Sure, I joined the Navy when I graduated college in 2002. 9/11 was fresh on everyone's mind and to me, I felt like I had to do my part. I got commissioned in 2002 and went off to the nuclear training pipeline for Subs. I was on a boat from 2004-2007, starting in Pearl Harbor and ending up in the Bremerton Shipyard. I did 2 deployments in the Pacific with her and a whole lot of shipyard time. I originally got orders to Afghanistan following my tour on the boat, but at the last minute, they got changed to Iraq. I've been in the Intl Zone (aka Green Zone) since June '07 with 4 months left to go at this point in Iraq. I'll be getting out of the Navy in '09 (if all goes well).Without violating OPSEC can you give us an overview of your mission in Iraq?
I'm a staff officer at one of the alphabet agencies in the IZ. Sorry to be so cryptic, and I assure you I'm not doing any spook ops, I just promised the chain of command I would be as anonymous as a ghost.The mainstream media (MSM) has been ignoring Iraq for a couple of months, my personal belief is because Iraq is turning into a success and they aren’t interested in that story, what are your thoughts?
Well it depends on how you define success. There's definitely a lot less violence, and I think MSM tends to report on the sensational, ergo there is less interest. Honestly though, I think most Americans have lost interest in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why learn about the complexity of war when you could go watch Britney Spears act stupid. Thanks heavens the blogosphere exists so people who understand they have a stake in how our mission goes have a place to get some sort of news and commentary. Also, things are very complex here and it's hard to squeeze that into a 30 second news segment. I would say that many in the MSM had a vested interest to see our failure in Iraq, as a political tool to denigrate Bush (not that I'm a fan of GWB), but in reality there's a lot of ups and a lot of downs.The MSM also seems to be harping upon the failure of the Iraqi Federal Government of failing to meet its obligations; however they recently have passed some key legislation. Is the success of the federal Government that important or is the local government the key to success in Iraq?
The local reconciliation that has taken place has been an excellent strategy in reducing the violence. The folks on the ground understand the importance of the tribal culture inherent in Iraq and they have done an excellent job quelling violence in places like Anbar province and areas south of Baghdad by working with the locals. However, the federal government must get it's act together to ensure stability and a sustained, prosperous future. One big law is the oil law, which will allow foreign investment that can be used to rebuild this country from the mess that was left by Saddam. I can't remember the figures, but upwards of 90% of Iraqi federal spending in Iraq is from oil exports. This will also ensure that people are gainfully employed and prevent another insurgency from taking root. Every functional society in history has been dependent on a government that employs the "Rule of Law". The Rule of Law under Saddam was to bestow food and meager amounts of electricity upon his citizens and shoot anyone that didn't agree with him. It's much tougher to build a proper democracy. This country had to start from scratch essentially.The US has been able to capture and take out some major High Value targets lately, is this going to weaken the insurgency or is it as Raymond Ibrahim of the Middle East Strategy at Harvard postulates, simply removing the leaders but leaving the philosophy intact?
The key to weakening the insurgency is to make Iraqis see that attacking the US and Iraqi security forces is the wrong way to go, and building up their communities and standing up for themselves is the right way to go. It's all on the Iraqis. We just to try to facilitate the moderates and drive out the extremists. Some people can't be reconciled because they are absolutely fanatical, like Al-Qaeda in Iraq (aka the Islamic State of Iraq) and they need to be killed, captured, or driven out of the country. It's good when the troopers kill these guys, because it messes up their cell leadership and abilities to conduct extremist attacks. Iranian-backed Shi'ite militiasIn your opinion how important is Iraq, and more importantly our success or failure in Iraq?
have made some trouble over the years, especially in late 2007. We need to exercise very intense diplomacy with Iran to curb this. I don't think threatening to "bomb" them is a good idea, but we need to put the pressure on with other creative methods. Syria and Saudi Arabia have put constraints on allowing foreign jihadis to find their way into Iraq, we need to do the same with Iran. Iran is a real wildcard, keep an eye on them.
Iraq is the breadbasket of civilization. We (the world) can't let it fail. But the success or failure is mostly dependent on the Iraqis themselves. At this point, we are just here to help. Even though Al-Qaeda in Iraq is being consistently beaten back, and Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan/Pakistan have noticed this, a failed Iraq state would produce a massive humanitarian crisis that would lead to untold suffering. At the same time, we can't occupy this country forever. Our military is stretched to the breaking point and we have commitments elsewhere. It's a very difficult decision and I'm glad I don't have to make it...Sunni and Shia are now working in conjunction with Coalition Forces which in my opinion indicates that the country was never headed towards a civil war and that the primary source of chaos and violence in Iraq was at the hands of foreign fighters recruited by alQaeda in Iraq. As someone who is there, can you provide us more insight into the real source of the violence in Iraq?
Most of the violence in Iraq is competing tribes, sects, and groups fighting for control of power coupled with a lot of criminal Soprano-style mob activity thrown in the mix. The coalition is kind of in the middle of all of this, and that's why it is so important that all Iraqis work towards a national solution that brings about peace and some hope for economic prosperity. People tend to kill each other less when they are gainfully employed. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has the ability to ignite sectarian violence as seen with the Samarra Mosque bombing in 2006. Attacks like this and suicide bombing atrocities produce the need for Shi'ite or Sunni militias to protect theirDo you have a single biggest gripe when it comes to Iraq? (Hey we wouldn’t be in the military if we didn’t like the opportunity to have a bitch session every now and again.)
neighborhoods. Since these militias operate outside of the law, it leads to very brutal tactics (like deathsquad activity against Sunni families). The militias are different from the Concerned Local Citizens or Sahwa councils because they are totally lawless, conniving, and violent. Al-Qaeda in Iraq's whole plan is to just ignite sectarian hatred to make the Iraqi government fail and create some sort of caliphate. It's abominable. The truck bombings that killed 100s of Yazidis in August 2007 (a very small minority group in northern Iraq) showed how their only desire is to create despair in the hopes that they can bring their bizarre twist of Taliban-like Islam onto a suffering people once we leave. Fortunately, Iraqis despise Al-Qaeda and terrorism (read the tone of their media and it's easy to see) and Iraqis want the same thing we want of them: dead, detained, or out of the country. This is evident by the rise of the Sahwa councils who were once aligned with the terrorists; wouldn't you want people like Zarwqawi out of your neighborhood? The gangland style violence should taper off as the Iraqi Security Forces improve and the government becomes more legitimate. But that may take awhile. The activity of the militias, both Sunni and
Shi'ite, could always flare up if the government totally collapses and we aren't around.
Haha, I probably have one of the best qualities of life in country. The guys out in the field must hate me, so I have no complaints. I don't want to piss anyone off. As for being on a submarine...I could gripe for hours.You mentioned that you are able to spend a lot of time on the internet while in Iraq, what bloggers do you read and who do you recommend?
Pretty much the only thing I do besides work is blog. It's fun though, I enjoy all the nitty-gritty politics and hearing what others have to say. I publish my own opinions on things and get some interesting feedback. It's been helpful since I think it will help me be a civilian again when I get out of the Navy. As for specific blogs, well Long War Journal is very informative. For politics I usually swing on by Vetvoice and shoot my mouth off on a variety of issues and hear out others. My favorite place for the left-side of things is Crooks and Liars, while the right side I like PJs and Hot Air (but Malkin's personal blog is too over the top). I try to adopt a middle-of-the-road approach to politics so I don't get wrapped around the axle on ideology; Obsidian Wings is pretty good for politics too. Iraq Pundit knows what's going on and offers very keen insight. The guys at Sniper are pretty damn hilarious. Truly though, the best milbloggers are the soldiers with boots-on-ground or used to have boots-on-ground like "Iraq: The Purgatorium", "Army of Dude", SGT Grumpy, and Kaboom. Oh yeah Thunder Run rocks out too.Is there anyone’s story that we should know about that isn’t getting the coverage you think it deserves?
All the guys outside the wire are doing the hard time. I'm doing the easy time. Give them props! I'm glad the blogs frequently recognize them. One thing that gets underplayed in both the MSM and the American blogosphere is the importance of the religious leaders in Iraq. Those guys are tremendously influential and it's a good idea to watch what they say. Usually it is good stuff like Shi'ites shouldn't fight Sunnis and vice versa. I'm not talking about Sadr, that guy's an ass. I'm talking about like Grand Ayatollah Sistani, what he says goes in this country. Tremendously influential.
On Monday [February 4, 2008] the WSJ ran an opinion piece written by Janet Napolitano - Governor of AZ, Kathleen Sebelius - Governor of KS and Claire McCaskill - Senator for MO that stated in part that the war in Iraq has in fact made us less safe. Do you agree? [Ed Note: Governor Napolitano is a relative of Editor.]
Hmm. Hard to say. I don't agree with the reasons we came to Iraq, but at this point we need to make sure we leave it a stable place. I think the plan in place is a pretty good one, but like I said, we can't be here forever. Our military is stretched pretty thin. I worry a lot about Pakistan, radical Islam, nukes, and an unstable government, yikes. I think as Americans we need to realize that the war against extremism will take decades. People have never wanted to accept that as a general public, and it's very frustrating to me and I'm sure many of you. Was Saddam a tyrant, yes absolutely. But should we have invaded a country with no understanding of the culture and no plans for a long-term commitment of stabilization, hell no. We should understand that proper diplomacy backed up with the might of the military of modern civilizations is a good way to exterminate the viral threat of extremism. That and we have to show people that there is a better way. Terrible ideas like communism, fascism, and slavery always end. It's just sad that wars are sometimes required to accomplish this. This war is different, not just Iraq, but against extremism, and it will be fought on many fronts for a long time. I think cyberspace is one important front, and it's blogs that help expose Islamic extremism for the heinous idea that it is, it can have a big impact, IMHO.Do you have anything you’d like to add?
Not one smartass remark this whole interview, I'm surprised with myself. Thanks for interviewing me. Feel free to drop me a line anytime if you have a question about something I said or disagree with me. People in the blogosphere suffer from ideological thinking too much and don't understand that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I'm always happy to field / address critiques you have of what I said above. It's how I learn.Thank you for offering that and thank you for taking the time to talk to us and thank you for your service to our country.
Thanks for having me! We all serve in one way or another.
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Argghhh! H&I Fires for 02/14/2008
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