Iraq veteran's views on politicians. Hi everyone. I was personally curious as to what all of you think about the current political candidates, so I figured I would make a poll in order to find out.
Poll #1126918Iraq veterans on the candidates
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All
defence budget how is it that the military is finally getting all this extra money it's been needing forever and then some, but it's not showing anywhere? where is all the money going?
I'm always bothered by how much a citation for heroism doesn't show us. Behind everyone of those plaques and medals is a story almost too incredible to believe. When I was at Fort Wainwright, AK I had a chance to interview SFC Peter Lara a Silver Star Recipient. Needless to say, his experience in Mosul was quite different than mine.
para-cord bracelets? Hey, sorry for a stupid post, maybe, but anyone got instructions on how to make those parachute/550 cord bracelets that I saw everyone wearing over there?
I can find directions for how to do a "portuguese sinnet" which is the braid, but nothing for doing it in two colors.
Daddy's Little Girl Little Thelma comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. And, "Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?
Thelma's father thinks a bit, then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?"
"Osama Bin Laden," she says.
"Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock?
"Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit.
And if other kids saw what I did and sent valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then! .. he'd start going all over the place tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore."
Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with newfound pride. "Thelma, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."
"I know," Thelma says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Army could blow the shit out of him."
Local Militias = Trouble I'm not going to get into the elections or how Al-Dulaymi has essentially declared the insurgency back into "full on" mode (with noticeable effects) or whatever. I'm not even going to get into how Iran now has enormous influence over the new leaders of Iraq. But this article comments on something I observed on the ground when last in Baghdad for a while that many people have not mentioned, the often "Dual Membership" in an Iraqi Army or Iraqi Police unit and a Religious Militia (to whom they are more loyal):
Out of 70, 57 were Mahdi Army, the same group who, with one order in Najaf, engaged in hostilities with Americans. This is a big deal. Other units I observed had many Dual Members and I simply do not trust fanatical religious orders with real power, especially real power given them by the state.
You may want to Google "Mahdi Army" and "Badr Corps" and/or "SCIRI" if you don't have a background on this. If I were Sunni, Sufi, Yezidi, or an Iraqi Christian, I would be wary to trust certain people with my fate.
Not saying that it wouldn't be better than under Saddam, but "better than Saddam" is a rather low bar.
How long does it take? How's the flight? What's the accomodations? AND HOW MUCH FUCKING BEER DO I GET? And any other important tidbits I might want to know before I make the trip.
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