Listen to Tweek

"Tweek" is a milblogger. I think he may work out of Mosul - don't quote me - so I hope he's okay despite today's attack on a D-Fac at Task Force Olympia's forward operating base. Apparently, a whole bunch of US troops were killed.

We are fighting an old-school enemy. We need to stop playing liberal, and like Tweek discusses, go old-school. Like Tom Barnett says, Liberal Democracy is an end, not a means. It's time for the politicians and academics to sit down, do a much better job with the information war, handle the media, and let soldiers do whatever they think is necessary to win the fight on the ground.

From Tweek: Venting

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I spent part of the day watching these old documentries on WW2 and Korea with my roomate. I don't even see (how we, the individual soldier) can compare to the experiences and actions of those before us. They had no internet, tv's, playstations, or movies to watch in thier down time. Hell, if they wanted a roof, it was built above their foxholes. And us...we get our panties in a bunch when our trailers lose power, or if they don't have something at the PX we like. I know I could only wish to be half the soldier the men before us was. If there was an unstable, enemy controlled road, they went out and took it. They didn't shut it down, having their convoys take the "safe" way around. They had bigger things to worry about than who wasn't wearing their kevlar in the vehicle (or god forbid eye protection or smoking). And most of all, there was no dickering around with the enemy when you knew where they were. Sadly, it's all political, and as other countries watch us "negotiate" with the people in insurgent controled cities, the less they fear our army. Hearts and minds my ass. You can't fight a war half-ass.

Which reminds me...In the chow hall we have these tv's that broadcast CNN. What a load of crap. I'm sick of hearing how things went "wrong" in the Iraqi invasion. Let's be honest people. Things DIDN'T go wrong with the invasion. It's not like they held us at the border. We're here, suprise, suprise. It's just that there's a bunch of sore losers who have nothing better to do than take potshots at us. I can almost imagine some local, selling hunting permits for GI's at a desk the way you could pick up a deer hunting license at your local store. I'm all in favor of what we did and why were here. Hell, I was sick of Saddam myself. But let's quit fucking around and get our priorities straight. When we're sending bodies of the ENEMY back to DC for examination in order to prosicute OUR troops, there's something seriously fucking wrong. Let us do our job and get the fuck outta here.

- Eric