1000 US Casulties

it's been in the news for two days about how many of our brave military
men and women have sacrifced their LIves that we all can stay free. The
total is over 1000 now, since Bush declared war on Saddom
March 2003. We need to support those in Iraq fighting a fanatic enemy.
Those soldiers are doing it, because it's their job. They were oredered
to invade Iraq,
<> The Iraqi's wern't particularly our enemy till we invaded their
country. As bad as they are, they are gonna fight till they are all
dead. Those insurgents ignorantly think they are fighting to save their
country. They don't know anything else, they don't know what freedom is.
They only know they hate Americans, and probably don't know WHY? Does
anyone think this un-necessary war will go on and on like Viet Nam did?
bj

 

With all due respect for my friend IceMan.. the scenario that you attempt to
describe, is really an illusion that has been perpetrated on the American
people.. The prospect of an invasion of America by the machines of war
rolling through our streets induces fear and indignation amongst all of us..
The necessity to instill this awful dread and fear is a ruse to disguise the
failure of policies that have produced nothing more than a revolution
amongst a culture and society that is beyond the reach of our political
control..

This is an outright illusion that gives comfort to a few.. America is more
vulnerable to terrorist attack than ever in our history.. By virtue of the
fact that we now have more enemies and the terrorists ranks are gaining in
their numbers.. The policies that have developed the resentment and outright
hate for America amongst these other cultures and societies have focused
their failures and given them America to express their hate toward.. The
deficiencies in their own cultures and societies feed that hate.. Our own
misguided policies merely gave them target and we've paid the price..

Your feelings of comfort and safety, is a part of that illusion that is
necessary to provide support for the very leaders whose policies have
created the predicament that America finds itself..

Nothing in these comments should be construed that Americans do not love and
respect those military members who are conscientiously performing their duty
to our Nation..That is another issue entirely and has no bearing on support
or opposition to the leaders whose policies we do not agree with..

In conclusion, my friend IceMan is a man of integrity and good faith.. I'd
trust him with my life.. we disagree politically.. and also disagree about
four wheeled vehicles.. That being said.. I would ask you.. "what have you
done, lately .. to support and make sure those veterans and military members
in Iraq and Afghanistan, are provided for"?..Declarations of the support and
respect that you have made on usenet, fall short when VA hospitals across
our Nation are sadly neglecting the care and treatments, those veterans
need.. The neglect and absence of treatment are also results of policy..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

BW)
In conclusion, my friend IceMan is a man of integrity and good faith..
I'd trust him with my life.. we disagree politically.. and also disagree
about four wheeled vehicles.. That being said.. I would ask you.. "what
have you done, lately .. to support and make sure those veterans and
military members in Iraq and Afghanistan, are provided
for"?..Declarations of the support and respect that you have made on
usenet, fall short when VA hospitals across our Nation are sadly
neglecting the care and treatments, those veterans need.. The neglect
and absence of treatment are also results of policy..
Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WWhenEver I hear about any government
agency not doing this or that.....I always wonder who is the
blame....like was the
VA Hospitals neglected during 8 years of the Clinton people, or. has it
really got in this perdictament....(only) in the last
administration....of which are Republicans. <bjay>

 

While visiting VA hospital in our state, alone.. Some of them in the process
of being closed down.. I noticed the closures of clinics and other
facilities that veterans need.. The promises of funding for these hospitals
and clinics never materialized under the administration of Bush..

His public committments to adequately fund these VA services was never a
fact.. Only the promises of increased budgets for them, but actual funding
never happened.. The results have been, a loss of doctors and staff ..
Services and treatments eliminated .. and at best .. delayed for months..

Even amongst the military members returning from the theatres of operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan are already experiencing delays in their treatments
and services they need...

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

You want to identify the illusion? How about the illusion that the
majority of Iraqis wish that Sadam was still in power?

From someone who is there pretty regularly and gets his opinions first
hand instead of through US news services. After spending 2 years in
Korea, I fully understand that the differences between what really
happens and what we hear homeside are seldom the same thing.
....
A couple of weeks ago, we took a C-17 loaded with over 90,000 pounds of
cargo from Al Udeid Air Base in to Balad Air Base in Iraq. The plan was
to unload that cargo and load up some stuff that would be heading back
to the states. Within a few minutes of shutting down, one of the
maintenance guys came on board and told us that we had a bad oil leak on
the number one engine and they had to check it out. I figured it was a
loose filler cap or maybe somebody had spilled oil in the cowling, but
about the time we got the last pallet of cargo off the plane, the
copilot came back and told us that we had lost a seal between the
starter and accessory box. Less than an hour later, we find out that
there is no spare seals any closer than the Azores. We would be
pending the night.

Balad is the home to about two or three thousand U.S. military,
primarily Air Force. It is the main port for cargo coming into Iraq.
It gets shelled pretty regular but fortunately the enemy is usually
firing on the run and doesn�t have time for accuracy. The insurgents
get out their home made mortar tubes and rocket launchers and try their
best, but more often than not, the predator drones or Apache helicopters
will find them. The hits that get anything are mostly pure luck. For
the good guys, that means bad luck. Not too many people have been
killed there, but quite a few have been wounded.

What will come as a surprise to most people is that many of the
insurgents are turned in by the Iraqi citizens that live in the town of
Balad. Not too many weeks ago, an Iraqi farmer found a guy in his field
that was getting ready to fire a rocket. The farmer knocked him
unconscious and turned him in to the Army. Several times a week members
of the local population bring insurgents to the main gate of the base.
There is no reward for the captures; they do it on their own accord.
These are not members of the police force; they are farmers and other
civilians. Many of them help out the US because they know the sooner we
end the war, they sooner we leave their country. The few Iraqi
civilians that I have met in Balad seem to do it because they are tired
of the terrorists and out of work Saddam loyalist having a strangle hold
on Iraq. Strange, but you never hear any of this on CNN.

I�ve been at Balad for several of the attacks. When the tail of your
airplane sticks up fifty-three feet and is the tallest thing around for
about seventy miles, you tend to become a mortar magnet. Even when they
don�t shell you on the ground, they fire anti-aircraft rounds and SAMS
at you when you land and take off. As far as I know, no airplanes have
been seriously hit yet, but I�m sure it�s a matter of time before
somebody gets a lucky shot. Quite a few helicopters have been brought
down by rocket propelled grenades though.

We got our helmets and flak vests out of the plane, along with our
sleeping bags and headed for the transient aircrew tent. I roamed
around and visited with some of my friends that are deployed there. For
people that are living in tents, eating MRE�s, getting shelled on a near
daily basis and not having any idea when they will come home, their
morale is pretty high. I always check on the other military folk�s view
of the war. Mostly for my own curiosity but also so I can make sure the
truth gets to the people back home. Every body knows that the news
media doesn�t always give the whole picture and tends to only report the
bad stuff.

Sure they complain about the conditions, but who wouldn�t. The few
reservist that I talked to complained about their active duty
commitments being extended for an unknown period of time. The active
duty guys complained about being sent out there for six months at a
time. But with maybe five or ten exceptions, out of at least 85 people,
every person I talked to said they would vote for President Bush during
the election. Not because they were all Republicans, not because they
all love President Bush and certainly not because they were having a
good time in Iraq. They nearly all say it�s because they understand the
importance of the job they were given. Don�t get me wrong, none of them
want to be in Iraq. In fact, I doubt any of them care what happens to
Iraq. They know that contrary to what�s being reported by the media and
the liberals, removing Hussein from power and keeping his followers from
taking it, is vital to the protection of the western way of life.

About 5AM the first few mortars landed on the far side of the base. We
all got out of the tent with our helmets and chicken plates (flak vests)
on and ran to the bunkers. By the time we got there, the shelling
stopped. Nothing but dirt was hit, and that was on the other side of
the runway. When we headed back to the tents, the shelling started
again. They were all landing on the far side of the runway as before so
we just stood outside and admired the explosions. This went on for
about twenty minutes or so, with nothing coming closer than a thousand
yards from anything important. Finally it quit and we headed back to
bed. Shortly after 9AM, it started up again. I wasn�t the least bit
interested in getting up but I did. We headed to the bunker but noticed
that the shells were landing in about the same spot as before. We just
stood there, cussing the Iraqi�s for interrupting our sleep.

I�ve always been told by my Dad that mortar shells and rockets in
Vietnam sounded like freight trains coming through the air. I never
doubt my Daddy, but the artillery that I had heard wasn�t really that
dramatic, until now. It was a noise I have never heard before and if I
can go the rest of my life without hearing it again, I�ll be a happy
man. It literally sounded like a train going by. All of a sudden, the
entire world seemed to explode behind me. Another thing my Dad told me
was that when you are scared, you can get so flat to the ground that it
feels like the buttons on your shirt are sticking through your back
bone. I was lying on my stomach, with the zipper of my flight suite
digging into my spine, scared to death that I was gonna die. Shrapnel
was flying through the air; dirt, rocks, concrete and all manner of
other crap was flying around. I�m a flyer, I kept thinking, I�m not
supposed to be on the ground with this sort of stuff happening.

After what seemed like hours it all stopped. There must have been a
thousand shells land there. In actuality, it only lasted about a minute
and less than fifteen rounds hit the base. But at the time, I would
have sworn that it was more! By some stroke of luck, the entire barrage
went over the row of tents and landed in the cargo yard where all the
empty pallets are stored. It was only about forty yards from our tents.
Fortunately for us, there was about eight or nine hundred pallets
stacked around the yard and they absorbed the blast. By some miracle,
nobody was hurt. About thirty seconds after the last shell landed, we
saw the Black Hawks and Apache�s take off and fly towards the edge of
the base. Shortly after that, it was all over for the Iraqis with the
rockets. For the record, it ended up being 107MM rockets that were
fired at us.

I wish I had a funny twist to put on this story and could tell you how I
laughed at the entire episode. But, truth be told, I was scared to
death. I didn�t think about my daughter growing up without a Daddy, I
didn�t think about my family or anything like that. I thought about
dying and how I never thought it would happen that way. After it was
all over, I thought about the guys in the infantry and wondered how they
put up with that sort of stuff all the time. I couldn�t do it.

Three or four days after the shelling, I flew back to Balad. We picked
up the new Iraqi National Security Advisor and carried him to another
European location. If you saw any of the negotiations with Muqtada Al
Sadar on the news, then you saw this guy. He is not popular with the
extremists; in fact, he told me that there had been four attempts on his
life in less than two months. I asked why he continued to do the job if
it was so dangerous. He said �Sometimes, people have to do what�s best
for their country and not necessarily themselves�.

I wonder how many of the people out protesting the war and hoping John
Kerry gets elected would say the same thing. I don�t mean to say that
if you are against the war or don�t like President Bush, then you are
un-American. What I do mean to say is that your actions do not go
unnoticed by the military troops that are in country fighting and still
dieing for a war that they may very well not believe in. They do it
because it�s important to their country.

 

Amen brother.. I don't agree with George Bush on any part of his
justification for the reasons he has given to send our troops to Iraq.. He
was fully justified in sending our military to destroy Afghanistan.. That is
where we should have fought this war against terrorism, by running the one
who was responsible for attacking America.. into the ground..

The attack on Iraq distracted the destruction of the enemies of the United
States while we had them pinned in their spider holes and strongholds in
Afghanistan..

Be that as it may.. The obligations and support for our men and women who
are serving in our military must never be compromised .. You are absolutely
correct.. even though the money has been budgeted, the VA hospitals, clinics
and services have not been funded by the money.. It is kind of like "the
check is in the mail"..

This is disgraceful.. I have visited various VA hospitals in our state.. and
one of the premier facilities in Long Beach, Ca.. The closed clinics and the
delayed services, the loss of fine doctors and other conditions, are all
effects of this shameful lack of funding..

I commend you for your dedication to your brothers in arms.. with no
reservation.. I thank you for that..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Historically, when has that ever worked?

 

Most on here know that John Kerry was not my first choice for the democratic
nominee.. My first choice would surprise a lot of people.. That being said..
you are mistaken about John Kerry.. If you ever have the opportunity to hear
him and talk to him, you will be surprised to learn that you opinion in this
respect is not accurate.. at all..

Most of what you hear, right now is campaign misinformation that is very
much distorted and misleading..

You and Jailcall need to get enough time off to meet me in Hico, for the
best piece of homemade pie in Texas.. He's talking about it, already.. Come
on dude.. let's ride..BTW.. there is quite a motorcycle rodeo in Axtell this
weekend.. We might make it over there.. Sure would like to see you guys...

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Hico is south of Stephenville about 17 miles or so.. Seems like it is
something just over an hour into Austin..Many times as I've made the trip, I
should know..but you know how all us "old" guys are.. LOL.. The Koffee Kup
restarant has got the best damn homemade pie in Texas .. Whew.. I never
finish mine..

Hey pard.. you vote for whoever your conscience tells you to vote for.. I've
got definite views and not timid about expressing them.. As much good sense
as you have, you will do whatever YOU believe is right.. That's all anyone
can do.. We'll be friends AFTER the election just like we are while all this
is going on..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Hmmm.. You may have a great deal more in common with John Kerry than you
realize.. He chose John Edwards as his running mate for about the same
qualities that you observed...LOL.. Now.. if you'd just get rid of that
damn Ford pickup and buy IceLady a nice little Cadillac... ROTFLMAO..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

WHAT ?????? I'm TELLIN'.. There is absolutely no justification for your
narrow minded treatment for such a fine and graceful lady, as IceLady truly
is.. I can't believe that my good friend would treat her this way,
especially in light of her devoted dedication to your best interests and
welfare.. Shame on you IceMan..

Damn.. that makes my craving for some home made fresh pie, in Hico .. more
intense..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker