NationStates Jolt Archive

Well Task Force 2-7 Cav made it back from Fallujah earlier than expected,
mission accomplished. It feels so good to be back from a second successful
mission that was as difficult as it was dangerous. We left Camp Cooke on
Nov 1 and staged at Camp Fallujah for about a week. While there, we got
the good news that George Bush was re-elected?.and we had busy days and
nights of planning and rehearsals for the big attack. 2 days before "D
Day," a 122 mm rocket impacted 50 meters away from our tents that sent
everyone to the floor. We staged there at a remote part of the post and it
was obvious that a local national tipped off the "mujahadin" (Arabic name
for the enemy) where we staged. From that attack, we lost one soldier and
4 more were wounded. That attack gave the rest of the Task Force enough
anger to last the whole fight. After all the drills and rehearsals, the
day for the attack finally came on Nov 8. Prime Minister Allawi gave the
green light and Coalition and Iraqi forces went all the way.
On Nov 7, a battalion of Marines seized the peninsula to the west of the
city to prevent insurgents from fleeing. A brigade (4,000 soldiers) from
the First Cav set up another cordon around the city to catch anyone
fleeing. The plan was to make sure the insurgents would either
surrender?or fight and be killed. Intelligence estimates put the enemy
between 3,000 - 5,000 strong, so we knew we had a tough fight ahead of us.
One of the interesting factors to this fight was the weather?.although
Iraq is unbelievable hot in the summer (up to 130 in Najaf), it was colder
out in Fallujah than it was back in New York. Temperatures were typically
in the upper-30?s and low 40?s between 5 pm ? 8 am. The average
temperature here has dropped about 30 degrees in the past month or so.
We moved all of our vehicles and soldiers from Camp Fallujah to a position
about 1 mile north of the city. That?s also where we set up our TF support
area (re-fuel, re-arm) and where we set up the Tactical Operations Center.
All day long while were setting up at that location, Air Force and Marine
Corps aviators shaped the battlefield with laser-guided bombs and hellfire
missiles. Although American forces had not been into the city since April,
we had been collecting intelligence on the city for months through
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV?s), human intelligence, and Special Forces.
So we knew exactly where they stored their weapons and where they held
meetings, and so on?.all of these attacks from the air were precise and
very effective in reducing the enemy?s ability to fight us before the
battle even started. With each attack, secondary explosions of
weapons/ammo blowing up were heard. The Coalition also threw the enemy a
curveball by destroying all the vehicles that had been parked in the same
location for more than 3 days---the enemy planned to use these as car
bombs when we attacked. Again, almost every single vehicle the air assets
attacked had huge secondary explosions.
After 12 hours of massive air strikes, Task Force 2-7 got the green light
and was the first unit to enter the city. There is a big train station on
the city?s northern limit, so the engineers cleared a path with some
serious explosives and our tanks led the way. While this was happening, my
intelligence shop was flying our own UAV to determine where the enemy was.
It is a very small plane that is launched by being thrown into the air. We
flew it for 6 hours and reported grids to the tanks and bradley?s of where
we saw insurgents on the roof and moving in the street---so our soldiers
knew where the enemy was, before they even got to the location. We crossed
the train station just before midnight and led the way for the Marines by
killing everything we could in our way. It took our tanks and brads until
10 am the next day to get 2 miles into the city. They killed about 200
insurgents in the process and softened the enemy for the Marines. 5 of our
soldiers were wounded in this first 10 hours, but we accomplished our part
of the plan.
The Marines? mission was to follow TF 2-7 and fight the enemy by clearing
from building to building. A lot of the insurgents saw the armored
vehicles and hid. They waited for the Marines to come and took their
chances by fighting them since the Marines weren?t protected by armor like
we were. In that first day of fighting, the Marines took 5 x KIA and many
more wounded, but they also did their job very well. Along the way, they
found HUGE caches of weapons, suicide vests, and many foreign fighters.
They also found unbelievable amounts of drugs, mostly heroin, speed, and
cocaine. It turns out, the enemy drugged themselves up to give them the
?courage" and stupidity to stay and fight. The enemy tried to fight us in
"the city of mosques" as dirty as they could. They fired from the steeples
of the mosques and the mosques themselves. They faked being hurt and them
threw grenades at soldiers when they approached to give medical treatment.
They waived surrender flags, only to shoot at our forces 20 seconds later
when they approached to accept their surrender.
The next few days, TF 2-7 maintained our battle positions inside the city,
coming out only for fuel and more ammo. We fought 24 hours a day and
continued to support the Marines as they cleared from house to house. If
they were taking heavy fire or RPG fire from a house, they would call on
our tanks. Our guys would open up on the house with 120 mm main gun or .50
cal. After 5 minutes of suppressive fire, then the Marines would go into
the building and clear it. There was rarely anyone left alive by that
point. The problem is that we couldn?t be there to do that for all the
Marines?.and when we couldn?t and they had to clear the building without
our help, they took heavy casualties because the insurgents didn?t stop
firing until the Marines got into the building and killed them.
After 3 days, half of the city had been cleared and Iraqi Forces followed
the Marines to re-clear the buildings and clean up the caches. Sometimes
the insurgents who had managed to hide from the Marines would stand and
fight the Iraqis, so they took some casualties as well. But they did a
good job of securing the area and collecting the thousands of AK-47?s,
RPG?s, mortars, and IED?s that were in these houses. All that ammo proved
just how intensely the enemy planned to defend the city?after all,
Fallujah was the symbol of the resistance against the new Iraqi
government. They wanted to keep their safe haven for terrorists like
Zarqawi to behead innocent people. Since no Coalition Forces were allowed
into the city, they were able to get away with those atrocious acts
without much trouble.
On day 3 of the fight, we had the most exciting moment for me personally
when our Task Force Support Area and TOC came under attack. Insurgents
fired mortars and rockets at us everyday, some landing as close as 30
meters from us. But on this day at 6 pm, just as it was getting dark, we
took 3 rounds very close?and then to the north 8-10 insurgents opened up
with small arms fire on the TOC. Luckily, a tank platoon was back
re-fueling and along with the scout platoon, laid down some serious
firepower and killed them all in a matter of 5 minutes. But all of us in
the TOC got to go out and be part of the fight, firing rounds and seeing
the tanks unload on these insurgents. None of us were hurt, but it was an
exciting 10 minutes.
THEN came the second push through the rest of the city. Although by day 4,
the Coalition had already killed over a thousand, many of them fled to the
southern portion of the city and took up positions there. Again, Task
Force 2-7 led the push a little before midnight. Same mission, same
purpose: To soften up enemy strong points and kill as many insurgents as
possible to enable the Marines to follow us when the sun rose. The Marines
from Regimental Combat Team 1 did just that for the next 5 days---fighting
house to house, finding more weapons, more torture chambers, more
ammunition, and more insurgents ready to fight to the death. One fighter
came running out of a building that our tanks set on fire?.he was on fire
and still shooting at us. As our Sergeant Major said, "going up against
tanks and brads with an AK-47, you have to admire their effort!" Over the
next 5 days, the Marines and our Task Force killed over 1,000 more
insurgents. In that time frame, over 900 more fighters made the decision
to spend 30 years in prison rather than die. The Marines are still
occupying the city and helping with the rebuilding process---they still
meet some sporadic resistance, usually a group of 3-5, shooting from a
mosque or faking surrender and then shooting at them.
We were very disturbed to find one house with 5 foreigners with bullets in
their head, killed execution style. Marines also came upon a house where
an Iraqi soldier in the Iraqi National Guard had been shackled to the wall
for 11 days and was left there to die. These insurgents are some sick
people and Fallujah proved that more than ever. 2 mosques were not being
used for prayer?.but rather for roadside bomb making. They were literally
IED assembly line factories, with hundreds of IED?s complete or being
built. They also had several houses with high-tech equipment where they
conducted their meetings. In Fallujah, the enemy had a military-type
planning system going on. Some of the fighters were wearing body armor and
kevlars, just like we do. Soldiers took fire from heavy machine guns (.50
cal) and came across the dead bodies of fighters from Chechnya, Syria,
Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Afghanistan, and so on?.no, this was not just
a city of pissed off Iraqis, mad at the Coalition for forcing Saddam out
of power. It was a city full of people from all over the Middle East whose
sole mission in life was to kill Americans. Problem for them is that they
were in the wrong city in November 2004.
Now that it?s over, there is a lot of things that people back home should
know. First of all, every citizen of Fallujah (non-insurgent) is getting
$2,500 USD (that?s a lot over here) to fix up their house or buy new
things that may have been destroyed in the fighting. Insurgents took up
positions in resident?s houses so we were forced to destroy a lot of
buildings. There is over $100 million dollars ready to be spent to
re-build the city. This may seem like a lot of money, but I can assure you
that it is a small price to pay for the amount of evil people no longer
alive, contemplating how to kill more Americans. The intelligence value
alone is already paying huge dividends. Some of the 900 detainees are
telling everything they know about other insurgents. And the enemy never
expected such a large or powerful attack and they were so overwhelmed that
they left behind all kinds of things, including books with names of other
foreign fighters, where their money and weapons come from, etc?
I went into the city 3 times, but after a lot of the fighting had been
done. It was amazing to see how the American military had brought the
world?s most evil city to its knees. I have an awful lot of pictures that
I am going to upload to my webshots site?.it will blow your mind to see
what the insurgents forced us to do to win this fight. And seeing the
pictures of what I saw firsthand will make you very happy to be an
American and know that our country has this might if evildoers force us to
use it. Our mission in Iraq is to help the Iraqi Security Forces become
stable enough to keep this country safe?.and once in a while fight with
our full might to give these security forces a fair chance. When we need
to go after the enemy with all we?ve got, the results have been amazing.
In the fight for Fallujah, our military lost over 50 soldiers and Marines
including a sergeant major, company commander, and 8 platoon leaders,
along with 40 kids, typically between 19 and 23 years old. I can?t even
tell you how proud I was to be part of this fight and know these soldiers
who were going from building to building to take the fight to the enemy.
My Task Force lost 2 more soldiers after the rocket attack at Camp
Fallujah, 1 of them that I knew pretty well. It was hard on the unit to
deal with these losses, to go along with the 16 soldiers from 2-7 who were
wounded. But this was a fight we knew would be dangerous?..but worth the
risk based on the good that would come out of it. Anyone back home who
thinks the world is a safe place needs to come here for a day and learn
real fast that there are an awful lot of people out there who hate
Americans so much that they risk their lives to try to kill us. We cannot
live peacefully back at home right now unless we continue to stay on the
offensive against our enemies and fight them in their backyards. Remember,
radical Arabs started this war?.and they continue to fight it, proving to
America over and over that they need to be fought.
I am hopeful that most Americans understand that you have to accept death
to defeat evil; all of us soldiers accepted that the day we signed up.
There are some things worth fighting and dying for, and making the world
and especially America, a safer place, is one of them. For every Mom out
there that you read about who turns into a peace protestor when her son is
killed in action, there are 99 Moms you don?t hear about who are proud and
believe in this mission even more.
It sure is good to be back to Taji after our second "field trip." We have
an officers vs. enlisted football game tomorrow where I am the
quarterback, so I am excited about that. We also have a Task Force
Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Despite the fact we have upcoming
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years away from family, friends, and
fun?.all of our soldiers are thankful to be back after this big fight and
to have played such an important role in the successful mission.
I received some nice letters out there that were very supportive, so thank
you to all of you who did that for me. Thanks for all your prayers and
support?.and I wish everyone back home a Happy Thanksgiving and some
quality time spent with family and friends.
Mike

In the Soviet Union, they had political officers embedded into every large unit to generate BS like that. Usually with titles such as Pervyj Zamestitel' (apprx. transl. First Stand-in (for regular commissioned officers)). They'd get word out that the boys are doing a terrific job and the sacrifices are worth it.

I hail from there, I recognise it when I see it.

Only difference is, the US can't have officers which ranks openly stating the fact - thus ironically being remarkably less open than the Soviet Union in this respect.

Manufactured propaganda - and at least the communists didn't hide it.

The first dubious claim "a first person letter from Fallujah", can be followed by as many ludicrous claims as you wish.

If you are going to publish this type of material, please make some attempt to establish its credentials.

I am confident that by now most readers of these forums are sufficiently educated to not regard everything that they read on the internet as factual.

This is more the case in Iraq where military censorship most certainly applies, opposition newspapers have been forcibly closed, and the only journalists who get stories are "embedded" (a most appropriate term - where journalist and army are in bed together).

Kindly do not insult our intelligence with this type of transparent propaganda.

"OMG I hate this place so much. My buddy Joe died the other day. THEY GOT JOE! WTF?!?!!? Get me out plz?

-Bob"

Challenge : Produce some (any) sort of "evidence" to show that this is not a poorly constructed fake.

Challenge : Produce some (any) sort of "evidence" to show that this is not a poorly constructed fake.

Counter-Challenge: Prove that it is real.

I have the letters from ancestors in previous wars and they don't read like this. I have a book about letters from the front(ww1) and they don't read like this.

Smells a bit like propaganda....

I think everyone is in agreement here that this is BS. It reads like the British Army's news reports from the trenches of WW1. It reads like the crap that the Soviet political officers wrote about the state of affairs in Afghanistan. It is utterly, utterly, implausible. Someone patronisingly writing what they think an ignorant public would like to hear. I've read what my grandfather had to say about the Eastern Front, it wasn't even remotely like this.

Counter-Challenge: Prove that it is real.

I have the letters from ancestors in previous wars and they don't read like this. I have a book about letters from the front(ww1) and they don't read like this.

Smells a bit like propaganda....

Oh dear.

Please read what I wrote again, a little more carefully. I asked for some proof that this was NOT a fake, i.e. I believe that it IS a fake.

I was challenging the original poster (and, I would presume, author) to produce something to verify his claim. I note that he has (perhaps thankfully) not posted further.

Look at my earlier post as well.

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less whether you believe it or not. Since you don't know me very well, you can't know that I neither lie nor distort facts, unlike the recent amoral, opportunistic Democratic candidate for President.

Since this, like some other posts I've made, is a personal letter from a US military person in Fallujah, there is no way to "verify" or "prove" its authenticity. You know this, but still insist you won't believe it unless there's some sort of proof. Fine. ( shrug )

As to comparing it to Russian propaganda, that's so ludicrous as to be almost laughable.

The real problem here is that those of you making these wild accusations or expressing all these "strong reservations" are doing so because you are afraid that the actions in Iraq might just actually succeed. And what would that do to your rabid anti-Amercanism? Tsk! :D

I'll just re-state my earlier assertion that this is even less honest than communist propaganda about Afghanistan. I do know what I'm talking about there. Whether you understand that or not...I too don't care much about your actual opinion. It's BS. Just so you know where I stand. :)

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less whether you believe it or not. Since you don't know me very well, you can't know that I neither lie nor distort facts, unlike the recent amoral, opportunistic Democratic candidate for President.

Since this, like some other posts I've made, is a personal letter from a US military person in Fallujah, there is no way to "verify" or "prove" its authenticity. You know this, but still insist you won't believe it unless there's some sort of proof. Fine. ( shrug )

As to comparing it to Russian propaganda, that's so ludicrous as to be almost laughable.

The real problem here is that those of you making these wild accusations or expressing all these "strong reservations" are doing so because you are afraid that the actions in Iraq might just actually succeed. And what would that do to your rabid anti-Amercanism? Tsk! :D

Thank you.

Your apparent even-handed and unbiased attitude can only enhance your reputation for truthfulness, and bolster the credibility of your post.

AS IF.

Oh dear.

Please read what I wrote again, a little more carefully. I asked for some proof that this was NOT a fake, i.e. I believe that it IS a fake.

I was challenging the original poster (and, I would presume, author) to produce something to verify his claim. I note that he has (perhaps thankfully) not posted further.

Look at my earlier post as well.

Sorry. Guess I am in a bad mood today! ;)

I should learn to read before I learn to write!

Carry on!

Thank you.

Your apparent even-handed and unbiased attitude can only enhance your reputation for truthfulness, and bolster the credibility of your post.

AS IF.
ROFLMAO!!! Oh. You mean kinda like YOUR "even-handed objectivity?"

AS IF!! ROFL!!! :D

I'll just re-state my earlier assertion that this is even less honest than communist propaganda about Afghanistan. I do know what I'm talking about there. Whether you understand that or not...I too don't care much about your actual opinion. It's BS. Just so you know where I stand. :)
I do. At least one can understand your posts, which is more than I can say for most of the others in this thread. Your consistency and comprehensiveness are admirable, though your theses be incorrect. :)

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less whether you believe it or not. Since you don't know me very well, you can't know that I neither lie nor distort facts, unlike the recent amoral, opportunistic Democratic candidate for President.


Nahh I would call it more repeating retoric like a certain amoral, opportunistic Republican candidate for President. ;)


Since this, like some other posts I've made, is a personal letter from a US military person in Fallujah, there is no way to "verify" or "prove" its authenticity. You know this, but still insist you won't believe it unless there's some sort of proof. Fine. ( shrug )

Well the fact that the Marines release it does not eliminate the possibility of propaganda. In fact I suspect it is. Our news agencies are now nothing more then a toothless tiger. The goverment has done an excellent job at hiding details.
I have seen a few news films from a german agency and it shows a differnet picture about the fight in Falluja. Unlike our sensitive moral issues, the germans doen't cut much. Profanity, people getting cut down....


As to comparing it to Russian propaganda, that's so ludicrous as to be almost laughable.

How so. Have you even read or seen their films? I have. Especially their Afghanistan crap. Happy soldiers with happy Afghans building new schools, Happy Afghans celibrating the opening of new *whatever*, happy Afghans saying they were happy the Soviets were there.

Sound familiar?


The real problem here is that those of you making these wild accusations or expressing all these "strong reservations" are doing so because you are afraid that the actions in Iraq might just actually succeed. And what would that do to your rabid anti-Amercanism? Tsk! :D

I hope it does get solved. But I don't know if it will. The shrub went in without a plan for peace. Most of the male populace is out of work. The only thing open are the army and security jobs. Guess what type of recruits they get?

The bombing that killed a bunch of children a few weeks ago; well the truck went through of police checkpoint.

Now I recently read a report that the police forces are a problem as their seemed to be a target of assassinations. The recruit levels might be dropping.

The solution seems to be kill the enemy. You remember who we used to report body counts all the time? It didn't work in your era, it's not going to work here.

We have to stop importing workers and put the populace to work.

You can't shoot a rifle if you are busy swinging a hammer.

*regurgitates comments from previous letter*

If it was a letter from a soldier, it would have been addressed to someone. I should hardly think that a combatant would write a letter like that for our benefit. If you wish to call legitimate doubting rabid anti-americanism, then that means you espouse absolute blind belief as a patriotic trait. A trait I understand that Soviet Russia wished its citizens to have back then.

The burden of proof lies not with the doubter, but the person who makes the claim of truth. Thereby Eutrusca, you have the burden of supplying authentication.