CW4BillT flew helos in Vietnam, in the Middle East, and in many other places over the years, and is now helping train the Iraqi Air Force. He tells his students' stories from time to time, in their voice as they told him:
"After Baghdad falls to the US, I am cashiered out of the Air Force and take a job in one of the markets in my neighborhood. One night, some of my friends are visiting, and we have a barbecue and are watching videos of cowboy movies. There is a knock on my door. I open it and there is a US patrol. They ask if they can enter my house and I say, 'Sure, come in.' I offer them some barbecue, because we see them on patrol; we recognize them and know how long they are out before they return to base. They say, 'No, thank you. We have eaten recently.'Then they ask if I have weapons. One of my friends says to me in Arabic, 'Tell them "No" because they will take your guns and you will be defenseless.' I tell him in Arabic, 'I will not lie to them or they will not trust us...'"
Here's where you can read the rest.
Posted by Damian at May 14, 2008 9:46 AMWouldn't it be safer to be ensconced in an air-conditioned office, making HRC rulings?
Posted by: Richard Ball at May 14, 2008 10:30 AMWhat a stark contrast to the hysterics of Dallaire - a story about good people wanting to make their world a better place, without framing it in some wretched moral equivalence.
Posted by: hardboiled at May 14, 2008 10:35 AMNah Richard, folks like Hussayn and the soldiers patroling his streets are more interested in doing their thing in the real world.
Posted by: AtlanticJim at May 14, 2008 10:35 AM
Wow, good stuff there. Hussayn learns fast.
Wonder how Kates stumach is doing ???
,
"Wow, good stuff there. Hussayn learns fast."
From reading that story, it seems to me that it's not Hussayn who learned a valuable lesson....
Posted by: Alex at May 14, 2008 12:11 PMThe cynical side of me begs the question: What if he HAD fired that weapon recently?
Posted by: Jebus at May 14, 2008 12:23 PMreaders tips?
Posted by: george at May 14, 2008 12:36 PMThat is an interesting story. My favorite part is where the patrol changed but the behavior was consistent.
Readers tips?? I know, I know, Kate is on holidays. Just consider my comments (including yesterday's) as "The reciprocal of criticism." No offense meant!! (Or is that O'fence!!)
jebus. no more weapon.
Posted by: old white guy at May 14, 2008 5:29 PMSomeone mentioned Dallaire.
Whe I hear of this guy, I think of someone who thought FIRST,of his pension. Secondly he thought of a disaster happening just outside his safe walls,in that order.
Years after the fact he pipes up expressing an opinion, about another conflict.... which has no direct impact on him. He is shielded, in a number of ways.
Yup, he fits in the yellow LIEBERAL mold, poster-child in fact! I hope that is the last we hear of this gutless wonder.
Yeah right!
Funny how when we hear of actual success in Iraq (or Afghanistan for that matter), the usual intellectually-challenged mouthpieces for the juvenile left - you know who you are, sunshines - remain silent. Must really hurt to see one's blinkered excuses for ideas blasted to dust by reality.
Good on Hussayn, good on the troops who are working with the Iraqis to bring peace and f**k to the lefties still praying for a defeat. Despicable pieces of garbage, one and all.
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