The Following was taken off of "Blackfive.net", a website ran by Ex-Military in support of their
Friends in still in the Military: The following
letter is from a Sergeant still on the front lines:
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/01/sergeant_in_afg.html
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Things that I am tired of in this war:
I am tired of Democrats saying they are patriotic and then insulting my commander in
chief and the way he goes about his job.
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me
the best plan to win this war is with a “phased
redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of the Democrats whining for months on T.V., in the New York Times,and in the House
and Senate that we need more troops to win the
war in Iraq, and then when my Commander in Chief plans to do just that, they say that is the wrong
plan, it won’t work, and we need a “new direction.”
I am tired of every Battalion Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major I see over here being
more concerned about whether or not I am wearing
my uniform in the “spot on,” most garrison-like manner; instead of asking me whether or not I am
getting the equipment I need to win the fight,
the support I need from my chain of command, or if the chow tastes good
I am tired of junior and senior officers continually doubting the technical expertise of
junior enlisted soldiers who are trained far
better to do the jobs they are trained for than these officers believe.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media
than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being
scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the
young soldiers who were there and what is asked
of them in order to survive.
I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing
“news,” with videotape sent to them by terrorists,of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when
we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment
plant.
I am tired of following the enemy with drones that have cameras, and then dropping bombs that
sometimes kill civilians; because we could do a
better job of killing the right people by sending
a man with a high powered rifle instead.
I am tired of the thousands of people in the rear who claim that they are working hard to
support me when I see them with their mochas and
their PX Bags walking down the street, in the middle of the day, nowhere near their workspaces.
I am tired of Code Pink, Daily Kos, Al-Jazzera, CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press, ABC, NBC,
CBS, the ACLU, and CAIR thinking that they
somehow get to have a vote in how we blast,shoot
and kill these animals who would seek to subdue us and destroy us.
I am tired of people like Meredith Vieria from NBC asking oxygen thieves like Senator Chuck
Hagel questions like “Senator, at this point, do you think we are fighting and dying for nothing?” Meredith might not get it,but soldiers do know the difference between fighting and dying for something and fighting and dying for
nothing.
I am tired of hearing multiple stories from both combat theaters about snipers begging to do
their jobs while commanders worry about how the
media might portray the possible casualties and what might happen to their career.
I am tired of hearing that the Battalion Tactical Operations Center got a new plasma
screen monitor for daily briefings, but rifle scope rings for sniper rifles, extra magazines,
and necessary field gear were disapproved by the
unit supply system.
I am tired of out of touch general officers, senators, congressmen and defense officials who
think that giving me some more heavy body armor to wear is helping me stay alive. Speed is life
in combat and wearing 55 to 90 pounds of gear for 12 to 20 hours a day puts me at a great
tactical disadvantage to the idiot, mindless
terrorist who is wearing no armor at all and carrying an AK-47 and a pistol.
I am tired of soldiers who are stationed in places like Kuwait and who are well away from any actual combat getting Hostile Fire/Imminent
Danger Pay and the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion
when they live on a base that has a McDonald’s,
a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Baskin Robbins, an
internet café, 2 coffee shops and street lights.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who take it out and "measure" every time they want
to have a piece of the action with their
helicopters or their artillery; instead of putting their egos aside and using their equipment to support the grunt on the ground.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who are too afraid for their careers to tell the
truth about what they need to win this war to
their bosses so that the soldiers can get on with kicking the ass of these animals.
I am tired of Rules of Engagement being made by JAG lawyers and not Combat Commanders. We are
not playing Hopscotch over here. There is no 2nd
place trophy either. I think that if the enemy knew some rough treatment and some deprivation was at hand for them, instead of prayer rugs,
special diets and free Korans; this might help
get their terrorist minds “right.”
I am tired of seeing Active Duty Army and Marine units being extended past their original
redeployment dates, when there are National Guard Units that have yet to deploy to a combat
zone in the last 40 years.
I am tired of hearing soldiers who are stationed in safe places talk about how hard their life is.
I am tired of seeing Infantry Soldiers conducting what amounts to “SWAT” raids and
performing the US Army’s version of “CSI Iraq” and doing things like filling out forms for
evidence when they could be better used to hunt and kill the enemy.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who look first in their planning for how many
casualties we might take, instead of how many
enemy casualties we might inflict.
I am tired of begging to be turned loose so that this war can be over.
Those of us who fight this war want to win it and go home to their families. Prolonging it
with attempts to do things like collect
“evidence” or present whiz bang briefings on a new plasma screen TV is wasteful and ultimately,
dulls the edge of our Infantry soldiers who are
trained to kill people and break things, not necessarily in that order.
We are not in Iraq and Afghanistan to build nations. We are there to kill our enemies. We
make the work of the State Department easier by
the results we achieve.
It is only possible to defeat an enemy who kills indiscriminately by utterly destroying him. He
cannot be made to yield or surrender. He will
fight to the death by the hundreds to kill only one or two of us.
And so far, all of our “games” have been “away games,” and I don’t know about the ignorant,
treasonous Democrats and the completely insane
radical leftists and their thoughts on the matter, but I would like to keep our road game schedule.
So let’s get it done. Until the fight is won and there is no more fight left.