Brian: Punk Rock in Iraq

Uncle Sam's Misguided Children

Holy Crap! Brian, how ya doing? Good to see your well. This is a strange place to find you. Write me ya bastard.

For you little pseudo political punk hippies, first let me apologize... I'm so sorry you were born too late to protest Vietnam. You've got a lot of balls to start spouting your version of punk ethics and politics to someone like Brian. What you late comers think you know about punk is less than what Brian has forgotten. Brian was an old school New York City kid from the 80's and 90's NYHC/Punk scene (yes kids it was one scene back then) and also a long time officer in the Army reserves before being activated to go to Iraq. Some of you kids giving him crap probably have some of his albums. If he's not going to put the name of his band out there, neither will I.

To the kid who bitched that Brian had enough time to write a 3000 word letter about what was going on out there (suggesting he's not doing his job or that he was some sort of deliberate spreader of propaganda)... grow the fuck up. He has his laptop with him and obviously wrote a little bit here and there over many days during his off time.

To the young Marine talking shit about the Army... you're obviously a young inexperienced E1 who has never been in a real world situation and you're most likely in some support MOS and feel you need to make up for some shortcomings. Professional Marines, especially those in a combat MOS, know better than you kid.

Finally, to all the little brainwashed kids who believe the Army is filled with mindless drones... if you never served, you can't make those kind of statements. To put down a whole group of people based on a biased stereotype makes you a closed minded bigot. Yes I said it... a closed minded bigot. Someone who believes they are a political radical can indeed be a closed minded bigot.

Speaking of bigotry, before you say it or think it, no I am not a blind patriot. I believe George W Bush is not only not our legally elected president but that he is also probably the least qualified man to ever hold the job and on a personal note I disagree with most of his domestic and foreign policy.

Back to Brian. Brian is an officer in a Civil Affairs battalion. He is helping rebuild a nation. Before his tour is up, he will have done more good for the betterment of mankind than all you pseudo political punk hippie self righteous kids will do in a lifetime. Go ahead and talk shit at bars or hand out protest flyers or spout Chomsky rhetoric... it's all hot air. People like Brian are really doing it.

Oh Brian, if you're reading this... Rob booked your band at Continental with a fill in bass player. He says you know and understand... but I'm not booking you guys til you get back. Write me ya bastard.

Just to add to that nice last post, I was always under the impression that this was a site where people can express themselves.

Last I checked, Sean and Missy haven't been flooding us with "Go War!" articles in the Words Section lately. Brian's post is the exception, and probably the only chance a lot of folks here will have of looking at a situation through the eyes of a kind of person you're not likely to meet soon.

Brian could have sent that missive anywhere. He could have posted it at a much more conservative web site to just play the "propaganda game". He didn't. He chose to share his words with his peers. Some of whom apparently don't even realize that those who subscribe to a lot of their mindset can also walk different roads in life.

Bottom line, you don't have to agree with the war. But denying Brian his right to express his opinion here is just unfair. I come here to learn from different viewpoints from different people. Not to complain everytime I see something that doesn't fit with my ideologies.

Before reading Brians article I had no idea that the US was doing anythiing postive to rebuild IRAQ at all. Now I do, unfortunately I have no info on what the educational system was before. I hear that they had pictures of Saddam on their textbooks. Our history books are not much better. I remember that in my grade school that they justified dropping the bombs on Japan because so many lives were spared. Double Speak has never been so far away. It is a wonderfull thing that soldiers are being given an individual face not just another dead body over there.

I am very antiwar because it is so much easier to destroy then it is to create.

We went into this war without a real plan how to rebuild Iraq that was our biggest mistake as a country. I am all about seeing conditions improve, bur whose face are we going to see on the next textbooks. And the ends never justify the means, when you claim that you are only justifying the evil you have done to your self and to your country.

HItler did it and Bush is doing it. Thats right I am comparing Bush to Hitler.

But I also believe that through educaton of peace people can be changed if they are given a different point of veiw and I believe that this is what this article did it gave me another point of view that of the soldier on the battlefield who is justifying his role in Iraq although I ask him to take responsibility for more then just his seemingly positive role but also for his leaders roles like Bush and whoever his commanders are the ones who have killed the innocent children. Infact we all must take responsibility for Bush and Saddam and the Sept 11 attacks after all we all do live in this world. In it is not enough just to justify are actons but we must take a different point of view, how did we contribute to Sept 11. How did we contribute to SADDAMS regime and are we just cleaning up our mistakes now, after we supported him(saddam) for so long.

Is Bush just a Daddy's boy and finishing a war that his dad could not finish and are we letting him ? I personally take responsibility for this war by not joining the Army etc. I am not going anywhere to kill anybody period. Waging war has never finnaly improved conditions anywhere just take a look at history, are living without war now ?

There has to be a certain amount of destruction but put down the rifles and wage peace. And you know whar i am comfortably at home writing this on my IBooK, but to those who say I am a not living in the real world I say the real world is what you make it. I chose and created my reality and must take responsibility for that just like Brian does and is doing.

I learned a long time ago that taking responsibilty for your actions does not mean justifying them like the US is doing by invading IRAQ. We as a world created IRAQ, and we created the no brain TV generation in America.

To me that is what PUNK ROCK is having the abilty to say fuck you I am doing my way and then if you fuck up not blamiing it on anyone else.

robertromano8 ... you wrote...
"We went into this war without a real plan how to rebuild Iraq that was our biggest mistake as a country. "
That's not true. There is a plan and it involves a long term commitment. What makes you think there isn't a plan?... because you don't know the details or don't listen to all the briefings? Pay attention. I agree with your feelings that Bush is a horrible president... I don't like his policies and I feel he is one of the least qualified men to hold the job in a long time... but comparing him to Hitler is pretty stupid.

"Q" DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MANY PUNKS/ROCKABILLYS ARE IN THE MILITARY.

"A" A SHIT LOAD

ALMOST EVERYONE I KNOW IN THE MILITARY HAS AT LEAST 5 TATS AND LISTENS TO PUNK, MOST OF THE GUYS IN COMBAT ARMS WHO DO ALL THE FIGHTING. I AM A PUNK BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN I TURN MY BACK WHEN SOME ONE HITS ME. I GET A RUSH OUT OF MY JOB. I GET TO TRAVEL ALL OVER THE WORLD MEET NEW PEOPLE AND DO NEW THINGS. I LIKE GUNS AND I LIKE JUMPING OUT OF AIRPLANES AND I GET PAID TO DO IT. I AM NOT TRYING TO PROMOTE IT OR RECRUIT ANYONE JUST HELP ANARCHISTS IN DIFFERENT LANDS GET RID OF BULLSHIT DICTATOR'S AND HARDLY ANY CIVILIANS DIED DURING THIS WAR. MOST CIVILIANS WERE KILLED BY IRAQ'S BECAUSE THEY TRIED TO HELP OVERTHROW SADDAM. UNLESS YOU BEEN HERE THEN YOU DONT KNOW UNTIL YOU SEE THIS PLACE AND THE EFFECTS THAT ONE ASSHOLE AND HIS TWO SONS HAD ON IT. ANYWAY WE ARE NOT ROBOTS. EACH OF US IS IN CHARGE OF OUR OWN DESTINY. MINE IS TO GET BACK TO THE STATES AND GET SOME FUKIN TACO BELL.

too..........much.............caps...............

i just read this and now i am sick. tell them the truth about this place.

Don't mean to be rude, but Captains generally hide why enlisted men kill and get killed. Have you seen combat hours?

Bush is a tool, a giant one. A giant asshole president who is set on war for political gain.

I can't even talk about this, I get too worked up, then I'd get kicked off SG. Ew.

The truth about Suicidegirls.com? ...or do you mean the truth about Iraq? If you mean the truth about Iraq then you are implying that Brian is lying. Why?... because his experiences don't fit with your perceptions? Sure people are dying over there and it's horrible and whether it is right or wrong will be judged how it ends and how history views it... but there are good things happening over there as well. And there are soldiers like Brian making it happen. He is in a Civil Affairs unit, not an infantry unit. His job is to work with the locals and rebuild (in more ways than one) and that is what he is doing. Schools reopening and communities being rebuilt doesnt make for as good a story as soldiers getting blown up so you wont see the positive stories on the news.

I find it funny that the same people who said "don't trust the media" when it showed a swift American victory are the same people putting complete faith into the one sided reporting coming out of Iraq now. "If it bleeds, it leads" is the old TV news saying.

I guess only believe the press when the stories support your preconceived notions.

And yes I hate Bush. He's a horrible president but that doesnt mean I cant see the job our soldiers are doing over there. A new Iraq is going to be born and it's going to hurt.

Many SS guards defended their atrocities by saying they were only following orders; "doing your job" does not excuse you from personal responsibility for your actions.

Brian sounds like he believes in what he's doing; I hope he never has to try to convince himself that killing is something he believes in. While many individuals may be trying to do good in Iraq, the mere fact that the US is occupying Iraq is doing far more harm.

And I gotta say, the military just ain't punk rock; regimented, unquestioning obedience in the service of a government that doesn't give a rat's ass about true freedom. The real "punk" attitude in the military are the servicemen and women who refuse, whether they decide to declare themselves consientious objectors opposed to all war, or those who simply refuse to fight an unjust war. Saying "NO" to authority when you believe authority is wrong- that's punk .

Lizard509...the latest Iraqi civilian casulaty figures are between 8100 and 9938...more than triple the number of victims on September 11. Thousands more have been injured, and those are just the civilians. That's not quite what I would call "hardly any".

528 American servicepeople dead (one per day now...), and no one seems to be able to find out how many Americans have been injured in combat since March 2003 because the Pentagon says they don't have the numbers.

And believe me, you're not helping the "anarchists" in other countries, you're helping Halliburton, Bechtel, Lockheed, Boeing, General Dynamics, and all the other huge corporations that make money during war time (and in war economies). The real "anarchists" in Iraq are surely glad that Saddam is gone, and they'll be even happier when the US is gone too.