and laughter filling the air. No snow falling on the ground. That doesn’t mean that I won’t be celebrating and remembering the birth of my savior who was born to be a sacrifice and give the best gift of all, an eternity with Him for those who believe. I’m closer than I have ever been to the physical place where Jesus Christ was born. This Christmas I am in Baghdad, Iraq sharing Christ’s love and hope with the troops.
The communion to go cups were something I had nevered witnessed before. They were just a swallow of grapejuice sealed in a little plastic cup and on the top of that was another layer with the wafer of communion bread and then another seal over it. All compacted to go ready to be trasported to any battelfield. This is a Chirstmas that I will never forget. It’s been said that there are only two that would willingly die for you.
The first we had celebrated his birth today, Jesus Christ. The second I was blessed to be surrounded by this Christmas, the American Soldiers. My son Marc Alan Lee, the first Navy Seal killed in Iraq 8-2-06 was one of those who laid down his life for you and for me. I love him and miss him deeply and I will never forget the price he paid along with so many others who were called to give it all. That won’t be required of most of these brave troops, but they are willing to do that for you and for me.
This Christmas I came to encourage and love our Heroes serving in the armed forces. To let them know that Americans across the nation send their thanks, love and support. To remind them that they and their families are not forgotten this Christmas. Yet almost every time I thanked them for serving they would thank me for thanking them. Such humble young men and women. We as Americans are so blessed with those defending us and with the blessings that God has granted us as a Christian nation. So if you don’t know either of these two who willingly give it all for you, I would encourage you to get to know Jesus Christ first, then adopt one of our brave men and women serving in the armed forces.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Dec 23, 2007 - Our first look at the situation on the ground
Sunday Dec 23
According to my computer it’s about 1:00 in the morning Montana time, or just after midnight at headquarters in Sacramento. I can’t believe it’s actually the third day we’ve been at this base in southern Baghdad. Time seems to just blend together out here, just like it does when we are off touring the US, but here it is even more bizarre and disorienting. I wonder if the guys out here are just used to it or if it’s like that for them too.
Finding our Unit
We got on our ‘helo’ and taxied for a little bit…Blackhawks actually have wheels, and lifted off. It was MUCH smoother lifting off the ground than I had expected. I have never been in a helicopter before, but I had imagined it would be laborious to actually get off the ground. Sort of how it’s tough to get a truck moving when it is loaded up with a bunch of cargo, but once you get going momentum allows you to move it easier, it’s just that initial speed-up from a stationary position that’s tough. But lifting off in this chopper did not feel labored at all, it actually felt powerful, like we had been shot off from the ground by a spring or launched from a rocket…the engines that power these helo screws must be very capable. The flight on a Blackhawk was loud but amazing; I was very impressed with how smooth and agile these things are… I felt like we could have dodged a missile if we had to. Maybe that’s partially due to the skill of the pilots too. We were flying low over Baghdad and you could see everything very clearly.
 [[ A view from the skies over Baghdad ]] Baghdad, as later would be explained to me, is not what you might call a centrally planned city, it’s more of a conglomeration of smaller neighborhoods that all sprouted out around the fertile areas between the Tigris and Euphrates. As these little neighborhoods grew larger, the boundaries between them eventually disappeared and became one sprawling metropolis. Flying overhead does offer some stunning views of endless houses and apartments stretching way out, long bridges across the Tigris, and several huge palaces or compounds, I couldn’t really tell what they were from that high up. We arrived at our landing pad which was not at CPIC but another location close by…we were somewhere in the Green Zone. Someone from CPIC came to pick us up in another unmarked SUV and drove us about five minutes, to CPIC which is also in the Green Zone, where we got our pictures taken and our press badges made. The guys there were all really nice and cooperated with us. We were trying to coordinate another ‘helo’ ride to our final destination (tentatively final) of a Forward Operating Base somewhere outside the Green Zone, in the south of Baghdad. We thought we’d have to spend the night at CPIC which didn’t actually sound bad because we were all exhausted, none of us had slept since we were in Kuwait. Then someone came in and said that just by chance there was a convoy of MRAPS that had been deployed from our embed unit into the area and if we could be ready in an hour, they could take us right to the FOB. So we packed our stuff and got into these huge vehicles, the latest and greatest that our military engineers have to offer. Inside the MRAP it’s very roomy and you can actually walk around if you bend down a little. The vehicles ride way high up, and the hulls are shaped a certain way so that even if an IED does go off under the vehicle, most of the force of it is directed away from the passengers. Since they’re so much larger, I asked if the MRAPs are slow, but actually they are capable of reaching high speeds, faster than what the military normally operates them at. I have heard a lot about these things and there was some controversy, if I remember correctly, about the military wanting more funding to get more MRAPs and not getting what they asked for. I hope that whatever Congress is doing, they let the pentagon or DOD buy enough of these MRAPs because the guys over here really need them and want more.
We got to our embed unit’s FOB and were given our own private rooms in an actual building (nice!) with actual beds and heaters. Actually, I should note here that technically all the tents we have been in so far have been heated, and comfortable, which I was impressed by. The military is taking very good care of our guys out here, and our guys are taking good care of Move America Forward. We met some of our local contacts and people that we would need to know if we needed this or that. Then they told us to be ready for a ‘briefing’ at 0900 and they let us get to bed.
 [[ The “Victory Tree” at our FOB ]]
The Briefing – How the 1/4 Cav is beating the enemy
Attending the meeting were Lt. Col Crider, Major Baer, Major Callahan, Staff Sergeant New and St Lieutenants Satre, Micro, and Lee. They took us through and Crider explained the timeline of their mission here. The unit we are embedded with got to Kuwait in February and finished moving into southern Baghdad in May, which is when their mission actually started. The mission they came with was to reduce violence, protect the local population and provide the peace and quiet necessary to allow political progress. Lt. Col Crider talked a bit about the makeup of the unit and how many guys were in each squad, stuff like that, then First Lieutenant Lee, who is like an intelligence officer, walked us through the events of the last few months. When the 1/4 Cav first got to Iraq, the level of IED incidents and occurrences of violence per day was very high. In the first 30 days they were in charge of the region there were 52 events (an IED exploded, a murder, a shooting, a firefight, a kidnapping, ect.) in 30 days. IED attacks were almost 100% effective at that time, meaning that almost 100% of IED attacks resulted in a death. In that first 30 days only 16 enemies were captured or detained. The unit was getting no cooperation from the local community, had not informants and no sources. In short, the situation looked pretty bleak. Lee showed us, on the projector, a map of the AOR (the area that the unit was in charge of) in May - when the unit first arrived - which had little red flags placed at every place where an IED had gone off, a person had been kidnapped or murdered, and everywhere that Al Qaeda had perpetrated something. The map was full of red flags, most of them concentrated along this one highway and these two neighborhood streets. Then Lee switched to the same map, with flags similarly placed, that represented enemy events in September. It was vastly different, like night and day. The map had one red flag on it, an IED explosion that no one was even harmed in. Debbie Lee, Mary, and I were all very impressed, I mean right there you could see the progress was very apparent. So how exactly is progress this drastic possible? How did this relatively small unit take one of Al Qaeda’s strongest neighborhoods and completely turn it around, and expel the terrorists from the neighborhoods? I asked Lt. Col Crider, and to answer me, he wanted to explain not just the solution, but the problem they had faced when they got to Baghdad. To fight Al Qaeda, you have to know how they operate and what their strategy was. Basically, Al Qaeda was simply attempting to keep Baghdad as unsafe as possible and thus exacerbate sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia. These neighborhoods, which were largely Shia dominated, had seen their Sunni populations fleeing in huge numbers to Syria. Al Qaeda came in and began extorting the local population, intimidating them, threatening them into not cooperating with the US Military. Lt. Col Crider told me how Al Qaeda had beheaded several locals who had tried to cooperate and had been informants to the US. Early patrols had found the severed heads of these unfortunates on the sidewalks. Al Qaeda funded its operations through kidnapping and ransoming people, and extorting them by making people pay for protection. They also had a monopoly on black market fuel. Many people around here need gasoline or propane to power vehicles or generators for their houses, and Al Qaeda had made the streets so dangerous that it was far too risky to get in your vehicle and drive to a gas station, so the terrorists would come in and sell the fuel that locals needed at insane prices. They also went into houses and stole furniture or valuables to be sold for financing more terrorist activities. Al Qaeda was also trying to move their families into some of the abandoned houses in order to try and take over the neighborhoods.
Crider told me that their response came directly from the counterinsurgency textbook. In fact, before deployment here, he said, everyone had to actually read a textbook on counterinsurgency. The response itself is actually very simple, and that is to put soldiers on the ground on streets and neighborhoods 24 hours a day. We really had to make the soldiers a part of the community like they never had been before. One part of this strategy
Crider said that the overriding principle behind everything in the new strategy was to ‘care for the local people unconditionally’ that means even if there was an IED exploding somewhere or someone had been hit by sniper fire that day, not to get angry at the neighborhood but to understand that the locals themselves were victims just like the victims of sniper fire or a roadside bomb. There was also a high level of humanitarian outreach. The military came in with soccer balls, blankets, electric heaters, and began selling gasoline, kerosene, and propane at market prices to undercut the black market. They also had engineers come in to replace the electrical systems, clean up the streets from the massive mounds of trash that littered everything and improve the sewer management system that were often overextended, causing disgusting sewage waste to empty out into the streets and causing sickness in the local population. The military upgraded several local medical clinics and build parks, new sidewalks, and put up new walls to stop Al Qaeda from entering the neighborhoods from outside. All of the manpower to complete these projects came from the locals as the military wanted to keep all the money in the community and provide jobs for locals. They also provided small grants to foster businesses and delivered the money personally to the resident’s homes or businesses. On one street there were previously 11 stores and businesses where there are presently 150 on the same street. To control the population – and thus Al Qaeda’s access to the neighborhoods, they put up walls near the freeways so that terrorists could not easily cross in and out of the neighborhoods. That meant that it was harder for them to escape once they were identified as hostiles by our men, and it was harder for them to come in from neighboring rural areas to intimidate the locals. The walls themselves, while they started out as eyesores, are actually beautiful now, as the military hired a local resident to paint murals on them. To control the incidences of Al Qaeda moving families in and squatting on abandoned properties, they started putting locks on empty houses and asking for proof of ownership and asking locals about their neighbors. Crider said some people would say ‘yeah, I know that guy he’s been my neighbor for 14 years’ and others would say ‘no, I don’t know who that family is, they just came in one day and they don’t talk to anyone and keep to themselves’ so that gave our guys a lot of leads, and it was only through visiting Iraqis in their homes and gaining their trust that the locals started to open up with that kind of information. Basically we won these neighborhoods back not by shooting the enemy and doing house to house clearing…although there were initially lots of firefights and IED explosions…these streets were paid for in blood, but that’s only because they were so dangerous to begin with. The neighborhoods were won over by winning the hearts and minds of the local residents, by being there for them, and being a compassionate provider. The US Army has basically been the only government out here it now administers everything from electricity to water, sewage, parks and recreating, everything. And they’re doing so very effectively. Now, the locals that our guys talk to are happy and cooperative, and when a stranger or someone up to no good moves into the neighborhood they get multiple reports of suspicious activity. The last IED incident that occurred in this area of Baghdad was October 16th. There was a HUMMV driving along a road and they noticed some kids jumping up and down from a rooftop yelling “mister, no! mister no!” The truck stopped and the kids pointed down to the dirt road right in front of the HUMMV and said that they had seen three men come and bury something there. It turned out to be an IED which blew up several minutes later, no one harmed. Crider said that last May, those same kids probably would have just stood there and watched the whole crew of that HUMMV get blown apart and laughed at the scene, but today the kids and the community know that working with the US Military is a winning solution, and a way to guarantee safety and stability for their communities. So after that eye opening briefing, Crider said that we could go out on patrol and actually see the progress for ourselves. So he gave us an hour for chow and at 12:30 we were back with out Kevlar and our gear on, loaded up into four HUMMVs and we took off to go see these neighborhoods we had heard about earlier, one called Doura.
Visiting the Doura muahallah
One some of the streets, we drive on the wrong side of the road, I am not sure if this is for security purposes or because it gets us there faster, but the Iraqis pull over and wait for us to pass, then they are on their way. The streets are fairly busy.
 [[ Debbie Lee meets an Iraqi citizen for the first time ]] When we arrived at the first Doura neighborhood we pull over and they let us out of the HUMMVs already there are Iraqis coming over to us to talk and the kids are all around asking questions and seeing if we have soccer balls or candy for them. It was the final day of Eid, a three day holiday in the Muslim calendar, so all the kids were out of school for four days of vacation. Several little kids touched Debbie Lee’s hair and said “Blonde! Blonde!” These little kids are so cute, they all seem to say “Meesta, Meesta, what’s your name” and when I tell them they always respond with “My name, Mustafa or Muhammad” or whatever their name happens to be.
 [[ Iraqi children meet us in the streets ]] One guy came up to talk with Lt. Col Crider. Crider tells me that he says he was formerly an AP photographer and talks with Crider a lot, but he’s also just a little ‘off’ so who knows for sure. A middle aged Iraqi gentleman in a black leather jacket came over to talk, his name is Barkat. I can’t be sure if that’s how it’s spelled, but it sounds like Barkat, and he talked at length with Crider and Debbie Lee through our interpreter. Debbie told Barkat about Marc, her son and Navy Seal who was killed in Ramadi, and Barkat expressed his condolences. He said, “God willing, there will be no more violence in the future.” Barkat actually knew about the changes that had taken place in Ramadi and said that, “we appreciate your sacrifice for our country, if you go to any resident they will say we appreciate what you did for our neighborhood, for our country.” That was awesome to hear from a real Iraqi. I asked out interpreter if he would ask Barkat about Eid for me, to find out how they celebrated and if he had a good time. Barkat said that this was the first feast in several years that they had felt safe, where the kids were able to play and that there were good relations with coalition forces. If not for all the progress that had been made in recent months, there is no way the locals could have celebrated their Eid in peace. We advanced down the street and another local, Hashem, came up to visit with our group. Hashem is sometimes introduced as Hadgi or Hadgi Hashem, hadgi meaning that he had completed a religious pilgrimage (called the hadge) the visit Mecca. Hadgi Hashem is the leader of the local neighborhood council and some sort of deputy chairman of this district of Baghdad. I could not exactly understand what his official role was, but he was basically the leader and spokesman of the neighborhood. I think he also owned several businesses on the street and offered us some meat kabobs for free. He said that many farmers drive from out of town just for his kabobs. That reminded me of the craze that Krispy Kreme doughnuts had started back home years ago. Hashem invited all of us to a soccer game, supposedly several neighborhoods got together and organized a tournament and the finals were going to be someday soon, I don’t remember when but he said they play at 3 o’clock. When Debbie told Hashem about Marc, he said, through the interpreter, that he wanted Debbie to know that Marc was going to heaven.
 [[ Hadgi Hashem ]] We went down several other streets, one of which was not in the same shape as the rest. In fact it was still identified as a ‘bad neighborhood.’ We could see the contrast. There were hardly any people out, and no shops open, but the soldiers were with told us that there was a time when they wouldn’t even drive down that street, let alone allow reporters to come in and walk around. In fact, the unit had lost 3 guys there in two incidents, but here we were walking around freely and giving candy to the kids. It was amazing that there were ANY people out. Crider said that previously the only time you would see an Iraqi was just the top of his or her head, from the eyes up and nothing more, peeking up over the wall and then back down. He also said that in May, the only time anyone would go in that street was if we had soldiers on the rooftops watching over. This street showed us that while immense progress had been made, there was still work to be done. After the ‘not so good’ neighborhood, we went to one last neighborhood in the Doura region that was another stunning success story where we met Captain Cook, who was in charge of that area. I asked Cook what these neighborhoods were like during Saddam’s reign compared to what they were like in May and then today. He told me that this area had always been affluent before. When Saddam Hussein was in power these neighborhoods had been the homes for doctors, lawyers, Iraqi police and high ranking military officials. I asked if that was why they had become such bad areas, because they were Saddam loyalists, but Cook told me that even after Saddam had been ousted, these neighborhoods had remained affluent and peaceful for years and that it was only after the bombing of the Samara Mosque – which was a famous holy place for Shiite Muslims, which Al Qaeda bombed – that this neighborhood had gone downhill. After the Samara Mosque was bombed, many of the Shiites in the surrounding areas took their revenge upon the Sunnis who lived in these neighborhoods. That sectarian violence is what caused all the deterioration and allowed Al Qaeda to make Doura a terrorist stronghold. Now the same Sunni families that had fled, due to Shiite aggression, were calling their friends who stayed behind because they heard about the progress on Syrian TV. Their friends back in Doura are telling them, “Yes, things ARE that much better, come, move back.” After we left Doura, we headed to what Crider called a COP, which is basically like a mini-FOB that they establish out close to the neighborhoods. There, soldiers on patrol can come in and get hot food, hot showers and a clean bathroom while they are out patrolling the Doura markets or neighborhoods. I wondered why you would need to have a base like that out there, and I was told that there are about 3 patrols each day and each shift is 9 hours along. So the soldiers do need a place to take a break when they’re pulling such long shifts. Also having the COP so close to the neighborhood reinforces the military’s presence and tells the locals that ‘we are here for you, and accessible’ There is a tiny little house right by the COP, its all by itself and the family that lives there is very old, even though they are taking care of five children. So on our way out we took them five backpacks full of supplies and things for the kids. The old woman there, Ganema was her name I think, told the interpreter how the people posted at the COP always take good care of her and bring her stuff. She said “God bless, and thank you” for the backpacks and the interpreter gave the kids 5,000 Dinar each. I don’t know how much money 5,000 Dinar is, but the kids were happy and smiling.
 [[ Compassionate soldiers with Ganema and family ]] After we got back to base, we were all pretty exhausted. It was a day packed full of new information, and we haven’t had much sleep at all since we were in Kuwait. It’s now Sunday and we’re sort of taking the day ‘off’ or slow, trying to rest up because I THINK we may be going out on another patrol, to see something else, tomorrow. Thank you all for reading the blog...we also have a lot planned for the next few days so I hope that whatever pictures I can get up will be interesting to see.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Melanie Morgan: On a Jet Plane
22 December 2007
0915
It’s fr-fr-freezing cold here in the desert, which seems weird to me because the last time I was in Kuwait, it was 130 degrees in the shade.
But at this American transit station where I have been handing out thousands of holiday cards, the wind whips around a body like a string of lights around a Christmas tree.
I got my passport back this morning, which means that I should be on an airplane back to the United States in about 12 hours.
I’m hearing that Mary Pearson, Debbie Lee and Danny Gonzalez all got into Baghdad after a grueling night and day of travel, and now our MAF staff is attempting to get into Ramadi.
Debbie, a Gold Star Mother, is determined to see the Camp named after her son Marc Lee, who died just a year ago in intense combat with jihadists.
Even though I hate leaving without going into Iraq, I have not wasted my time. I have interviewed hundreds of troops who are mostly trying to get home for Christmas. Despite the maddeningly long waits for a charter seat stateside, these guys and gals are remarkably positive. It’s a character trait I have noticed over and over again. I wonder if Positive Mental Attitude training is genetic, or part of the military regime. If so, sign me up!
One of the great rewards of being here in Kuwait is that I have spent some time with Matt Sanchez, (formerly of San Jose, California) the intelligent and articulate milblogger who has spent the past seven months traveling in Afghanistan and Iraq. Matt is a reserve Marine who many mainstream writers now consult about what he is seeing and saying --publications like the Washington Post, the New York Post and others. I link to him often at my personal website, and have him as a guest on our morning show at KSFO.
Matt reports we are winning the war(s), and it’s quite sensational (in a good way.) He gave me a specific example of a village that had been dominated by Al Quada when he was there just over a year ago. This time, he saw a terrorist stroll boldly through town, asking the locals for the best place to plant a bomb.
Big, big mistake.
The villagers grabbed him and beat him nearly to death, and the only reason he wasn’t killed is because U.S. soldiers saved him from the fast lane to hell. Someone should e-mail Congressman Jim Moran the news. That dope thinks our troops are ‘ethnically cleansing Baghdad’.
When I hear insane drivel like that coming from politicans, I want to hog-tie these people and dump them into Iraq so they can use their own eyes to see the truth. Why would Moran possibly believe that? Does he want it to be true? Is he so blinded by partisan politics he can’t or won’t be honest? So many questions, so little time.
Last night was pretty cool here on base.
Lt. Colonel Ollie North arrived with his Fox News crew and bought a bunch of us dinner. He seemed exhausted, as you might expect after being in Iraq for an extended period of time. War reporting is tough work. Though not nearly as tough as fighting a war.
One of the people who joined us is a movie producer by the name of Ken Livingston.
I almost choked on my mushroom beef dinner when he said that he is embedding in Iraq for 15 months to find the stories of courage, passion, strength and dedication that marks the soldiers who have served there.
I started stuttering about liberal Hollywood bias, but Livingston explained that Jerry Bruckheimer of CSI fame and other Hollywood blockbuster films is determined to do this project. Ken was in Beirut in 1983, at the same time I was there to cover the bombing of the Marine compound. He as a Special Forces guy whose mission was to find CIA station chief William Buckley. He spent 7 months searching, but Hezbollah brutually tortured him and then dumped his body. He was also tasked with finding Rich Higgins, who was the military affairs advisor to the Secretary of Defense. His body was found swinging from a meat-hook.
I think Ken Livingston will make a fine movie, if it is given a greenlight because the American people are yearning for the straight truth--not slanted consistently against the US and nursing grievances because of a war fought 30 years ago in Vietnam.
We do NOT like watching our soldiers being turned into serial killers on crack cocaine, or rapists who brutalize innocent Iraqi girls. Just ask Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.
I also want to say a few things about a very warm, gracious Alabama lady I met here in the desert of Kuwait. Her name is Lt. Colonel Rachel Coggins, and she was born to her job of Chaplain. She comforts and prays with soldiers who need her help, and always is there with candy or care packages. She handles a million emergency situations.
Yesterday, Lt. Colonel Coggins told me a story that left me a little weepy.
A big, tough Marine came into her office one day after returning home from leave. His wife, whom he loves very much, gave birth while he was home. As this soldier sat in her office, he started crying and couldn’t stop. He had no clue what was happening to him, and he was quite frightened.
Rachel Coggins just handed him a box of Kleenex, urging him to let the tears flow. She quietly explained that he had fallen in love with his baby boy and didn’t recognize the feeling --and loss of it overwhelmed him.
She says that happens a lot.
I have been blessed to meet some wonderful people who are here in service of our country, who don’ t need a lot of recognition, but give us part of their lives because they know it is the right thing for them to do.
If you don’t come from a military family, you can still appreciate what they go through. It’s even harder sometimes than fighting a war. So reach out to our servicemen and women in your community. Shower our soldiers with praise, and be a good neighbor to those who are left behind.
Almost time to go.
Remember to click back often on www.MoveAmericaForward.com for the latest photos and developments in Iraq with our delegation.
With Love,
Melanie
Friday, December 21, 2007
Dec 21 2007 - Baghdad, Iraq
0600 Hrs
On the plane it is extremely loud and our seats are more like netted beach chairs than what you would think to expect on a plane. It’s completely dark except for the ominous green light bathed around me. Next to us, Army soldiers, men and women, are stretched out or curled up sleeping. I don’t know how they can sleep in this plane…the noise is deafening…the vibrations are unnerving.
Across from me 3 young ladies – they couldn’t be any older than I am – laugh at my uneasiness about the flight. “Have you ever been on an aircraft like this before?” One asks me, while adjusting her rifle between her legs, “never” I reply. She laughs, knowing what I have to expect. These women are seasoned warriors…I can’t help but feel like a pizza boy talking to a college grad about something I know nothing about and that she is highly educated in. Why they volunteer to do it I couldn’t tell you…but I am damn grateful for them. Unfortunately, Melanie is not with us, she has to return to the US for personal reasons and time restriction. Basically our attempts to get through all the checkpoints and way stations along the way, trying to get to our final destination of Baghdad, are taking too long. Melanie can’t stay as long as the rest of us because of her commitments to her radio station. The rest of us must carry on without her, knowing full well that there is now no chance of being home for Christmas. But who could ask for more than to spend Christmas with the finest group of people America has to offer? On the plane Debbie Lee writes a note and passes it to me. “I was just watching the troops, wondering what they’re thinking about and what stories they have?” I write back. “We could never tell them all.” She nods, knowingly. It takes everything she has in her just to tell Marc’s story. Touching down in a C-130 is rough. They don’t just descend gradually like in a commercial flight. We’re going into a possibly hostile area, so one second you’re at altitude…then the nose tips downward and there is a drastic bank to one side, then you bank the other way, the plane nose dives to a much lower flight path, then you do it again. Your stomach turns inside out, your body has no idea which way is up or down anymore. Then you level out and finally you touch down hard, like a brick chucked off the top of a house…slowing down is very loud and drastic, there are no such things as air brakes on these things, but everything feels thankfully smooth. When you’re in the air the tight turns are fun, but when you level out and your stomach starts reconstructing itself, that’s when you start to feel a little woozy.
We immediately get on the roster to try and get a helicopter flight to our next station. We were supposed to be on it at 0700, we rushed around, got no sleep and were in the spot we needed to be on time…it’s now 1230 and still no sign of our ride. This is what the people in the military call ‘hurry up and wait’
 [[ Waiting and wishing the ‘helo’ would come...and waiting… ]]
Apparently there is too much sand in the air to fly…more when we have a chance but I cannot be here where we have internet access for more than five minutes because the ‘helo’ could come at ANY MINUTE and if I’m not on it, I get left here!
 [[ We pass out some cards as we wait ]]
“The Forgotten War”
“The Forgotten War”
About the best thing that you can say about the rain that falls in the desert here in Kuwait is that it turns the powdery sand into packed mud. It is shockingly cold as the water pours off the faces of young Marines and other service members whose bones are weary from their efforts to leave Iraq and Afghanistan and get home to their families by Christmas. Some are trying to sleep in the breezy tents, with no heat and not much to do for two weeks. The lucky ones wait only two days.
Normally, soldiers are a laconic bunch, especially around media embeds.
 In fact, some become downright chatty when you plaster your point of view right up front. One of the bitterest complaints I hear from the hundreds of men and women coming out of both Iraq and Afghanistan at this desert way station is that the major media is ignoring the tremendous success stories in Afghanistan. It’s true for Iraq as well, but the Special Forces officer I quizzed today is disturbed because he has seen stunning changes in Afghanistan during the past 15 months as schools are built, roads go down, and buildings rise from the rubble that the Taliban left as it’s legacy in Bahram, Basra, Kabul, and other parts of Afghanistan.
The captain with whom I had lunch with today was also curious why American women (particularly liberal feminists) aren’t celebrating the fact that for the first time since the war, young girls are going to schools built by Americans. He thinks women the world over should be jumping for joy at this development.
I told him how recently I debated a feminist left-wing activist by the name of Naomi Wolf, who wrote a book about how George W. Bush is responsible for the end of civilization, as we know it or some such nonsense.
Other anti-war kooks and crazies ignore how vitally important the WOT is for everyone, men and women who want to live in peace and raise their families without fearing that the Taliban will kill them if they don’t raise poppy for the heroin trade. Our troops tell me that the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan is temporary. They are coming down out of the mountains because of the cold, and trying to worm their way into provincial governments. But it’s not working. There was a surprise visit today by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the allied forces unit located near here. He gave a pep talk to the troops and told them they were doing a great job. That surprised me because I read in the elite media that Rudd got elected by the anti-war crowd Down Under. One of the Aussies told me that I shouldn’t believe everything I read in the newspapers. I laughed. I guess media bias is a worldwide phenomenon, eh mate? Our MAF’ers Debbie Lee, Danny Gonzalez, and Mary Pearson left for Baghdad last night on a C-130 cargo plane, jammed into the jumpseats for a ride into Iraq and a scary corkscrew landing. The jumbo planes have to take evasive action on landing to avoid rocket propelled grenade attacks.
I am very disappointed I couldn’t be with our delegation as they head for Ramadi to distribute Christmas cards and letters to the troops. While our military is really good at some things (like killing people and breaking things) they aren’t terribly efficient at transportation and moving people in a timely fashion. My media embed papers got lost several times, meaning I had to turn around and come home before I even got to Iraq.
 But it gives me more time to talk to our troops, work with Chaplain Rachel Coggins who is truly the nicest woman I have ever meant. She works 24/7 comforting soldiers, giving them pep talks, passing out candy and comfort packages and a myriad of other things that she can do to make life more bearable for the ones out on the front lines who are passing through to war or going home from the battles.
I have a million more stories to share with everyone, but my computer time is about out.
Get busy future Einstein’s!
Until next time,
Dec 20 2007 - Kuwait Day 2
12-20-2007
We have been at this base in Kuwait for over a day now. Eventually we were picked up yesterday from Kuwait City and drove by unmarked vehicle for a good long while to a military installation in Kuwait, the name of which I cannot disclose ate the request of the public relations officers here.
It is interesting to be here and see how things “work” on a base like this. Kuwait is basically like the truck stop on the way to anywhere for our guys in the Middle East. It kind of reminds me of Salt Lake City. When I went to school in Austin, TX or when I lived in Great Falls, MT, almost any flight I took to California went through salt lake. It was like the universal stopping point and this is the kind of place Kuwait is. Wherever one of our guys is headed, whether it’s Baghdad, Fullajah or somewhere in Afghanistan, they all go through and get processed in Kuwait. The guys helping us get to Baghdad tell me that it has been dead here for months now, but that just these last two weeks it has gone from dead to crazy-busy as many of the imbedded press people are trying to get out and home for Christmas. Both press and civilian contractors come through these bases along with the troops coming and going. I thought that the military had stopped referring to “temporary leave” as “R & R” but I have heard the term used several times so I guess it is still in use. Soldiers going on R and R come through here too.
We arrived here with Melanie Morgan, Debbie Lee, Mary and I and we first went to the PAO office where all the press gets processed. We had to get clearance to get into Iraq so we surrendered our passports to this desk on the other side of the gigantic tent. I don’t know what that office is called but they said it would be until 9pm the next day until everything was approved. So that left out any possibility of getting to Baghdad that day.
Well some amazing things did happen, even here in little old Kuwait. So we’re standing around this office where the PAO guys work and over walks none other than super blogger Matt Sanchez. Matt knows Melanie very well because he has called into her show at KSFO several times, so when he introduced himself as Sanchez and mentioned that we had to hang out. Sanchez (if you read his blog then you know this) has been all over Iraq and I think he was just coming from Afghanistan when we met him here. Matt is one of the few freelance journalists who are out and about in this area and also one of the few who actually brave the tougher parts of Iraq on patrol with our guys. Matt had a lot of advice to give us maffers about going out on patrol, he said that most of the imbedded journalists are nervous about going out on patrol in a war zone, so most stay on base where its nice and safe. But it’s really not that dangerous if a journalist wanted to go out on patrol. In an extremely dangerous area, there’d by no way the captain or first sergeant would let reporters out on the streets. But much of Iraq is no more dangerous than Detroit or LA at this point. But then again, even the safest war zone is still a war zone, and Iraq is most definitely still a war zone. Matt warns that when you get out on the street and you realize that there is a very real (unlikely but real) chance that a firefight could break out or a bomb could go off, you stick to those soldiers you’re with like white on rice. They may be 19 or 20 years old but these boys and girls are tough, they have nerves of steel and doing exactly what they tell you is about the best way to stay alive in Iraq. I hung out with Sanchez for a while and got some great advice on how to get where we wanted to go and see the things we wanted see in Iraq. We traded some political opinions too about the presidential candidates and stuff. It was a very interesting conversation. Sometimes it’s difficult to actually report from Iraq because internet access can be sketchy, but Matt offered some advice on how to get access so hopefully I’ll be able to update the blog more often.
We also ran into this other imbedded freelancer, Jim. We were standing around talking with one another outside the public relations office and someone asked a question of Debbie Lee by name. So Jim comes walking out and says “I was waiting for someone to say Debbie Lee!” and Debbie looks at him and screams “Jim!”
 [[ Another amazing coincidence… Debbie Lee and Jim Carrier reunited...in Kuwait! ]] So this Jim Carrier is a huge fiend of Debbie Lee’s, as Jim does a lot of stuff back in The States to support the troops. He especially loves all our Special Forces; Rangers, Delta Force, Seals, etc, but Jim especially loves the Seals (who according to Jim are the most insane) and does a lot of philanthropy stuff to help the Navy Seals and their families. So Jim is here in Iraq reporting on some of the great success our troops are having and reporting to a newspaper which I can’t tell you the name of but I guarantee there’s a good chance it’s on your kitchen table. Anyways just like with Sanchez it is an amazing coincidence that Jim is here at this base at this office at the exact same time that move America forward is just standing around there. So Jim had lots of great stories too. He just returned from some city in Iraq, I don’t know where – where he had the rare opportunity to actually go out and meet one of the local village elders with the unit he was imbedded with. These small villages coming around to support the military and work with the US to drive out al Qaeda are like the big success story lately so that’s a great opportunity and Jim’s story should be an amazing read when it comes out.
If that wasn’t enough, we’ve been talking to soldiers galore out here. We met the base Chaplain, Rachel Coggins, who took Mel and Debbie to go see some soldiers around base…they came to this tent where some soldiers were being processed to go back stateside for R & R, a group of about 300. Melanie told them all about Move America Forward and told them about the 40 city tour we just finished up. Debbie Lee was crying, as sometimes happens, but she says that this crowd, speaking of our military of course, is the toughest crowd to talk to and share Marc’s story with. It was all she could do to try and maintain some semblance of composure and thank the group for everything they had done and tell them how much she loved them, but when the tears were overwhelming and she just could not talk anymore she reached out to give Mary a hug. Mary pointed for teary-eyed Debbie Lee to turn around, and when she did there was a room full of soldiers; some army, navy, air force, and some marines, but many teary eyed, standing on their feet in rapturous applause. It was a very gripping moment.
 We have met so many interesting people out here, it’s just been surreal. I met a guy in the Army named Byrne from Belt, Montana, which is just a short 20 minute drive from where I lived in Great Falls. Belt is a town of probably two or three hundred people at the most. It consists of one narrow dirt road that loops around through the town, a tiny grocery store, one little pub and some houses and barns with horses to accompany. So to meet a guy from Belt out here, that is a real trip! We were talking at one point to a whole group of Army guys who had just come back from Ramadi – where Marc was stationed when he was killed – and I had an interesting conversation with US Army 1st Lieutenant Star from Orlando, FL, who had been in Ramadi since September, who said, “What kills me is, I’m flipping through the channels and I see Jay Leno or letterman or someone like that making fun of the war, saying that we, ‘want more funding for a war we can’t win’ and what gets me is that the corner is already turned.” I think Lt. Star is right; it’s crazy how people can sit and just deny and deny all the progress that’s been made in this war. I mean not only have our guys been working hard to rebuild the schools and help the Iraqis (while Hollywood does everything it can to portray our soldiers as drug addicted, murdering, rapists) all this time, even in 05-06 when the war wasn’t going so well, but even now when the tide is turned, Al Qaeda is scattered and the military is finally winning the hearts and minds of your everyday Iraqis, we STILL have people like Harry Reid with the NERVE to allege that “Al Qaeda is regrouping” and other people like Rep. McNerney (D-CA) trying to downplay our success in Ramadi saying that it’s only a “a very small piece in a complex puzzle” yeah…right…Ramadi is a city that was once the most dangerous place in all of Iraq, part of the Triangle of Death, and in a few months it’s now a model of success in Iraq and now they have the nerve to say its just some small little city. When Ramadi was in bad shape, the left would always point to it first and say we were losing the war despite any success we were having elsewhere, and now that Ramadi has turned around it’s no longer important.
We were shaking more hands and wishing Merry Christmases to people when Debbie Lee and I came across a Marine by the name of Chavez who earlier gave a KIA bracelet/band of a fallen buddy to Melanie Morgan earlier today before we spoke to him. But the story is that Chavez was a marine recruiter in Fremont, CA when he recruited a young marine Layfield into the USMC. Then, while deployed, Layfield was killed in a firefight with the enemy and Chavez carried the guys KIA band all over up and down Iraq. Now having met Melanie Morgan earlier today, Chavez gave the tag to Melanie in the hopes that Mel can track down the boy’s mother and give her back her son’s KIA band. More on that story when MAF gets back to California…
Now we are waiting around in a gigantic tent, hoping for a ride to an airstrip in Baghdad. We basically signed up for the flight like 3 hours ago. Then at a given time they “call roll” which means if you signed up, you find out if you will actually get on the flight or not. Then they tell you to wait another hour, so after you wait around for another hour or so they come in and tell you how to pack up the bags and then you wait a little more, and then you pack the bags up on these pallets for transport. So then after you do THAT, you go inside and wait a little more, till finally this bus comes and takes you to a plane and eventually after a little more waiting you’re in the air. It’s actually about four hours later now; since we first came down to wait for the bus. I can’t be specific about when we fly, but rest assured it is an ungodly hour.
From an American Base in the Middle East
An American base somewhere in the Kuwait desert.
Pfc. Tuche’ Jackson was very grateful. We took his picture as he thanked us. But it was I who felt humbled and grateful that I could help with such a small thing.
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