Chain of Command?

Saw this in the news today.

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (IPS) - CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting.

Obama's decision to override Petraeus's recommendation has not ended the conflict between the president and senior military officers over troop withdrawal, however. There are indications that Petraeus and his allies in the military and the Pentagon, including Gen. Ray Odierno, now the top commander in Iraq, have already begun to try to pressure Obama to change his withdrawal policy.

A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama's decision.

I really hope that this article is blowing things out of proportion. If this is what's really going on, then General Petraeus needs someone to send him a copy of the Constitution, and he should lock-step behind his Commander in Chief. Personally, based on the election Iraq just had, and the fact that the US military wasn't the entity providing security, I say it's time to declare victory and get out. Enough American mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughter soldiers have sacrificed an incredible amount to give this country a chance to rise from the ashes.

BTW, just so you know. IF Iraq maintains and strengthens this fragile, secular democracy over the next couple of years, then Bush deserves all the credit for pushing the surge to help get the peace when no one else thought it was a good idea. And the Democrats and critics should loudly acknowledge that. I hope to be one of them.

A Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

We have a mouse, at least I think there is only one! As I am typing this everyone is in bed and I have seen the little thing run out from under the fridge and stove twice! It's completely avoiding my glue traps argghh!

But I will have the last laugh. The exterminator comes on Friday and he takes no prisoners!

Follow-Up

I've been away from the blog for a while, sorry about that. I was struck by the conversation that cropped up from my last post. The comments from readers had their measure of compassion and complete ignorance.

You would think that a soldier from our own country who goes and serves in war would be universally supported and cared for when they returned from that war. I guess it should be a surprise that this isn't the case. The political appointees in the Veterans Administration are clearly more concerned with the political and economic fall out in treating the mental health of veterans. We must have a better understanding of what is happening to our soldiers returning from war under this administration!

Army Vet's Suicide Raises Questions About VA's Treatment of PTSD Cases
The Public Record - Thursday, 24 July 2008
© The Public Record

Anonymous comments have been disabled.

Army Pfc. Joseph Dwyer

You remember this photo from 2003? It became one of the iconic images of the war in Iraq. Hard to believe that this picture was taken five years ago, and yet we are still there.

Beyond the politics of this war is the tragic toll it continues to take on our soldiers, their families, and the people of Iraq. Pfc. Joseph Dwyer was a medic with 3rd Infantry Division. He signed up for duty after 9/11 and was in a company that was the very tip of the tip of the spear.

Dwyer physically left the war zone sometime in 2004, but the war followed him back. He was diagnosed with PTSD and received spotty treatment from Veterens Administration. At age 31 Pfc. Dwyer died due to inhaleing the computer cleaner Dust Off in an effort to help him sleep.

Dwyer is a hero who put himself in danger to rescue the life of a little boy in a war zone. It's is a tragedy of epic proportions that his government couldn't (or wouldn't) do the same for him. Dwyer is just one of the TENS OF THOUSANDS of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afgahanistan who have PTSD but are not recieving the treatment they need or were promised from our government.

Read the full account of what happened to Dwyer upon his return from Iraq here.

My hope is that this picture taken in 2003 which filled this country with pride at the bravery and sacrifice of our soldiers will now fill us with anger and shame at our Country's lack of services and care for these soldiers.

Can't Sleep

Yea it's 1:43 a.m. and I can't sleep. I (we) were hoping baby #2 would make an appearance tonight, but it's not going to happen.

I was doing the dishes, thinking about the eminent arrival of my son when my mind went back to the night Levi was born. Then out of nowhere this thought came into my head.

The country Levi was born in and is a citizen of has been at war for his entire life. He has never lived in a nation that was at peace.

Then I thought about his three year-old counterpart in Baghdad and tears came to my eyes. What must his life be like with so much fear, desperation, and death surrounding him. Then I thought about Levi's counterpart in Fort Dix who hasn't seen his dad for 14 months (almost half his life) because daddy has to go to war for the second, third, or even fourth time. How much that son must miss his daddy, and how strong the ache is in the heart of that marine sleeping in the hot sand tonight in the middle of the desert.

Tomorrow I will greet my son in the morning with a big hug and a plate of scrambled eggs. Then Levi will more than likely walk out of our home and go to Central Park with Allison where he is safe, protected, and has lots of friends to play with. I am tempted to say that I will do these things in honor of those who can't, but that's just false humility. The truth is I can do these things with Levi and it is absolutely not fair that his counter-parts can't do the same with their dads. To say otherwise would be naive.

Lord, help our children forgive us for the wars we (adults) are pushing into their precious lives all over this world.

Playing Catch Up

Sorry it's been a little slow at the J-Wild blog this week. I have been swamped so here is a brain dump.

1. American Idol - Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones are so much better than everyone else on this season it's amazing. The boys are terrible, save the beat box guy, and the curly hair dude.

2. LOST - Whew, finally a show to sink our teeth into!

3. The Four Unspeakable Truths about the Iraq war according to Jacob Weisberg are: The War was a mistake. The soldiers are victims as much as they are heros. The lives lost in Iraq are lives that have been wasted. America is going to, or already has lost this war. Even if you don't agree with his assessment it's worth reading. He also apologizes for his qualified support for the war.

4. On Joe's blog he explored what people meant when they said they were "supporting our troops". Great stuff was written in the comments, but what I keep coming back to is how much our government doesn't seem to be supporting our troops. They were sent to battle without proper armor, asked to return for tours again and again, and now it is appalling clear that the government is at best unprepared and worst negligent in taking care of the tens of thousands of wounded coming back to the United States.

5. I keep reflecting on this line from our staff devotional earlier this week. "Help me move from being created in your image, to living in your likeness."

The Cost of War

*links fixed*

Here are the dimensions of a dollar bill. It's about 6 inches long, and 2½ inches wide, and as thick as a regular piece of paper.

This is what a stack of dollar bills totalling $360,000 looks like (which would get you this apartment on the UWS of Manhattan). If you made a single stack, it would be 120 feet high.

You should see how big the stack of money is for the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as of July 21, 2006. It's incredible.

Last night Allison and I resisted the pull to watch the mindless Oprah Oscar Special and instead watched the hour long report "Bob Woodruff: To Iraq and Back." We watched with tears in our eyes the stories of people who have paid a price for this war that illustrative graphics about money could never convey. If you have a few minutes watch this video segment of the report.

I Apologize

I really regrett supporting the idea of going to war in Iraq. I feel ashamed about contributing to the fervor of going to war in early 2003 and where that's led our country and especially what it's done to our service men and women and their families. I am sorry.

Exposed

Did you read this article about the new X-Ray technology the TSA is using to help screen for threats to airlines? Apparently these new machines see through the outer layer of clothing but not the skin, rendering a person basically naked, and at high resolution! The TSA says that they will adjust the settings so that it is as least revealing as possible. I am assuming that means turning up the contrast and brightness ratio. But judging from the man's butt crack in the example photo, not much will be left to the imagination.

Put aside that fact that this technology seems more applicable to a 1980's type of threat (are terrorist really so stupid as to try and get a gun on an airplane) than the threats we face today. Like for example the unscreened cargo that is in the baggage hold of EVERY SINGLE domestic and international flight.

So would it bother you to walk through one of these machines? What if the person watching the monitor only watched people of their same gener? What about kids, specifically your teenage son or daughter walking through the machine? Under what conditions would it be ok with you? If it got you through security at the airport quicker would you do it?

The Best Idea Yet

Below is an excerpt from Thomas Friedman's editorial in the NY-Times today.

Right now everyone in Iraq is having their cake and eating it — at our expense. We have to change that.

The Sunnis, who started this whole murderous cycle, participate in the government, negotiate with us and also indulge the suicide bombers and the insurgents. The Shiites collaborate with us, run their own retaliatory death squads and dabble with Iran. The Saudis tell us we can’t leave, but their mosques and charities funnel Sunni suicide bombers to Iraq and dollars to insurgents. Iran pushes its Iraqi Shiite allies to grab more power, while helping others kill U.S. troops. Ditto Syria.

O.K., boys, party’s over: we’re leaving by Dec. 1. From now on, everyone pays retail for their politics. We will no longer play host to a war where we’re everyone’s protector and target. If you Sunnis want to go on resisting, we’ll leave you to the tender mercies of the Shiites, who vastly outnumber you. You Shiites, if you want to run Iraq without compromising with Sunnis, fine, but you’ll have to fight them alone and then risk having to live under the thumb of Iran.

You Saudis and other Arabs, if you don’t use your influence to delegitimize Sunni suicide bombers and press Iraq’s Sunnis to cut a deal, we won’t protect you from the consequences. And Iran, you win — yes, if we leave, you win the right to try to manage Iraq’s Shiites. Have a nice day.

But at the same time, we have to impose a tax that creates a floor price of $3.50 a gallon for gasoline — forever. This is also about leverage. It says to all the parties: we are going to conserve enough gasoline and spur enough clean alternatives to fossil fuels that no matter what you all do in the Middle East, we will not depend on you for energy.

This is the best idea, for a disastrous situation that I have heard yet. Full editorial here.

Iraq

All I wanted to say about Iraq is that if the sentiment continues to grow that the situation in Iraq is the Iraqis fault then I will be even more disappointed in our leaders. I hold to the Powell doctrine that "If you break it you own it." I fear that the troop increase the President appears to be seriously considering will just be a smokescreen for giving it one more try...and then we can back out blaming Iraqis all the way out the door.

I have no idea what we should do all the options seem poor, but adding more troops seems to have only a downside.

Who ever put this together at the New York Times should be commended. It is a powerful reminder of just how many people are paying the ultimate price for the US excursion into Iraq.