Jim Spiri in Iraq

This journey would never have been possible without
the complete support of my wife, Candi. While I went
to Iraq, she remained behind in Kuwait where she
handled all the troops coming into country as well as
redeploying home. There were also times she handled
families of soldiers killed in action.

She understands loss. She stayed for them. She remained
a part of the civilian contracting work-force,suffering through unspeakable
obstacles only to press on and finish the job at hand, until I finished my
time in Iraq.

Everywhere I went and everyone I met, I
spoke often of the one remaining in Kuwait awaiting my
return. She knew the mission and remained in constant
prayer for not only the well being of our son, myself,
but all the soldiers in harms way. She practices the
words, "support the troops", in her daily life.

This journey was a plan, made a long time ago. There
were many obstacles and monkey wrenches thrown into my
path trying to discourage me from doing the mission I
was compelled to do. Eventually, it became possible
as people all along the way opened doors when others
tried to shut them. It would be impossible to name
them all, but it is critical at this point to thank
some who without their keen insight and open
mindedness, I would not have been successful.

The United States Marine Corps, were the first to take
heed and listen to me. We have a history with them,
and it soon became clear to them that there was a
family of patriots that were prepared to do a part
that no one else could do. While we were working in
Balad, Iraq, a Lt. Eric Tausch, firstly invited my
wife and I to Baghdad in November of 2005, for the
Marine Corps birthday celebration.

It was there I began to inquire about traveling with the USMC as a
photographer. In February of 2006, a soldier from New
Mexico named Jesse Zamora, who had graduated from the
same high school I did, was killed in action. I
carried his casket onto the C-130 in Balad, because
the Air Force did not show up that night to do the
honor guard ceremony. I subsequently wrote a eulogy
about it and a month later I was relieved from my job
and forced out of country, compliments of the US Air
Force and KBR. I became very vocal about it.

By September of 2006, I had found my way back to
working in Kuwait on flight lines. My wife once again
joined me. In November of 2006, we were again invited
to the USMC birthday celebration, this time at camp
Arifjan, in Kuwait. We were guests of honor.

I met a Major Andrew Thompson and told him of my
desire to embed with the Marines. Col. Clark and Lt.
Col. Sharkey began the paper work and I began on my
end to get credentialed from a hometown radio station
in Albuquerque, KUNM, which is an NPR affiliate. I
would find New Mexico soldiers and interview them as
well as begin photographing as I had done 20-years
earlier in El Salvador, during the war there.

In March of 2006, I took two weeks and visited Ramadi,
in Anbar province. I was the first person in the
"media" world, to announce that a Sheik Satar was part
of a new movement called, "The Anbar Awakening" and
great strides had been made in Anbar.

The big media did not pick up the ball at that time. They refused
to report anything positive at that time. It was on
my way to Ramadi, at Al Taquedum air base, where I met
Lt. Phillip Klay of the USMC PAO office. He, Sgt.
Houser, and Cpl. Edmitson, educated me on how things
work in the public affairs world and without their
incredible assistance, I would never have made it.
They alone showed me the ropes and introduced me to
points of contact all the way down the line.

In Ramadi, Major Leland Suttee took me into the city
of Ramadi and showed me first hand what strides had
been made. He sat down with me and did a wonderful
audio interview that took me many weeks to convince
the radio station to play it. Eventually, the news
director, Jim Williams, of KUNM, saw the light and got
the word out. We had broken ground. The word about
Anbar would now get out. On March 31, I returned to
work in Kuwait and by mid May I had determined to
return to Iraq for a long journey.

I found my way back to Al Taquedum air base where Lt.
Klay assisted me with being embedded in the city of
Fallujah, with Golf Company, 2/6, based out of Camp
LeJune, NC. I would come under the command of Capt.
McCormick who allowed me to exercise my talents with a
full open door. It was with Golf 2/6 that I began to
learn and experience what I had long sought for. The
Marines there taught me everything and took incredible
care of me. I stayed two months. I could never have
succeeded without their help.

Eventually, I would leave and head to Mosul, via camp
Taji. In Taji, I found my son, and his unit, 2/227th
AVN 1ST Cav, from Ft. Hood, Texas, who also provided
me a complete open door as I journeyed to Mosul. Now,
I was under the care of the Unites States Army, having
been passed off to them from the USMC. The transition
was perfect, and I cannot explain how simple and
smooth it was. There was NEVER a problem.

In Mosul, I would meet up with a long time friend,
Major Eric Carnahan, who took it upon himself to
introduce me to the men of 2/7 Cav, commanded by Lt.
Col. Eric Welsh. It was here that I developed an
understanding for Army infantry that will never leave
my being. Lt. Col. Eric Welsh, became more than a
point of contact, he became a life long friend and I
will forever be indebted to him for his remarkable and
professional care that taught me even more of the big
picture by allowing me daily to be among the men under
his command. In Mosul, I became one with the mission,
even deeper than I thought was ever possible. I owe
my life to the soldiers in Mosul.

In Mosul, I was superbly assisted by the PAO office
under the direction of Major Rodderick Cunningham. He
managed my travel and provide first class
accommodations for me in the war zone. He made it
happen for me to be able to stay an extended length of
time with 2/7 Cav. He saw the burden of my heart.
Eventually, it was time to leave and I came into
contact with Col. Farrell who invited me to the area
in the south of Baghdad. There I met Capt. Braman,
Capt. Sheftic, Lt. Hayes, Lt. Anderson and Lt.
Hamilton, among others, from 1/40 Cav, Ft. Richardson,
Alaska, all who in a short amount of time, introduced
me to a workload of missions that still continues to
impress me to the core of my being.

Early on while I was in Fallujah, I read a story in
the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper about a CH47
special ops helicopter pilot that had been killed.
His name was John Quinlan. He was a good friend of my
sons and I had met Mr. Quinlan in Savannah, GA in
2001, shortly after 9/11. The story was written by
Mr. Ed Colimore and was excellent.

I contacted Mr. Colimore and he replied. Eventually, he asked to do a
front page story on my journey and introduced be later
to the world of the "blog". It was at this point that
Mr. Frank Kummer came into the scene and we began the
blog.

It is Frank Kummer's diligence and putting up
with my insistence, that has been the reason the blog
ever got produced. I am "old school" and somehow,
even without a personal lap top, it got done. It is
simply because Frank Kummer did all the hard technical
work from 15,000 miles away.

These are the ones that made it possible. And then
came the tidal wave of readers. I knew I had found an
audience that was comprised not only of parents of the
subjects I was writing about, but a cross section of
America that had been starved for information about
what is actually going on in Iraq, from a vantage
point of just being there with the troops. It grew to
such an extent, that I had to press on.

Now, comes the time to express what I've seen, heard
experienced and learned, and think about it all.
I've been putting this part off for a long time.

The soldiers are given a mission. It is carried out.
They are given more missions, and they carry them out
as well. And it goes on and on. Where the missions
come from is the ambiguous part. I had stated many
times in the blog that a "clear definition" of the
mission, must be forthcoming from wherever it is
coming from, all the way up to the oval office.

I personally feel that the State Department is in
constant conflict with the Defense Department, and the
mistakes of the past five years prove this to be the
case. I have learned that Paul Bremmer almost single
handedly created the Sunni insurgency and caused many
of the current problems that the military is now
battling.

I believe General Petreus is the exact
right person for the job he is in at the moment. I
have felt that all along the way, listening to those
commanders on the ground, and those that have been in
combat in wars past, should always be listened to.

I think that former Sec. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld,
who personally I respect, should have listened from
the get-go to General Shinseki's advice on troop
strength needed for completion of the mission. This
one point seems to have been the most critical
component in my view that has impeded the mission.

I have never been a fan of nation building. I'm not
convinced that is the way to go. I do not now, nor
never really believed that oil is the only reason we
went to Iraq. I do not think it is a matter of Iraq
not having democracy.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no democracy in Kuwait,
and nobody worries about that. I know for sure that we are at war globally
with Al Queda and the battle ground is Iraq. Many
knew this would be the case. It makes no difference
to me whether there were or were not weapons of mass
destruction under Saddam Hussein. We somehow created
a monster and we had to somehow deal with that.

I have learned that Iraq is complex. Early on, I
suggested a three state Iraq. The north to the Kurds,
the south to the Shiite and the West to the Sunni's.
Baghdad could have a giant wall around it and could be
left to fight it out. Now days, people are actually
considering this option. The country of Turkey, who
failed us by refusing the 4th ID to pass through, seem
to vehemently go against anything the strengthens the
Kurds. The Kurds are the most loyal among the Iraqis
and we should never forget this.

In the end, I wish President Bush had stuck to his
guns and not worried about political garbage. I'm a
firm believer that had he said back in 2001, we are at
war with Al Queda and it's going to be fought in Iraq
and we're going to be there a long time, the American
people would have towed the line, albeit after some
griping and moaning, but they would have supported
that because it was the truth.

We are in a global war on terrorism and the enemy is brutal
and they are indeed evil. This I know for sure. I've seen it,
I've heard first hand from former Sunni insurgents,
and all the soldiers on the ground know it as well.
Make no mistake about it, we are at war with an enemy
that will not stop until either we are defeated, or
they are defeated.

To gain victory, I feel that the military must be
given the power and tools and the resources to
accomplish this goal. In my view, any soldier working
outside the wire, needs to be paid more than they are
receiving currently.

In a more broad sense, pay for
those in the military, especially at the lower ranks,
needs an immediate increase. Those infantrymen that
are Captains, must be able to convey to those up their
chain of command what the reality is on the ground and
those listening must take heed to what they say. The
civilian contracting world must be called on the
carpet immediately.

They alone have nearly bankrupted
our country financially and there is a treasonous
amount of waste that has gone all too long unchecked.
This must come to an abrupt end. Everyone in country
knows what a scam most of the civilian contacting game
is. There needs to be somebody on the civilian side,
similar to a General Petreaus, that can get a hold of
the situation and fix it. It has gone on way too long
bankrupting the coffers to an indescribable amount.
This I will say until my last breath on this earth.

The role of the media in war is something that has
lost it's original intent. Gone are the days of
historians such as Matthew Brady, Ernie Pyle and the
likes of Joe Galloway.

The historical component has
been left out and replaced with advertising agents who
could care less about what is really going on, even to
the extent of destroying a soldiers carreer for the
sake of 15-minutes of fame and a by-line. I concede
that big media has a role in any war these days,
however, capitalizing on sensationalism just to seal
advertising space, is not the way to go. Any soldier
can refuse to take a media person along for the ride
if he wishes. This option should always remain
intact.

In conclusion, whom shall lead us all in the years
ahead through the tangled web of what we call "The War
In Iraq?" It must be someone that all of us respect.
Of the current field of candidates that are out there
running for President, only one in my view has earned
the respect of all those whom I have recently been
among. It does not mean that all those I traveled
among agree wholeheartedly with this candidate, but it
does mean that this particular candidate has for sure
been tested and earned the respect of those he intends
to lead into or out of battle.

Only Senator John McCain has earned the respect to handle such a job.
He has surely earned mine, and of many of those I've
met on this journey.

Finally, I am home now. I do like having my own
shower and my own coffee pot. I enjoy being able to
live in a place that has indoor plumbing and clean
water to drink. Although I don't like traffic, it is
nice to not worry about getting blown up by an IED for
just going to the store for a loaf of bread or gallon
of milk.

But I do miss being with the Marines and
Soldiers I traveled with on the streets and farms
throughout Iraq. I can't seem to shake that. It
makes me cranky at times when the phone rings and it's
some idiot telemarketer. But I can just hang up, and
hide for a while.

I've got the garden to work on.
And grandkids to go see. I'll go see troops coming
home in the months ahead, including my own son. My
wife will be home in just a few days from Kuwait. I
will tell here once again that is time for "Just You
and Me", and the song will be playing and I'll dance
with her in the living room. We'll have a glass of
wine, we'll talk about the journey, we'll look at
pictures of Jesse, and we'll cry ourselves to sleep.

But we will wake up in the morning, thank the Lord for
one more day, have a cup of coffee and continue to
support the troops. For this is our life.

This journey was done for free. The best things in
life are free. You only take with you what you gave
away.

Jim Spiri
Albuquerque,NM
jimspiri@yahoo.com
505-898-1680