New Member Introduction

Hi,

I am new to ATS and would like to take a few moments of your time to tell you about me so that you will have a frame of reference through which to filter my views and comments. I mean really what are we but the sum of our experiences and admittedly our personal views and even our personal prejudices as well, I know few people who do not have at least a few.

I am a 44 year old recently retired Military Officer. I initially served 10 years as an enlisted Soldier in starting as an Infantryman in 3/75 Ranger, Bn and moving on to serve as a Counterintelligence Special Agent holding positions as a Assistant Squad leader in Regimental Recon, Sniper Squad leader, CI Platoon Sergeant and Special Forces Engineer Sergeant.

After becoming an Officer, I initially served as a Battalion Intelligence Officer (S-2) for an Engineer Bn at Fort Bragg., Counterintelligence Platoon Leader and Executive Officer. I then attended the Q course again as an Officer and have since served as a Special Forces Officer, serving as a Team Leader, Company Commander (after getting wounded I also served a short tour in recruiting while in recovery).

I have deployed in support of many operations some of which I can comment on others not so much.

Again, I do not make these statements to mark myself a hero, I have served with many and I assure you I am just a guy who did my duty to the best of my abilities. I have loved and lost friends, peers and subordinates in the War on Terror both in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations.

Please, again I am only sharing my experience so that you may know what I might be able to help with on the forums; while certainly there are many things about which I am a clueless as the average American.

I am married with on daughter who is 13 and live on a small farm in the Northwestern part of Missouri. It is paid for and I consider myself somewhat of a prepper but no to the extreme, laying in supplies and having con-plans for certain actions.

Our farm is mostly substance level making us what one would consider “semi-off the grid” we raise a small dairy herd of Holstein cows along with a small herd of dairy goats. We have laying hens, ducks, geese, we have not tried our hand at pork but successfully raised two steer for personal consumption last year. We have not started a garden yet but have plowed a 3 acre plot and planted winter rye in preparation for the spring.

I basically live off my retirement but my wife and I sub at the local county schools 3 times a week each for something to do and to supplement our income a little.

I grew up what I would consider lower middle class; both of my parents were hourly wage earners who did not finish HS (due to my arrival). I am not a religious person but have tired Christianity, (Baptist –total fail, WICCA – sort of appealing, and now tend toward the do unto others philosophy of good citizenship where a spiritual motivation is sort of irrelevant.

I am interested in: New World Order, UFOs, and Conspiracy theories and American Politics.

I have extensive leadership and combat experience along with having attended Ranger School, The Q course twice and much training on Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Training along with counterintelligence source operations and interrogation methods.

Look forward to meeting you all and having some civil conversations – I mostly have an open mind but admit I have some hot button issues and prejudices as I t think we all do but will do my best to temper my comments toward civility.

I promise I will give you fact when I believe it to be so and make a clear distinction between any facts and the conclusions or assertions I might make from my analysis of any facts.

Thanks for the welcomes in advance and If there is something upon which I may have expertise please don’t hesitate to ask, just don’t ask for my opinion then tell me I am wrong…It is a pet peeve of mine.

Opinions are just that, I will not judge yours – please don’t judge mine.

reply to post by Golf66






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reply to post by Golf66


greeting golf66 and welcome to ats. you do realize with all that military background we will question you to death? seems you are a upfront source of various information. Are you willing to answer our questions?
I will start with the first question. what is your opinion on iraq war? was it oil related or terrorism related? or some other reason?
thanks

Nice to meet you! Welcome!!!!

Originally posted by prexparteAre you willing to answer our questions?

I will answer any question I can without violating any non-disclosure agreements to which I am still bound and perhaps others if I can find an open source reference that says the same thing while stating that I can neither confirm nor deny any direct involvement or knowledge in an operation - etc..

I take my oath seriously and will not divulge things that would harm the national security of the land I love and have bled for.

Does that seem fair?

Originally posted by prexparteI will start with the first question. what is your opinion on iraq war? was it oil related or terrorism related? or some other reason? thanks

Opinions are easy and they are just those opinions...perhaps a little more informed than those of others, perhaps filtered and affected by my personal prejudices but I will do my best.

Understand that the reason for the classification of certain information is not primarily for the protection of the information itself; rather it is classified to protect the method, be it HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT or whatever sources or methods are involved in the procurement of it.

For instance, say there are only a few Iraqis who have access to the WMD program and in one way or another, be it money, patriotism, fear or enhanced interrogation should we then say - "Look, see we can prove it they had X - gas, Y - yellow cake material, or even W- bio agents". The individuals, the schedules of the over flights, or abilities of the collection devices would then be at risk of evasion in the case of photo or electronic collection or the humans who gave the information would be in danger of being killed for revealing this information. That is why there are secrets kept from the people - they really don't have a need to know.

So let’s say we did find something, but decided not to reveal it. The reasons would be to protect the abilities of the source.

If the war were about oil I am guessing we'd be pumping it out like there was no tomorrow using the theory of "all your bases are belong to us"!

So that leaves some combination of terrorism and WMD as possible theories. If you are expecting the government to get up and give a briefing with charts to prove it to you - don't hold your breath.

I can say there are a couple of open sources:

Iraq's Yellowcake

Here's a story you may have missed over the long holiday weekend: 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium worth tens of millions of dollars were shipped out of Iraq to Canada. The material was transported in 37 military flights in 3,500 secure barrels, according to the Associated Press.

Terrorism Havens: Iraq

Some Iraqi militants trained in Taliban-run Afghanistan helped Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist militia based in a lawless part of northeast Iraq. The camps of Ansar fighters, who clashed repeatedly with anti-Saddam Kurds, were bombed in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the UN Security Council that Iraq was harboring a terrorist cell led by Abu Musab Zarqawi, a suspected al-Qaeda affiliate and chemical and biological weapons specialist. Powell said al-Zarqawi had both planned the October 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan and set up a camp in Ansar al-Islam’s territory to train terrorists in the use of chemical weapons. Powell added that senior Iraqi and al-Qaeda leaders had met at least eight times since the early 1990s.

Then there is regime change; Husain was a meanie who exploited his people, who could not for the most part fight back. He destabilized the region and his removal would go a long way to making the whole area more stable. I realize we created him, but much like an overindulged child or spouse either discipline or divorce is in order – we make mistakes and people change over time. It’s no different with countries than people.

Now, having said the above; from my perspective as a professional Soldier, I didn't really have much choice one way or the other. The American people voted for the civilian leadership and us (the Soldiers) are duty bound to prosecute their policy to the best of our abilities.

I think we have definitely done more good there than harm; sure a lot of collateral damage was incurred and some atrocities were committed, however, 19-21 year old kids on both sides scared for their lives tend to make some poor judgments at times. We investigate them and take action when necessary, using the filter of any crime, intent, motive and opportunity. Did the person make a mistake or were they being a dick?

However, imagine the strength of our nation and its relative stability because of the involvement of the French on our side in the Revolutionary War. There are Iraqi patriots just like Jefferson and Washington who risked their lives fortunes and personal honor to make the country a better place. Some died to make that dream come true.

The life of the average Iraqi is better since we arrived, more schools, more infrastructure (sewage, power all day not 4 hours a day), a relative democracy and functional government and a pretty well trained (having trained some of their SF equivalents) to now protect this new way of life that can serve as a model for the rest of the region.

They can practice their religion and their way of life, no one took that away, we just made them a little less corrupt and tribal in their outlook. Look how long we stayed in Germany and Japan after WWII to change them into the world economic forces they are now.

This stuff does not happen overnight and in the end every Soldier we have is a volunteer who I guarantee would rather be doing his job in war than painting rocks and cleaning hallways.

The people I served with in SF are triple volunteers who's motto is "to free the oppressed" we fight for those who can't fight for themselves. All know the risks and gladly take them for people they don't know so they may have the life we enjoy or at least a little more than they currently have.

None of their lives were wasted and to a man I know not one who would want his death/deeds marginalized in that way.

It is great to have someone with your experience on board and will help provide some valuable insights as we struggle to deny ignorance. War is messy and no one should be forgotten in the sacrifices for a better world. While I could ask lots of questions, the main one for now is how do you think the unanswered questions about 9/11 will play out?

reply to post by Golf66


I have a nephew who was sent to iraq 4 times, then afghanistan once. He originally went in to be a paratrooper. Im not sure they even use them anymore? I think he was playing G.I Joe for awhile. He inlisted because where he is from jobs ar hard to come by, he pregnated a girl, they married he joined the army. Of coure military is all voluntary. He told me in 2005 the war is not what we are told, this is why i question it to death. He use to be a very kind male, know he is more of a a-hole mantality. I was think that war changed his entire mindset. And i do not know why.
regarding making iraq more stable, yes it was accomplish , and know that military is backing out, that main leader ( cant remember his name) you know who im talking about has returned from self exile and is telling iraqi`s to fight the american at all cost. defy the americans. Here we have a radicalist back in place to alter iraq back to before we went there. Therefore my question is, what was acomplished? They are retaliating against america. The average iraqi will do as they are told in fear of death. It is heading backwards know not forward.

Hello there, im Bugby from Britain, im 55 and post logical comments.