hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock ¹

 

^{1 The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Kindig, http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm (accessed July 4th, 2009)}

So it is no secret that the US military is pulling out of the cities in Iraq. Starting tomorrow we are taking a back seat to the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) as they take the lead in securing and safeguarding their own shit-hole country. We really do not mind though. It is about time they did something productive. We only hope that they can actually pull it off, otherwise we are back to square one. Again, not a secret. If the ISF can pull it off, then that is one HUGE step closer to home.
I only wish the stupid liberal media would make its mind up. I was watching the Communist News Network yesterday, and they all but accused us of abandoning the Iraqi's. Really? Let's see, you bitch and whine (two traits of a liberal) about us leaving Iraq, then we take steps to do that, and you whine about that. So what exactly do they want? Here is a idea, how about you shut the hell up, get out of our way, and let us do our job so we CAN get out of here. Or report the WHOLE story. Like for instance, we are not abandoning the Iraqi's. We are here and on constant stand by waiting for the ISF to call us for help. When they do, we will send the proper response team. And they can alway ask for helicopter and UAV support. We have made that pefectly clear. In other words, we are still here, but rather than taking the offensive and clogging their already busy streets with our large trucks, we are sitting here waiting to support them in their time of need.

So today we were hanging out an an Iraqi Army (IA) COP (Combat Out Post) when we heard a lot of gunfire about 200 yards away. We sat around and watched but could not see anything. As the gunfire got worse (they were not shooting AT us) we decided we need to get in our trucks and see what was going on. When we got on the scene, there was an IA soldier slumped in a chair with a shit load of blood coming out of his head. Apparently he was sitting in a chair not paying attention to anything when this guy came around the corner and shot him three times in the head. Bad day for him but he is probably in a better place. The funny part was when their ambulance arrived, one of the medics actually brought his aid bag. I said to the guy too late for that shit, he needs a body bag. Of course they do not have any so we gave him one of ours (yes, we carry two in each truck). Anyway, another day in paradise.

It is official. It is 1:00 AM right now and the temperature is a nice 102 Degrees F. The days are getting much hotter now. Soon we will walk out of our nice air conditioned chu's and feel as if someone has turned on the worlds largest hair dryer, put it on retard hot and blasted it right in our face. It is such a joyous occasion to walk outside and for a couple of seconds you literally cannot breathe.
On the bright side we are going home in two months. I cannot believe that we have been here 10 months already, but we have. Soon we will be back to green grass and normal summer temps in the 80's in the day and the 60's in the evening. We might have to break out our winter clothes when we get home this summer, LOL.

So, after being here for almost a year, we have come to realize that the war here is not so much a war as it is a chance for Sergeants Majors and high ranking officers to impose their will, not upon the Iraqis, but us, US servicemen and women.
Some of the nice things that we do now are:
We have to wear reflective belts 24/7 when in our PT uniform. There are two things wrong with this.
1. In the day time, you really cannot see a guy wearing a gray t-shirt and black shorts, again, in the daytime? You need a reflective belt to avoid running us over when you are traveling down the road at a blistering 15 MPH?
2. How does a reflective belt work exactly in the daytime?
3. The shirt and the Army on the pants are ALREADY REFLECTIVE! What is the point spending hours of R&D time to make a uniform that can be seen at night, only to have to apply another layer of protection?

We are in a full salute zone. Guess those prima donna officers need to be affirmed that they are still officers. I don’t know.

AR 670-1 is still in full effect. We cannot cuff our sleeves, we have to have our boots bloused, and it is well over 100 degrees F here. Here is a thought, how about using a common sense approach to ensuring that heat casualties are prevented rather than enforce garrison rules that will increase the likelihood that we will have heat casualties.

No wearing of civilian clothes. Hmm, we have ID cards, and weapons. How about let us wear civilian clothes, and ensure that our ID card is visibly displayed and still require us to carry our weapon. If you see a dude in civilian clothes AND carrying a weapon, AND they have a DOD ID card that clearly states your branch of service as well as your rank, then there is still no confusion as to who the underpaid and overworked service member is and who the overpaid and underworked civilian contractor is. But then I guess that if you do not see the rank of the officer, they do not get their salute. Again, I don’t know.

FOB Police. Yeah, that is right. If you are driving around the FOB, and you are speeding or you do a California stop at a stop sign, the FOB police will pull you over and give you a ticket. And these are NOT MP’s, but rather shitbag soldiers that the units do not want to have to deal with, so they give them up to BDOC.

No sexual relations among non-married couples. And I do not mean the ones who are married, separated from their spouse and suddenly think that they are geographical bachelors. I am talking about single soldiers who meet someone they like and want to have sex. Married couples who are deployed together get to actually live in the same room together. So why can a couple of consenting adults engage in what comes natural to humans when they are attracted to each other. They sell condoms in the PX which means that the command knows that there is sex going on, so why make it illegal. I guess the condoms are only for the married couples that are deployed together.

No porn. Yes, that is right; we are not allowed to have pornography. Hah. This is a joke. The ever so efficient customs douche bags in Kuwait and here go to great lengths to ensure that we do not bring porn FROM Iraq to the US. They make no attempt what so ever to ensure that it is not brought INTO Iraq FROM the US.  So, let’s see, we cannot engage in sexual relations, and we cannot have porn to masturbate with either. So what, we cannot pleasure ourselves either? Give me a break. You are not going to expect that someone is going to be sent to a shithole country for a year and NOT have some sort of sexual outlet. Not going to happen, I do not care who you are.

Formations. Yes, we have massive battalion formations every month. Wow, what an opportunity for the enemy. Good thing that they cannot see inside the FOB. But wait, who cares? Randomness happens.

When someone gets killed or seriously injured, they shut down our internet and IP phones, yet almost everyone here as a cell phone that they either brought from home or, like me, bought here. I understand the reason for this, but really? We have ways of talking to family members anyway. Stop the nonsense. Don’t turn off our internet.

No hands in the pockets. Yes, that is right, they make these pants we wear with pockets that are angled so it feel completely natural to put your hands in your pockets. In the US I can understand it. In a combat zone? Who really gives a shit?

Mandatory Safety Stand Down Day - Wooo hooo! Wow, so apparently there are some stupid ass motherfuckers who do not know how to do the right thing and they get themselves hurt. So they teach us nifty things like how to put on a seat belt, how to do proper EOF, how to use a variety of weapons (yeah, the ones that us Infantry guys use EVERY FREAKING DAY!). How to avoid becoming a heat casualty. DRINK WATER SUPID ASS! LAY OFF THE SODA'S!. Oh yeah, AND LET US UNBLOUSE OUR BOOTS AND CUFF OUR SLEEVES!

Urinalysis tests. That is right folks, we now have to take the beloved piss test. I guess there is such a HUGE drug problem here that they now have to test everyone, a few times a year! The piss test is so much fun. You get a small plastic bottle, get to carry it OVER YOUR HEAD so that everyone can see that you get to piss in a bottle, have an NCO follow you to the local port-a-john, and he gets to watch you pee. And by watch, I mean he stares at your dick while you pee. While most men have no issues with this, I do. I am gun shy. I have to use the stall in a public restroom to piss if someone else is in the bathroom, so imagine how much fun it is for me to spend two to four hours drinking a shit load of water and gatorade so I have to piss no matter if Mother Theresa was watching. Then of course I spend the rest of the day and evening pissing every 20 minutes, and I have a constant feeling that I have to pee all day as well. Good times for sure.

Well , I can go on and on but I think that you get the picture. Stop the stupidity and let us just do our job.

 

So, we finally wrapped up an operation to clear insurgents from a part of the city. This part of the city is the worst part. We literally went house to house in an area that is about 1 kilometer square and has a population of about 100,000, searched each and every house and business to see if they had anything they were not supposed to. They are allowed one AK-47 assault rifle with one magazine. No other weapons unless they are in the army or police. We nabbed a few bad guys in the operation.
Of course, this is the third time that this has been done in about two years. The previous operations obviously did not work since this is the third time we have done this. Still, I guess if we do this enough times they will figure it out and move on or move out.
The area that we were in is starting to heat up we understand. For the first six months that we were there it was very quiet. Nothing bad happening. But recently we have read about an increase in attacks in this area. So maybe what we are doing did work. They left Mosul and moved on to Kirkuk. Good times!

So I have been back a couple of weeks now. I have been moved from a driver to a dismounted team leader which is great. I get to go out and walk around the city now and actually get to do my job. We still work in the west side of the city and it is very interesting. You get to meet a lot of interetsting people and we also get a chance to work with the National Police. They are pretty good guys to work with. We let them lead the operations while we sit back and support them.
We only have a couple months left here which is great. Soon I will be back home and I will be getting married in September in Vegas, then we go back to the Philippines and get married again so her family can see it.

So for the last couple of weeks I have been on vacation. Once I picked up my daughter, we headed to Disneyland the next day and had a great time. This was her first time there and my first time in over 15 years. Lots of fun.
We then did some rock climbing with my mom and brother. More fun. Nothing like scaling a rock to help relax. Then, we went to the Rennisance fair. More good times. Dressing up in period costumes and watching the shows and the people.
Finally, my trip culminated with my trip to the Philippines where I met my fiancee Rona. Man what a great time. We spent our first full day there touring around Manila (I accidentally deleted ALL the pictures of that part). and then went to her house for a few days where I met her daughter and friends. We had such a wonderful time. I am really looking forward to my next visit when we get married.

So I arrived in the US today. I am currently in Albq, NM. visiting a friend. Tomorrow I head out to California and visit family and friends there. It was a very long journey but well worth it. On the flight from Dallas to Colorado Springs, we were able to get free upgrades into first class. That was so cool.

Today I am on my way for my two weeks R&R. It is going to be a busy time. Fly to Colorado, pick up my truck, buy new tires for it, drive to California, fly my daughter down, do Disneyland, Sea World, Renisance Fair, rock climbing, they send her home, fly to the Philippines to be with my fiancee for a few days, then back to California, then drive back to Colorado, then fly back to Iraq for a couple more months until we go home for good. Still, I am going to have a great time.

So a few days ago we went back to work. Essentially we are doing the same mission that we were supposed to do on April 10th. Cannot say what it is but it is much more exciting than what we were doing. The first day out we were a bit jittery, but once we got out in sector and on the ground we fell right back into our infantry groove. I go on leave in nine days. I am so happy.

Today we paid a final tribute to our fallen heroes. We had a two hour ceremony for these fine men. I read Psalm 23, and several people went up and read remarks about these men. It was a very emotionally trying experience today but we got through it and now we have closure, and most importantly, we can continue our daily missions now, just the way they wanted to.

April 10th, 2009. A day I want to forget but I know I never will. On this day my platoon lost five brave, heroic men I have ever known. We were on our first day of doing a recon mission of our new AO to help a unit from 1st Cavalry division to clear some areas of Mosul of insurgents. As we were getting ready to head onto the MSR, a dump truck breached our convoy and exploded with over 10,000 lbs of explosives, catastrophically destroying my MRAP. This is the one I normally drive, but since my squad leader went on leave just three days prior, I took over the squad and moved into the commanders seat of his truck. Men who I had spent the last year working, living and playing with were taken away from us in literaly seconds. The pain, sadness and anger I feel are completely undescribable. I cannot help but thinking that I was merely three days away from dying. I have been introduced to my own mortality and the fact that I am still alive is again a testament that God is watching over me.
Today we sent them home on the plane. I hope that my brothers in arms are in a better place and that they are looking down upon us as we do what we can to catch the sub-humans who are responsible for this.
Soon we will have the memorial service for these men. We are not looking forward to this at all. This will be the hardest day of our lives.
Most importantly, I also want to say that my heart and prayers go out to the families of these fine men. I know that they are experiencing a pain that I will probably never know.
Brian, Gary, Jason, Bryce, Eddy, I love you guys, you will be missed by so many.

So yesterday we did a leaders recon of our new area that my platoon will be operating in. As we walked through part of the city I noticed pipes that protruded from each home. As we walked, I noticed that water would shoot out of those, into the street, and into mini canals in the middle of the road. I realized that this is their sewage system. As we walked, we could see that dish water, bath water and of course toilet water came out of these and flowed through the narrow streets, and down to larger streets that had larger and deeper canals, and finally into the ground. I was reminded of my history readings when the Romans did something similar. Considering that Iraq is the most

conquered country in the middle east, it is no wonder that you see influences from many other cultures and countries. I will try to take some photos next time I am on the ground.

So, we have been here for about eight months now and we are bored and getting burned out. Since there are no people here to shoot at, we have decided that we should help with the extraordinarily large wild dog population here in Iraq. Iraqi's do not keep dogs as pets. They do use them to help heard sheep, but otherwise they roam around the country breeding like there is no tomorrow. So when we do night patrols, we head out to the remote areas where there are no people and shoot the dogs. At first I was disgusted by this behavior as I am a dog lover. However, now I really do not give a shit. I shoot them too. Of course I would never do this at home, but here I really do not even care.
A couple days ago, we had a dump truck with 6000 lbs of explosives go off on an IA checkpoint. Of course anything withing 100 meters of it was pretty much toast. So now we have this to deal with. And of course anyone who has been here for any amount of time knows that there are hundreds of dump trucks in the cities. Normally, when we drive near one of these our asshole would pucker a bit and you grip the steering wheel of the vehicle a bit harder, and kind of cringe as you drive by. Now though, again I do not care. I do not even feel that pang of excitement anymore. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am already dead, so what does it matter? I am dead. It really helps to have this frame of mind when going out. I am no longer scared, I just do my job and come back to the FOB.
In one month I go on leave and I really am looking forward to this. A few days of rock climbing, riding my ATV and taking my daughter to Disneyland, Sea World and some other places is just what I need to get my head right again. And the best part is that when I return at the end of May, I have about two months in country, then off to Kuwait where I hang out there for a bit waiting my turn to return home. Sweet!