How Americans Fight Wars
Col Mike Walker, USMC (ret)
All,
The war being waged by Putin in Ukraine is unacceptable. I write that as a Marine veteran of the war in Iraq.
Here in a few pictures is the truth between how the US Marines and Putin's Army wage war. Being an amateur, the photos are not good but they show how it was at that exact moment in time.
There are five (5) photographs from April 2004 at Fallujah just after the ceasefire took hold.
Here is the setting: A convoy of humanitarian aid from Jordan had arrived and needed to be delivered into the city. They were to enter the city via Tactical Control Point 1 (TCP 1), an overpass just outside Fallujah (see photo 1) manned by a US Army MP outfit.
There were problems. The drivers were happy to get US Marine protection (see photos 1 & 2) but balked at crossing no-man-land and from there into Fallujah.
Being independent teamsters they had two serious fears of attack once they entered Fallujah:
One from criminal gangs that masqueraded as insurgents and the other, the al-Qaeda motived terrorists under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who used Fallujah as a safe haven after the ceasefire was declared.
The aid trucks pulled off the road and refused enter Fallujah when they learned the US Marine escort could go no farther in accordance with the ceasefire (refer again to photo 2). After some discussion, they chose to go in and fortunately, the aid was given and they safely got home.
At the same time civilians with a makeshift white flag were fleeing the city and entering our lines (see photo 3).
Please look at photos 3, 4, and 5 carefully. This area was where some of the heaviest fighting had taken place. It was the LOD for one of the two major thrusts by 1st Marines, the assault regiment.
What do you see?
Look at the skyline. First note there is no smoke or fires or explosions. Further note that the houses and buildings are almost entirely undamaged. The power lines are intact, the minaret in the distance stands untouched and the only real telltale signs of battle are the lack of human activity and the fleeing refugees.
That is how the US Marines fought in Fallujah in April 2004.
We did not sit back miles out of range and systematically shell and bomb and rocket the town.
We did NOT smash Fallujah into a blackened pile of rubble.
We did not target civilians.
We engaged the enemy and took them out quickly, lethally and with the least amount of force necessary.
That was Fallujah Iraq in 2004, so here are some comparisons to what is happening in Ukraine today.
a. We honored ceasefires.
b. We protected humanitarian relief efforts.
c. We protected the civilians and please note: The people were seeking the protection of the US Marines and fleeing the insurgents -- not the other way around.
Putin's Russian Army in Ukraine does the exact opposite.
e. Putin's Russian Army does not honor ceasefires.
f. Putin's Russian Army does not protect humanitarian relief efforts.
g. Putin's Russian Army does not protect civilians.
h. The Ukrainian people seek protection from and flee Putin's Russian Army -- not the other way around.
And most of all:
What Putin's Russian Army is doing in Ukraine today is unacceptable, inhumane, and goes against everything we did as US Marines in battle.
