Oerdin's Iraq thread - Continued

[Dinner]

I believe she said the publisher liked her blog because her's was the only one written "from a female's perspective".

[Gibsie]

Don some tights and then you'll be the only one with source materia lwritten from a trannie's perspective

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Oerdin
The MPs we live with seem to be very angry at the MPs who worked at Abu Ghraib. They say those people at Abu Ghraib violated their oaths of service which all MPs must take and further more they violated the laws which they were supposed to enforce.

This cuts to the heart of the issue (for me anyway). Interrogation is a necessary evil that (at best) clearly skirts international and US laws. The MP's, as enforcers of the law, should never have been involved. The actual activities were pretty ho-hum compared to those that occur in other countries, but as a minimum the MP's should have refused to take part.

As for the book, just say no!

Although to put my opinion in perspective, in my day you would have already been in jail for your thoughtful contributions here.

Keep up the good work and keep your powder dry.

[Cruddy]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I believe she said the publisher liked her blog because her's was the only one written "from a female's perspective".

If you had a sex change after you get out, would that qualify you?

No, I guess not.

Try not to let the TB exposure pray on your mind. I got exposed for 6 months in London (curse those cheapskate landlords) but never developed symptoms.

It scared the hell out of me though... and it put paid to a promising relationship with a female singer.

Best wishes Oerdin, and I'd keep up the blog anyway - sure, you haven't any offers now, but if you have a solid blog it should be easier to sell? "From a Psyops perspective?"

[East Street Trader]

Maintain your own honour first, Oerdin. And hope it does not get tested too severely.

Let reputation look after itself.

If you get too irritated by the abuse stuff, you might try bringing to mind some of the your fellow servicemen and women whose glory reflects on you and on all those who wear your uniform. I suspect there are rather more of them than of the other kind.

[Barinthus]

Oerdin, glad you're alright and hope the TB thing's not that serious. Like other said, excellent work. It's always good to know we have folks like you over there representing the States. Shame on your higher-ups for not letting you guys go ahead with your efforts.

How did that videotaped Imam speech went? Did he stick to his word and denounced violence, etc?

What's ACR, btw? Armored Carrier Regiment? I'm guessing here.

As for blog, perhaps persuade a trusted friend to help you set it up so you can just focus on writing and s/he can take care of the rest?

I'm curious, have you seen a camel spider? Over here, there have been some urban legends passing around on how they are poisonous, can run up to 30 mph, and can grow up to like a foot long and generally are like those parasitic alien lavrae in movie Aliens.

Here's a picture, I can't figure out how to post two pictures at same time so...

[Barinthus]

Front view, better picture...

Oh I forgot to add this... what I mentioned in the above posting is just urban legend bull. From what I read on the internet, those are not poisonous, they do run fast but not at 30mph, and while they can grow to a rather large size, a foot long is absurd. They primarily go out and hunt at nights only and tend to target livestock.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Oerdin
--- The sucky thing is the 17 folks involved with that totally knew what they were doing was wrong and illegal before they did it but now the rest of us have to jump through hoops because of their criminality.

That England chick photoed with the slave on a leach said in a TV interview that she was ordered by PSYOPS to do what she did.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Oerdin
One of the females who works for the MI unit here in Al Kut keeps a blog and she just got offered $40k by a publisher to write a book about her experiences in Iraq. What a lucky break. I'm very happy for her but I can't help but be a little jealous. I'm wondering if I shouldn't collect all of my posts here at poly and open a proper blog complete with pictures and edited posts.

I guess I could make the Word file even longer after your recent posts. If you then edit it further, fill in some gaps, run some spell and grammar check and add some photos, you have stuff for a whole book. And a good one too. I want exclusive rights to translate it to Swedish. If some Swedish publisher wants it, you would off course get royalty. But let's wait with that until you're back home.

[Dinner]

Ollie: The Swedish rights are yours assuming a book is ever published. Also Psyops would never be involved with prisoners or interigations. That's MI and the MPs; at least with the US Forces.

Barinthus: I've seen lots of Camel Spiders. Just last night one of the MPs killed one which was a good 8 inches long. They do run quickly but 30 mph seems to fast. A few weeks back we caught a small one in a box and watched it pounce on beetles we threw into the box with it; the beetle survived until most of its insides were eaten.

The Army has finally gotten around to bricking up the front of the concrete aircraft hanger we live in. There are two doors and a couple of windows for light so hopefully we will find fewer insects and scorpions inside our living quarters. The Arabs just don't seem to know the first thing about masonry because the brick wall they've built is just absolutely horrid. They mix one part concrete with about five parts sand so the concrete just falls apart plus they don't put concrete between each brick (only on top of each completed row). The result is the wall has holes large enough to see through and I get the impression that if anyone leaned to hard against it the whole thing would fall over. Sadly, this seems to be typical hajji construction work.

In other news, we can no longer sun bath on top of our hanger. The MI unit has set up a radio listening post on top of the hanger and we've been told not to go up there any more. Exactly what they are listening to is the subject of a guessing game but the smart money says they're listening in on cell phone traffic in Iran. Who really knows? I hope the info is worth it because I already miss my favorite sunning location.

[Dinner]

Here's an article from the LA Times about the Amusement Park south of Al Kut which the CA Company I share living space with (along with the MPs) is rehabing.
[q]
Suspected militants to repair park
By Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times | May 20, 2004

KUT, Iraq -- In an unusual approach to guerrilla warfare, US Army commanders are hiring suspected members of a Shi'ite Muslim militia to help rebuild a rusted, abandoned amusement park that once drew thousands of families with its Ferris wheel, bumper cars, fountains, and picnic areas.



The plan may sound far-fetched. But commanders in the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment say it is based on this simple premise: Enemy fighters do not have time to fire rockets or mortar shells if they are busy earning a living. Rebuilding the amusement park should occupy dozens of men for weeks.

''Call it Six Flags Over Al Kut," quipped Colonel Brad May, the regiment's commander.

Throughout Iraq, the US military is funneling more than a billion dollars into projects to repair infrastructure and create jobs.

The Kut amusement park is the first public-works effort to target suspected followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The project carries special significance for the military. Sadr's forces in Kut rallied at the park before taking part in the bloody uprisings that swept south-central Iraq last month. Since then, the park has been occupied by squatters, who herd scores of goats amid pink oleanders and towering date palms. Looters have dismantled a high wall, carting away the bricks in dump trucks.

A US officer said renovating the park might plant peaceful thoughts in the minds of some militiamen.

''This time they'll be here with picks and shovels instead of AKs and RPGs," said Army Captain Leonard Kergosian, referring to assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Of all the cities involved in the uprisings, only Kut was quickly retaken by US forces. The city of a quarter-million inhabitants has remained relatively quiet since, and Sadr's local office has been reduced to a bombed-out shell.

While violence still rages in Karbala and Najaf, US commanders in Kut say they have struck on the right combination of deadly force and economic encouragement to maintain peace.

''We carry a gun in one hand and wave with the other," said Lieutenant Colonel Mark Calvert, a cavalry squadron commander in Kut.

But in recent days, there have been signs of trouble. Patrols rumbling through the city have encountered a proliferation of new Sadr posters nailed or stenciled onto walls, and two suspected militiamen died over the weekend while tinkering with a bomb in their car.

Hoping to stamp out a potential fire before it caught, Calvert thought the renovation project could help. He already had spent or planned to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on sewer, road, and school renovation projects, but the park could carry special appeal to residents. Many of its rides will have to be scrapped, but engineers hope to at least salvage its primary draw: the large, colorful Ferris wheel.

The only task that remained then was recruiting Sadr supporters for the job. That chance arrived last week during Friday prayers at a mosque whose members are loyal to the cleric. A patrol from the cavalry regiment stopped to talk with security guards and arranged a meeting with one of them Monday.

Over small glasses of tea, Calvert presented his offer to the Sadr contact: Fifty men would be paid $5 a day each to clean up and landscape the amusement park grounds. Two supervisors would get $15 each to oversee the work. The Army would pay $100 up front so that the supervisors could buy tools.

''I demand that people who work for me do a very good job," Calvert told the contact, Kassim Khlaf. ''I'll come by every day to check on the progress. If there's a problem, I will talk to you."

At that point, Khlaf chuckled lightly, shook his head, and said, ''Abu Ghraib -- noooo."
[/b]

[Chemical Ollie]

What's MI?

It took me just a minute to figure out 2nd ACR - 2nd Armed Cavallery Regiment. But those domestic US army abrevasions are really an annoyance...

[Chemical Ollie]

I hope the info is worth it because I already miss my favorite sunning location.

I suppose you followed my advise to bring some sun screen lotion then... What I really meant was the armour suit and helmet.

[Chemical Ollie]

Hey, you don't happen to know that super-hot pr0n model Aria Giovanni, do you? She's from SD, I think

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
What's MI?

An oxymoron aka Military Intelligence.