Rant: Different points of view

[ editor's note: I know a rant when I see one :-) ]

31 Apr 2004 1519 hours

I am not in the habit of giving off the cuff remarks. I find that when I actually speak aloud about something I find incorrect or blatantly ignorant; I tend to explode and the colorful metaphors replace actual words that explain what my point is. This is one of those times, and I will keep it civil. Who is "soldier of Lancer" who posted on this BLOG in response to "mike's mom"? At least have the cahones to put your name on your postings, like I do. Philip Stephen Jarvis, born on 26 June 1973, in Plattsburgh, New York. I am a Staff Sergeant in the Outlaws Platoon. I have a dog named Saba and a Harley-Davidson Road King named Natasha. You can always find me on the FOB by standing at the main gate. I will wave to you as I leave and return from combat missions.

Anyways, I have never actually sat down and read my BLOG as posted on the net, or the comments. I write what I feel like writing; my Father is computer savvy and authenticates my postings. It's not that I don't appreciate the posts, I really am a guy who likes accolades. I just do not want to fall into the pitfall of writing for an audience. If someone tells me that they like the way I describe Orange Juice, then it might influence me to only write about Orange Juice. But I might feel like writing about this great casserole I just slapped together. You following me? Good.

Anyhow, my Commander told me that the BLOG is really good. That made me happy. He told me that there are other Blogs out there that are not accurately telling the story of the conditions here. Then I read on the net that Iraqis do not hate Americans and are just "tired of waiting at a checkpoint for 3 hours, just to get thier car searched". There are virtually no checkpoints in sector that are run by Americans that last for 3 hours, in the same location. Next, an infinately smaller number than virtually none had to wait three hours. I have never seen anyone wait three hours for anything, except the phone line on the FOB. If any Iraqis ever sat in a checkpoint for three hours, the number is so small that even word of mouth would not have any influence on why they hate us. They do hate us, a large percentage wants us dead, a larger wants us gone. I cannot give you an accurate number, I am not a Gallup Poll member, and these people don't have telephones at home. I am out of time write now, I waited three hours for my name to be called for the phone center.

SSG Philip Jarvis
SSG. USA
Section Leader

Dad -- editor of this blog -- responds:

First paragraph: I allow posting anonymously for good reason -- privacy. And I hope that allows people to come forward who might otherwise remain silent. Putting your real name on a post doesn't necessarily tell me you've got big nuts. On the other hand, at the end of the day, I'm not the one who has to take questions from a military chain of command. Know what I mean?

Second paragraph: I have severely limited resouces to authenticate, validate, or vet comments. I do very little editing. If I have the slightest concern about OPSEC, that comes out of the post. If I feel the post is more of a personal rant, it doesn't get ppublished at all. It's up to the reader to filter the content for meaning.

Third paragraph: Hmmmmm... You report that your Commander told you there are other Blogs out there that are not accurately telling the story of the conditions. You follow that with:

Then I read on the net that Iraqis do not hate Americans and are just "tired of waiting at a checkpoint for 3 hours, just to get thier car searched".

For me "on the net" is someplace other than this blog, but you quoted -- actually, you misquoted -- from a Comment to this blog. Here's what the accurate quote looks like:

"what they don't like is sitting at a checkpoint for 3 hours just to get their vehichle searched."

The difference in what "soldier at lancer" wrote, and how you made meaning of it, and how I made meaning of both are worth pointing out. I'm seeing two different points of view, at least.

From reading "soldier at lancer" I get the feeling that though Iraqis have mixed feelings about our presence -- especially at Lancer, where both of you live and work -- most Iraqis don't hate us. They are simply, justifiably tired of the occupation. The sitting-at-a-checkpoint-for-3-hours is illustrative of the stressors, not necessarily an example of what's going on at particular sector like Lancer, controlled by Americans.

From reading your "rant", I'm seeing a lot of reference to Iraqis as "they". "They" means who? "They" can't possible mean each and every Iraqi. Yes, there are Iraquis that hate you, but not all of them do. Yes, there are Iraqis that want to kill you, but not all of them want that. Yes, there are Iraqis that want you gone, but I want you home, too. (But not before your work is done.)

Let's get better at identifying and stopping bad guys who do bad things. At the same time, let's get better at understanding the Iraqi people, while finding ways for the Iraqi people to better understand us.

Start here: Iraq the Model. And it won't take you 3 hours.