I would like to ask a question to all of you, after you answer the question could you respond to others, similar to a little debate......do note that this is serious.
A random Arab is between you and Bin laden and the only way to kill him is to shoot through the Arab and thus taking Binladen and the Arabs life. What would you do? Would you take the life of an innocent to kill a murderer? Bring justice by being unjust......avenge those innocent who he killed by killing an innocent. What if there was two in the way or three, ten, 500 or even 1,000,000.....what would you do? Do you have a specific amount that you would kill? And if it was a person from Russia, Canada, or even the USA would it be the same? If you hate something so much could you defy your own morals to destroy it? Revenge and justice are two completely different ideas...revenge with justice....or revenge with blind hatred.
I'm not trying to relate this to today's wars, I just want a reality check....see where I am compared to other Americans. To see how good of an American I really am.
I will hold this against you so Please I want your true opinion
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Want to find out what's going on in Iraq 2
Week# 23: Sacrifice
According to Websters Dictionary, the word sacrifice means.., to suffer loss of, give up; to sacrifice of oneself or one's interest for others or for a cause or ideal. All I can say is that sacrifice is definitely in the eyes of the beholder! This past week, I had the distinct pleasure and up-close honor in participating with the equipping of one of the Armys finest, in the newly assigned combat unit of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 10th Mountain Division. More than half of its members have been battle-hardened from previous deployments and combat operations, while the other half still had that innocent sparkle in their eyes; ready to push out and ready to do something extraordinary.
Not a single soldier, veteran nor rookie, would have considered this time, this moment in history, a sacrifice. Those brothers-in-arms were mission-driven and well-prepared. Every soldier I talked with understood what was at stake. And most-importantly, prior to rolling out those gates for the next 12 months, those troops got the opportunity of a lifetime; they saw the reason why. There was no doubt these men, as much as many of us, had already been subjected and exposed to negative media stories, arm-chair quarterbacks with both political and military analysis, family and friends questioning their loyalties and sanity for volunteering, and who will ever forget the anger and painful memories of September 11, 2001.
But the reason why came, when the early morning of the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protection) vehicle drivers training was conducted. The training course has the obvious challenges they will most likely see throughout the countryside (rolling hills, ditches, loose stones, mud-holes, etc). But what I dont think many of the soldiers were planning to see was the local village children walking to school in the distance. They would have multiple layers of clothes and some even carried backpacks donated by so many generous church organizations from home. A nearby village, that until Americas finest secured the area, was subjected to random acts of violence and insurgent activities. Now the school is open and the children walk in safety and maybe with a little added confidence that those young troopers are close enough to give any bad man a really bad day.
The 3-10 BCT is the first of many units conducting what we refer to as RIP/TOA. The Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority is similar to any known shift-change in the civilian sector; only with a military focus and much more intense. Soon, in the June timeframe, the men and women of the 101st Airborne Division, whom Ive stood alongside with since my arrival this past August, will be changing out with the infamous 82nd Airborne Division.
For many of us here, you will simply not hear us use the word sacrifice. Dont get me wrong, we hear it and see it a lot; from our leaders, letters and care packages supporting the troops, and mostly from family and friends. But as I stated earlier, sacrifice is definitely in the eyes of the beholder! How can anything be considered a sacrifice if what you are doing is something you love? Sure, there have been times when Ive told myself that I do this so others wont have to or so my children wouldnt have to, but those times have been few and far between. My love for the Army has evolved, not so much because of what we have done in the past, but more so because of what we have the capability of doing now and in the future. Our Armed Services do so much more than simply fight our wars; a mindset I wish many more of our fellow citizens would share.
Major Robert Miceli
WASL's Days Numbered?
In case you haven't heard, word on the street is that the WASL is on the way out. Please read this article and share your thoughts on the subject.
Is Superintendent Dorn making the right move? Are we giving in to the rising tide of mediocrity? Has too much money been spent on the WASL to abandon it now?
What do YOU think?
p.s. Your response will be graded on a four point scale. If you do not score at least a three, you will be required to write a new post every April. Your diploma will be withheld until you are able to write a three point response.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Want to find out what's going on in Iraq
My Name is Tyler my Uncle is stationed over in the Middle East. He sends my family weekly e-mails about what is going on over in Iraq and Afghanistan. If enough people enjoy I would be glad to keep everyone in touch. Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments.
Week# 22:
Kandahar One of the patches we wear above our unit, on the left shoulder, is the ISAF patch. ISAF stands for the International Security Assistance Forces, and it is a special unit designation under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Not all of the units in Afghanistan belong under this command structure, at least for now. Eventually, this might change with the surge of forces forth coming, nevertheless, the Commander for ISAF (COMISAF) is located in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and as such, my mission this week took me there.
Land is a premium in every corner of every operating base throughout the country. With the surge, comes the increase of such requirements, and as I stated last week, the construction on such land is moving at an incredible pace. My focus was to grease the skids for our organizations much needed requirements for both the land and the construction assets. Normally, this does not fall into my lane of responsibilities, but considering no one knows better the sense of urgency, countryside, our coalition partners and the commanders vision, my team was asked to intercede.
More ambassador than soldier, our meetings were with both our international coalition partners and other DoD agencies. For the majority of the time spent in Afghanistan, ISAF/NATO Forces have dominated the Kandahar Providence (some say it is the birthplace of the Taliban), and established both operational and logistical footprints. Each of these footprints were substantial enough for their required support, however, these are in no way robust enough to support the massive U.S. Armys war-machine.
So, after a quick mission analysis, our course of action was to divide and conquer; each going forth independently to negotiate smaller pieces of the overall requirement. Asking for all of it at once, would have been perceived as undoable by many and too much for any landlord to section off willingly. By coaxing a patch of dirt here and a plot of land there we were able to convince our military neighbors that our presence would not be so dominating. Needless to say, our team was able to acquire a 90% solution for the first three of the four-phased build-up strategy. The next challenge was keeping it. Knowing you cannot build all at once, we were able to develop a concept where if we build on patches throughout the obtained land & space requirements, then to others, wide-open spaces would not exist, nor would the small disjointed empty patches be so desirable.
The weather in Kandahar was quite miserable; especially for walking the land to achieve our mission. Our military flight out of Bagram was delayed for 6 hours due to heavy rains and fog. Our flight was just over an hour due south, at which point we found constant rain. It rained on us for three days straight. The only good thing about it was that I was able to sleep in my newly issued Army gortex sleeping bag within a metal-roofed structure. This actually brought a smile to my face each night as I would look up and remember the nights my family and I would sleep in our camper in the backyard of our home in Virginia. Walking in that slick fine mud was worse than any heavy red-clay mud back in Fort Knox, KY or Fort Benning, GA!
Of course, trying to return back north to Bagram did require some patience. As it rained on us down south, it snowed up north causing delays for our little airfield. But then again, its all good; everything happens for a reason. While waiting, our team refined our support plan as we were able to accidently meet up with a unit set to depart within the next few months and was willingly to forego their office containers and the land that their sleeping tents were placed on. After another quick meeting with the Base Operations Mayor cell, we had completed our mission requirements to 100%. It just goes to show you that when you dont think things are going your way, God has a unique way of those opportunities revealing themselves. The trick, I think, is to have the foresight and patience to recognize His ways more so than your own.
Major Robert Miceli
Week# 22:
Kandahar One of the patches we wear above our unit, on the left shoulder, is the ISAF patch. ISAF stands for the International Security Assistance Forces, and it is a special unit designation under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Not all of the units in Afghanistan belong under this command structure, at least for now. Eventually, this might change with the surge of forces forth coming, nevertheless, the Commander for ISAF (COMISAF) is located in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and as such, my mission this week took me there.
Land is a premium in every corner of every operating base throughout the country. With the surge, comes the increase of such requirements, and as I stated last week, the construction on such land is moving at an incredible pace. My focus was to grease the skids for our organizations much needed requirements for both the land and the construction assets. Normally, this does not fall into my lane of responsibilities, but considering no one knows better the sense of urgency, countryside, our coalition partners and the commanders vision, my team was asked to intercede.
More ambassador than soldier, our meetings were with both our international coalition partners and other DoD agencies. For the majority of the time spent in Afghanistan, ISAF/NATO Forces have dominated the Kandahar Providence (some say it is the birthplace of the Taliban), and established both operational and logistical footprints. Each of these footprints were substantial enough for their required support, however, these are in no way robust enough to support the massive U.S. Armys war-machine.
So, after a quick mission analysis, our course of action was to divide and conquer; each going forth independently to negotiate smaller pieces of the overall requirement. Asking for all of it at once, would have been perceived as undoable by many and too much for any landlord to section off willingly. By coaxing a patch of dirt here and a plot of land there we were able to convince our military neighbors that our presence would not be so dominating. Needless to say, our team was able to acquire a 90% solution for the first three of the four-phased build-up strategy. The next challenge was keeping it. Knowing you cannot build all at once, we were able to develop a concept where if we build on patches throughout the obtained land & space requirements, then to others, wide-open spaces would not exist, nor would the small disjointed empty patches be so desirable.
The weather in Kandahar was quite miserable; especially for walking the land to achieve our mission. Our military flight out of Bagram was delayed for 6 hours due to heavy rains and fog. Our flight was just over an hour due south, at which point we found constant rain. It rained on us for three days straight. The only good thing about it was that I was able to sleep in my newly issued Army gortex sleeping bag within a metal-roofed structure. This actually brought a smile to my face each night as I would look up and remember the nights my family and I would sleep in our camper in the backyard of our home in Virginia. Walking in that slick fine mud was worse than any heavy red-clay mud back in Fort Knox, KY or Fort Benning, GA!
Of course, trying to return back north to Bagram did require some patience. As it rained on us down south, it snowed up north causing delays for our little airfield. But then again, its all good; everything happens for a reason. While waiting, our team refined our support plan as we were able to accidently meet up with a unit set to depart within the next few months and was willingly to forego their office containers and the land that their sleeping tents were placed on. After another quick meeting with the Base Operations Mayor cell, we had completed our mission requirements to 100%. It just goes to show you that when you dont think things are going your way, God has a unique way of those opportunities revealing themselves. The trick, I think, is to have the foresight and patience to recognize His ways more so than your own.
Major Robert Miceli
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Barack Obama, The Future, and You
Alright gang, I think we can all agree that it's been a historical day. So far though, you've been passive observers.
It's time to switch roles.
I want to hear your analysis of what's happened today. To that end, please answer the following three questions in complete sentences and to the best of your abilities:
1. How, if at all, will the election of Barack Obama directly effect your life as a high school student in Spokane?
2. Do you feel that the enormous expectations placed on President Obama are unfair? If so, why? If not, why do you believe he's capable of leading the world into an era of unprecedented progress and change?
3. MLK, Obama, and Lincoln. Beyond the obvious ( Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights, America's first black president) what is connection between these three American leaders? Has real progress been made? Is oppression still a part of American life?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hyperactive Teens and RLA
The debate topic this week has to do with the drug, CAFFEINE! When you get a minute, head over to Ned's room and check out the latest issue of "Current Events." The cover story, "Jittery," contains all the information to need to form a well-reasoned opinion on the following statement. After you've spent some time thinking about your opinion, post it on the blog.
In the interest of creating a positive study environment and to be fair to students who don't drink these kinds of beverages, students at RLA should be prevented from drinking engergy drinks such as AMP, RockStar, Monster, FIXX, SoBe NoFear, and Red Bull.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Israel and Hamas
We spent a fair amount of time last week working though the issues surrounding Israel's latest incursion into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants. When asked what your advice to President-Elect Obama would be on the matter, most of you copped out. After going through your responses, I'd say about 90% were along the lines of "we should remain neutral." While I can certainly respect the sentiments behind this response, it's just not realistic. With that in mind, I'm asking you to reconsider and post a well thought out, legitimate recommendation to the President-Elect.
Does Israel's right to self-defense justify the civilian deaths in Gaza? Does it matter?
Let me know what you think.......
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