BLACK HEARTS: A REVIEW
The events that led up to the rape and murder of a teenaged Iraqi girl and murder of her family directly resulted in the committing of the atrocity itself. Leading soldiers is not an easy, quick, or part-time job. From reading this book, I have gleaned that the issue wasn’t one of sub-par soldiers, but of poor leadership straight up the chain of command and I interpret the source of the problem to be the Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Kunk. Admittedly there were leadership failures from Gen. Petraeous all the way down to the team leader level, however, I believe most of the problems originated at the platoon level due to a general lack of support from the battalion level. This review will hit on main events in during the deployment but
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Commanders, executive officers and first sergeants all dreaded their meetings with the BC because every meeting would become a belittling and humiliating experience for at the very least one of them. The issue here was that it simply didn’t stop there. The Kunk gun wasn’t held in reserve for company brass but wildly pointed at anyone and everyone in its’ general vicinity. The lowest ranking soldiers often received many blasts from the Kunk gun as well. Again, this point will be brought up again later in the essay. There is a large section of the book that gives some background information on the AO the Black Hearts were entering. Sadaam planted Sunni families there as a buffer from the shi-ites during his time as dictator. Once the US toppled the Sunni dictatorship, it instilled Shi-ite led governance. This government was extremely sectarian and enabled Al Qaeda to utilize the Sunni’s fear to create a Sunni insurgency. South Baghdad being mostly Sunni due to Sadaam, was a hotbed of insurgent activity during Operation Iraqi
The conditions they took over from where atrocious, the unit closed many of the roads to military units because they had taken to many IEDs on them, they had rats in their living quarters, garbage all over the place, and they couldn’t wait to get out, they had a rough time in the triangle and it left a bad first impression on the men of the 1-502nd that they were in for a rough deployment. Going into the deployment Goodwin was still one of Kunk’s favored commanders and was assigned to one of the tougher sectors. Kunk thought that Goodwin would be able to wrest control of the “wild west”. The Bravo Company AO had three main tasks, to secure the Jurf Al-sukr Bridge, man 6 traffic control points, and patrol and maintain quick reaction force should anything go wrong at any of those points. Bravo Company had 3 rifle platoons to get all of these tasks done, each platoon would take control of one of these tasks and rotate between them. First platoon was led by Lt. Britt who was liked by his men and had good control over them. He had strong squad leaders that ran their squads well. 1st squad would be the most trouble, it was led by Staff Sergeant Nelson. 1st platoon was tasked with manning the traffic control points when the first blow to their leadership would happen. There was one soldier who had to accidental shootings within a week of each other but both where cleared as
In September of 1993, the Clinton administration made a grave mistake. General Colin Montgomery, who led the elite soldiers, requested for heightened military reinforcements. The administration denied the requests since the administration did not want to make the US look like they were increasing forces when their main goal at that time was to lessen them. On October 3rd to the 4th, Operation Gothic Serpent took place. The operation was a seventeen hour-long mission that resulted in eighteen soldiers killed with eighty four others injured. (“Ambush”). During this mission, Somali fighters that were loyal to Aidid shot down two helicopters with rocket-propelled grenades. Once the helicopters crashed, mobs of Aidid’s men hacked and dragged the fallen soldiers through the streets of Somalia “as trophies” (Kuzmarov).
For two weeks, I had a staff meeting every morning with my staff. The problem was all the issues came from the Iraqis, but all the solutions came from me. On the third week, I placed myself out of any decision making and informed the command staff they would make any future decisions and correct any problems. I would continue to assist and advice but they were to take full responsibility for their unit and security. Looking back, I realized that I had applied the SOF imperative “Operate With and Through Others.” I did not choice the leaders of that unit, I had my Iraqi counterparts do that. After the training was complete, I became transparent and the Iraqi command staff took control and assumed all authority and responsibility of the unit.
It is unfortunate that soldiers have to fight with their hands behind their back in Iraq. And there is no doubt about it; soldiers have to do just that. Soldiers in Iraq are fighting under a dangerous environment where the next step could be their last, as loyalists of Saddam Hussein's regime attack them relentlessly. The enemy is wearing civilian clothes and hiding behind women and children. So when you ask battalion and company commanders to stop the violence against the Iraqi people and against soldiers, the pressure to use aggressive interrogation techniques seems to be reasonable. LTC West simply put his soldiers first and in doing so saved a countless number of lives. LTC West should not be pursued as a criminal but instead a hero.
It was in Mosul that I was tasked with the dismantling of Al Qaeda in Iraq’s (eventually to evolve into the Islamic State) leadership in northern Iraq. Our targets were financiers, weapons facilitators, executioners, bomb makers and teams of fighters responsible for a daily stream of Iraqi and American blood that soaked into the dusty streets of that ancient city. My peers were among the best in my field; the men tasked to apprehend our targets, the finest warriors the United States could muster. Often, the death or detainment of a target was met with a degree of celebration by many, giddiness even. Many of these targets were responsible for the death of our compatriots after all. One fellow would take confirmation photos of the enemy dead, to hang around his work area, gruesome and impersonal trophies. There were fourteen assaults launched at my behest; I sought no trophies. Just as I watched my targets nurture violence, I saw family men caring for their loved ones, hoisting their children after an absence, fretting over budgets and seeking to isolate those they loved from the nature of their work. In the cold and calculating machine that is modern warfare; it’s easy to forget the humanity of the man standing opposite you. In the pursuit to end lives, I learned to value all
The premeditated ideas and strategies that they had were compelled to be changed due to the changes in the government and deaths of some of the government officials that pursue and lead the people (Thomas et al. 2009).. In addition, Petraeus group bear much more responsibility because they were the team behind the scene who control and reinforced the decision that was carried out by the military. Petraeus group include military officer who had numerous years of experience in various aspect of insurgence (Thomas et al.
Troops committing war crimes are no longer fighting for the right reasons. And it is for this exact reason, which more violence from the opposing side rises. As a solution, soldiers have to know how to respond to such situations. They must understand why they are at war and what the ultimate threat is. Furthermore since PTSD is very common among soldiers, those who take objectification too far have a more difficult time coming back into society. Every soldier experiences guilt and remorse for their actions, but they understand their actions unlike those who have built up
linked to Al Qaida. That bombing started a civil war. Samarra was a key stronghold for Sunni
I showed up relatively late to the war, or so I thought at the time. My first deployment was in the midst of the chaotic surge of 2006. When I arrived in Iraq, I found faith in my training and hoped that my fellow comrades’ experiences would fine-tune my skills. Since that time, I have learned numerous things about our Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP). To my surprise, the poor decisions I learned about while reading the book Roberts Ridge, have influenced the
Evelyn talks to Tobias about joining all of the factionless people to start a war against Jeanine Matthews; to kill Jeanine Mathews (108). Tris decides to go to the Erudite faction to participate in Jeanine Matthews experiment (260). Tris risks her life by participating in the experiment only to end the killings everyday by Jeanine Matthews.
Any trauma has the potential to spark psychological problems that can interfere with a person’s daily routine for the rest of their life. Research on child soldiers has concluded that the greatest contributor to psychological problems comes from experiencing rape, wounding someone, or killing a person (“Studies Explore Effects” 2010).
Ethical misconduct in the military, leading to incidents in Abu Ghraib or the Haditha Incident in Iraq, has highlighted the significance of the ethical leadership in military leadership. U.S. war efforts in Iraq were severely destabilized because of the unethical leadership leading to the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. The lowest level of confidence since the war began was reported when news of the Abu Ghraib reports were made public. The abuse at Abu Ghraib drastically changed domestic public opinion on the Iraq War. According to the Pew Research Center Poll Public Attitudes Toward the War in Iraq: 2003-2008 (2008), data showed a 12% increase of Americans that believed that the “Iraq effort is going not too/at all well” and 42% of Americans
The Baathist regime was dismantled not only in it higher chains of command, but in lower, more common bureaucratic functions (e.g. office workers, teachers, labor officials, etc.), leaving much of the Iraqi population unemployed and, with time, and with continually rising death tolls and destruction in their cities, all more incentive to join insurgent groups, or groups of Sunni, Shiite, or other militias vying for control in postwar
“Happykit” (Or as I’ve named him , Brindlekit) doesn’t get slain in battle, his mother gets him to safety with Tallpoppy. They stay near the border between Riverclan and Shgadowclan, as few warriors were there, just other queens and their kits. He befriends some Riverclan kits, and they play in the shallows of the water under the Twoleg Greenleaf place, with the Riverclan queens watching hem closely so noone drowns.
The capture of the Kharkov region and the movement of panzer units prompted Marshal Gerorgi Zhukov to deploy troops near Kharkov in an attempt to defend against further movement of German forces. With the German Army Group Center and Army Group South so close together, it was as apparent to the Russians as it was to the Germans that Kursk was going to be attacked. Zhukov, therefore, argued for a cautious defensive measure towards Kursk; “I do not consider it necessary for our troops to mount a preventive offensive in the next few days. It will be better if we wear the enemy out in defensive action.” This opinion was shared by Lieutenant General Mikhail Malinin, Chief of Staff of the Central Front, where he advised the Stavka (Russian high command) to create strategic reserves and deploy them along the front. These defensive measures were taken where Zhukov wanted to “meet the German offensive with fire of all weapons from the deeply-echeloned defences, with powerful blows from the air and counter-blows by operational and strategic reserves.” The response to this,