Tag Archives: anbar awakening
Padre Steve’s Primer on the Muddle East
“When you are up to your arse in alligators it is hard to remember that your mission is to drain the swamp.” Old British Colonial Saying During the dark days of World War Two when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, middle east, national security
Tagged as 2008 israel hamas war, 9-11 2001, afghanistan, afghanistan government corruption, algeria, alqaeda, anbar awakening, arab despots, arab spring, arab-israeli conflict, “When you are up to your arse in alligators it is hard to remember that your mission is to drain the swamp.”, bahrain, ben ali, britain, british use of poison gas in iraq, collapse of soviet union, egypt, egypt-israeli peace settlement, erwin rommel, european colonialism, fatah, france, george h w bush, gulf war, hamas, hezbollah, hosni mubarak, iran, iran influence in lebanon, iran-iraq war, iranian revolution, iranian revolutionary guard, iraq, iraq civil war, iraq insurgency, israel, israeli hezbollah war 2006, italy, jordan, khobar towers bombing, lebanon, libya, middle east, middle east uprisings, middle east wars, muammar gaddafi, muddle east, mujahedeen, oil companies, operation desert storm, operation iraqi freedom, osama bin laden, ottoman empire, pakistan, palestine, palestinian authority, saddam hussein, saudi arabia, shah of iran, soviet union, syria, taliban, tango uniform, tunisia, u s policy in iraq, united nations, united states, us foreign policy in the middle east, uss cole bombing, warsaw pact, world trade center attack, world trade center bombing 1994, world war i, world war ii, yemen
“Victory” and Reality: Never think that War will be Easy
“No one starts a war-or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so-without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” – Karl von Clausewitz … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, Military, national security
Tagged as 9-11 2001, 9-11 attacks, afghanistan, al anbar province, al qaeda, al qaida, anbar awakening, axis of evil, clausewitz, coalition provisional authority, COIN, counterinsurgency, Field Marshal Von Rundstedt, general heinz guderian, german army, ied, iran, iraq, iraq insurgency, iraqi army, joint forces staff college, kursk, mission accomplished, north korea, patriot day, paul bremer, president george w bush, ralph peters, red army, roger trinquier, saddam hussein, shock and awe, taliban, us army, us marines, usmc, usmc command and staff college, uss abraham lincoln, victory disease, wehrmacht, world trade center, world war ii
9-11-2001: A Date that Will Live in Infamy 9 Years Later
On September 11th 2001 I was the Chaplain for Headquarters Battalion 2nd Marine Division, Camp LeJeune North Carolina. I first learned of the attacks as I was logging off of my computer to go to PT after a couple of … Continue reading →
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Tagged as 2001 world series, 9-11 2001, 9-11 attack videos, 9-11 attacks, 9-11 news coverage, abu ghraib, afghanistan, afghanistan casualty numbers, al qaeda, anbar awakening, camp lejeune, cnn, congress, ii marine expeditionary force, iraq, iraq casualty numbers, mohammed karzai, operation enduring freedom, operation iraqi freedom, osama bin laden, pakistan, pentagon, president bush 2001 world series, president bush world trade center, president george w bush, president obama, ronan tynan, taliban, the surge, today show, united flight 93, uss hue city, world trade center, yankee stadium
Mission Accomplished in Al Anbar: The Marines Turn Over the Mission to the Iraqis
Religious Support Team 2 MNF-W the Desert Rats at Al Waleed August 2007 There was a time not very long ago that names like Al Anbar, Fallujah and Ramadi were synonymous with futility and humiliation. But that was before a … Continue reading →
Filed under History, iraq,afghanistan, Military
Tagged as 1st armored division, 1st iraqi division, 2nd border brigade, 7th iraqi division, al anbar province, al qaida, anbar awakening, basra, diayala province, fallujah, french algeria, ied, iraq, iraq surge, iraqi army, iraqi police, malaya insurgency, mass casu, mnf-west, operation iraqi freedom, ramadi, shock surgery trauma platoon, ta qaddum, US Marine Corps
Padre Steve’s Decade in Review: Up Down Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again
Happy New Year! Well, we have killed off the first decade of the new millennium and I hate to say it but I miss the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Somehow despite the threat of double secret nuclear annihilation, disco, and … Continue reading →
Filed under History, Loose thoughts and musings
Tagged as 200 election controversy, 2000 election controversy, 2008 presidential election, 2009, 2nd marine divsion, 9-11 attacks, afghanistan, al anbar province, al gore, al qaida, american military university, anbar awakening, arnold schwarzeneggar, bank bailouts, barak obama, beltway sniper, beslan terrorism, bill clinton, black helicopters, boston red sox, celebrity deaths, congressional steroid hearings, curse of the bambino, dave thomas wendy's, deade in review, death, detroit tigers, dick cheney, eod group two, football, george carlin, george w bush, ghost, h1n1, hangin chad, hanging chad, harbor park, hezbollah, hillary clinton, hurricane katrina, iran buclear program, iran riots, iraq, iraq insurgency, iraq surge, iraq un oil for food program, iraqi army, israel, john kerry, john mccain, johnny carson, london bombing 2006, madrid bombing 2004, marine security forces, marion jones, michael jackson, michael phelps, nelson lebron, new york yankees, operation iraqi freedom, patrick swayze, philadelphia phillies, pope benedict xvi, pope john paul ii, PTSD, richard pryor, sarah palin, space shuttle columbia, star trek, steroids, supreme court, taliban, tampa bay rays, tom landry, usmc command and staff college, uss cole bombing, uss hue city, uss john f kennedy, vatican and anglicans, walter cronkite, world series, y2k
Going to War: Interlude July 4th 2007
This is the second installment of my account of my account of mine and RP2 Nelson Lebron’s deployment to Iraq in 2007. Our mobilization proceeded the next couple of days as we received our immunizations, were issued DCUs and other … Continue reading →
Filed under iraq,afghanistan, Military, Tour in Iraq
Tagged as 4th of july, 9-11, advisers, al anbar province, anbar awakening, blackhawk boots, boarding team, dcu, deployment, emotional distance between couples, eod, eod group two, harbor park, history of the army chaplain corps in vietnam, iraq, m-16 rifle, m-9 pistol, magnum 5/11 boots, middle east, military wife, national anthem, navy knowledge online, norfolk tides, northern arabian gulf, operation iraqi freedom, president bush, star spangled banner, syracuse sky chiefs, vietnam
