Shadow's taxicab reports: The dogs of war run soon.

I've been seeing a lot of newly stationed troops coming to our base. Many right out of basic, others coming from training or other units trying to catch up with their new units abroad. A few new families filtering into the area in preparation for soldier rotating back and a new brigade that is being stationed here soon. Most of the new arrivals are getting here just in time to be part of a BIG deployment in August. Some are leaving late June to catch up with units already deployed. Iraq is the destination I'm hearing repeated the most. Getting a vibe of a lot of soldiers upset with the amount of training they are receiving. Some are getting very specialized training for the theater they're going to but some aren't getting any at all apparently.

Two soldiers I warmed up to last night gave me a couple revealing tidbits. Both fairly new recruits by the sound of it and one at least was fresh out of basic. I found out they were part of the August deployment to Iraq but one of them mentioned it was being said that the deployment might not actually go ahead. I fished further saying, "Either that or you guys will be in Iran by then." The one who questioned the deployment agreed that was possible and the one who I determined (hoped, so we have SOME time) was just out of basic said that during his training his commanding officers told them they would be in IRAN in around 4 weeks. As I said I hope this kid just got out of basic yesterday or it seems we might have very little time before WWIII kicks off full force. Several other soldiers I talked to last night seemed to confirm that inevitability.

Another interesting tale from last night's travels. Had a fare with four soldiers at one point and got a few eyewitness Afghanistan stories they were throwing around. Combat tales about some fairly fierce attacks against the taliban. One soldier was part of recon team that did laser sighting for b52 airstrikes and two of the other soldiers were from a chemical warfare company. My ears definitely perked up at that. It seems we were quite concerned about the Taliban having chemical weapons, more than I was aware of anyway. The soldiers did seem to indicate that the steps they were taking were more intense than standard operating procedure during wartime. One GI remarked that while the standard grunts would probably have been killed by a chem attack with their gear the "chem guys" would be ok because they were wearing the "Outbreak" suits.See for details. It makes me wonder why we made such a deal about Saddam's chem weapons but never saw much about such operations in Afghanistan. You would think Bushco would have exploited that. Maybe we didn't want it getting out that we probably sold chem weapons to Osama like we did Saddam. Any thoughts?

I'm getting pretty scared folks. Anyone else? These madmen (Bushco, not our soldiers of course) are getting ready to hurl us into what I'm sure will prove to be the most destructive conflict this world has ever seen and it seems that apparently our lawmakers are going to enable them again or they just simply can't stop them anymore. We've crossed the Rubicon here friends and I'm having trouble having any hope for a sustained future for our nation or maybe even mankind. Somebody talk me down.
Shadow

lunatic, or rather, a bunch of lunatics running the government. We are currently engaged in two wars that we're losing, and they want to start another one.

Oh yeah, I'm scared.

Have you thought of putting your taxi articles together in a journal so that we can just go directly to your journal to get the updates and read your archived "Taxi Journo" articles?

That would wonderful.

You're doing some most interesting "Gonzo" reporting.

Thanks, and thanks again.

I do encourage you to continue reporting. You give a unique "embedded" point of view.

Someday think about collecting these, re-edit them into a cohesive whole, and submit for publication. It's a fascinating niche you have for essays/collected thoughts.

I appreciate all that you write. Please take heart and continue telling the tales. We need to know the truth, wherever it originates.

K*R.

I think I missed my first one and I don't know if I could even find it in the archives because it wasn't the title I've used since.

They are that interesting.

not sure if it's going to be about taxi driving or being in radio. either has equally bizarre stories. but once again i reiterate. IF ANYONE HAS ANOTHER JOB FOR ME PLEASE HELP ME. this is not the career path i'm supposed to be on. thank you for your time.

"Soldiers returning from the WOT have been telling me a lot"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1117357

n/t

I’ve been discussing the timing with a friend and fwiw recently received this:

I'm hearing that the Iran strike-date has been pushed to July. Still no word about who will actually conduct the raid. And now there's much discussion about using only conventional arms, rather than nukes. I suppose it's possible, IF you have ultra-precision weapons -- guess who's about the only country who has 'em?

The decision to forego using nukes may have something to do with the decision to indefinitely postpone the testing originally scheduled for June 2nd.

I suspect the timing was changed from June (as benburch first reported) so * could push the “diplomacy” propaganda first. Rice said Iran only has weeks to make a decision while Israel revealed in early May that it would likely attack Iran in 2 - 3 months. So all indicators are pointing to July as the new target date, which your soldier fares also report to be the likely time-frame too.

I've been watching the situation closely and appreciate your insights.

and it has been happening sporadically but it seems mostly some convalescing soldiers. I will keep my eyes and ears peeled to see if there is any sudden delay in the their return. That may be the cue that the shit is about to hit.

is this one soldier is accurate it gives us a basic timetable for the attack.

Well, I've been scared about this for so long now that I'm kinda numb, I guess...

I just keep praying that Fitzgerald will go forward with indictments soon, and that it'll force investigations, and that will derail the whole 'Nuke Iran!' train.

I really think if they're gonna do this, its gonna happen before Nov. That way they can use the 'don't switch horses midstream' bs...

I bought some extra whiskey as my 'provisions', and am planning on breakin it open in celebration if there are no bombs dropping on 6-6-06... After reading benburch and your posts, looks like I'll have to go buy some more for the following months ahead... :(

ETA: Thanks again for the post! I love reading them! :hi:

I keep hoping that something like this Condi thing gets some legs, or Fitz comes out with some heavy indictments. Anything to keep them busy putting out those brush fires so they won't have the energy or clout to start another war.

Remember how they kept Clinton wrapped up for years fighting their BS charges.

chemical weapons, we are afraid of them. We don;t know if they have them, but we know we do, and so we prepare for that.

That is as old as war, you fear what you know, what you assume the other could have.

Capiche?

he enjoys being commander-in-chief, and he uses the armed forces as a child would use toy soldiers . . . having never experienced it, the horror of warfare never seems to enter into his thinking . . . he is indeed one scary individual . . .

That's the reason I'm awake right now when I have to be up in less than 5 hours. My mind is spinning. 6-06-06 is a day away and that scares the hell out of me. And I gotta admit that your post scares me. Wish I could talk you down...but I can't even talk myself down!

DU isn't helping at all tonight because I can't shake the fear....

:scared:

If Bush orders a military strike, we start a labor strike.

Please, see my post below. Also, see, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/17/172417/205

attack.

Honestly, I doubt that it will happen. It would be economically and politically devastating to the U.S., even if we eventually "win". The military cost would be extremely high. The very first thing the Iranians are going to do when the bunker busters start dropping is to let loose with every single ballistic missile they have, many of them chemical tipped and some perhaps with bio agents. The targets will be three-fold: US bases in the theater, Saudi oil installations, and Israeli nuclear sites. The Israelis have stated that they will counter any such strike that gets through their ABM net with nuclear attacks on Iranian cities. Millions will die -- the Syrians, Lebanese, and perhaps the Pakistanis will get into it. Pentagon wargamers concluded that this would probably lead to controllable escalation, including a confrontation with China and possibly Russia.

Nobody, except for some end-timers, Halliburton, and the multinational oil companies stand to profit from such devastation and the ultimate ruin of the United States. I just don't think the Generals are going to let this happen.

in case you aren't all weekend internet junkies like me. B-)

with the reports of an Iranian drone spying on a carrier group for 25 minutes. They don't even need to manufacture anything this time IMO. Just issue a press release that "Iranians have crossed the border into Iraq and are actively attacking our troops." They haven't presented any evidence of any of their other lies why should we expect any this time?

I believe it's a done deal but leveymg was skeptical and I wanted to provide a scenario to help him/her rethink their position.

My question isn't one of IF but "WHEN?", which is why your unique position to get the "chatter" from the troops to be so helpful.

down", after weeks of systematic incursions into Iranian airspace with real warplanes, and massive movements of US troops, planes and ships around Iran, then we'll all know it's time to dig a hole for ourselves.

Nothing imminent will happen until then.

That's some scary shit.

:kick: & R

unless we go nuk-u-lar rather early-
our forces are stretched thin, with supply lines thatultimately go halfway around the world...Iran is tanned, rested, and ready- to defend their home turf.

this one's gonna be ugly.