Like I have indicated before I rarely tackle two subjects in one blog posting but today is another exception.
Turkey's pending invasion of Iraq - update
Perhaps this is a developing date with fate as we speak, considering I will be back in this region shortly. Here are two articles addressing the current anxiety in Turkey versus Iraq. Even the Daily Show with Jon Stewart had a segment on Turkey's pending invasion of Iraq. Last week the stage was set after the Turkish Parliament voted to allow the Turkish military to invade Iraq. This week the tension near the Turkey / Iraq border is nearing implosion.
It is my experience after having been there that the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq is bound at the hip to the many unsanctioned Kurdish militias that torment Turkey and Iran. The Kurdish Regional Government always denies that. Let me put this in perspective. Every one in Madison, Wisconsin, or most American cities for that matter, knows where the street is where one might find dope and see a hooker.
Full combat engagement with the Kurdish Regional Government's military (The Pesmerga) may develop into a catastrophe for us all. The Pesmerga is a well-tuned, lean, mean, machine. It is not the not the rag-tag gang of militias Washington, Baghdad, and Ankara would have us believe they are. Hold on to your hats.
Date with fate - post 10
Back when I was driving so many miles from Whitewater to Lake Geneva between the bus company job and the bouncer job I often traveled Highway 12, usually on one of my three motorcycles. Outside of Elkhorn, Wisconsin on Hwy 12 is a notorious curve near a place called Sterlingworth Resort out on Lauderdale Lakes. Some old gray-haired dude with what was probably his gray-haired wife pulled his big Buick out in front of me. The Kawi-500 which was designed to be a racing bike allowed me to easily swerve to miss him. I promptly twisted on my seat to fire him and his gray-haired ass the middle finger. To my surprise they seemed to be waving at me. I kept "the finger" aimed at them as they continued to wave. "What is wrong with these two nuts," I thought. I twisted back around on my seat to realize what they where waving at. I had drifted into the oncoming lane and was a second from hitting an 18-wheeler head on. Again, the Kawi-500 darted to the side to miss the truck. Like a dog getting in the last bark, I turned one last time to whip one last finger at the two - even after they probably had just saved my life.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Private First Class Isaiah R. Hunt, 20 of Suamico (just north of Green Bay) died when the driver of his military vehicle accidentally struck another vehicle north of Baghdad, Iraq, on November 15, 2004. Isaiah was a member of the 782nd Main Support Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was a driver and gunner in Iraq. Pfc. Hunt was thrown from the turret of his vehicle when it collided with a civilian contractor vehicle. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Hunt died en route to a hospital. He joined the military in July 2003. Isaiah graduated from Bay Port High School in Green Bay Wisconsin. He is the son of former Green Bay Packers linebacker Mike Hunt who played for the Packers from 1978 to 1980. Pfc. Hunt is survived by his dad Mike and mother Pamela. Private First Class Hunt was the 28th Wisconsin soldier to die in Iraq since the start of the War in Spring, 2003.
3,837 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
445 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
28,327 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,682 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
81 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
5 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
119 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
