Letter of support for Matt Sanchez

Preface: Below is my e-mail to blogger Michelle Malkin in response to her message of support for Matt Sanchez in reaction to the gleefully venomous and vitriolic posts about Matt flooding the blogosphere. I e-mailed a slightly different version of the same letter to blogger "Joe" of Joe.My.God, who is given the bulk of the credit for breaking the story on Matt's controversy. Austin Byrd, a Columbia College freshman and aspiring Marine Corps officer, thought to write Malkin and defend Matt a lot sooner than I did. - Eric Chen

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Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:22:50 -0500
From: Eric Chen
To: writemalkin@gmail.com
Subject: Thank you for standing by Matt.

Hi Michelle,

As a member of the military community at Columbia University, I
would like to express my appreciation for your support of Matt
while he deals with the astoundingly vicious and gleeful hate that
is being directed at him.

I was Vice-President of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia
University (www.columbia.edu/cu/usmilvetscu), or MilVets, when the
attack by the International Socialist Organization took place at
our university-wide club fair on the first week of the fall 2005
semester. Matt wasn't the only target. With him were an Army
captain attending Columbia to earn her masters degree and an
undergraduate Marine officer candidate who is now at the Basic
School in Quantico, Virginia. Matt just happened to stop by the
booth to chat with friends when the ISO launched their surprise
attack. They were full of venomous anger, and racist and
anti-military hate. Their goal clearly was to intimidate Columbia
military students from representing our interests at Columbia.

Following that incident, it would have been easy to appease the ISO
enforcers by blaming ourselves and accepting the role of the victim
enabler. Unfortunately, in a time when shrinking the civil-military
gap in our society is critical, too many student-veterans, ROTC
cadets and officer candidates choose to avoid representing our
interests in the academic community out of fear of the kind of
backlash unleashed by the ISO.

Matt just happened to be there when the incident occurred. He didn't
set out to invite scrutiny, but neither was he willing to accept the
role of victim enabler. Afterwards, he merely sought fair treatment
from the university administration to address a wrong committed by
Columbia students against Columbia students at a university-wide
event meant to showcase the diversity of student activities at
Columbia. If the university had just done the right thing at the
outset, Matt wouldn't be famous today.

As a leader of the Columbia military community, I was thankful for
Matt's willingness to stand up not only for himself, but also for
our members who were attacked alongside him. Later, when MilVets
officially petitioned Columbia to reform the university
discrimination policy
(http://milvetslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/02/press-release-anti-military.html) [updated link],
we were following Matt's initiative.

Now, Matt isn't the only Columbia military student working to close
the civil-military gap at our beloved university, but Matt stands
out for his sheer will to challenge an unacceptable status quo,
despite the risks to himself. Perhaps, his life experiences help
explain why he steps forward when others retreat. In closing,
Michelle, I want to affirm that we in the Columbia military
community know Matt for who he is, and we continue to stand with
him as one of our own. Thank you again for your support.

Sincerely,

Eric Chen
GS '07
US Army '97-'01

--
"Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole
history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions
yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle.
The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for
the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do
this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no
progress."

- Frederick Douglass

02MAR07 dispatch from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 04:29:15 +0300
From: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Alive and kickin'

Hello all,

Back by popular demand, and because I'd received notes from a few of
you that you wanted to make sure I was ok since I hadn't written a
tome lately, here's my latest report from how things are over here.
I have to begin by saying, once more, how very grateful I am and my
soldiers are for all the care package sent our way by so many of you
and your friends whose generosity is truly breathtaking. Thank you,
from the bottom of my heart. I've made horrible progress on the
thank-yous I mentioned last time, as is my unfortunate fashion, but
the fact that I might not have gotten my words down on paper (yet)
in no way diminishes how very thankful I am. Your packages are not
only heartwarming reminders of the care and concern of so many of
you back home but also, given our present situation, an excellent
source of very useful and much-needed supplies! "Say, Josh," you
might ask, "this 'present situation' you mention - what is it,
exactly?" And were you to ask, I would be obliged to answer . . .

. . . that things have changed quite a bit since the last time I
wrote! Operations have changed for our battalion and, therefore,
for its humble mortar platoon (me and my guys). And there's even
some speculation that former members of my battalion (1-5 CAV) are
responsible, in a way, for the change that's caught up to us
several years down the road! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Last time I wrote, my platoon was attached to a line mechanized
infantry company, and we were conducting daily combat patrols in
western Baghdad. Since then, the focus of operations has changed a
great deal: I'm sure you're all familiar with the "troop surge" that
was so publicized following the President's State of the Union
address, and the perception is that things have changed largely
because of it. How have they changed?

First and foremost, our battalion has relocated its headquarters, in
effect. Most units, to my knowledge, used to operate much like we
did: we all had our headquarters on one of the major Forward
Operating Bases (FOBs) here in or around Baghdad, and those served
as a sort of home base from which to stage patrols and conduct
missions. That is, we lived here on the FOB, we would prepare
ourselves and then head out on a patrol into Baghdad, and then we
would return to the FOB. Some patrols were longer than others, of
course, and some units - particularly specialty groups like scouts
and snipers - have long been accustomed to conducting different
sorts of missions whereby they set up and observation post at a
predetermined point in the city, remain in place for perhaps a day
or two, and then return to the FOB to refit. By and large, though,
the out-and-back method was the one that was most commonly used.

As the result of a new strategy for operations within the city,
however, units have actually begun to move off the FOB. Our
battalion headquarters, or the principal place in which plans are
developed and management of the units on patrols takes place, is
now in a building out in the middle of the city, believe it or not.
The kernel of the strategy is that with a more permanent presence
of coalition forces in the neighborhoods, insurgents will have less
freedom of maneuver, residents will feel safer, and our close
conjunction with the Iraqi Security Forces will instill a kind of
trust-by-association (with us), then a more complete trust of the
ISF by the general population. (In our area, by the way, residents
are still unfortunately skeptical of many of the ISF when they are
not operating hand-in-hand with coalition forces. More on that
later). So about a month ago, we packed up shop and basically
moved our base of operations to a building in western Baghdad.

A filthy building in western Baghdad.

I don't mean to complain, because I'd still rather live in a
hardened structure than a tent in the middle of the desert any day
of the week. But the building into which we moved was a display of
filth of a pretty unbelievable kind. Trash littered the entire
compound (which was inhabited and is now co-inhabited by Iraqi Army
soldiers), inside the building and around the grounds. The building
had no running water or electricity (not uncommon in Baghdad); the
bathrooms were (and are) filled with waste, excrement, and standing
water; there was human feces on the floors of several rooms. All in
all, it was a pretty uninspiring place to think about calling home.

We've made huge improvements in the month we've been there, however.
We conducted an intensive cleaning campaign, re-painted walls,
fixed the generator that supplied power to the building, and built
our own latrine facilities to avoid using the almost hopelessly
filthy bathrooms inside (the only downside being we now have to
burn our own waste). The place isn't exactly top-notch, but it's
tremendously improved from when we moved in. You can imagine the
guys weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of leaving the comforts
of the FOB and spending the majority of their time out at our JSS -
I confess it didn't sound terribly appealing to me, either - but I
try to remind myself that this has been the norm for nearly every
conflict in the past. Burger King wasn't exactly a main attraction
in Normandy that the boys could kick back and relax in. So it
really boils down to a matter of expecations and comparison: the
only reason this seems bad is because, until now, we've simply had
it so good. So I don't mean to complain, exactly; if this is what
we'd expected when we deployed and had been the only thing we'd
known, I'm sure we'd be thankful for the fact that that we had a
permanent structure to live in, period.

The other principal reason we've moved shop to the middle of the
city (in addition to providing a more permanent presence) is that
it allows us an even closer working relationship with our Iraqi
counterparts. We now incorporate them more closely into our own
planning process, when possible, because the intention of our
"Joint" Security Station is to make it just that - a joint
headquarters, our battalion nested with the headquarters of an
Iraqi Army brigade. We have interpreters on-site permanently to
facilitate discussion between us and the Iraqis, who continue to
live in the same building we do (on the floor below us). We review
much of the information we gather with them hand-in-hand, and
they're even responsible for providing us with some information
about activity in the area that we ourselves could never know (this
is their home, after all). I think it's safe to say that the
effectiveness of the overall program has yet to be determined, but
whether you may like it or not, I think it's an encouraging thing
that we now have a more defined path and more measurable goals.

Out at this new location, my platoon has taken responsibility for
its day-to-day defense. We no longer, for the time being, head out
on patrols day in and day out, nor are we any longer attached to our
old infantry company. We are once again a more independent unit,
and so the principal thing with which we've been concerning
ourselves for the past month has been maintaining and improving the
security of our new joint headquarters. Is it a glamorous task?
Not in the least. But with reports lately of joint headquarters
having become a particularly fond target for insurgent attacks, it
happens to be an important one, and someone has to do it. On the
plus side, our daily rhythm is somewhat more solidified and we're
able to focus on more specific things from day to day. Part of me
misses being out engaging the local public and conducting patrols
each day, but I'm equally pleased to have a more focused task now
and to once again be the somewhat more indpendent battalion-level
asset that is the intention of the Mortar Platoon in the first
place.

Also, we were on the news on account of our occupation of this JSS!
Richard Engel, the NBC correspondent, was embedded with our
battalion for a week or so at the beginning of February. If you
happened to see any reports about the horrors of life at the new
JSS last month, that was probably us you were looking at. My
soldiers and I made it into some footage used by the crew; they
went with as we conducted a dismounted patrol in the area
immediately around the JSS, and one of my soldiers was shown being
interviewed and smoking with the Iraqi Army soldiers on the floor
below us. The story wasn't falsified, but it's fair to say that
the news crew had its own idea of the story they wanted to tell and
found evidence to support it. I don't feel that the new place is
particularly more dangerous than the FOB, and while it's not a joy
to have to go showerless for a week at a time, as I said, that's
been the standard for all armies of the past (indeed, even for most
military field training still today, for that matter).

Remember how I mentioned that former officers from my battalion were
in some way responsible for this new plan? Well, that might be
crediting a small population too directly. But at the conclusion
of this battalion's last deployment to Iraq, which ended in
February/March 2005, the operations officer and an intelligence
officer put forward recommendations on fighting a modern
counterinsurgency campaign that won acclaim and recognition from
the Army and, so the word has been passed down, caught the eye of
the incoming senior leaders as the new commander in the region,
General Petraeus, was inbound. The ideas put forth in the article
written by former 1-5 officers bear much in common with this new
plan of having battalion and company combat outposts.

All in all, things are still fine over here, lest you're wondering
what my final opinion is. Haha. It's less "exciting" not
conducting patrols, as I said, but we're immersed in the city all
day, every day now. The view from the roof of our building in the
morning is as pretty as most sunrises I've seen, in its own way,
although I'll take the Caribbean any day, thank you very much.
Really, though, spirits here remain pretty high. I was saddened to
hear that two soldiers of my former platoon were injured when an IED
detonated near their Humvee, both suffered severely broken legs, but
survived. And the battalion has had other casaulties and two
subsequent fatalities since I last wrote, as well, which are never
any easier to accept or believe, but we know that with each day
that passes, we're that much closer to being home again. I
personally can't wait to get home on leave in May, where I'll spend
time in Savannah with my family then time with my girlfriend near
Mt. Rainier (I figured it would be a nice way to be cool for a
final few days before returning to face the brutal summer over
here). In the meantime, don't worry about us over here! I hope
this letter finds you in good health and spirits to match my own,
and I look forward to hearing from you if you get the chance, as
always.

Love to all,
Josh

19DEC06 dispatch from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

CLICK TO ENLARGE:

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Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:09:59 +0300
From: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Happy Holidays from the Sandbox ;)

All,

Whew. I'm happy to admit I'm a bit exhausted from this most recent
round of package-opening tonight, and because of that I have to
say, before I mention anything about life over here, that I
couldn't possibly tell everyone how thankful I am for everything
they - you - have thought to send me. It has been truly
overwhelming, and while I am going to try to write as many
thank-yous as I can (I know I can afford to do nothing less to
remain in the Speakers' good graces ;)), I must at least say now
how appreciative I am and all of my soldiers are for each and every
package you've sent. I promise I personally want nothing to do with
pistachios or coffee, for example, but the guys really do appreciate
them! It means a lot just to know people are back home thinking
about them, particularly in this time of the year.

Life here has been, for the most part, fairly uneventful and routine
since last I wrote, believe it or not. To say that, though, leaves
out two particularly notable events, and it would be a disservice
if I didn't mention them. It was just about two weeks ago to the
day that my platoon was waiting, as QRF, to respond to events out
in our area. (The QRF, or Quick Reaction Force, is an element that
stands ready to be available for the battalion leadership to commit
to a course of action they see fit, most commonly to help another
unit that might comes into contact with the enemy). It had been a
largely uneventful day, really, when we got a call that there were
reports of an attack involving small arms fire, rpgs
(rocket-propelled grenades), and incoming mortar rounds in part of
our area and that we needed to move to that location and attempt to
neutralize whatever was going on. As it turns out, the reports of
such coordinated attack were somewhat overblown, as we later came
to find out. All of those things had happened at some point
throughout the day, but there wasn't any kind of planned, complex
attack on a position. In any event, when we were close to the area
we certainly did hear plenty of gunfire, although we couldn't
identify precisely where it was originating until we were
practically on top of it. Once we did, I've got to hand it to my
gunners for being as disciplined as they were in not engaging
anyone until they could maintain positive identification of their
targets. I know this is delving into the realm of jargon, and I
want to avoid that if I can, but that term is pretty important. It
means, quite sensibly, that you need to have reasonable certainty
that someone you're thinking about shooting at is either in the
process of committing a hostile act or clearly showing hostile
intent, so that you can justify taking action against him. There's
an endless catalogue of "what if?" scenarios that come into play
when you're talking about situations that could potentially involve
using lethal force; thankfully for me, this time a guy on a rooftop
raised his AK and began firing at us. So that much was more or
less cut and dry. We returned fire, and within minutes there were
helicopters overhead, another patrol was on its way to aid us, and
- of course - by the time they got there, all shooting had long
since stopped. If you were under any impression that there are
hours-long firefights these days, I think, for the most part,
you're mistaken. That was certainly not the case with us, when
after a few minutes, everyone had stopped firing and we'd secured
the area. Bold though the anti-Iraqi forces may be, I can't blame
them for not wanting to stick around when multiple bulletproof
trucks with machine guns are firing at them and helicopters
overhead can potentially see their every move. So, brief though it
was, that was by far the most action our platoon has seen yet.
We've been involved in two IED attacks, but they didn't damage the
vehicles and, unsurprisingly, we were unable to return fire since
we couldn't identify who was detonating the device.

So, that night, my platoon felt pretty good about ourselves and our
disciplined actions as we returned to the battalion headquarters,
briefed the commander and intelligence officer, and then returned
to our staging area to continue our role as QRF. That was still
our mood the next morning when we were about to be relieved as QRF
when we all heard a loud explosion out in our area of operations.
We didn't think much of it at first; after all, explosions of some
sort are routine, and I'm sure that's the case in most parts of
Baghdad. But I knew something had gone wrong when I heard another
patrol (from another company in our battalion) request medical
evacuation just seconds after the blast. They said they would need
evacuation by helicopter, and they immediately began to move to our
location, since where we were was one of the locations that
helicopters are prepared to land to evacuate casualties. We
prepared the helicopter landing zone, waited for the patrol to come
in with its casualty . . . and when it did, well, it was without a
doubt the most vivid, enduring memory of my time in Baghdad so far.
I can't imagine - unless one of the patrols I'm on involves a
wounded soldier - that anything over the course of the next year
could replace it. The wounded soldier was a staff sergeant from
another company, and it was tragically obvious to me - and I think
to anyone who laid eyes on him as they pulled him out of the HMMWV
and the medics did what they could to try to treat him - that there
was virtually no hope of his recovery. I can't begin to describe
what it was like to prepare yourself to receive, say, a casualty
with a shrapnel wound, or maybe a half-amputated foot or leg, and
then see someone in the shape he was in. His wounds were probably -
thankfully, in a way - just irreversibly fatal. The trauma to his
head was severe and I don't think it would have made one bit of
difference if they'd had an operating room with a surgeon standing
by just feet from the site of the blast; it seemed like a truly
hopeless situation. I say "thankfully" because I can't imagine a
more horrible feeling than that of the guilt that you could have
done something to save someone's life, but didn't. In this case, I
just don't think anything could have been done. It was a horrible
sight, one that I'm quite sure I will never forget, and a horrible
reminder to everyone in the battalion - just weeks after we arrived
in Iraq - that we're still involved in a very deadly struggle, like
it or not.

So you see why, although it's been a mostly uneventful few weeks
since I last wrote, that's not to say that certain very pointed
events haven't been foremost in everyone's mind. For my platoon,
those were undoubtedly some of the most memorable hours of our
lives, and I think I can speak for all of my soldiers who were
there in saying that sudden change of emotions, that instant
evaporation of any feeling of success or a job well done, was all
too grave a reminder that our job here is dangerous and far from
over.

As I said last time, though, I don't want to give the impression
that patrols here are fraught with danger. Is the potential always
there? Of course. And I think it's that knowledge that keeps
soldiers healthily aware. If anything, though, it's the fact that
so many patrols are completely uneventful that makes staying
vigilant so hard, as I'm sure any veteran can tell you. You may
have heard the old saying that war is weeks of sheer boredom
punctuated by moments of sheer terror, and that's absolutely
correct. It's those weeks of total boredom, of patrols that seem
lifeless and unimportant and routine, that cause soldiers (and
leaders) to lose their diligence, to stop taking precautions they
should and rehearsing things they should and making checks they
should - and, so it seems, it's always precisely that moment when
you've settled, when complacency has nestled comfortably on your
shoulders, that you're shocked back into doing the right thing.
You just hope you're not shocked because it happens to you.

The sectarian violence has been somewhat less spectacular since the
much-publicized attack in Sadr City some weeks ago, but it is
persistent nonetheless and colors everything that happens in the
city. I can't claim to have studied war and warfare enough to be
able to pronounce one way or the other whether Iraq is in the midst
of a civil war right now, even if I had every single bit of evidence
that might support one argument or the other. To the extent that
the happenings of the country are shaped by and shape in turn the
violence between the two sects, proclamations of a civil war are,
at the least, not unfounded. It's all very difficult for coalition
forces, too, because we don't want either side to "win." I'm not
saying that it would be justified to side with one of the
participants even if we did; at least in that case, though, we'd be
able to identify "the enemy." As it is, you all probably remember
talk of the "Sunni triangle" that was so publicized earlier in the
war, and for good reason: since Saddam's party (Sunni) was in power
when we entered the country three and a half years ago, we had every
right to expect those loyal to the regime to resist our attempts to
bring about change. Sure enough, they did, and not for nothing was
Fallujah the site of two major offensives in this war, in April and
November of 2004 (our battalion took part in the latter). While
that Sunni resistance is still there, though, and while they make
up the entirety of the Al Qaeda members in Iraq, it's not as though
the Shia population is without blame. Plenty of them are more than
willing to do harm to coalition forces too, and the Jayesh
Al-Mehdi, or Mehdi militia, is one of the most disconcerting
organizations in the country. Certain Shia weapons and tactics,
moreover, are considerably more feared than Sunni. So it's not as
though there are any clear rights or wrong. Do the Sunni holdovers
from Saddam's regime, now devoid of most of the power they had,
still hold a grudge and pose a threat? Sure. But do you see
coalition forces strolling peacefully through Sadr City, a Shia
enclave? Of course not. In some areas you have units working to
prevent Shia infiltration (like ours), and in others you have units
still fighting bitterly against Sunni insurgents. There are no
clear answers here, from the top to the bottom.

But, as for life on the FOB, well, still few complaints ;) I'm sure
my complaining that the internet works inconsistently in my room is
going to draw reactions of contempt from those who actually had to
fight as an epeditionary force months or years ago; I still feel
that complaining about much of anything here is practically
sacrilege when viewed in light of the conditions endured by
soldiers in every conflict in years past. In light of that, I
can't say much of anything is lacking at the FOB. When the worst
you can say is that your internet doesn't work much of the time and
that the water in the showers is sometimes "only lukewarm," well,
you've got it pretty darn good. I wouldn't have you think anything
differently. The folks out the chow hall now are apparently so
bored with themselves that they've decided to implement a karaoke
mic every Friday at lunch and dinner (they thankfully spare people
that terror early in the morning, which is wise). I listened to a
soldier croon Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" the other afternoon
and simply had to smile. It's Christmas time, of course, and the
day itself is fast approaching, but much like Thanksgiving, I find
myself not missing it much. Well, frankly, it doesn't feel a bit
like Christmas, except for the packages that you all have been
wonderful to send. And it's not because they don't try to make it
feel like Christmas; it's just, well, it's just another day.
Again, I imagine if you ask any veteran, he'll say the same thing.
You think about loved ones, and you hope they're enjoying their
holiday, but the 25th will simply be the day between the 24th and
26th, a day either to go on patrol or get paperwork done for guys
and awards, or do PT, or catch up on sleep (a favorite pasttime of
mine). I trust I'll take time to think about some special people
that day, as I do every day, but most of me is glad I'm not too
bent out of shape about it. (It could be, of course, that I'm
simply soulless and dead to the world, but I think it's just the
routine over here ;))

To all of you back home, though, I hope this finds you
extraordinarily well, happy, and healthy, and I hope you do plan on
spending your holidays with your loved ones (I realize we don't all
celebrate Christmas, Jewlenko, thank you) and enjoying them. Be
sure to enjoy the winter weather for me - it's not exactly warm out
here, but I'm trying to savor whatever coolness I can before the
spring and dreaded summer roll around. Please, take care, be safe
this holiday season, and feel free to offer a small toast on my
behalf around midnight on New Year's - I'll be thinking of you
eight hours beforehand ;)

Love to all,
Josh

27NOV06 "wish list" from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:44:41 +0300
From: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Wish List

All,

As promised, below are some items from the guys themselves that
they'd like. I know not all of you had planned on sending
anything, and believe me I don't expect you to, but it's easier for
me just to send this list to everyone rather than pick and choose
who might and might not like to send something. Please don't feel
you're obligated to send anything in any way, shape, or form. If
you care to, though, here are some goodies the guys want:

disposable camera
AA batteries
chapstick
Phone Cards (** see below **)
sunflower seeds
Visine
baby wipes
cashews
wintergreen mints
candy
lotion (skin, moisturizing)
scissors
pistachios
comic books (*preferably Marvel)
Guinness Book of World Records 2007
coffee
Starbucks coffee, ground
whiffle ball & bat set
soccer ball
basketball
beef jerky
magazines (FHM, Maxim, Stuff; pretty much anything to do with cars,
motorcycles, sports, or guns)
candy/chocolate (send it in the winter, while you can! ;))

Regarding phone cards:
There are two ways to buy time for soldiers to make phone calls
home:

The first is to buy a card they can use at any calling center. The
calling centers here are all run by AT&T. I have read that the
only brand of calling cards they will accept, therefore, is AT&T (I
can't say for certain whether this is true). The best AT&T cards to
purchase are the ones sold through AAFES, the "AT&T Global Prepaid
Card" that says "MILITARY EXCHANGE" in a blue band at the bottom.
Failing that - because I know most of you cannot purchase things in
military stores - the regular AT&T Global PrePaid cards are the next
best thing.

The second is to buy minutes for soldiers through SPAWAR, a
communications company that has an internet and phone center at the
MWR cafe here. Phone calls are only FOUR CENTS A MINUTE through
SPAWAR, but you must purchase at least $25 worth of minutes, and
you must use a credit card. If you wish to do this, you can go to
this website
(https://app1.idt.net/debit/openband/account/login.aspx) and click
on "Open New Account." At the end, when it shows a screen that
gives you a "Warfighter Calling Card" PIN, simply copy down the PIN
and e-mail it to me (it should be ten digits). I will give it to
one of my soldiers. (I just looked into this setup today, and it
looks like a great deal, by far!) It's certainly a better deal: a
550-unit AT&T phone card costs $28 now at the special rate in the
PX, and you get 3 hours of talk time. A $25 SPAWAR card, though,
would get you 10 and a half hours! Something to think about.

Hope this finds everyone well. I'll continue to send updates as
guys think of things they might like. Thank you, in advance, for
thinking of them and for your generosity. I know they'll
appreciate it.

Love to all,
Josh


----- End forwarded message -----

Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:09:29 -0500
From: "Jieun Sung"
To: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Re: Wish List

Hi everyone,

I'm a friend of Josh's from college. Sorry to just jump in here, but
for those of you who are thinking of sending care package items over
there, I've got a few shipping tips to share (I sent care packages
to a friend while he was over there).

My experience has been that mail takes approximately two weeks to
arrive (my friend was in Fallujah), but that will, of course, vary.
I'd leave extra time during the holidays, just to be safe.

The flat rate priority mail boxes offered through the USPS are
really great. Basically, you can send as much stuff as you can fit
into those boxes (there are two sizes) and pay the same rate
($8.10). These boxes are available at your local post office, or...

I'm told you can call 1-800-610-8734 and ask for a Military Care
Kit. The postal service will deliver a package with priority mail
stuff and customs forms to you. (Press 1 for English and 1 for
Priority Mail.)

You'll have to fill out a customs form for each package. Check with
the post office to see which form you need, but I'm guessing that
you'll need the white multi-part form to send packages to Josh and
his guys.

I guess the rest is pretty much common sense, use lots of (clear)
tape, cushion the package contents well, etc. Let me know if
there's anything else I can help with :o)

Apologies for my presumptuousness; happy holidays!

:o) jieun



----- End forwarded message -----

25NOV06 dispatch from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2006 13:32:54 +0300
From: "Josh Arthur"
Subject: Initial Impressions from Baghdad

All,

Greetings once again. By now you're probably starting to wonder
just what kind of shady "deployment" this is, what with my updates
and e-mails more often than even I expected. All the same, I
thought you might like to know what our part of Baghdad brings to
mind so far.

My unit is working primarily in the neighborhoods of Khadra and
Ameriyah. Find Baghdad International Airport on a map, and we're
in the first built-up areas just to its east and northeast (in
western Baghdad, on the whole; the opposite side of the city from
Sadr City). The area we operate in is mostly Sunni - almost
exclusively Sunni, in fact. The neighborhoods were once somewhat
more mixed, with perhaps as high as a 70/30 - Sunni/Shia blend at
one point. Particularly as a result of the recent sectarian
violence you've probably heard much about, though, Shias are either
leaving the area voluntarily or leaving this world vary
INvoluntarily. The stories in the media of sectarian violence are
absolutely true, and they probably aren't overstated, no matter
what you're hearing. Don't think there are armed militias waging
pitched gunfights in the middle of the streets every day; that's
not the case (actually, it's rarely the case). By far the most
common situation to which we respond, though, is indeed the finding
of dead bodies in our area. In but a handful of patrols already,
I've come upon three. Two had been bound and/or blindfolded; the
third had been the victim of an alleged drive-by shooting that
happened just moments before (we arrived on scene as a result of
our responding to the gunfire). Nearly all of the bodies found are
of Shia victims, and most bodies show evidence of having been killed
execution-style, with gunshots to the back of the head and neck.
It's generally about as gruesome as it sounds; thank goodness we've
so far been spared the spate of beheadings that ravaged the area not
long before our arrival. But the manner of death isn't as important
as the motive, which in almost all cases is reprisal and
intimidation, as best we can tell. Bodies are left in conspicuous
areas - in open fields near mosques, on heavily trafficked corners,
or simply in sites that have since come to be known as places to
expect to find bodies. Sometimes they're there simply as a show of
force or power; other times they're acts of revenge for incidents
perpetrated by the other sect. It's human tragedy of a senseless
and, I think to most of us, a basically incomprehensible kind. As
I said, this is far and away the most common incident of note to
which we respond or happen to encounter.

It's probably fair to say that Iraqis are targeting each other more
than they are American forces these days, though that's little
consolation to the families who are, without a doubt, still losing
soldiers each day. Even groups more committed to violence against
the other religious sect generally aren't exactly averse to taking
out an American and killing two birds with one stone. IEDs are the
most common and, generally, the most feared threat from the
insurgents and Anti-Iraqi Forces (AIF). AIF are adaptable, they're
smart, and though they may not have the most sophisticated
technology, they exploit what they have to its deadliest potential.
They watch American patrols and learn about our techniques and
about our vehicles; they study their effective attacks from the
past; they analyze their tactics and are constantly shifting them
to try to stay one step ahead of us. Interestingly, it's generally
rare these days to find tactics that are completely new, ; many AIF
groups have simply begun to revert to prior tricks from their
grab-bag to see if they'll work now that we expect something else
(more often than not, they don't). We, of course, have systems and
techniques to defeat or avoid many IED attacks, and we're finally
getting ahead of AIF in some respects, but this is their home and
they'll probably always have an advantage. As I said, IEDs are
probably the most widely feared threat, mostly because of their
unpredictability. The only mitigating factor is that knowledge
that an IED sizable enough to destroy an up-armored HMMWV, let
alone anything bigger, must be very large indeed. Aggressive
patrolling and a constant presence do a great deal to diminish the
threat.

The scarier if more localized fear is the emerging frequency of
sniper attacks. It's probably fair to say that the sniper has been
a fear for every soldier in every conflict who had a chance of
encountering one. They're able to hide, they're able to select
their shot, and - most dangerously - they can shoot! There's
actually strong suspicion that some of the attacks are being
carried out by a Chechen mercenary of sorts; whether that's founded
is beyond me. But it's always a scary thought to think that
someone, somewhere, is waiting for you outside of your vehicle.
It's particularly difficult with infantrymen who, by their
training, feel more comfortable on the ground. It's what they see
their role as, and it's how leaders have been taught to employ
them. Infantrymen have no particular desire to stay cooped up in a
vehicle for hours at a time (though they do it without complaint,
since they know it makes them safer). The sniper threat is not
the primary one; there are only so many snipers, and there are only
so many opportunities that lend themselves to a sniper attack
(avoiding those in the first place, of course, is the best way to
beat it). Still, it's on most guys' minds, and that's probably the
hoped-for effect overall by those coordinating the attacks. (More
general small arms fire, as opposed to precision sniper fire, is
seen by soldiers not so much as a threat but as an opportunity,
interestingly enough. If they're going to be dumb enough to shoot
at us, the average soldier thinks, well heck, at least we have the
chance to shoot back!)

Now that I've gone and talked about nothing but the dangers of the
area, let me make clear that no soldier here (including me) feels
like he's in imminent danger every minute of every patrol. Certain
areas may make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, as may
certain situations, but it would be misleading to think soldiers
leave the FOB every day with paralyzing fear. It's unhealthy not
to be wary, but most of the time it's not even an issue. We
obviously try to avoid situations that are patently dangerous.

We do a large number of patrols in conjunction with different Iraqi
Security Forces (ISF). My platoon in particular works with a unit
of the National Police, one of three main security forces (the
others are the Iraqi Police, IP, and the Iraqi Army, IA). Of the
three, the National police is the most homegrown, least
professional, and most poorly trained. The sense I get is that of
a citizens' militia of sorts; of regular joes who have volunteered
to be armed policemen. They wear an interesting variety of
military-inspired uniforms, and they have various personal weapons
ranging from inconspicuous, shabby sidearms to nickel-plated
AK-47s. They are a motley crew if ever I have seen one, without a
doubt. They patrol in pickup trucks with extra sheet metal welded
onto the sides, with gunners kind of standing up in the bed of the
truck with a machine gun. It would be a comedy of errors if their
jobs weren't very deadly serious. I don't mean that they are
indispensably important; just that it would be wrong to mock their
contributions when they, too, are the target of many attacks. As I
said, the Iraqis dislike each other as much as they dislike us. The
NP and IA checkpoints are frequent targets of vehicle-borne IEDs,
and the volunteers are putting their lives on the line in doing a
relatively thankless job. At the NP level (not so much IA),
corruption and the good old boy system seem to the norm, according
to everything we've learned from the outgoing units. It's easy to
view them as inferior because of their dubious loyalty and mediocre
ability, but their sacrifice is the same.

The only other particularly notable thing about our entire area of
operations, I would say - and indeed, from what I understand, from
all of Baghdad, is the massive amount of trash. Everywhere. If
you've never seen the slums of a foreign country, I don't think you
could possibly imagine how absurd it is. Even run-down areas of
American cities are nowhere near - just nothing at all like - the
littered streets of our areas. Parts of our area are and/or were
the locations of the homes of many senior government officials
under Saddam's regime; many professionals still inhabit the area,
and yet the place is still filthy. I can't think of a more
descriptive word to use. Medians are covered with trash; you
literally cannot see the dirt beneath for many dozens or hundreds
of meters at a time, and when you can it's usually because there's
an intersection. The prior unit took part in an operation that,
among other things, cleaned up all the trash in the neighborhood,
and within just months it's all returned. It's a mess, and it
gives you the worrying impression that maybe we care more about
Iraq than its own citizens? I obviously can't make that statement
based solely on the amount of trash, but it seems to me an
indicator of a mindset that might not be the healthiest for
progressive reform. Just one man's opinion.

With that I'll take my leave, though, and bid you all farewell. I
hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable; the dinner here was somewhat
lackluster (no mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce - on
Thanksgiving!), but the effort was commendable. I was happy just
to eat after my patrol. But I hope you're all well, and in case
you don't hear from me for a few weeks, I'd be remiss if I didn't
offer those four very important final words before I go:

GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!

Love to all,
Josh

13NOV06 dispatch from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:09 +0300
From: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Greetings from Baghdad!

All,

Well, if my Dad had one piece of everyday advice for me to last
throughout the deployment - to pertain to all the day-to-day
activities, the scheduling, events, whatever - it was to "expect
the unexpected." It should have come as no surprise, then - and
with the Black Knights of 1-5 CAV, this was really par for the
course - that we were all called away from a free concert being put
on at Camp Buehring by the band Shinedown on November 8th to be told
that we would be leaving in a matter of hours to go north to
Baghdad. Figures!

We arrived in Baghdad late Thursday night and spent an inordinately
long time doing nothing, it seemed, before boarding transportation
to come over to FOB Liberty, where we are now (and where we plan to
stay for the next year - but again, who's to say?). We're still in
the process of getting comfortable in our new home, but things are
splendid so far. My living accomodations are hard to beat: my own
room in a trailer (albeit with paper-thin walls between rooms) with
a bed, desk, wall locker, etc.; internet in the rooms (when it wants
to work); and rumors that a fridge and TV are on the way. Quite
honestly, I can't complain.

The change of scenery is nice, too. While Camp Buehring may be
useful, as I said, it is quite literally in the middle of the
desert. Even if Liberty is closer to parts of the city where
violence is occurring daily, at least there are trees here! When I
get a chance, I'll take pictures that give some sense of the
landscape here at Victory (without actually showing anything of
importance, of course). I can at least say that palm trees near
the battalion headquarters could fool one into thinking this place
isn't half bad, if it weren't for the colonnades of concrete
barriers everywhere ;)

As with Camp Buehring, the amenities here leave little to be
desired. Taco Bell, Subway, Burger King, gyms, free laundry, a
wide variety of food in the dining facility, a PX that has DVD
entertainment systems, for heaven's sake - these are things that
are truly the mark of an organization planning on sticking around
for a while, if you ask me ;) I'd hate to have you all back home
thinking I actually face some sort of hardship or deprivation in
living conditions, especially when guys at other, more distant FOBs
and guys at the beginning of this war truly did (right, LTC Walter,
sir? ;)) I'm technically still sleeping in my sleeping bag every
night, but that's solely because I've been too busy or lazy to go
sign for linens. So don't go feeling sorry for me just because I'm
over here. Haha.

After all, we're not even really in harm's way yet. True, there's
always the possibility of something strange happening while on the
FOB - a lucky mortar strike (which are rare in the first place
here), an impossibly overwhelming attack, etc., - but for all
intents and purposes, I think it's fair to say that no one on the
FOB considers himself to be in particular, imminent danger as far
as daily happenings go. We still have some things to do before we
get to head out into sector. We have to finish acquiring and
inventorying our new vehicles; have to get more protective
equipment for vehicles and personnel; and we have to finish a
process that's already begun whereby the outgoing unit hands over
responsibility to us. So far, the leadership in the battalion has
been attending two days' worth of classes given by the outgoing
unit concerning their experiences, lessons learned, tactics used,
etc. Whether we adopt them all is, of course, up to us, but the
knowledge they have to share is supremely important. We'll
continue to do this for a matter of weeks before we assume
responsibility for the area exclusively.

Otherwise, things are good. The only other piece of news - and
again, I guess I should find it completely unsurprising that this
is the case - is that our mailing address has changed (slightly)
one again, but this one - supposedly - is the one that will really,
actually, honestly work the quickest. The previous one SHOULD still
work, but without the Unit ID #, it evidently slows down a great
deal. In any event, it is:

1LT Joshua Arthur
HHC 1-5 CAV
Unit 43300
FOB Liberty
APO AE 09344-3300

And that's about it, folks. Again, I hope this find everyone doing
well, and as I have more time (and a more reliable internet
connection), I'll try to get back to some of you individually.
Thanks to all of you, too, who have indicated that you'd like to
send something to me or (more importantly) my soldiers, as well. I
promise I'll try to get a sense for things guys need and/or want as
things progress. The only thing I can say for sure that will be
useful no matter what are pipe cleaners and q-tips for cleaning
weapons, and guys always like magazines of almost any sort (just no
pornography - it's illegal in the country). More than that I really
don't know yet, though, so when I get a better idea, I'll let you
know so that your generosity can be well directed. Thanks so much.

Love to tall,
Josh

07NOV06 dispatch from Army LT Josh Arthur, CC04

CLICK TO ENLARGE:

* * * *

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 22:05:32 +0300
From: "Joshua Arthur"
Subject: Greetings from Kuwait!

All,

Well, first thing's first: I apologize for not writing sooner! I
still owe many of you more personal responses from your replies to
my last e-mail; announcements of marriage and the like, I think,
warrant more than a mass e-mail in return. I'll do so when I get
up to Baghdad - remind me! Hopefully you all haven't been worrying
about me just yet; Kuwait isn't exactly the most dangerous place in
the world, particularly here in the middle of the desert. But I'm
doing well, and greetings from this oasis that is Camp Buehring,
Kuwait! I kid, but although we are smack in the middle of nowhere,
this place does have just about anything one could want: Burger
King, Taco Bell, Baskin-Robbins, Subway, a 24-hour gym, multiple
internet cafes, multiple AT&T calling centers, a pool room, etc.,
etc. Life, on the whole, is not bad, and there are plenty of
offerings for soldiers to waste their time (and money) while
they're not busy doing other things.

We arrived the night of the 22nd after leaving around noon on the
21st, stopping in Bangor, ME and in Germany on the way. The
reception in Bangor was amazing. There's a group of volunteers
there made up mostly of veterans and their wives who keep track of
military flights passing through, either to or from theater, and
the volunteers form a reception line to greet the soldiers (or
sailors, airmen, or marines) as they come off the plane and wish
them well as they re-board. It was pretty humbling, even though
I'd been told beforehand about the group.

Here at Camp Buehring, we've been principally concerned with final
training, classes, and familiarization before we head up north to
Baghdad. Things were fairly hectic in the first few days after
arrival; we spent lots of time at ranges located, if possible, even
more in the middle of nowhere. In the past week or so things have
calmed down, and at this point, quite frankly, everyone is just
eager to get out of this place, get to Baghdad, and find some place
to call home for the next year. There's lots of sitting around,
playing video games, watching movies, reading books, and going to
use the phones and internet.

Accomodations aren't fantastic here, but they're not spartan. We
live in large tents with dozens of guys per tent. The tents are
semi-permanent, have wooden floors, and have A/C, so don't think of
us under some olive drab canvas things flapping in the wind, blowing
sand everywhere. In that respect, things are just fine. There's a
certain funk that is unavoidable after two and a half weeks with 60
guys living together, but things could certainly be worse. There
are shower trailers with running water (hot water, on occasion) and
sinks, and there port-o-johns as latrines all over the place. You
can get a feel for the landscape from the attached photos.

For the most part, though, it's just waiting at this point.
Everyone's eager to go, get up to Liberty, and get somewhat settled
as we begin the next year. Don't worry; I'll be sure to update
everyone once I get up to Baghdad to let you know how things are at
Liberty; chances are they'll be a good deal better than here in
Kuwait, believe it or not. In the meantime, some of you may be
happy to hear that we were given our mailing address the other day!
Now, a caveat: I'm not sure this address is 100% correct. This is
the latest one we have, but it's already changed once. As long as
the APO doesn't change, though, then mail should find its way at
least to the battalion and then they'll get it where it needs to
be. If you're thinking of sending anything, I might suggest
waiting a few weeks until I make sure the address works with
letters and the like. But, nonetheless, here it is:

1LT Joshua Arthur
HHC 1-5 CAV
FOB Liberty
APO AE 09344

I hope you all are doing well. For the Brooke Pointers on the list,
for fun, one of the attached pictures is of me and Justin Becker at
a machine gun range - small world, huh? He's in military
intelligence in our brigade. The other pictures are of my cot
(with assorted gear), a poster in the gym at Ft. Hood that the
wives made for our platoon that we saw as we prepared to board the
plane, me re-enlisting one of my soldiers, and a random photo of PT
in the morning showing the tents in the background.

Love to all,
Josh