The Cost of War for your Average Soldier

I realize that is has been sometime since I have written. These past few weeks have been a crucible through which I have unfortunately had to pass. Since most of this is of a personal nature, I will not elaborate in this forum. Suffice it to say that neither I nor those under my leadership have committed a crime, and that seldom in my life has there been a time where I would rather have not lived those days at all, as bad as they may have been, but that is true of the past month. I would gladly sacrifice all those days to the colossal garbage disposal, and perhaps other better days in the bargain, just to not have lived them.

Perhaps it is for the best that such things are not possible. Now I have a true test of character, and I will know more about myself than I did before. While I feel as though I am utterly abject, and must now start again from scratch. Well, at least I still have my knowledge and my name, but little else that I valued.

This is a good opportunity for me to discuss what makes this war so hard on the soldiers. I am not the first to find myself in just such a situation, nor will I be the last. When soldiers deploy they leave behind a world that keeps going on without them. In essence, we are only progressing in the military, and everything else we have gets put on hold.

This is the product of a volunteer military, and has not been true in any conflict of the last century. Panama, Grenada, the Balkans, and so on were all of short duration. In the case of the Balkans, the conflict lasted a while, but soldiers were only gone for six months, which is not too bad. Viet-nam, Korea, and WWII were longer wars, but were fought by the whole country. In WWII every able-bodied man deployed, so while you were gone, so was everyone else. You did not have to worry about coming home and competing for a job that other people had been working at for the last four years, because the only people who stayed behind were viewed as either weak or not patriotic. While the same was not true with Korea and Viet-nam, pretty much everyone of a certain age was pulled to participate in the military at one time or another, so it was sort of a right of passage.

The advantages of a volunteer military are manifest. Compare the execution of this war at the tactical (Battalion and below) level, as opposed to Viet-nam. Even better compare the Iraqi army (pre-invasion) with the American Army. But many of the soldiers, myself included, are returning alive, and sane, but have no life when they get back. That is no big deal for those whose life is the military, which is true of senior planners. But the construct of the military, volunteer or not, assumes that there will be a high attrition rate. (There are three private positions for every sergeant position in an infantry platoon.) Most soldiers are still citizen soldiers, and when they give their lives and have to come home to nothing, it becomes a much harder sell.

The bottom line is, I will survive as I always have until now. And hopefully someday soon I will become my old optimistic self. But I am not optimistic about the future of the military, especially the Army. I am the Foxhole Philosopher, but I will not be in the foxhole much longer. And many are coming with me. There is an old adage that if it is truly important, it will staff itself. We shall see.

Ken Lay and the NYT

I have been out of the loop, but I thought I would comment on two things that have happened recently. While it is presumtious of me to speak for the Almighty, Ken Lay's death does almost seem as though someone was not pleased with the verdict and took matters into his own hands.

Also, I hope the New York Times is pleased with itself. It has now singlehandedly deprived not just the President, nor America, but the entire free world of a very useful tool in tracking terror and criminal funds. While I do not necessarily think that they have commited any crime by publishing it, (they may have commited a crime in obtaining that information, but that is neither here nor there) they definitely should not have. For an organization that so assiduously counts the deaths of soldiers, I wonder if they will tally the ones that they could have prevented. The problem isn't that loose lips sink ships, its the people that drown when the ships go down.

More Media: Part II

The first issue is that Iraqi’s don’t pose very sympathetic figures. I don’t mean that there aren’t heart wrenching stories out there, and I am sure journalists would find them, but if you contrast your average Iraqi with past countries and cultures with whom we have done battle, then they don’t come off looking to good. In many ways, Iraq is like a colossal ghetto, in the sense that everyone is somewhat involved in criminal activities, or knows someone who is. Therefore they are reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement, both out of a misguided sense of loyalty or a fear of repercussions. While many countries we have invaded have had a problem with kleptocracy, none that I know of have had as wide spread criminality.
The most annoying, and damning habit of Iraqi’s is their lying. In America, and probably most of the world, the idea of honor boils down to honesty: don’t lie. In Iraq, however, honor is almost exactly the opposite. Anytime something goes wrong, it is imperative that you never admit complicity, or guilt, no matter how obvious that your complicity or guilt is. And even if someone else does something wrong you never point the finger at them if they are a relative, which most of them in town are. Therefore, Iraqis not only feel it is O.K. to lie, they feel that they are obligated to lie.
A perfect example of this is the former-Iraqi Public Relations Minister during the initial, invasion. Even though what he was saying was obviously wrong, he continued to say it. And the people expected it of him. In fact, even though many on the left accuse President Bush of lying about WMD, most Iraqi’s are surprised that he has admitted that we are not likely to find them, when he could, at least in their mind, easily continue to claim that they are there and we just haven’t found them yet. While moral relativists may say “it is just culture, and we need to be accepting,” most Americans would get really upset at constant lying. Proof of this is the fact that we hate even the appearance of dishonesty in our politicians.
These issues are very difficult to see when you are around for ten minutes of an interview, and then hop on a plane and fly out. This is especially true since Iraqi’s have become masters of ‘journalistic manipulation.’ They have all learned the catch phrases of “where are the terrorists,” “is this democracy,” and “they only bring death.” Try and find a negative interview with an Iraqi that doesn’t include one of those phrases. They play western for ten minutes, and it gets play all over the media, but it is a dishonest portrayal of what they are and what they want. I believe that if we had journalists on the ground with us they would begin to see the cultural mores, and moral corruptness that we deal with every day. This would accurately illustrate the Iraqi’s to the decision makers back home and the populace as a whole.
While many people in American look at soldiers and say that “We just don’t understand,” the truth is that many, and especially I, do understand. Almost daily an Iraqi will tell me that I actually belong in Iraq; that I am an Iraqi at heart. Of course, that is a result of my business ‘face’ if you will, but this is part of professionalism, and working with other cultures. The truth is that ‘back home’ doesn’t understand.
I am not saying that this is impossible to deal with. However, it is by far the largest hurdle, which almost no one takes into consideration. We are trying to plug Iraq into the larger civilized world, without changing the fundamentals, which are crucial to our civilization. Honesty and hard work is the basis of Western, and in reality, human civilization. The paradigm is like plugging a 110v lamp into a 220v socket without a step down.
Soldiers on the ground understand this, because they see it every day, but people in America and the world do not. But the problem is larger than can be fixed on the ground, or even dealt with. We need a political solution as well, and in order for that to happen the political bodies in the coalition need to be properly informed. That means the people as well as the leaders.

Good News

I thought I would post a little good news. I would first, however, like to retract the generalization that Iraqi's are lazy. (In my defense the word lazy appears but once in this blog.) However, that speaks to motivation, and I cannot possibly know the motivation of Iraqi's apparent unwillingness to work on their own.

Secondly, that is an unfair generalization. I alluded to the success of neighboring areas, and that is actually more generally true. (The extrapolation of the worst case scenario to the general is a perenial problem for soldiers, police, and such, since people who fix things only see when they are broken.) Actually, in the area, outside of the city where I normally work. The police and army do their jobs quite well. In fact, I would say that even in this city it has turned a corner.

I just returned from a mission where the Iraqi Army was the main effort, and while it was not a flawless execution, and the style was distinctly Iraqi, they were very good. I am heartened by this.

I would like to conclude by pointing out that, at least on the local and practical level, no one is trying to turn Iraqi's into Americans. All we want is for them to do things their way, but do something. As soon as that is done, we will leave. The problem is that they may not do things until they have to. JV never plays while varsity is on the field.

Selflessness is the key to Greatness

I could be wrong but Warren Buffett's tremendous generousity is an example of what has made America great. The fact is that he is not the first, but a tradition of generosity from American citizens that has strengthened America, and the world. Carnegie libraries brough books to millions, and changed our world. Bill Gates is trying to cure HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Even those who held onto their wealth, donated to universities, or museums (e.g. the Huntington Libraries and Gardens)

Perhaps more important is that this is part of the general spirit of Americans: giving. People willingly, without being taxed give millions of dollars and even more precious time. I think this is what has allowed us to become the nation we are. If we ever lose that, then we are in serious trouble.

How More Media in Iraq Would Help

This is partially a response to a quotation of my blog at http://thoughtsopinionsrants.blogspot.com/. I have left a comment there as well, which I will not rehash here. I highly encourage crossreferencing, so that the Weblog community can be a true dialogue, even and especially if you disagree with me.

I wish that we had more media and not less here in Iraq. While in the past I have said that the Mass Media is not our ally, and I stand by that, at least somewhat, I have come to believe it is the absence and not the presence thereof that is the problem.

Right now, journalists rely on stringers, or at best show up for a few days in a year and they don't really have a firm grasp on the situation. The solution would be to have embedded journalists over the long haul. We could easily protect them, and they would really know what is going on.

A perfect example of this is a recent journalist visit that I was in charge of security for. This was good journalist who asked a lot of questions, but clearly did not understand the cultural differences. She was asking aggressive questions of a General in the Iraqi police, asking why he was unable to provide security. Most Americans would respond with a plan, or an apology, or a statement of "this is merely an outlier..." However to him, and I am pretty sure to every Iraqi, this was a question he didn't understand at all. His only responsibility was to justify himself, and he just made a lot of excuses, and didn't even care when she tried to nail him down. If she had been here for a month or two, she would have adapted to that already.

There are three things that direct media coverage will solve, and I will address each of these in a later blog:

1) Iraqis have a different sense of honesty than we do. Therefore it is perfectly alright for them to tell journalists what they think they want to hear. Quality of reporting and honesty will go up. (We experience this problem in the military as well, when Iraqi's tell us what they think we want to hear.)

2) Arab culture does have similar roots to western culture, but religion, politics and history have taken it down a different path. Many people rely exclusively on the media's portrayal of the conflict, which is flawed. Arabs have mastered pretending to be Western for a few minutes during interviews. Therefore more direct media coverage would allow a more accurate portrayal of the cultural issues, and values with which we are dealing.

3) Finally, it used to be that everyone had been in , or was related to someone that had been in the military. This is no longer true. Therefore, many people have mistaken concepts about soldiers and the military. The Blogosphere tries to help with this, but its very diverse nature and the ability of people to pick and choose to whom they listen leaves us without an authoritative voice. Therefore, more direct media coverage would paint a better picture of the military.

I think each of these topics could probably take up whole books, but stay tuned...

A Caveat from the Future (or maybe the past)

Once upon a time, Iraq was a prosperous nation, that spanned huge swaths of land, produced all it needed, and was the envy of all around it. Actually, three times upon a time. The first was the long period during which alternatively the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Babylonians (again), and Medes (which many Kurds believe that they are descendents of) ruled what is now Iraq, and they were arguably the most prosperous and advanced nation during this time. From that time, until the rise, and arrival of the Arabs, Iraq was ruled by a succession of foreign invaders, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Parthians, Sassanians, and so on. But once the Arabs did arrive, they found in Iraq a vast repository of knowledge from the previous civilizations, and they raised Iraq and specifically Baghdad to its height of power. There was another brief interlude following first Turkic, and then Mongol invasions, where Iraq slid into ill repair, but during the 1600’s during the Ottoman Age, Baghdad was a jewel of the crown, and wealthy beyond compare.

However, now, Iraq is a basket case, and it has nothing to do with George W. Bush’s policies, or military mistakes. Iraq has slowly been ruining itself over the last two hundred years! I don’t know when it started but I know what the problem is: selfishness.

Of course, Americans are proverbial for materialism, and that reputation is well deserved, but I have never seen a more self centered culture in my entire life. Earlier this week there was an IED that killed several people at a certain location. Were the people who lived nearby concerned about the death toll? Did they care about those who had been killed, who were actually their relatives? Did they look for a way to stop the carnage? Did they look for ways to help their neighbor? Did they even ask what we were going to do to fix the problem? NO! All they were concerned about was how military activities attempting to make the area more secure were going to affect them. One woman even said that she didn’t care what happened as long as we didn’t disturb her.

This attitude is what ensures that Iraq will remain a third world country. When disaster strikes there are two options: help out, or rip off. If society chooses rip off, even once, it risks destroying itself. On a grander scale, everyday, people have to choose whether to look out for themselves, or the greater good. The simplest example is a line, at a bank, or for gas, or whatever. If you look out only for yourself you are going to try and cut, but if you look out for the greater good, you will stay and wait your turn. The irony is that if you try and cut, you might get gas sooner, but it is more sure if everyone waits their turn.

Of course, this is an example of the tragedy of the commons problem. Every society deals with it, but the more blood and treasure that is spent trying to ensure that people are following the basic rules the less money is available for other things like national security. Here, an entire Army company must secure the gas station to prevent riots! This of course leads to all kinds of corruption, and kick backs, but most importantly it diverts important resources away from other more critical problems. (Can you imagine if there had to be thirty US soldiers at every gas station, how colossal a goat rope that would be.) The biggest issue is that no one sees themselves as part of the problem. As I said before, everyone thinks they are the exception to the rule.

This should really be taken as a warning. We don’t seem to have lost our sense of civic responsibility in the United States, yet. But it only takes a generation, and once it is gone, it will take a generation and probably more to get back, if that is possible. Perhaps we should start teaching Civics in High Schools again. Maybe these are some moral values we can all agree on.