How to win in Anbar

Post by **kman** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:33 pm

I ran across this video a couple of days ago and found it inspiring. I'm not trying to stir up any Iraq debate here, I'm just passing along something interesting. You might need to pause the video occasionally to read all the text. I'd also encourage you to check out the original powerpoint preso linked below.

Originally found over at MichelleMalkin.com:

This is a video adaptation of a powerpoint presentation put together by Capt. Travis Patriquin, a special ops US soldier serving in civil affairs who was fluent in Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Pashtun, and Portuguese.

Tragically, Capt. Patriquin didn’t live long enough to see just how on the mark he was and what a difference he was making.

But Mary Katharine Ham put Capt. Patriquin’s plan to video–YouTubing for the ages:

aquarius · Post by **aquarius** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:24 am

Five years of fighting resulted in 4200+ coalition soldiers and tens of thousands civilians being killed.
That is what happens when you go to war without a plan of what to do after the war.

Is this war worth all the dead and wounded? I guess the people in charge, the ones who did not had the plan, say it was worth all the trouble...
But their sons and daughters are probably not amongst the casualties.

What a terrible sad thing that this Captain Patriquin also gave his life for freedom.

BTW, I do thank all US soldiers of defending my freedom, be it in the past, present or future. I only not always agree on the way the US leadership conducts its wars.

bishopmarine · Post by **bishopmarine** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:51 am

that is a good presentation i went and read the whole thing. it really makes sense. its sad that this bright young man is forever gone. at least there is something left that people can look at and read. that if listened too by the leaders in our country could work. i just hope his family finds peace. i do think we are making some progress. this is not the first war were mistakes are made. in fact there is no war that has been fought were no mistakes were made. as long as we can learn from our errors in iraq take that info and move forward then that is good. look at the kid with the flag. he has faith that good things will come. how could we leave now and crush his hopes. these people are relying on us to fix there country and i think we should. but if other countries continue to turn there backs on us and burn and spit on our flags then i would be comfortable pulling ALL our troops home. look at what we are giving up in our country to help others. what do we get in return. HATE. im sick of people mostly in our own country saying were in it for oil. i am not even close to being a supporter of george bush. i think he is a poor president. that is my opinion. i did not agree with going to irag in the first place. but guess what were there now so lets man up and take care of business. yes people are dying. yes iraqis are dying. do a little research and see how many people were murdered under saddams regime. he did it just for the hell of it. at least the people that are being lost now are dying in the fight for there own freedom. if the people in the villages would out the insurgents instead of harboring them. there would be less collateral damage. i just pray that our leaders get it together, and find the balls to stabilize iraq. help them set up there own government. help them train an army that is not controlled by a corrupt government. then gets out and gets back home. i wonder how that will be spun into some hate mongering usa is evil story that will run worldwide.

DangerousDave · Post by **DangerousDave** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:11 am

Why we never won. We never popped a nuke on Falluga. I think the Iraqi's will take their country back, but now we need to worry about ourselves, and two communists that are attempting to be "elected" as the next Presmident of the bloody United States.

bl00k · Post by **bl00k** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:06 am

bishopmarine wrote:this is not the first war were mistakes are made. in fact there is no war that has been fought were no mistakes were made.

I remember a line from 'BUDS Class 234', a documentary of the Discovery Channel

The best plan changes when the first shots are fired.

aquarius · Post by **aquarius** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:43 pm

We should not worry about mistakes made during the war, but those made before going to war...
In fact his whole war was a mistake. It was based on lies, false accusations and wrong presumtions.
We have been warned in advance by people who knew what they were talking about like Scott Ritter and Hans Blix. Later on the retreat of Colin Powel, US generals and intelligence directors should have made it clear to us all that the Bush clan is heading for maybe the biggest financial and military disaster this world hasn't seen for years.
If you don't believe me than just try to sell your house or stocks with any profit.
I hope I am wrong!!

More on http://www.silverbearcafe.com.

bishopmarine · Post by **bishopmarine** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:52 pm

i doubt the usa has any plans of pulling out of iraq anytime soon. im my opinion having some eyes and ears on the ground in the middle east is not a bad thing. yes we are there for the oil. not to take it from them but to ensure it flows. this is good for the entire world. yes it is costing the u.s a lot of money and lives. but look at how much we spent building the huge u.s. embassy in baghdad. if you think we are planning on leaving soon you are crazy. what do you think oil prices would be if we left and then the country spun out of control. putting the entire middle east in even more chaos. the people over there obviously cant take care of things themselves. i like glenn becks book an inconvenient book. in one chapter he says that during an al qaeda pool party type gathering. they were told not to rape anyone on the deck they had to do it elsewhere. these are the people we are dealing with. they would not hesitate to blow up oil wells and all kinds of other stuff. if our presence over there keeps the oil flowing and at least keeps it from going higher than that is good. i hope we can get some alternative fuels going here and then i say pull out and bring all our troops home and let them do what they want. we seal of our borders and start taking care of ourselves. but until we can stop relying on fossil fuels this can not happen.

aquarius · Post by **aquarius** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:59 pm

Mr. Bush once asked "Why do they hate us?"
In my opinion you gave the answer!

Suppose in the US soil was something the Arabs (or Russians, or Mexicans) would want to have. And suppose these foreigners would teherefor conquer your country, take the stuff out of the ground and would force you to live by their moral and ethical rules. How would you react?

I am not against the Americans. The Dutch Army supported the war in Iraq by sending troops. Even now in Afghanistan we have 1500 soldiers stationed. We, the Duth people, are being told they are in Uruzgan to rebuild the country, but in fact they are fighting a war against an enemy who hasn't been defeated in the last 300 years.
Again, I am not againts Americans, however I do not support the politics of your and my own government. And as these wars are based on clear lies, no one should support them.

Altough you and I clearly do not agree about certain issues, I am still gratefull to all soldiers (be it American, Canadians, Pools etc.) who gave their lives so that we now can disagree in freedom!!

Oh, BTW, I have a small military background of 2 years in the RNLAF as a intell nco. After that I worked 20 years as a street cop, and now I am involved in war crimes investigations.

BigMark · Post by **BigMark** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:56 pm

I think that a lot of people aren't necessarily for the war, but by this point even I feel we need to stick it out. Really, the issue backs up to when the country was labeled Iraq in the first place when it should have been 3 separate countries, 1 for each tribe. Now it's too late to go back and do that. The other problem is that these people are savages and live by primitive laws and a religion that is frequently twisted to say what they want it to, not unlike here in the US. (The religion part at least) The cold hard truth is Saddam Hussein was the best thing for that country. No one else could possibly run it, and we're finding that out the hard way. These people don't want to live in peace. If we left them alone, it would be little better than Africa. I don't even truly believe that we've begun to feel the international backlash; that will come once we pull out. If the Dems win and we actually do, Iraq will dissolve into anarchy and infighting, which will rightfully be blamed on the US. We're a product of our President and our complacent ways. Did we all gather on the lawns on colleges and the whitehouse and protest? Hell no, we've got XBoxes and Plasma TVs and everyone owns a car.. no one wants to bother. The problem with Bush isn't that he's our president, it's the way in which he was elected. Not the voting machines, but based on his religious preference. Religion in government is why we left England, and here we are going down the same path, only now there's no where to run to. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to live in Holland and have to give up certain rights that I have, but I also don't want to live in an America where I have to go to church or give up my guns. Frankly I'm buying more guns sooner than later as they're trying to push through another "assault" weapons ban. Of course, my $1200 economy check is going towards a new hi-cap pistol. (well, 1/2 of it anyway) What America truly truly needs is to be divided into 10+ countries. One person can not truly even begin to represent the people of America.

I know this is getting long so I'll stop, and I know it sort of goes off on a tilt at the end for which I apologize, but you get the idea.

-M

BigMark · Post by **BigMark** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:56 pm

Oh, and I got this the first few times I tried to post that.. can you change the message kman?

Mistake! There was an attempt of an automatic insert of the message in a forum. Your message is sent to hell. Try still times who knows - can it will turn out? Still probably, that you too long wrote the message - then pass to page back, copy the text, update page, insert the copied text and press button "Send".