R&R :-)

I am currently getting a few days of R&R!!!! This is the most wonderful thing ever. You never will appreciate a day off until you go 7 months with out the blessing of a do nothing day! It is also a great feeling to fly into Germany and see trees and grass. For the next few days I am free to sleep when I want! Eat what I want and drink what I want. Wow, I feel so human again :-) In actuality this is really a great way to vacation. Living in Iraq makes you feel so much more alive when you finally get time away. There is a hard part to this as well..... It is hard to not worry constantly about the troops you left behind and this had made me take a no news policy. It would be entirely possible to just sit and watch the news during my whole time here.
Well... gotta go, just a couple of days here, so I am off to enjoy my new found freedom!!!!! Have a great August!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to share this video with you. It is so awesome and it really hits home. Thank you to all of the wonderful people who have not forgotten us here in Iraq. People like Jim Jackson, Kellie Ann, Linda, Melissa , Janet, Glenn, Vivan, Laura and so many others who think and pray about us everyday. Many of my soldiers are facing bad problems back home. Honestly I am so amazed by my young heroes and everything they do!!!! It is an honor to serve with them.

Earthquake!!!!!!

Ok, Like I am not already thinking this is the most wonderful place on earth.... and then blamo add earthquakes to terrorist with explosives, scorpions, cobras, sand flees and goat head for breakfast!!!!! Last night a little after 11pm my CHU (my little piece of comabt housing home) starts shaking. At first I think my soldiers are playing with me, until I go out side and everyone is looking around in amazment. It was a 5.1 on the richter scale. You really know that mankind messed up when God turned this place from the Garden of Eden into.... well this. I would now like to officially make Tal Afar Iraq one of the top tourist spots of the season!!!! My CHU is now a time share... You can have it for two weeks vacation every year for only $10,ooo thats right. A one time payment and you can vacation here for the rest of your lives!!!! Included in the price is a natural sauna! Temps reach to 140 degrees...... Get your reservation in now. My CHU will go fast and there are only 26 time share slots available. (**Note everything included in this story is true... wish it wasn't :-) Even the thermometer is an actual photo from right here at the timeshare capital of the world!!!!)

Dad

Today marks the one year mark of the passing of my father. With this day comes a lot of emotions, both happy and sad. It's been one full year but it really doesn't seem much easier.I just wanted to share a memorial of him for everyone that knew him and for everyone that never had that wonderful opportunity......

My dad was born with a heart condition. When he was born the doctor said that he would not make it to 8. At the age of eight they said he would not make it to 12. I think because of those dire predictions my dad lived his life to the fullest!! He was probably the most alive person I have ever known. He owned and ran an ambulance service by the time he was 16. When he decided to go into TV, he did that with zest. He was one of the youngest TV directors to every come through Columbus, GA before heading to the big Market in Atlanta. Once TV started boring him, he started one of the most successful ambulance services in Atlanta. My dad was not one to stay any place to long, so after working with Garth Brooks he decided it was off to Nashville. Dad started Encore Management company before tackling the Record Business completely. Like I said there was nothing he could not do. Dad fell in love with kayaking. So, he left Nashville and started RiverRight outfitters on the Cartecay River in North Georgia. Most people would never dream to even try something new, for dad he was always out to prove he could do anything. When dad passed away he was working in the motion picture business with his wonderful wife Lisa.

My favorite memories of dad, are how he used to support me when I was mountain bike racing. It was always so awesome to finish a lap and see my dad running beside me with a water bottle in hand. We also carried the olympic torch on bike in 1996, the only father son team to do that besides Lance Armstrong and his dad. I can still see my dad before the Gulf War wearing sunglasses so I could see the tears in his eyes as I boarded the plane. He was so mad at me last year when he learned that I was being deployed again. He used to joke that I never turned down a uniform, from boy scouts on. It has been so hard being here without his support and his humor to get me through.

Dad, I miss you and I want the whole world to know how much I love you. You are missed by so many people. I am so thankful for the time we had together. You were my shooting star.

Robert Bennett April 12, 1945 - July 16, 2008 ATLANTA, GA — Robert Bennett, 63, of Atlanta, died July 16, 2008 at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta. Graveside services will be held 4:00 p.m. Saturday, July 19, 2008 in Parkhill Cemetery according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, Columbus. The family will receive friends at 3:30 p.m. at the graveside. Mr. Bennett was born April 12, 1945 to the late William Osborne, Jr. and Jessie Mae Bennett in Columbus, GA. He attended Columbus High School and was a 32nd degree mason. Mr. Bennett is survived by wife, Lisa, of Atlanta; a son, Todd Bennett of Indianapolis, IN; an aunt, Peggy Bennett of Collegedale, TN. Visit www.mem.com to sign the online guest registry.

Twin Explosions here in Tal Afar! Please Pray For these families.

(CNN) At least 35 (Now estimated at 40 and growing) people were killed and 65 wounded in a double suicide bombing in northern Iraq on Thursday morning, according to the Nineveh Military Operations Command.

The bombers struck the city of Tal Afar in Nineveh province, where political tensions have recently increased between Arabs and Kurds. Violence erupted in Nineveh on Wednesday as well.

The first bomb struck the house of a security official working in counterterrorism operations, the official said. The second bomb detonated just minutes later, after people had gathered at the scene in a predominantly Shiite Turkmen area of the city.

The Tal Afar bombings occurred a day after attacks on mainly Shiite targets in Nineveh province -- including a car bomb in a Turkmen area of the provincial capital, Mosul, -- left at least 19 people dead and dozens wounded.

Despite a drop in violence in Nineveh's provincial capital, Mosul, the city remains a challenge. There are daily reports of attacks.

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*The 130,000 U.S. troops who remain are now tasked with supporting Iraqi troops and police, and will require Iraqi permission to launch operations in the cities. Most are American Police Transition Teams that work in the cities with the Iraqi Police.

(More from the news reel) The bombers in Tal Afar targeted two brothers working for Iraqi security forces in Tal Afar in an attack against a building used as a court annexe to interrogate suspects in "terrorist attacks," police colonel Khaled Omar told AFP.

They blew themselves up minutes apart around 7.30am (0430 GMT), with the second explosion engulfing civilians who had gathered to help victims of the first blast, a security official said.

The violence was the worst to strike the conflict-hit country since US forces pulled out of towns and cities on June 30 under a landmark accord between Baghdad and Washington.

Dr Fathi Yassin at Tal Afar hospital said 34 people were killed and 61 wounded in the attack, which came a day after two car bombs exploded in the main northern city of Mosul, killing 12 people and wounding dozens more.

Neither of the two brothers targeted by the Tal Afar bombers were killed, the security official said, but police and hospital sources said the casualties included women and children.

Another six people were killed and 24 hurt when two bombs went off in a market in the mainly Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

A roadside bomb targeting the convoy of the Iraqi Central Bank's governor, meanwhile, resulted in a civilian being killed and five people, including two members of the security forces, wounded in the capital's Karrada business district.

Tal Afar is a mostly Turkmen town between Mosul and the Syrian border and has often been the target of violence.

In March 2007, it was hit by one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003 when a suicide truck bomb killed more than 150 people.

The spate of bombings comes just over a week after US troops pulled back from urban centres under an agreement that paves the way for a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.

The four weeks leading up to the US withdrawal witnessed the highest death toll in the country in 11 months, according to official figures.

A total of 437 people, including 372 civilians, were killed in June, according to figures compiled by government ministries -- the highest toll since since July 2008.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had warned last month that insurgents and militias were likely to step up attacks in a bid to undermine confidence in Iraqi security forces.

US Vice President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly voiced concern about lingering feuds between Iraq's various sects being a roadblock to political progress, was last week rebuffed on the issue when he visited Iraq.

"We don't want other parties to interfere in this matter because it will cause complications," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on state television, referring to the country's national reconciliation process.

"(Joe Biden) has to convey to President (Barack) Obama the common desire of Iraqis to solve their problems together," he said.

Baghdad's comments came a day after Biden warned of a "hard road ahead if Iraq is going to find lasting peace and stability," alluding to the need to bolster trust between different ethnic and religious groups.

Maliki, who will visit Washington on July 21, said that the US troop pullback signalled that the two countries had "entered a new phase."

ISI Statement

Interesting Article from Reuters.........

BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - An insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda of Iraq urged militants to continue attacks against U.S. forces even after combat troops were pulled from city centres, according to an audiotape released on Wednesday.

"Even if the Americans remain nowhere but a small spot in the Iraqi desert ... so every Muslim should battle them until they are expelled," the voice, reported to be Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, said in the recording posted on a website used by jihadists.

The Iraqi government heralded the capture this spring of a man they identified as Baghdadi, just as an uptick in major attacks raised troubling questions about whether Iraq would be able to maintain a sharp decline in the violence unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

It was not the first time Iraqi officials had announced the capture of someone identified as Baghdadi, and the Sunni Arab insurgent group has since denied his arrest.

The Islamic State of Iraq is believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda's main organisation in Iraq, led by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

The tape comes a week after the United States pulled combat troops from bases within Iraqi cities and towns, part of a plan to halt combat operations in August 2010 and withdraw all American forces by the end of 2011.

But militant attacks continue, especially in Baghdad and parts of northern Iraq, underscoring doubts about whether local forces will be able to impose order on their own.

The speaker called on Sunni Arab militiamen, who helped drive al Qaeda out of most of Iraq after they began collaborating with American forces in 2006, to rejoin the insurgency and battle Iraq's Shi'ite-led government.

"We tell them 'Come back to your senses ... Nothing better than repent and return to the ranks of jihadists and to leave the infidels," the tape said. (Writing by Aseel Kami; editing by Missy Ryan and Elizabeth Fullerton)

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a wonderful day it is to celebrate the greatest nation on earth!!!! I am so thankful that this is a Country that is worth living in and dying for for! The one thing that perplexes me on this wonderful day is, how did we let our media get so off track. I have always known that the media has a liberal stance that likes to run down our Country. That fact is even more apparent when you are in Iraq. I see all the great things that we are doing. I know we need to be here a few more years, but that is never reported in the media.

It is a little hard being in the military because I would love to tell the whole story. I just cant, I am not really allowed to get political and that is the way it should be for a soldier. I am also not allowed to take about current operations and that makes sense too. But.... what about the media. They know what's going on here and they don't want to report it. Its kind of like a few years ago when the media was having a "there's no weapons of mass destruction field day" every member of the media knows that the USA gave Iraq tons of WMA to fight the war with Iran. Do a key word search on the Internet and you can find it too. They completely went on the attack of Bush, when he could not openly state the obvious. He was like me. There are some things you just cant talk about.

Ok, back to today. We have set a nation free. Iraq is safer and a much better place to live than 10 years ago. I know...... I see the people everyday and am told face to my face how much better things are. I am the one that has to tell police chiefs and common citizens that we are pulling out and leaving them to fend for themselves. Then I watch the news and I have to wonder if there is a alternate universe out there that the media reports on. OK now the selfish reason we are here. Were are fighting hundreds of Al-Qaeda fighters (you know the people the media said were not in Iraq) that pour in from the borders. If we were not fighting them here, where would we be fighting them?

Look at the graphic above..... Think of all the Countries we have helped stand on their feet. Does anyone complain that we are still in Germany and Japan? Two countries that went from slaughterhouses to two of the best democratic countries on earth. Oh and two Countries where it is safe to walk down the street. Hey and here is another one.... we have not occupied one single oil well. The media has told us we are here for oil!!! Now I wish I could verbally attack the particular political party that has used these lies to pull the wool over the collective eyes of America, but I can't do that. I will say that we as Americans should pray for our political leaders and pray for clarity and honesty in their service to our Country.

Lets celebrate today!!!!! In-spite of the media and politicians we have done great things to be proud of. Surges work!!! and today I report to you that we have done a great job here for the American people and for the Iraqi people. Be proud of your Country, no matter what our own media tries to tell us! I want to thank the men and women who sacrificed on some many battlefields in our history. I also want to thank the unsung hero's that never forget we are here, like: Any Soldier, Soldiers Angels, Books for Soldiers, US troop support, Study bibles for soldiers, Sunshine for Soldiers, Beanies for Baghdad and others...... who work hard and spend their income to make sure we have what we need. I wish you guys would take over the media. I also want to thank all the friends at home that write and send packages. You will never know how much you build our morale and help us to know we are not here alone.

God Bless Everyone of You and God Bless America :-)

Soldier Support Groups!!! When you support these guys they support us......

UStroopsuport.org

Booksforsoldiers.com

Anysoldier.com

Soldiersangels.com

Studybiblesforsoldiers.com

Sunshineforsoldiers.com

BeaniesforBaghdad.com

Troopsupport.org

Operationgratitude.org

The Elusive Iraqi Hedgehog!!!

You have to watch this video!!!!!!! It is of the Elusive Iraqi Hedgehog that we caught. He is the cutest thing ever. He helped me to not miss my dog so bad... at least for a night. Don't worry we released him, and he took off across the Iraqi desert. He was happy as can be :-) ENJOY...

The Christian Church In Iraq

I had a chance to visit one of the few Assyrian Christian Churches the other day. As I told you in a previous post, the Christian Church is almost extinct in this Country. The years of persecution and terrorism has really taken it's toll. The sad thing is that America is not standing up for these brothers and sisters in Christ. There is no out cry to save them and there are no relief efforts to help them. Why???? If this were China or Africa it might make headline news. Instead it is in a place that we pump billions of dollars into. Churches and Christian everywhere need to start making noise. Wouldn't it be sad if every Christian disappears from this land where God created mankind, the Garden of Eden, the Birthplace of Abraham?

Read the following news article.........

"Between 10,000 and 30,000 of Iraq's 800,000 Christians have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, according to Christian
groups in Baghdad. Although Christians make up only about 3% of Iraq's 25 million people, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said they account for about 20% of the refugees fleeing Iraq for Syria. They are escaping a climate of violence and a surging Islamic radicalism that have made the practice of their faith a deadly enterprise.

The worst moment came on Aug. 1 when Islamic insurgents - most likely connected with terrorist leader Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, according to Iraqi
government officials - attacked five churches in Baghdad and Mosul with car bombs, killing a dozen people. While Muslim authorities in Iraq widely condemned those attacks, local Christians say security has continued to deteriorate. Says Layla Isitfan: "If I can't go to church because I'm scared, if I can't dress how I want, if I can't drink because it's
against Islam, what kind of freedom is that?"

Like the larger insurgency targeting U.S. troops and the new Iraqi government, the campaign against Christians appears to be becoming more organized. Sa'ad Jusif, a Chaldean-Assyrian Christian, was kidnapped on Sept. 8, according to Dr. Munir Mardirosian, who heads a political party for Armenian Catholics in Baghdad. His captors showed
him a list of 200 names, most of them Christian, and demanded to know where they lived. When he refused, he was hung from the ceiling and beaten with iron pipes. He was released only when his family paid a $50,000 ransom on Sept. 13. He left the next day for Jordan. Says Mardirosian: "If they opened the doors to America or Australia, I can say there would not be one Christian left in Iraq."

article found at: http://www.christiansofiraq.com

With 4th Squad in Iraq

This is the heart warming Video of my fourth squad with the children in Northern Iraq. This video created an out pouring in the US.... Which lead to a gigantic school supply and toy drop in this same town. Special thanks to SGT Lyons who made this video!!!

Thanks to everyone who sent items for the Children!!!!!!! Your the best.

It Was A Pitched Battle!!!!!

Hi everyone,

Its time for another update from the beautiful land of heat, scorpions and war. Wait.... that was kind of negative so let see the land of sand, sand vipers, and sand fleas..... Well I guess thats not working, but hey the Garden of Eden was here before that got all messed up :-)

Ok... so on to todays story: When we go on mission we have to carry about 70 lbs of equipment and body armor. So, it is very important that each soldier stay in ultimate shape. This being the case, I require my soldiers to do PT (running, push ups and sit ups) every morning before mission. They think I am a horrible man, but the truth is staying in shape can save your life.

soooooo..... Being the good platoon leader that I am, I do what I make my troops do. Today, I woke up early for heat fest 2009 - or commonly known as running our little desert track. We have a scraped desert path that runs 3.4 miles in a loop. I usually run the track and then walk back across the desert looking for artifacts. Yes my love for Native American Artifacts has followed me to Iraq where I now pick up ancient pieces of pottery from the Assyrian empire. We are only 30 miles from the ancient city of Nineveh so it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of pottery that Jonah drank out of as he made his faithful trip after the ride in the belly of a fish.

Ok... I got side tracked. Anyways I ran the track and walked back across the desert as usual when I felt a painful thud to my head. I looked around and two crane looking birds were dive bombing me. They would fly in a big circle and then speed up straight for my head. I took of my PT shirt and started swinging it at them. That worked till they figured out my shirt couldn't hurt them. So.. I started beaming them with desert dirt clogs. It was quite a battle that ended: The Birds -1 Todd 0.

So now I am back getting ready for my afternoon mission.... and praying that it is less dangerous than my morning run lol. Anyways.... thanks for your love and support.

The Garden of Eden????? Really

I wanted to write and tell you about all the interesting aspects here in my area of operations. As you know I am not allowed to talk any about our operations. So the best I can do is tell you about the background of this area. Don't feel like you have to read all this, but if it is interesting to you as it is to me... feel free :-) For a person like me, who likes to be involved and loves history, I am in the perfect place. We are deployed to the north western provence of Nineveh. This area is unique in Iraq for several reasons. It is next to the Syrian border and is represented by most all ethnic groups. The area is home to the Kurds, Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs, Iraqi Turk-man, and Christians. While this mix of people is interesting to me (because I love to see other cultures) it causes a lot of strife in the area because these groups and tribes do not get along with each other. Conflict In the Area - This area has always been in conflict. The Kurds have been given a state north west of here in Dahuk and run the government and military there. The Kurdish Military is called the Peshmerga. The Kurds also have a pocket of population in the Sinjar area of Nineveh. This area wants independence and to be a part of the Kurdish state. They are willing to do this by any means possible. The kurds fought against Sadamn Hussein trying to gain independence. This led to him gassing this area and killing a lot of Kurds. They fought beside US troops in both the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Because they want their own state and they are willing to fight, there are high tensions between the Kurds and the Iraqi Security Forces. The Iraqi Police, Iraqi Emergency Relief Battalions the Iraqi army that make up the Iraqi Security Forces. To make matters worse members of Al-Qaeda love all this instability. So they come to any area that is unstable and try to create havoc. We have massive amounts of foreign Al-Qaeda fighters coming across the Syrian borders in our area. They base themselves in small arab towns that border the kurdish area and of course 30 miles away in Mosul. In addition to all this the Turk-man population of Tal Afar, does not like the Kurd or the Sunni Arab populations. Tal Afar became the Al-Qaeda base in Iraq until the September 2005 battle of Tel Afar that defeated most of the insurgency in the town. So in this area there is basically a 5 way war being waged. The Natural Geography of the area - This area is a desert plain. It has several mountain ranges that stick up in the middle of the flat desert which make the contrast significant. Tal Afar is at the southern base of the Aedem Mountains, and the town of Sinjar at the base of Sinjar Mountain. This area does receive rain in the spring which will allow for cultivation of crops. Most homes here are built adobe style from mud bricks. You can easy picture yourself in biblical times Biblical Connections - This area is closely tied to the bible. We know that Abraham was born here in Ur 292 years after the great flood. We also know the rich history of Babylon which is in southern Iraq. This is also the place where the tower of babel stood. It is also commonly believed that the Garden of Eden was in Iraq between the Tigers and Euphrates rivers (Mesopotamia – the land between two rivers). The term Assyria in the bible applies to this region. The provence is named after the ancient town of Ninevah which is a bout 20 miles away. This is the town that Jona was sent to preach too. When he refused he was eaten by a whale! After that experience he came to warn Ninevah that God would destroy it, if they did not change their ways. The town is in ruins even today. The Town of Tal Afar (where we are stationed) Is in the bible twice mentioned as Telassar. 2Kings 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? and 1saah 37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? The word tel means built on the ruins of another city. It is easy to look from FOB Sykes and see that Tel Afar is built on a mount of ruble from ancient cities long passed. In fact during the time of Christ when Turkish armies inhabited Tal Afar as a army base, they build on the ruins of ancient Telassar. This whole area claims to be the direct descendants of Adam and seem to have good documentation since the bible seems to agree. Even more interesting in this area is the town of Sinjar. Sinjar is a mostly Kurdish town with two Christian churches. The main Religion is Yazidi. They believe that when the devil was cast from heaven that he was cast down to Sinjar Mountain. They also believe that he live in the mountain to this day. There is speculation on whether the word Sin or the Aramaic root Sin comes from the name of the mountain. Christians are persecuted in Iraq, but many live among Yazidi because they are safer with the Yazidi's who have a very closely related religion. This is not the case with most other groups in Iraq including the Arabs and Kurds. Because of daily executions in most of Iraq Christians are facing extinction!!!!! The Yazidi religion has up to 500.000 followers most of which are Kurdish. Hope you enjoyed my nerdy report on Nineveh!!!!!

Hot

Hey,

Sorry its been so long since I have sent an update. Things have been really busy here. As the weather gets hotter the terrorist get more active. I guess they dont like cold weather lol.... It is warning up here. It was about 109 today and will get as hot as 140 by mid summer.

I am so proud of my guys and gals... they are preforming so well and it is a honor to serve with young people that are so brave and who love their Country so much. It is also awe inspiring the support that we get from home. This experience makes you proud to be an American. We are the best Country in the world and we prove it in places like Tal Afar Iraq. I just wish that we would stay the course here. We have made so many strides that the media just refuses to report. If we could just stay a few more years we would really be able to do great things.

The pix below is a group of Iraq Police that we just finished training. We do joint patrols with them and teach them to Police for themselves when we are gone. They are such great men!!! They know that when we are gone that they will be alone in the fight against AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq) but they do the job anyway. They are targeted by insurgents every day, but still come to work.

Thank you so much for your prayers for my soldiers and myself. I also ask that you pray for this region and for our President to make wise decisions. The military misses Bush, bad but we need to pray for the current Commander and Chief.

Welcome

Welcome to my New Blog.... I hope that you will enjoy reading this blog and that you will participate by putting your own two cents it. This Blog started because I wanted to share with everyone back home and to give you a chance to join in the conversation. Just like we were sitting in your coffee nook at home.

I have added a few post from my original emails from Iraq. Thanks to everyone who asked me to do a blog. I think this will be a great way to vent. Also, please take time to visit the advertisers on this blog :-) Thanks.......... Todd

PS...... To leave a comment on a post... Just click the pencil!!!!