|
Facing A Skilled, Flexible Foe
On another recent night raid near Muqdadiyah — based on a tip from the Iraqi police — U.S. soldiers rolled out in six Humvees expecting to find a half-dozen al-Qaeda in Iraq members in a meeting.
Instead they found a crying mother and her terrified 13-year-old boy.
"Tell him, since he’s the oldest one in the house, he’s the man of the house, he needs to man-up and stop hiding behind his mother," 1st Lt. Christopher Nogle, 23, of Orlando, instructed his interpreter.
The boy covered his face and sobbed. It was 3 in the morning. He said he didn’t know where his father had gone.
"Does he love his father?" Nogle asked. "Does he want to see him again?"
The small barefoot boy shook with fear and said nothing.
"Ask him where his father hides his weapons," Nogle demanded.
"I swear to God I don’t know," the boy said.
"He is not a man, he is scared," said his mother, who was also wailing.
"He needs to quit crying. He’s responsible for everybody in here right now since his father left; his father abandoned everybody else," Nogle told the boy through his interpreter. "Tell him when his father comes back later tonight or tomorrow that he needs to have a talk with his father, that his father is doing very bad things and it’s getting the whole family in trouble."
Before the soldiers left, an Iraqi police officer brandished two large buck knives in front of the boy’s face. Nobody was arrested.
Troops in Diyala Face A Skilled, Flexible Foe
You can reach Lt. Hearts-and-Minds Chris Nogle at christopher.nogle1@us.army.mil
Pat Lang compares the scene with this picture.
I find it a quite idealized and sanitized narrative painting. It doesn’t look like a rushed inquisition after midnight.
The Iraqi boy was certainly not dressed in glittering blue at 3 o’clock at night. Military police in battle dress looks much more frightening than those Parliamentarians in the picture.
But then, the conflict inside the boy when the Lt. asks: "Does he want to see [his father] again?" may well be just the same.
UPDATE: Though the lighting is too good, this picture via Iraq Today may capture a bit of the atmosphere.
I am 1LT Christopher Nogle’s proud mother. He is an honest, intelligent, moral, honorable, Christian young man. He bravely serves his country and defends the rights of his fellow Americans, even those who attack him. He does not need to read your ignorant, hateful, vile e-mails. He and his Soldiers put their lives on the line everyday – how many of you are willing to do so?
As for that 13-year-old Iraqi boy…in a Muslim culture, the eldest male present is to be treated as the head of the household. Since when is questioning someone considered “barbaric” (Susan Oehler) and immoral? Neither the mother nor the 13-year-old was harmed.
As the Washington Post article stated:
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, operating under the banner of an umbrella group called the Islamic State of Iraq, has managed to drive out Shiites from many cities and villages in Diyala. Shiites in Baqubah, who once made up about 45 percent of the population, now account for about 20 percent, said Sutherland.
In March, gunmen laid siege to the Shiite village of Towakel, northeast of Muqdadiyah, burning dozens of homes, slaughtering livestock and leaving a smoldering ghost town in their wake.
On wall after wall they scrawled graffiti proclaiming the village the domain of the Islamic State of Iraq.
“They just stormed in one night and started on the southwest side and started burning their way all the way up this one road,” said Von Plinsky. The Shiite villagers “had defenses built up . . . but they just got overpowered. They got decimated.”
In November, al-Qaeda fighters overwhelmed and destroyed an Iraqi police station just south of Baqubah. The next month, the Iraqi army pulled out of the area.
And if you read the article, you know that regarding the incident involving my son, the reporter stated:
On another recent night raid near Muqdadiyah — based on a tip from the Iraqi police — U.S. soldiers rolled out in six Humvees expecting to find a half-dozen al-Qaeda in Iraq members in a meeting.
Diyala had been a peaceful province whose residents co-existed with our troops. But as Al-Qaeda and the insurgents fled our troop build-up in Baghdad, they moved into Diyala. Many of the local residents have left. Our troops there try very hard to find the terrorists before they plant their IEDs and car bombs to prevent further attacks on innocent residents.
As for my family, we are Christians. We are also a military family. As John Fancis Lee posted, I presently have two sons serving this great nation in the U.S. Army and my husband retired last year after serving 26 1/2 years. We traveled all over the world and lived in many places, including the Persian Gulf, from 1997-2000.
While we lived in the Gulf, my sons attended a school whose student body was comprised of children from 52 different countries; a multitude of races and religions. Their friends and ours were of all races, religions, and nationalities.
Our next door neighbors were a Catholic Iraqi woman married to a Kuwaiti Muslim. Sahare told me many stories of atrocities Iraqis had suffered under Saddam Hussein, not just the ones that have been reported. They were living in Kuwait when the Iraqi army invaded in 1990 and again witnessed first-hand the brutality of Saddam’s regime. Whenever I visited with her, she told me that she prayed daily that President Clinton would send U.S. troops into Iraq to topple Saddam and save her family.
We also lived under restrictions and curfews each time Saddam rattled his sabers and launched missiles at his neighbors. So, my views and opinions are based on my own life experiences as well as research.
How many of you are basing your opinions on your life experiences rather than just political leanings? We’ve walked the walked. You just talk the talk. We’ve lived in a Muslim culture. We have Muslim friends. This is not a war against a religion. It is not about oil. It is about trying to stop terrorists from killing thousands and thousands of innocents…Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc…men, women, and children of all races and nationalities. That is our military’s mission, the War on Terror.
John Francis Lee…your words to my son are SEDITIOUS. And our troops are not torturing or mistreating the Iraqi populace. Our troops aren’t destroying their country. On the contrary, our troops have provided them with clean water, electricity, schools, medicine, etc…that they hadn’t had in generations. The only ones who have any reason to feel threatened are those who are participating in terrorist activities (car bombings, planting IEDs, etc…). They kill innocent Iraqis as well as our troops.
Dr. Susan Oehler, PhD., a pediatric audiologist, an educated woman, yet she resorts to name calling rather than having an intelligent discussion. Susan Oehler calls my son a barbarian and both of us idiots. Idiots? My neighbor’s 3-year-old son calls his playmates idiots. Really, Dr. Oehler, couldn’t you come up with something a little more imaginative? More proof that an advanced education does not necessarily indicate intelligence.
And, Susan, for the record, Iraq has been unstable and violent for many, many years. I guess you just weren’t paying attention. Also, read the article again. My son and his Soldiers were not the ones “brandishing knives.” It was a local Iraqi policeman.
Again, as I told you in my e-mail, Christopher forwarded that trash you sent him to his family. He did not post it on a blog, forward it to media, or post it on a website. I’m sure if you had received a hateful, disgusting e-mail from a stranger, you would have shared it with your loved ones. And, once again, in your response to my son’s post, you have to resort to insults. Very mature, Dr. Oehler. Your heart is filled with hatred – for the Administration, for your fellow Americans with different views, for our brave Soldiers.
Susan Oehler uses our troops on her website, as if she is concerned about our fallen and wounded heroes, but then writes that vile e-mail she sent to my son. Clearly, she doesn’t give a damn about our American Soldiers’ sacrifices. She wants to use the image of thousands of dead Soldiers to make her political points. That is disturbed! Obviously, your agenda is fueled by a hatred of President Bush and this administration, not the well-being of our troops, concern for the Iraqi people, or by morality. As I mourn the loss of nine more brave American Soldiers and pray for the recovery of the 20 who were injured in the car bombing Tuesday in Diyala province, you must be delighted to add 9 more dog tags and 20 more small stars to your display.
And, by the way, Susan, I don’t know what kind of Christian you say you are but I am a Lutheran and we believe in reaching out to others, saving souls,. How can you claim to be a Christian while telling my son, “I do hope that you have never darken the doorways of a Christian church…?”
One last thing, Susan…please explain your comment to Christopher: “Your little brother is the smartest one in the family, by the way.”
To all ~
Whether you support or oppose the political reasons that are tied to this war, ALL Americans should support our troops – and in my opinion, have a moral obligation to do so. If you search your soul and still cannot find it within yourself to support them and pray for them, at least have the decency to leave them alone.
Posted by: Darlene Nogle | Apr 27 2007 6:09 utc | 34
Dear Darlene Nogle,
Please do not think that I feel that I have the “moral highground” in this discussion. I am just another bozo on the bus. But all of us must look and investigate the world and come to our own conclusions. And I must disagree with some of yours.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, operating under the banner of an umbrella group called the Islamic State of Iraq, has managed to drive out Shiites from many cities and villages in Diyala. Shiites in Baqubah, who once made up about 45 percent of the population, now account for about 20 percent, said Sutherland.
Many of these Sunni extremist groups are funded directly or indirectly by the Saudis, our “allies”. Elliot Abrams, of Iran-Contra infamy, is actively funding and promoting the civil war in Palestine, and now in Lebanon as well, apparently. It may well be the case that the Neocons in Washington are indirectly funding the very Sunni extremist groups that are trying to murder not only the Shiites, but also your son and the other Americans in Iraq.
Our enemies are not in Iraq, they are in the Neocon regime in Washington DC.
While we lived in the Gulf, my sons attended a school whose student body was comprised of children from 52 different countries; a multitude of races and religions. Their friends and ours were of all races, religions, and nationalities.
There are many “international enclaves” around the world. There are many here in Thailand. The Thais who attend these schools are no more representative of the general Thai population than the Americans who attend them are representative of the population of America. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the people you have met in such enclaves are the ordinary residents of the Middle East.
John Francis Lee…your words to my son are SEDITIOUS. And our troops are not torturing or mistreating the Iraqi populace. Our troops aren’t destroying their country. On the contrary, our troops have provided them with clean water, electricity, schools, medicine, etc…that they hadn’t had in generations. The only ones who have any reason to feel threatened are those who are participating in terrorist activities (car bombings, planting IEDs, etc…). They kill innocent Iraqis as well as our troops.
I certainly want to separate myself from the present American regime, and to separate the present American regime from my government.
My government is not a collection of people, my government is a collection of laws : the Constitution and its Amendments. If anyone is subverting the Constitution of the United States of America it is the present Neocon regime in Washington DC. And they are in fact subverting it.
Iraq is in ruins. It was not in ruins before its shocking, awful invasion by the United States of America. Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 million blameless Iraqis have died as the direct result of this regime’s on-going War Crime in Iraq.
The Neocon regime in the United States of America has written a law that will turn over control of Iraq’s oil resources to the Anglo-American oil companies and is now demanding that it’s puppet government in Iraq pass this law.
The people of Iraq are in general insurrection against the occupation of their country and the expropriation of their resources as well they should be.
Whether you support or oppose the political reasons that are tied to this war, ALL Americans should support our troops – and in my opinion, have a moral obligation to do so. If you search your soul and still cannot find it within yourself to support them and pray for them, at least have the decency to leave them alone.
I support our troops because they are my fellow human beings caught up in a disastrous predicament, and I hope that they can maintain their humanity under such inhuman stress. I am thankful that I do not find myself in their shoes.
I wrote to your son because his name was published in the Washington Post; because a google search produced his email address.
During the Vietnam war, when I was younger, I occasionally confused the American armed forces fighting in Vietnam with the forces that bore responsibility for bringing that war about. I am older now and know that that was and is wrong-headed. We individuals are all just poor humans. To be sure we make choices in life, some better than others. I have certainly made my full share of poor choices. We must all live with the results of our choices, willy-nilly.
But I must speak up against the United States’ War Crimes unfolding before me. I foolishly had thought that just as I had grown and learned from the Vietnam war that so too had my country. That at least that disastrous, wrong road would not be taken again.
Well it has been taken again. I watched in shocked disbelief as the present, criminal, Neocon regime terrified my compatriots, told monstrous lies, and began this war of aggression in the Middle East.
This time we must have a War Crimes Tribunal and try George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Colin Powell, Condelleezza Rice… and all the others directly responsible for the criminal aggression in Iraq.
For if we do not all sit down to the televised spectacle of the Anglo-American War Crimes Tribunal as it unfolds night after night, if we do not own up to the monstrous War Crimes we have committed as a nation, then when our national economy recovers from the devastation that this crime has caused to ourselves we will set right off again on the same criminal path.
If we do not finally remove our national blinders, stop telling ourselves stories about “spreading democracy”, if we do not actually exercise democracy and accept responsiblity for our acts as a nation, then all the Americans killed, maimed and wounded in this war will have been killed, maimed and wounded in vain.
We are just two individuals. There is no reason for us to continue to go at each other if we both hold such divergent opinions, while each insisting on the correctness of their point of view. The evidence of my senses convinces me daily that my views of the current American regime and of its aggressive war in Iraq are correct.
But let us continue, as your son says he will continue, on the straight path, telling the truth as we see it, dealing as well as we can with the situations we find ourselves in with compassion and humanity, allowing the results of our actions to reach us, to teach us, to inform our choices in the future.
Time will tell which of our viewpoints is more nearly descriptive of the situation at hand. It will be the next generation, the mass of humanity, not yourself or myself, that passes judgement on the acts of the Neocon regime in America at the turn of the Twenty-first Century.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Apr 27 2007 8:29 utc | 39
|
