I was stranded.

There was no money in my bank account, my credit cards were maxed, and I had no idea how I was going to pay the mortgage or my car payment.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get out of Iraq.

That was me, JD Johannes, in the early fall of 2005.

Out of money, running low on video tape, and thinking I was about to take up permanent residence in Camp Fallujah.

The previous spring I had quit my job here in the states to follow my old Marine Corps unit to Iraq.

We are hearing that the violence in Iraq is decreasing.

And we all hear the phrase 'The Surge.' 

But what is the surge?  How has it worked to decrease the violence?

General Ricardo Sanchez (Ret.) spent the first half of a recent speech lambasting the media.

The other half critizing the war effort in Iraq.

So, what is the follow-up from the media?

Funny how they are able to ignore the first half of speech.  It is like it never happened.

For all those braying over phony soldiers, let me introduce you to a real hero--Jason Stegall.

Is summed up in this article.

The common saying,  "The U.S. is not at war, the Marines/Soldiers are at war.  The rest of the U.S. is waiting in line at the drive-thru" could be applied to much of the DoD bureacracy.

But there is also a potential double-standard to each story about the slow bureacracy.

The 'phony soldiers flap' is presenting an opportunity for a (gag) teachable moment.

I have met many soldiers who think the invasion was a mistake or that the post-invasion phase has been horribly botched.  (Will stipulate to key points of the latter.) 

There are some soldiers who think a better course of action would be to just get out. 

And I have met a few who after joining or re-enlisting come to believe they personally made a mistake in volunteering to go to war. 

What is most amazing about all these men is that they still do their work with professionalism, dedication and intensity.

At the Long War Journal.

As the blog father says....read the whole thing.

I consider myself a subject matter expert on real and phony soldiers. 

This is a phony soldier.

And this is another phony... 

These are real soldiers.

"The average college senior knows astoundingly little about America's history, government, international relations and market economy, earning an "F" on the American civic literacy exam with a score of 54.2%. Harvard seniors did best, but their overall average was 69.6%, a disappointing D+."  Is the verdict from Intercollegiate Studies Institute after grading the results of this test.

The universities defended themselves on the grounds they teach analysis rather than facts but there is problem with their defense--without a grounding in facts, what good is the ability to engage in proper analysis?

The failure of graduates of elite universities to understand the most basic and established facts explains much of the current debate on Iraq and the war on terror.