Too many people inside the Washington Beltway are saying that the war in Iraq is lost. Funny - if you talk to the people who are actually doing the work of keeping you safe - troops are making a difference.

As usual, talk is cheap - only actions count.

I don't apologize for the language here; it's the way people talk when they're lives are on the line. Deal with it.


Raw from the front; always something to be learned from these.
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>> PERSONAL NAMES HAVE BEEN STRIPPED AWAY BUT GREAT READING ANYWAY.
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>>> Received this thru retired Marine channels. It is authentic.
>>
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>>> The Bats (VMFA 242) fly 2 seat FA-18s. They are being replaced in Iraq
>>> by VMFA 121 flying the same type birds.
>>>
>>>
>>> Finally went over 3,000 in the Hornet and 400th combat mission. The
>>> fellas from 121 started showing up the other day. It's starting to sink
>>> in....... I'll have to go home, the opportunities to kill these fuckers
>>> is rapidly coming to an end. Like a hobby I'll never get to practice
>>> again. It's not a great war, but its the only one we've got. God, I do
>>> love killing these bastards.
>>>
>>> Well, the government in Baghdad has been telling the Shii that the
>>> Americans are coming big, look the fuck out.... So, the bad guys have
>>> begun moving out of the city. Business is beginning to pick back up for
>>> us. I think the Iranians are going to pick things up to help give CNN
>>> some ammunition to show the buildup is a failed idea.
>>>
>>> The other day, "Puddy" Shoop got 3 nice passes with the gun and rockets
>>> on some Muj in a little town called Karma, which is just Northwest of
>>> Fallujah. I firmly believe they are implants from the "big city."
>>> Looked as though they were in the process of trying to attack the Iraqi
>>> Police headquarters. I wonder why the insurgents would be attacking the
>>> Iraqi Police . . . CNN says the IP are ineffective. Funny, the
>>> "ineffective" IP stood their ground and called in 3 strikes. Only 1
>>> confirmed kill.
>>>
>>> Had a great 5" rocket attack last week. 5 Muj emplacing an IED....
>>> rockets can be like a box of chocolates sometimes.... You never know
>>> what you're gonna get. Allah was with these jack asses, as the rockets
>>> hit all around them. These fuckers get up, brush themselves off and
>>> take off hobbling across a farm field. The ground commander never
>>> expects survivors, so it takes them a while to coordinate a follow on
>>> attack. In the mean time, the idiots stay together in a pack, carrying
>>> their parts through a small palm grove. Ground commander finally gets
>>> his act together and clears a follow on gun run to finish them off.
>>> Roll in and just as pilot is about to go "hammer down," a herd of sheep
>>> and family members appear at the top of the pod video and the run is
>>> aborted. Went home thinking they had gotten away.... Some pipe bustin'
>>> Fellas from the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) rolled up on the farmers and
>>> apprehended all of them, along with their bomb making materials. They
>>> said the Muj tried to say their HE burns were from a tractor rolling
>>> over or some shit. As an aside, you will never be shown the aborted
>>> attack, which saved at least 5 unarmed family members and their
>>> livelihood......
>>>
>>> I hope they show a before and after picture of Baghdad. I think you
>>> will be quite surprised at the effort. An order of magnitude more than
>>> anything they have ever seen before. Should be interesting to watch.
>>> I'd really like to stick around and see how the extra ass effects the
>>> ops in some of the more obscure areas.
>>>
>>> As we prepare to get out of here, I have to think back to what this
>>> place was like when I was leaving 2 years ago...... The convoys would
>>> be attacked by small arms fire every night... All night long. Today,
>>> we rarely ever see a convoy attacked by small arms fire. When the
>>> Marines take any fire, they turn and attack, so the Muj have determined
>>> its not a money play and stopped (besides, killing a KBR worker won't
>>> make it to CNN back in the states). I used to spend most of my on
>>> station time investigating Mortar and Rocket points on origin from
>>> counter battery radar hits. I think I've received about 6-8 of those
>>> missions in 6 months. Camps in Ramadi and Fallujah used to get indirect
>>> fire all day and night.......Now, its rare. Our base here in Al Asad
>>> used to get rocketed every 12 days......... We've been rocketed once in
>>> 6 months.
>>>
>>> During my first 3 tours here, I never saw a single Iraqi Army unit. This
>>> tour, they have taken over significant portions of the Area of
>>> Operations. Hell, I've nearly bombed them on at least 3 occasions
>>> because of their aggressive patrolling (they fail to tell anyone where
>>> they are going). They still have a ways to go: The retards I was
>>> providing overwatch for this morning, were trying everyone's patience.
>>> But, they were engaged in the arena and patrolling a dangerous area on
>>> foot. How can we possibly abandon these people now?
>>>
>>> Another thing that struck me the other day is how much better the US
>>> Army has become. 7 years ago, they were a bloated lazy mess.... I
>>> believe most didn't know how to use their personal weapons very well.
>>> Poor at convoy ops and patrolled in their HMMWVs. Now, they are
>>> lighter, more expeditionary, mobile, better armored. They patrol on
>>> foot and aggressively pursue contact with the insurgency. I think they
>>> still have a ways to go to be better at coordinating fires, but they are
>>> more Marine like than ever. As long as their version of a Forward Air
>>> Controller (FAC) continues to sit in a command post and "control" air
>>> fires from a computer terminal, they will never get it right (SEAL and
>>> Marine FACs are embedded with the infantry company).
>>>
>>> Advon for the Bats left this morning. We should be wandering into the
>>> overhead around the 1st. I'll be able to give you a better "charlie
>>> time" in a couple weeks.
>>>
>>> Morale is high, the Marines can smell the barn. It's hard to keep them
>>> focused. I still have 20 days of kill these motherfuckers, so I don't
>>> wanna take even one day off.
>>>