It was February 2010 when my family and I found ourselves on a plane to an underdeveloped country that was in horrific condition. The country, Iraq, is about seven-thousand miles from the United States. The plane ride was an exhausting sixteen hours, but it would all come to be worth it when the journey was over. Most Americans know Iraq as a nation involved in corruption and wars. However, when I visited Iraq, I learned a whole new understanding of the country. I experienced a country that was struggling from past dictators who neglected the citizens and abused their positions. This showed me that the consensus is not always the truth and that you must experience something to understand it. The reason for this trip was a religious ceremony
Denise Grady’s (2006) article sound a strong wake up call for the American government and for the American public to re-evaluate their guiding principles towards war in Iraq and the continued presence of the American soldiers in the Iraqi soil. Grady delineated the enormous damages the war had costs in not only monetary terms but also the future of thousands of promising young and talented men and women sent in the Iraq War; that had no clear benefits to them or the American people.
The Iraq war, also known as the second Gulf War, is a five-year, ongoing military campaign which started on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. One of the most controversial events in the history of the western world, the war has caused an unimaginable number of deaths, and spending of ridiculous amounts of money. The reason for invasion war Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, which eventually was disproved by weapons inspectors. Many people question George W. Bush’s decision to engage a war in Iraq, but there might be greater reason why the decision was made. The ideas of George W. Bush might have been sculpted by one of the greatest works of all time, "The Prince."
June 6th, 1944, we were on the HMAS castlemaine boat, our General, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was about done with his speech and was ready to send us in. We were in our Landing Craft Assault boats, heading towards the Omaha beach in Normandy, France. In our LCA boats we fit about 15-20 men but, when we go to Omaha there will be 30,000 soldiers, if we all make it in alive. I was facing the battle known as operation D-Day.
To some people, it is only noise but to me, it was a whole new world. I can still remember the first time I heard a round whiz past my ear, the cars passing by, or SSG Blue yelling at me to get down. At that moment, I realized that I was not training anymore. I was made aware that everything and everyone were out to kill me. I kept telling myself, “I shouldn’t be here.” Mentally, I can hear my mother in the background crying just as the day she did when she found out I joined the military. My life was not the same nor will it ever be the same. In my first combat tour I learned the importance of life, how to mentally prepare myself for the worst outcomes, and I learned how to be a great leader.
Twenty four hours and a two plane rides were the only obstacles standing in my way…. Oh, and about three-dozen insurgents.
It is not every day you see a three-year-old walking around the park or grocery store clutching the soggy ear of a plush Winnie the Pooh that has been sucked on in one hand, and a photograph of a disabled veteran in the other. Nonetheless, if you were in my neighborhood that is exactly what you would have seen.
It has been years, decades maybe since the war started, then ended with flaming spheres of fire and destruction raining from the sky. The war was fought on many sides and we don't know who started it but what does it matter now. Cities turned to wastelands completely uninhabitable, our capital is now rubble and our leader is gone, our whole system is gone. There are some survivors who have worked together to set up new settlements and then those who have taken control of the people threatening them if they don't comply. The people are now starving and the water is drying up; we ask for aid, but with no hope in sight and were tired of waiting. A tyrant has risen up and now she must be stopped.
At the end of my sophomore year, I signed up for a conversation group to see how it would be like to be in the forest for 5 weeks with complete strangers.When I arrived to the camp in Leavenworth, Washington I was scared and excited at the same time, it was a weird feeling to have.When I saw my Mom and Dad left me at the camp I knew I was now all alone with complete strangers that I have only met for 15 minutes.I felt alone, lost, scared that I would be here in washington with complete strangers but, it wasn’t hard because everyone at the camp was nice and helpful with meeting everyone. The next day we were separated into groups there was orange crew, blue crew, yellow cew, red crew, and rainbow crew. I was apart of the orange crew and we were
I don’t want to die. I’ve been sitting here for eight hours in total silence in the humid jungle, sweating, itching, and waiting. I know the enemies out there, I can feel their presence. It’s only a matter of time before someone blows their cover and all hell breaks loose. It’s already been a year and three months since I volunteered. I came here so sure of who the enemy was, but after a year of being in the war, I realize I regret my decision of joining the war. I remember the ride to basic training.
I had the dream again, flashbacks from 1949. I had just been drafted to fight in World War II, at the young age of twenty. I was filled with American pride ready to take a stand for what was right; justice, freedom, and liberty.
The sounds of the helicopters hovering above persisted as we lay in bed trying to sleep on the top floor of a very old monastery in northern Iraq. Some would find it traumatizing but I call it my childhood. Growing up in a war torn country really impacted my life and how I viewed the world. Years of oppression, no one was allowed to voice their opinion, that was the country I grew up in. A childhood is something someone grows cherishing, thinking this is how he or she would want his or her future children to be raised. This fact is not true in my life, growing up in Baghdad really made me learn to mature at a very young age. With project Desert Storm embarking and the war was just in our backyard it was hard not to see the pain that our family and friends were going
We caught up with Amir to discuss what life was like back in Afghanistan and what he’s currently doing now as he’s living in San Francisco.
When I was seventeen I nervously traveled about 350 miles from my sleepy little home town of Freedom, Wyoming to the relatively enormous city of Boise, Idaho to go to the Military Entrance Processing Station. This wasn 't the first time I had been this far from home by myself, but it was the first time I was making adult decisions without my parents involvement. When it came time for me to choose my job in the army the counselors presented me with a long list that I qualified for. I got tired of scrolling and reading so I chose the first job that I actually understood. I returned home and excitedly told my parents that I would be an infantry soldier. My dad 's response to this might be considered a little less than heart warming “You dumb ass. Why didn 't you choose
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The US wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein’s regime and bring democracy. To addition to that, US and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stocks of chemical and nuclear weapons, hence Iraq was a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003, US air bombed Baghdad and Saddam escaped Iraq. The invasion disarmed the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush in March 2003 gave a premature speech, that tyrant of Iraq has fallen and US has freed its people. President Bush flew into Iraq to show the world that the war is over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of scantions, therefore regime diverted its resources to flexible networks of patronage that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread of lawlessness and after the violent regime changed US could not control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting, attacking ministries building and this resulted into a series of event (Kirk et al. 2014) . From a military perspective the regime was taken down, but they made no commitment to rebuild or secure the country.
I have been blessed to have led a highly fulfilling career over the past 22 years. The Air Force’s standards of conduct and performance have helped me mature into an adult while creating lasting memories along the way. I have had the opportunity to make significant contributions to my country that offer a sense of pride and personal achievement. My current duties allow me to directly contribute to the Air Force and Joint arena on an almost daily basis. Joining the Air Force helped me to realize I had undertaken a task bigger than myself.