The Slow Fuse Is Lit:

Pentagon Forcing 4,000 Troops Who Thought They Were Going Home To Stay In Iraq

July 30, 2006 By EDWARD WONG, The New York Times Company

The tours of 4,000 American soldiers who had been scheduled to leave Iraq in the coming weeks have been extended for up to four months, signaling that there would almost certainly be no significant troop pullout before the year’s end, military officials and analysts said Saturday.

The extension is part of the new security plan that President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki announced last week in Washington.

Of the 4,000 troops ordered to stay beyond their standard one-year tour, 3,500 are from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, currently based in the northern city of Mosul, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman.  The other 500 come from other units.

The new security plan allows almost no room for significant troop withdrawals by the end of 2006, Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said in an interview on Saturday.

If any troop pullout takes place in the coming months, “it would be so cosmetic that it would be meaningless,” he said. “It would be statistical gamesmanship.”

“People are now talking about 2009 as the goal for achieving really serious security,” he added.

The 172nd Stryker Brigade was deployed to Mosul in August 2005.  The brigade had been preparing to return to its home base, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, when the Pentagon ordered a tour extension.

The new Baghdad security plan calls for adding at least 4,000 American troops and 4,000 Iraqi security officers in the capital. There are now 9,000 American troops, 8,500 Iraqi soldiers and 34,500 Iraqi police officers in Baghdad.

The military said Saturday in a written statement that “the duration of the temporary deployment of these Iraqi and coalition forces in Baghdad will be determined by conditions on the ground.”  

[Wrong.  The duration of the deployment will be determined by the decision of the troops concerning how long they do or do not chose to be slaughtered to make Bush and the politicians look good in the coming elections, and after.  This lights the fuse.  No lie can live forever.  When the history of the armed forces rebellion that stopped this war is written, this day, and this idiotic move, will have a chapter all of it’s own.]

MORE:

Families Joining Anti-War Group At Word Of Tour Extension;

“There Has Never Before Been A Group Of Military Families Breaking The Code Of Silence Like This”

July 28, 2006 By Karen Jowers, Army Times staff writer [Excerpts]

For some families of soldiers in the 172nd Stryker Brigade, the July 27 announcement of the extension of their tour in Iraq was just too much.

Some of them are joining the ranks of the anti-war group Military Families Speak Out. “We’ve had a whole group of people who have joined since the announcement,” said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of the group. She was working to get an exact count at press time, and said e-mails are still coming in to the organization.

“They are having meetings at families’ homes,” she said.  “Many family members hold their breath until their loved one gets home,” and then speak out, she said.

“But something like this puts them over the edge.

“There has never before been a group of military families breaking the code of silence like this,” she said.  “It speaks to the horrific nature of the invasion and now occupation of Iraq.”

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Sgt. Michael Dickinson Felled By Sniper:

“I Never Thought My Son Would Not Come Home”

July 19, 2006 BY NAOMI R. PATTON, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Army Staff Sgt. Michael Dickinson was scheduled to come home from Iraq by the end of July.

But the 26-year-old Battle Creek native, who was on patrol with a Marine Corps unit in Iraq, was killed Monday by sniper fire.

His mother, Vicki Dickinson of Battle Creek, said she chatted with him by e-mail almost every day.  But she didn't think it was a big deal when she hadn't received a message from him Monday afternoon.

When his wife, Glorygrace Dickinson, called her later that day in tears from their home in Ft. Bragg, N.C., she knew it wasn't good news.

An Army chaplain was in their home.  "I knew what that meant," his mother said. "My baby's gone."

Sgt. Dickinson belonged to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and was in Iraq on his third tour of duty.

He served two tours in Afghanistan before that.

Vicki Dickinson said her son, the youngest of five children, "always tried to make light of some things so I would not worry."

But she said he did tell her Iraq was a "dangerous and ugly place."

A 1998 Harper Creek High School graduate, Sgt. Dickinson played percussion in band, and was an athlete, playing football, basketball and tennis, his mother said.

Vicki Dickinson added that he was quite popular with the girls.  "He was a cutie pie," she said while laughing.

Sgt. Dickinson, who had begun studying to be a physician's assistant, was the father of a 2-year-old daughter, Abigail.

He also was planning to adopt his four stepchildren when he returned home from Iraq, his mother said.

He called home for Abigail's birthday July 2 and sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Vicki Dickinson said she was eager to see her son, who was planning to visit Battle Creek in August.

"I feel that he still accomplished his very last mission -- his men are still alive," she said.

"He believed in his country, believed in his family."

A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday at Ft. Bragg, she said.

She plans a memorial service for him in Battle Creek if he is not buried there.

"I never thought my son would not come home," she said.

Pendleton Marine Dies In Anbar Province

July 20, 2006 By: MARK WALKER, Staff Writer, North County Times

CAMP PENDLETON:  Twenty-year-old Geofrey R. Cayer was known for his sense of humor, his love of a good cigar and his love of books.

The lance corporal, a field radio operator who joined the Marine Corps in January 2005 shortly after high school, died Tuesday from what the Pentagon said Thursday was a "non-hostile incident" in the Anbar province of Iraq.

The circumstances of his death remain under investigation, but foul play is not suspected, authorities said.

"He was a fantastic young man, very introspective and quiet but fun and funny at the same time," said Chris LeBlanc, a family friend who knew Cayer all of his life. "He was very proud to be a Marine, and he knew he had a job to do."

A lifelong native of Fitchburg, Mass., a town of about 39,000 people 50 miles from Boston, Cayer hosted his family, LeBlanc and LeBlanc's parents during a Christmas holiday visit to North County last year.

That gathering took place shortly before he left for Iraq with the I Marine Expeditionary Force as a member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton.

"He really enjoyed showing us San Diego and his barracks and telling us about his life as a Marine," LeBlanc said Thursday during a telephone interview. "Geofrey felt very comfortable at Camp Pendleton and seemed to be having a great time."

Growing up, Cayer was active in sports and played baseball, tennis and soccer.

"He loved those things, just like he loved to read," said LeBlanc, who was acting as the Cayer family's spokesman.  "He also had developed a fondness for a good cigar, and during a family trip to Ireland, he also developed quite a fondness for Guinness."

Arrangements are being made to have a memorial service for Cayer at his alma mater, Fitchburg High School.

He leaves behind his parents, Robert and Joan Cayer; two brothers, Charles and Alexander; and a sister, Abigail.

Cayer's death is at least the 299th of a locally based Marine.

On Foot Patrol In Fallujah;

“Walking Past Traffic Stopped Because Of You, The Drivers Glaring As You Pass”

June 22, 2006 By JESSE HAMILTON, The Hartford Courant

FALLUJAH, Iraq:  So you want to know what a foot patrol is like?

Most days, the men from Plainville-based Charlie Company walk Fallujah.  No armored Humvees. Nothing between them and the city.  Maybe a dozen Marines counting on nobody but each other.

No, there's no way to replicate it, but here's how you can give it a shot:

Wait for the hottest day of summer, when the heat is pounding the earth, stealing the air from your lungs and sweat from your skin.

Put on 82 pounds of gear.  Heavy boots.  A helmet, if you've got it. And a backpack jammed with stuff to make up the balance.

Get three hours of sleep the night before. (You probably were on post or ran out to a roadside bomb attack just a few hours before dawn.)

Find a place where it's hunting season, and stalk around the woods. (Though, unless the woods run with open sewers and are strewn with rotting garbage, it would be hard to get the smell right.)

If you don't get hit after a few hours, walk back home, shoulders cramping, stomach tight from the weight and the heat and the tension.

When you walk through the door, sweat running in tiny streams down your body, turn the air conditioner off, and the lights, too. (The generator got hit by a mortar today.)

As you lie there, recovering in the dark, think about what it would have been like to have walked under a thousand black windows where snipers might hide, in narrow alleys where you brush against the people, walking past traffic stopped because of you, the drivers glaring as you pass.

But if you want an even better idea what it's like for the Marines, do it all over again tomorrow.

FUTILE EXERCISE:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW!

July 6, 2006:  U.S. Army soldiers leave Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul in a Stryker to conduct a cordon and knock patrol July 1, 2006. The soldiers are from 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. (AP Photo/Department of Defense, Jeremy T. Lock)

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

“A Lot Of Different Forces Are Coalescing To Drive The Coalition Out”

July 28, 2006 By Matthew Pennington, Associated Press [Excerpt from a longer article filled with idiotic bullshit.  For instance, the writer says Afghanistan has a “western style democracy.”  Obviously, not all the opium is being exported.  T]

Southern Afghanistan, homeland of the Taliban and hub of the global heroin trade, is spinning out of control.  [Out of whose control?  The occupation?  Yes.  The resistance?  Well, actually it’s spinning into their control.  Just depends on whether you’re a hack propagandist for George Bush or not, which is a mild way to describe somebody silly enough to write that Afghanistan has a “western style democracy.”]

“A lot of different forces are coalescing to drive the coalition out,” said Joanna Nathan, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.  “It’s not just Taliban.”

Over the past year, Taliban-led militants regained effective control over large tracts of their southern heartland.

TROOP NEWS

Army Maj. John Morgan, One Stupid Lying Sack Of Shit

July 28, 2006 By John Diamond, USA TODAY [Excerpts]

Iraqi insurgents are teaching recruits sophisticated sniper techniques for targeting U.S. troops.

The threat of sniper fire is greatest in urban areas because shooters have more hiding places.  That’s a concern for U.S. forces as more troops enter Baghdad to combat escalating violence.

Combat troops don’t always report sniper deaths as such to prevent insurgents from learning that an attack succeeded, says Army Maj. John Morgan, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad.  [“Combat troops” don’t report?  This idiot must think he can get away with unbelievably silly lies, being a Maj. and a big, important press spokesman and all.  Troops report faithfully, or it’s their ass.  It’s lying rats like Morgan that cover up the truth of what’s going on.  See below.]

Through November 2005, when the Pentagon last reported a sniper fatality, the Army had attributed 28 of 2,100 U.S. deaths to snipers.

The insurgent manual says snipers should target U.S. officers because they are hard to replace, tank drivers because their death could immobilize a tank crew, and communications officers because their death could delay calls for reinforcements.

Translated into English by U.S. intelligence, the manual advises snipers to avoid large groups of soldiers “unless you are sure of your ability to kill them and escape.”  It ranks Iraqi government forces as lower-priority targets who can be attacked by less well-trained combat brigades.

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

The casket of Marine Cpl. Julian A. Ramon at Long Island National cemetery, July 29, 2006 in Farmingdale, N.Y.  Cpl Ramon died July 20, 2006 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Ft. Carson Iraq Combat Soldiers Report Superiors Physically And Verbally Torment Them Because Of Their PTSD:

“One Soldier Says He Was Beaten By A Sergeant And Shot With A Pellet Gun After Seeking Psych Care”

Scumbags In Command Rush To Kick Out Troops With PTSD And Deny Them All Benefits

Pvts. Corey Davis and Tyler Jennings.  Photo By www.caytonphotography.com

[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in.  He writes: From the Fort Carson area newspaper, The Colorado Springs Independent.]

July 13-19, 2006 by Michael de Yoanna, The Colorado Springs Independent [Excerpts]

Pvt. Tyler Jennings returned to Fort Carson last August after one year in Iraq. Today, the 23-year-old active-duty infantryman is sitting in his Colorado Springs living room with the shades drawn.  He takes a drag of his Marlboro cigarette before describing what life has been like since his return.

Two months ago, Jennings was intent on killing himself, getting as far as tying a noose of rope.  "The stress of being back home crept up on me," he says. "I just couldn't take it anymore."

But the Rochester, N.Y., native, a newlywed, says he was too drunk to carry out the deed.

Jennings is what other soldiers in his 2nd Brigade Combat Team platoon frequently call a "shitbag."

"A shitbag is what the Army calls someone who can't do anything right," he explains.

Less than a year ago, Jennings was a hero, a Purple Heart recipient who'd re-enlisted for six years.

But stationed on a remote highway outpost near Ramadi, he faced a daily onslaught of insurgents' roadside explosions.  He saw a sergeant he knew "folded in three like an accordion" behind the wheel of a Humvee, alongside a soldier literally split in half and decapitated.  He watched in horror as Pfc. Samuel Lee, a 19-year-old from Anaheim, Calif., committed suicide, shooting himself in front of his platoon.

Once back at Fort Carson, Jennings says he suffered panic attacks, jitters, sleeplessness and flashbacks.  He turned to drugs, alcohol and sleeping pills to ease his afflictions.  When urine analysis tests came back positive, the Army began to process his discharge for "patterns of misconduct."

But the therapist he obtained off base says Jennings resorted to drugs as a way to cope with the horrifying memories of war, the people and places that trigger those memories, and his sense that an attack may be imminent, even in Colorado Springs.

"It makes sense one would turn to substances to treat the stress that goes with all the bad memories," says Gerald Sandeford, Jennings' licensed counselor.

Sandeford has diagnosed Jennings with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which is among the mental health conditions affecting one in three troops returning from war.

"They're trying to throw me out of the Army because of this," Jennings says.

Jennings is among eight active-duty and recently discharged soldiers interviewed by the Independent who allege that Fort Carson hindered or outright denied PTSD treatment.

They say the Army is pursuing or has pursued disciplinary action to purge them from the ranks.

Because of the nature of their discharges, some stand to lose benefits, such as the Montgomery GI Bill, which provides money for college.

Some soldiers also allege their immediate superiors physically or verbally intimidated them because of their PTSD.  One soldier says he was beaten by a sergeant and shot with a pellet gun after seeking psychiatric care.

Dee McNutt, a spokeswoman for the base, won't comment on specific cases, but defends Fort Carson's mental health care system.

When soldiers return from combat, they are asked to fill out standardized questionnaires meant to screen for PTSD.  Using the questionnaires and interviews, health care workers determine which soldiers need to be referred for further mental evaluation. A reassessment questionnaire is given several months later to identify potentially overlooked cases.

Beyond those steps, however, catching a soldier with PTSD is primarily left up to his or her immediate superiors, often, the same people charged with preparing a soldier for combat. Chaplains and soldiers also are entrusted with identifying PTSD symptoms.

Yet most of the soldiers interviewed by the Independent say the system is failing them. And some have filed for federal whistleblower protection through Sen. Ken Salazar's office.

Ryan Lockwood, a former 2nd Brigade Combat Team private, returned from Ramadi in August 2005 after a yearlong tour.  The 22-year-old says an Army captain issued an ultimatum after he displayed symptoms of PTSD.

"He threatened that if I tried to get a medical disability for my PTSD, he would make my life a living hell," Lockwood says from his home in McHenry, Ill.

In Iraq, Lockwood served as a medical evacuation worker, helping to get injured soldiers airlifted out of Ramadi.  He received a Combat Infantryman Badge, an honor for soldiers who experience the worst kinds of warfare.

"Some soldiers had bones sticking out and were crying bloody murder," he says. "Some had died.  This is what I dealt with every day."

Lockwood's return to Fort Carson was bittersweet.  He was alive, but still tingling from what he saw in combat, unnerved and worn down from sleepless nights.  When he did sleep, he had nightmares about Iraq.  He resorted to drinking, and eventually, a few months after returning home, was arrested for drunk driving on base.

He was referred to a substance abuse program, but was required to attend just one class for less than two hours, he says.

By February, he was facing a discharge for patterns of misconduct.  His drunk driving episode and other issues, such as failure to wear a helmet while on guard duty, were used in the case to discharge him.

Yet in the mental health evaluation completed as part of the discharge process, Lockwood screened positive for PTSD.

"Looking back, they cast me out," he says.  "I was having problems with day-to-day duties, so they just decided to get rid of me, despite my service to this country."