Here's an example of the stuff you might find in a soldier's blog:
quote: Spc. Colby Buzzell’s squad was on a mission in a poor neighborhood in Mosul when two Iraqi boys ran up carrying old artillery shells. “Give me dollar!” they said.
Another came carrying bullets and demanding money.
“Then, all of a sudden, this really skinny Iraqi kid comes running up to us with a f---- HAND GRENADE in his hand,” Buzzell wrote on his war blog. “ ’Drop the f---- hand grenade! Drop it now!’ We all started yelling. The little kid, still with this proud smile on his face that said, ’Look what I just found’ just dropped the grenade on the ground, and walked over to my squad leader and said, ’Give me money!”’
The grenade didn’t go off.
***
In April, Dustman wrote about flying over Baghdad. “At night there’s hardly a flight that there’s not someone shooting at you. They can’t see the aircraft (hopefully), but as soon as they hear one coming, they come out and shoot into the air. Mainly they’re hoping to get a lucky shot in. A tracer flies by a window and we’re banking and rolling, which is kinda like gambling, they can’t see us, we can’t see them either, a great game of Battleship in the sky.”
“The biggest way to save money on a trip to Iraq is to have a quality battery charger,” he began. Later, he wrote, “Be nice to everyone. Remember, everyone is armed ....”
***
The blogs offer more than war stories, they offer images from Iraq not seen elsewhere, like a sign in an office with no air conditioning: “We’re in the desert. The desert is hot. Now quit your whining.” and a sign on a truck, presumably driven by National Guardsmen: “Two weekends a month, my a--!”
Yeah, these stories hit closer to home than some might.
I have a cousin serving just outside of Ramadi.
He's in the Marines and does patrols. He has only been there a couple of weeks but he has been shot at and has returned fire.
Posted by CStroman (Member # 6872) on :
Also, there are alot of people who don't care about what's really happening over there. They just want the version spewed from the media.
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
There is that, CHad, and there is concern about the quality and consistency of such reports. I've been burned before by relying on unverified internet sources for accurate information, even with people I would consider friends.
All things told, I think that blogs of any sort are useful as on source of a general web of information, but not as a sole source. The better they can be verified as to authenticity and accuracy, of course, the more reliable.
Posted by CStroman (Member # 6872) on :
I know what you're saying and I agree to a point.
However, we live in a new information age.
As an example, it was a Web-Blog site that caught CBS and Dan Rather with his pants down.
Not that that means blog sites are correct, it just means that the Network News is NOT a reliable source for one's information on world events.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I posted a topic like this ages ago.... But, it got ignored... I mostly would like to see more first hand accounts, especially from Iraqi citizens.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
...A Weblog site that got their info from a pretty well known conservative partisan (same guy who tried (rightfully, I might add) to get Clinton disbarred from AK). The way the politicos are using it, it's the same old folks using a new delivery system, not generally a no-name hero championing truth.
-Bok
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
All things with a grain or two of salt.
No information speaks for itself -- it is all presented, and that means selected and packaged. I like the subversive element of blogs but dislike the difficulty in verifying them. I also dislike hyperbole or melodrama (not saying that these blogs mentioned here have it -- just regarding blogs in general) or any other kind of over-writing. That's a matter of preferred style for me, though I do think a straightforward unemebllished account gets the message across most strongly, all things considered.
Unfortunately, it takes skill, experience, and a certain amount of self-confidence to allow the simple story to be told.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
I think Kerry is going to get most of the elisted and junior officer vote, this election cycle.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Based on what Storm? Blogs?
The vast majority of the enlisted people I know are very strong Bush supporters.
Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
quote:I posted a topic like this ages ago.... But, it got ignored... I mostly would like to see more first hand accounts, especially from Iraqi citizens.
Here ya go Syn:
Iraq the Model is a blog by 3 brothers (Ali, Omar, and Mohammed) in Baghdad -- 2 of whom are now running to be in the new parliament.
[ September 28, 2004, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Magson ]
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Just the sense that most of the enlisted people over there are over extended and strung out and tired of being over there. Maybe it's a case of biased media. Dunno.
*shrug* Let's keep this thread in mind come November. I think the military vote will speak volumes about our Iraq policy.
I think I am going to amend what I wrote to, perhaps, 'not vote at all or vote Libertarian/Constitution/etc.', because of the SBVT ads.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Really interesting site from within my second link.