US Troops Mutiny in Iraq?

September 5, 2005 1:52 PM

US Troops Mutiny in Iraq?"...the US embassy in Baghdad is checking into reports that U.S. troops in Iraq, including National Guardsmen, Army and Marine Corps Reserves, and regular military troops from Louisiana and Mississippi, have mutinied against their officers and are demanding to be immediately sent back home to help their families."
posted by nlindstrom (68 comments total)

Can't blame 'em, if true, but the sourse for the sourse for the article looks sketchy.
posted by Balisong at 1:59 PM on September 5, 2005

Seems the sources of this story is one blog pointing to another blog pointing to third blog who has no source... Maybe the first blog as their source should link to this post and we'll have a perfect circular reference.
posted by StarForce5 at 2:00 PM on September 5, 2005

Wait, a totally unsourced tidbit from a website that compares the dailyKos and Democratic Underground to FoxNews? Best of the web indeed.
posted by OmieWise at 2:02 PM on September 5, 2005

Does WMR's "Flash" animated gif make it true?
posted by Mach5 at 2:03 PM on September 5, 2005

Quintron & Miss Pussycat, residents of New Orleans, have lost their house and all possessions by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 2:04 PM on September 5, 2005

I'm with Balisong. If it's true, I can't really blame 'em.
posted by jonmc at 4:02 PM on September 5, 2005

TIME CUBE looks to be about as reliable a source as this guy.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:03 PM on September 5, 2005

Quintron & Miss Pussycat? I'm glad you mentioned them. I'm really saddened to think of his drum buddy and her puppet collection and all those vintage organs.

I'd gladly donate to a fund to help him replace those instruments. Really loved their work. I'm glad they survived.
posted by pandaharma at 4:04 PM on September 5, 2005

Can we just remove this fpp???? There's enough REAL bad news to post!
posted by HuronBob at 4:13 PM on September 5, 2005

Sigh, I don't think this should qualify as a FPP. No confirmation anywhere nor is the source really of note. Can we get some confirmation from somewhere?
posted by Drylnn at 4:14 PM on September 5, 2005

Finally... Some sanity...
posted by Djinh at 4:15 PM on September 5, 2005

I wouldn't be surprised if people are making such requests (which will probably be granted, though not quickly enough) but I doubt that "mutiny" is at all the righ word here.
posted by Slagman at 4:16 PM on September 5, 2005

Slag is right, I doubt there is a mutiny going on; more like a bunch of very upset servicemen wanting to get their ass home and rightfully so.
posted by j.p. Hung at 4:22 PM on September 5, 2005

Although not surprising if this is true (I wouldn't expect this in the Army Regulars, but maybe in the Nat Guard), I am not so sure the source is a very good one.
posted by DetroitWonk at 4:24 PM on September 5, 2005

We are unable to complete your post as written. Please check your source and post again. This is a recording.
posted by blacklite at 4:36 PM on September 5, 2005

I had heard earlier today via TV that Lousisiana Guard was being sent back from Iraq--but not because they were in revolt. I imagine that puts to rest the Not True post.
posted by Postroad at 4:45 PM on September 5, 2005

I have one question for all you liberals and your preoccupation with credible sources and fact-checking. Was the Swift-boat story credible, did it's facts stand up? NO. Was it effective? FUCK Yes. Haven't you learned anything in the past five years? Haven't Machiavelli, and his modern day incarnation, Karl Rove taught us anything, namely that politics isn't about facts, it's about ideas. Especially in this culture of incessant change and 30 second news clips. Facts are secondary. Spread this story like wild fire. Whether it's true or not is beside the point. Just putting this idea in peoples heads is the name of the game. By the time its disproven the idea has done its damage. This is what the right has down to a science. The fact that the source isn't credible makes that source even more powerful, b/c it becomes that much easier to dissociate from him/her. Again, think Swift Boat. Genius. The right loves the fact that you libs are afraid to sling mud. Stand up and smear for once. This is politics. Get some dirt on yourselves.
posted by slow, man at 5:04 PM on September 5, 2005

Oh yeah, DetroitWonk. Your self-links all over Metafilter are fucking LAME.
posted by slow, man at 5:05 PM on September 5, 2005

> Seems the sources of this story is one blog pointing to another blog pointing to
> third blog who has no source

A source is a source, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a source, of course


> The right loves the fact that you libs are afraid to sling mud

AAA HA HA HA! PULL ZE OZZER ONE!
posted by jfuller at 5:11 PM on September 5, 2005

No mention of this at SFFT, or in their forums.
posted by cenoxo at 5:14 PM on September 5, 2005

afraid to sling mud

Or maybe, just maybe, some people don't believe that the ends justify the means.
posted by Bort at 5:15 PM on September 5, 2005

slow, man: Yes! There is contingent at MeFi that will swallow anything anti- republican whole and accept anything from the Dems regardless of the source, or lack thereof, backing it up. QUESTION EVERYTHING! They are all lying to us! If I want to hear the republican party line touted and don't care about reality I can go to FreeRep or LGF. MeFi isn't as bad in favoring the dems but it's leaning that way. I can watch political ads all day if I want to buy into the party lines.
posted by Carbolic at 5:18 PM on September 5, 2005

Come on, DetroitWonk, while self-linking in a comment may be acceptable by the rules of the site, at least post something in your own blog that actually directly references the fact you are trying to announce. Just saying "CNN" doesn't cut it.

A direct link to a credible news agency typically works. Bibliographies are more than shout outs to where you got your info. They provide a relatively reliable means of fact checking.

And slow, man, I'm not entirely sure if your comment is sarcasm or not, but, do you honestly believe that Michael Moore is any less of a smear artist than Sean Hannity? I think the libs can match the cons almost person for person in this regard.
posted by zerokey at 5:19 PM on September 5, 2005

Slinging mud is about producting new ideas, which may or may not be true, but are, finally, damaging. There are no new damaging ideas in your link jfuller, those are just some re-hashed rants packaged toghther. The media's heard all that shit a million times and they failed to catch hold.

Carbolic, if I get you right, somehow pointing out lies is a political strategy in itself. This is the Michael Moore strategy. You can't negate these guys with empirical facts. Isn't that obvious?
posted by slow, man at 5:22 PM on September 5, 2005

jfuller, you're too smart to argue that the American Right's taste for the bareknuckled fight (that I admire, by the way) is inferior to the Left's. the "WeToldYouSo" gentleman notwithstanding

I mean, we're dealing with people like Cheney who clearly state, if Kerry wins we'll be attacked and tells Leahy to go fuck himself on the Senate floor -- that's how gangsta these people are. remember the Clinton impeachment mob? were they a bunch of liberals? was Garrison Keilor more powerful than Ken Starr?

unless you also think that Al Franken is more powerful and influential than rightwing talk-radio, and evangelical churches matter less than John Shelby Spong, you must admit that the occasional harsh voice on the American Left is just that, a lonely harsh voice, and too disorganized to matter. or is DU more powerful than Fox?

_______

Or maybe, just maybe, some people don't believe that the ends justify the means.

then maybe, just maybe, take a comfortably seat and enjoy long, long years of opposition as Bush and his Republican successor (Jebby? Frist?) reshape your country.
I'm far from being a Clinton fan, but I suspect he was more of a realist than that. that's why he won.

the Roberts Court will be an interesting appetizer -- especially when Stevens gives up (he can't resist there until he's 126 and the Democrats get back in power) and Roe disappears in a cloud of dust.
trying to forget about good manners and learning a couple of organizational lessons that the Right has been teaching you these last few years would be a good idea, I guess.
unless you enjoy watching the other side gleefully call the shots. DailyKos is therapy, not a clear strategy to get back in power
posted by matteo at 5:25 PM on September 5, 2005

The only way you could cause real damage is to get a member of the other side to sling the mud. The building is locked, you can't get in, but one of the tenants can break the windows for you.

That way, or disseminate true and provable facts consistently.
posted by zerokey at 5:27 PM on September 5, 2005

Wrong, zerokey. Were any of Bush's justification's for war true and provable? No. But they were ambiguous. Their strength lied in that they might be true. They weren't provable, but they weren't usually disprovable (sp?) either. There aren't cameras within every infantry unit in Iraq, so disproving the idea of mutiny might take some time. By the time it is disproven, if ever, damage done. You are right about the constant repetition of ideas though. That works. And that usually is what matters, not the empirical evidence.
posted by slow, man at 5:37 PM on September 5, 2005

was Garrison Keilor more powerful than Ken Starr?

No, but was less loathed. Just sayin'.
posted by jonmc at 5:40 PM on September 5, 2005

slow, man: I see the solution as to quit accepting the statements of the lieing liars who counter one groups lies with lies of their own as fact. I'm talking about Rove, Moore, O'Reily, the left wing flavor of the day, etc.. Some, unfortunately large, percentage of the population will continue to do so but some of us have to quit.

Matteo: Basic abortion rights are going nowhere regardless of who ends up on the court. Give up on that one. You are buying into the bullshit. Changes may occur at the edges, federal funding and late term, but abortions will remain avaliable.

/awaits the shitstorm
posted by Carbolic at 5:41 PM on September 5, 2005

Slow, I see what you are saying. I was thinking in terms of damaging your opponent rather than overall damage.

But you could certainly say that Bush got the Dems to do a great deal of damage to themselves and their credibility with the emotional and patriotic tuggings for the war vote.
posted by zerokey at 5:47 PM on September 5, 2005

Basic abortion rights are going nowhere regardless of who ends up on the court. Give up on that one. You are buying into the bullshit. Changes may occur at the edges, federal funding and late term, but abortions will remain avaliable.

Maybe. But I believe that the BushCo. will try to, if only as a bone to throw the pseudo-Christian right. But the citizenry of the country is very pro-choice ( I don't know the exact numbers, but I remember hearing it was something like 70%) so to do so would be political suicide. Which could be a good thing, ultimately.
posted by jonmc at 5:48 PM on September 5, 2005

Haven't Machiavelli, and his modern day incarnation, Karl Rove...

That's doing Machiavelli a disservice. Rove is very good at what he does, no question, but let's not confuse cunning with intelligence.
posted by caporal at 5:51 PM on September 5, 2005

slow, man: I'd rather be an honest man than a rich man, myself. So would most people on the political left.

At least then we can look each other in the eye when we speak, and have some expectation that we're not lying to each other - a luxury Mr Bush and his cronies do not enjoy.

See, I just don't think spouting self-serving lies is a good way to live. You probably don't, either, if you calm down and think about it. That's exactly what separates us from them.
posted by cleardawn at 5:51 PM on September 5, 2005

I remember Harvey Fierstein (of all people) in a chat show interview saying that he had met GW Bush, Sr. and that he "knew that Bush was personally pro-choice" but opposed abortion rights publicly.

For some reason, I find that more offensive than if he were actually sincerely pro-life.

(abortion is a weird issue anyway. I remember a girl I knew in college-who later was contestant on a reality show-who was a fire-breathing far-leftie on almost every issue, gave me shit for smoking in my own room and for eating meat, but was stridently pro-life, to the point of having a poster on her wall showing a severed baby's head and a caption about it having been found in a dumpster behind a planned parenthood. Strange, but people get emotional, I guess.)
posted by jonmc at 5:52 PM on September 5, 2005

I should clarify that by "political left" I do not mean to include the fat ugly sycophants who are the mainstream of the so-called Democratic Party in the US, or the so-called Labour Party in the UK.
posted by cleardawn at 5:54 PM on September 5, 2005

By the time its disproven the idea has done its damage.

only if it's right wing disinformation. if it's left wing disinformation, it will only be used to discredit the left later when disproven, as it should.

the challenge to the left is to take real information and make it more interesting than right wing disinformation.

but you are basically right at least half the time.
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:58 PM on September 5, 2005

the challenge to the left is to take real information and make it more interesting than right wing disinformation.

or even simply less alienating.
posted by jonmc at 6:00 PM on September 5, 2005

I know who "slow, man" is. I've known about him a long time, ever since he first committed a string of robberies in nursing homes, often beating the victims. I hesitate to use his real name, but please, everyone, do not listen to this man. He is a sick and despicable person. I urge everyone to spread this information far and wide.
posted by Falconetti at 6:02 PM on September 5, 2005

cleardawn, that's not what I mean by "leftist" either.
posted by davy at 6:03 PM on September 5, 2005

caporal: good point.

cleardawn: If my argument for you boils down to spouting lies, then I'm clearly not communicating my point very well. Also, telling people to calm down is a good way to halt an argument, not to mention condescending. Anyway, here's an essay by William Chaloupka (Colorade State prof.) that I think deserves to be quoted length, which I think articulates my point 100% better than I can:

It is not only that the right is combative that makes its pugnacity effective; it is that the culture war is cross-coded, as it were, with the left having ceded the struggle aspect of the conflict to the right...

Too often, the left has recoded politics as ethics, replacing struggle with the introverted project of "getting one's own life together," assuming that this somehow generates a crucial (or the crucial) political project, perhaps by modeling a better society. The discomfort with struggle inherent in this strategy leaves the possibility open for populism to jump sides, and the right took the opportunity.


A contemporary, contrary political example illustrates this. In 2002, after 9/11, Democratic prospects in the off-year election were perilous (indeed, the Republicans won back the Senate in that election). One incumbent Senate Democrat, Max Baucus of Montana, seemed particularly vulnerable. Bush had won Montana in 2000 by a landslide, and Baucus was the only important Democrat elected statewide. National Democrats expected a very difficult election. Instead, Baucus won easily, and how that happened illustrates Zizek's point. The Baucus campaign took off against his Republican opponent with a ferocity that plainly embarrassed much of the left. In the campaign's critical television advertisement, the Baucus campaign found quarter-century old footage of the Republican, who had been a Denver entrepreneur with a barber/beauty college and a local TV show. In the footage, a seventies throwback (shirt unbuttoned half way down, medallion, white boy afro) demonstrated the benefits of a facial, for male clients. The voiceover of the Baucus ad told the undisputed truth: the Republican's business venture had been investigated for the misuse of veterans' benefits assigned to its students.


Of course, the coding of the ad had less to do with veterans' benefits than it had to do with the embarrassments of the seventies in general, and the hint of homosexuality in particular. While gay rights groups generally supported Baucus (the Republican candidate was an anti-gay backlasher in the legislature) and did not criticize the advertisement, the discomfort on the left was impossible to miss. For a left self-identified with the culture of tolerance, this level of ferocity was plainly uncomfortable. Surely, there must be a more kindly way to win these elections! Whether that is possible is beside the point; the Baucus campaign had demonstrated what a pugnacious anti-backlash initiative might look like. It had, at least for the moment, switched the coding back, regaining the initiative in the culture war by acknowledging that the "war" was in fact part of a conflict. This is not to say that Democrats must lie or cheat; the Baucus ad was precisely accurate. The point is that it emerged from a sense of struggle, of combativeness the left otherwise found distasteful. The ad crossed boundaries.

From online journal Theory & Event, 8:2 2005 (unfortunately subscription only)
posted by slow, man at 6:04 PM on September 5, 2005

That's a pretty big accusation, falconetti. I'd hesitate to spread such information, simply on your say-so.
posted by jonmc at 6:04 PM on September 5, 2005

Yes jonmc, but the veracity of my claim is not important. You see, I don't like his postings and would like them to stop. Whatever means I use to achieve that end is entirely unimportant.
posted by Falconetti at 6:06 PM on September 5, 2005

methinks Falconetti may be trying to illustrate a point (I hope so).
posted by zerokey at 6:06 PM on September 5, 2005

I certainly hope the US troops are mutinying in Iraq.

I would, if I were them. But then, I'd have done it long ago.

I've never liked taking orders from incompetent mass murderers (or anyone else really), it isn't my sort of scene.

But some people like it. I hope I'm not alienating them by posting this; the intention is to educate, not to alienate.

I don't think the info has to be more interesting, even. It just has to be accurate, and easy to understand. That's what the right is really afraid of.
posted by cleardawn at 6:06 PM on September 5, 2005

Yes, zerokey, in case it isn't clear, slowman, DID NOT do anything I said. Perhaps I shouldn't have made my point that way. In retrospect (2 minutes later) maybe that post should be deleted. I apologize if that was stepping over the line.
posted by Falconetti at 6:08 PM on September 5, 2005

Falconetti, you made a good point. Don't apologize for it now. Especially to a despicable senior citizen-beating burglar like that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:10 PM on September 5, 2005

Falconetti,
As the article above makes clear, stepping over the line once in a while is the point. You've got what I'm saying (almost) exactly. (I say almost, b/c it shouldn't be a total fabrication, just something that may or may not be true). Besides, I got some good bling from that old lady.
posted by slow, man at 6:14 PM on September 5, 2005

Falconetti is Karl Rove. I have that from a very reliable source.
posted by Carbolic at 6:16 PM on September 5, 2005

slow, man - if your point (and the learned professor's point) is that in order to win in some elections, it is necessary to appeal to the lowest, most stupid, racist, homophobic, sexist instincts of the voters, then clearly, that has some truth to it.

It's a good argument for changing the electoral system, and a good argument for improving the educational system, but still not a convincing argument for lying - which, indeed, in the quote you provide, the professor specifically cautions against.
posted by cleardawn at 6:18 PM on September 5, 2005

Does anyone know where I can get the heartblood of newborn infants? The infernal machine that powers my circulation is dangerously low.

Signed,
Falcon "Turd Blossom" Etti
posted by Falconetti at 6:21 PM on September 5, 2005

When there is so much true, verifiable information that makes it obvious that the right is all wrong, why should we bother to make stuff up?

I'd prefer to leave that strategy to them. And expose it every time they use it.

Ever hear the story of the Falconetti who cried wolf?
posted by cleardawn at 6:27 PM on September 5, 2005

cleardawn: "if your point (and the learned professor's point) is that in order to win in some elections, it is necessary to appeal to the lowest, most stupid, racist, homophobic, sexist instincts of the voters, then clearly, that has some truth to it."

I don't know if that was slow, man's point but I think it is true and will continue to be true so long as we (people in general) continue to allow ourselve to be sucked into the tactic. The problem is whether there is any hope that the majority won't continue to allow themselves to be sucked in.

jonmc: I don't know if a majority of americans are pro-choice on a personal level (they would be party to one) but I don't think a majority of people feel it is their place to decide whether others should make the choice. I also hope you've move away from dating the "psycho" gals, although they are often fun.
posted by Carbolic at 6:28 PM on September 5, 2005

Falconetti, I welcome you to the darkside
posted by TurdBlossom at 6:31 PM on September 5, 2005

And I'd say that prefering to leave it up to them, is why whatever leftist project there used to be is in such dire straits. As far as exposing their fallacies, again, it's politically impotent. The point is that the while liberals go ahead trying to create a politically correct world and worrying about their personal ethics (lying, etc) the right is pitting themselves as the champion of the working class, and becoming ever more effective. Remember, all those red states, such as Kansas 25 years ago, were the centers of working class, socialist politics.
posted by slow, man at 6:35 PM on September 5, 2005

Wow, apologies on the spelling and grammar.
posted by slow, man at 6:41 PM on September 5, 2005

The point is that the while liberals go ahead trying to create a politically correct world and worrying about their personal ethics (lying, etc) the right is pitting themselves as the champion of the working class, and becoming ever more effective. Remember, all those red states, such as Kansas 25 years ago, were the centers of working class, socialist politics.

This I agree with.
A lot of that has had to do with some impressive PR work by the right. And perhaps the willingness of the electorate in those states to swallow the kool-aid. But, like a good comedian dosen't blame his audience for not finding him funny, a smart politician shouldn't blame the electorate for not electing him, it's counterproductive. We need to examine ourselves and find out what our part was in losing what was once a core left demographic, and what we can do to get it back.
posted by jonmc at 6:44 PM on September 5, 2005

I also hope you've move away from dating the "psycho" gals, although they are often fun.

Carbolic, I never dated severed head girl, although she was pretty hot, and we did have a fun low-level flirtation going on. And I've been out of the dating pool for ten years, dude.

(it was gratifying to read that the aforementioned chick was roundly loathed on the reality show)
posted by jonmc at 6:46 PM on September 5, 2005

I kind of agree with slow,man a little, but this:

the right is pitting themselves as the champion of the working class

...that might change after we see 10,000 working class dead.
posted by Miko at 6:59 PM on September 5, 2005

Exactly. And the left needs to hammer that home in campaigns. Make opposition to the war a class war issue. Tell 'em that GW is a pantywaist rich-boy fake who's sending their sons off to get killed but not his own. Do everything we possibly can to make Dubya remind them of their loathed boss.
posted by jonmc at 7:02 PM on September 5, 2005

Falconetti reports, you decide...
posted by Rothko at 7:19 PM on September 5, 2005

Huh. It doesn't look like it's "real news" but I sure hope it's true.
posted by mrgrimm at 7:51 PM on September 5, 2005

But jonmc, acting like an opposition party that wants to win would so be unmoderate and nonbipartisan, totally breaking with the tradition of the venerable Dukakis. Does anybody think the Democratic Party strategists would even know what "guts" might sound like?

Can anybody tell me, by the way, whatever happened to those DSOC and Trot "entryists" of long ago? I remember in the late '70s and '80s being "reassured" by my "moderate" elders that my concerns were being addressed "constructively" and "rationally" within the two-party system. Were they shittin' me or what?
posted by davy at 8:31 PM on September 5, 2005

It's intresting that such a good discussion came out of such a rediculous link.

And slow,man: listen. If you're going to lie to people, you have to at least tell them something beliveable. I mean, come on. I think the general problem is that Liberals are more intrested in 'the truth' and so politicos who feed them BS don't get very far in the dem hirarchey.

At least, I'd like to think so :P. Who knows.

Either way, comming up with stories like this isn't going to convince anyone, because they won't belive you without a lot of evidence.
posted by delmoi at 9:10 PM on September 5, 2005

My son recently returned from his second Iraq deployment. I spent a lot of time searching the net for news of his unit during the last year. I've seen a fair number of bogus reports such as this from bellaciao.

I haven't read a lot of posts on bellaciao, just the ones that turned in my particular searches. I eventually stopped bothering to read them.

Here are some links about the Tiger Brigade, the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Enhanced Separate Brigade:

Drawn from ¯|¯ª¤SBª¯|¯ --

Louisiana National Guard troops watch Katrina from Iraq (8/28/2005)

More than 3,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Brigade serving in Iraq can only watch from Baghdad as Hurricane Katrina bears down on their families and homes in New Orleans and the other south Louisiana communities from which they hail. The deployed soldiers and their equipment, which includes high water vehicles, Humvees and generators, will be sorely missed as Louisiana attempts to prepare for and recover from the historic Category Five storm.

The soldiers of the 256th are due home in October, assuming their tour isn’t extended to beef up US troop levels in Iraq for the October constitutional referendum and December general elections. Mississippi and Alabama, the other states under threat from Katrina’s second assault on the Gulf Coast, also have Guard contingents in Iraq, with 3,500 troops of Mississippi’s 155th Brigade Combat Team serving near Karbala and Najaf, while 140 Alabama Guard troops left last Sunday for training preparatory to joining some 2,000 Alabama troops already deployed overseas.

In Iraq, Troops Watch and Fret About Home (8/31/2005)

"It's a significant emotional event. Their families are on the forefront of the disaster," said Lt. Col. Jordan Jones of the 141st Field Artillery of the Louisiana National Guard.

"They're all watching TV, and some have seen their neighborhoods completely submerged in water."

Jones, from Luling, La., on the southwest bank of Lake Pontchartrain, said he hadn't been in touch with his family for three days because of clogged phone lines, but that his neighbors had helped board up his family's home.

"It's hard. A lot of soldiers are watching this play-by-play; they're having a hard time," said Lt. Taysha Deaton, a spokeswoman for the unit.
...
Asked how his troops felt being in Iraq while their state was in such difficulty, Jones replied: "Well, we all know our primary mission is the federal one.

U.S. Won't Relocate Soldiers for Katrina (9/1/05)

National Guard troops from Louisiana and other Gulf states will not be pulled out of Iraq ahead of schedule despite the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. command said Thursday.

Some units are due to leave next month anyway following a year in Iraq, but the process could take weeks to complete.

"They're not going to be leaving early as a result of the hurricane," Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told The Associated Press. He said the military had set up help lines for servicemen from the Southern states hardest-hit by the hurricane trying to contact family members.

Still, pressure appeared to be building for the hastened withdrawal of some troops from Iraq, allowing them to return to their flood-ravaged home states.

Brig. Gen. John P. Basilica, commander of the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Enhanced Separate Brigade, asked his division commanders in Baghdad to hasten the Louisiana-based brigade's departure, said Lt. Col. Jordan Jones, battalion commander of the New Orleans-based 141st Field Artillery Battalion, which is part of the brigade.

"We were on schedule to leave anyway and he was trying to expedite that," Jones said. The 256th could start leaving Iraq in about a week, if the departure was granted, and begin arriving in Louisiana a few days later.
...
But Lt. Col. Trey Cate said military officials were exploring ways to bring individual soldiers home to take care of their families who may have special needs after the devastating storm.

It could be tough to get service members to some especially hard-hit areas because of flooding or mandatory evacuations.

"There are lots of different options of getting soldiers back there," Cate said. "We're going to do our best to take care of the troops and their families."
...
Katrina struck as about 3,700 soldiers from the 256th were in the middle of preparations to return to their base in Lafayette, La., after spending nearly a year in combat in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad, said the 256th is expected to leave Iraq by November — if their deployment is not extended. Boylan said the Army was providing the Louisiana Guardsmen extra Internet and phone lines to contact family and friends affected by the hurricane.

Moving troops and equipment out of Iraq is a process that can take weeks. Most units enter and leave Iraq through Kuwait. Equipment earmarked for incoming units must be cleaned and repaired.

The 256th includes the 141st Field Artillery Battalion, based at Camp Liberty,
Saddam Hussein's palace complex near Baghdad International Airport. The 400-member unit has suffered one killed and several wounded during its tour in Iraq.

Lt. Taysha Deaton, a spokeswoman for the unit, said most of the soldiers had been glued to television sets watching scenes of their neighborhoods trying to cope with wind damage and flooding.

Gen.: Big Troop Increase in Iraq Unlikely (9/2/05)

Vines also said U.S. troops in Iraq whose family members were injured or killed by Hurricane Katrina may be allowed to go home, but those who have no confirmed casualties among family members will have to stay in Iraq.

Drawn from The Huffington Post --

National Guard unit to return from Iraq to Katrina (9/5/05)

"We have got several hundred soldiers that are coming back from a year in combat to this," said Samantha Bingham, a spokeswoman for Fort Polk, an army base northwest of New Orleans.

"Many, many of them are from southern Louisiana," Bingham said in a telephone interview.
...
The members of the unit will be given immediate four-day passes to give them time to figure out their situations, she said. They will then be given the option of demobilizing from active duty and going back to civilian life, Bingham said.

"They will also be given the option of going right back on active duty and serving as National Guard soldiers in the relief efforts," she said.

"The soldiers who lost their homes and their families are refugees, if they go back on active duty, they will be housed at Fort Polk." The rest will be the responsibility of the National Guard, she said.

Bingham said Fort Polk was busy setting up temporary housing in barracks for displaced members of the military and would find family housing for the long term.

The National Guard is mobilizing despite delays:

Drawn from Insomnia --

General Russel L. Honore, one of the highest ranking African-Americans in the Armed Forces.

He was praised strongly by New Orleans Mayor Nagin for his hardcharging, can-do attitude, and today he stood out on a street corner, personally directing the National Guard relief convoy through high floodwaters into the heart of New Orleans.

He's also the guy who told his troops "Point your weapons down, this is not Iraq."

By all indications, he sounds like a cigar-chomping, Pattonesque sonofabitch, but when trouble strikes, I want this guy on my side. Does anyone in the military out there who knows more about this guy? I would be glad to share...

Drawn from taosblog --

Iraq Vets Deploy from Taos to Hurricane Katrina Rescue

22 National Guard soldiers from the Taos-based 1115th Transportation Company, all veterans of the recent year-long deployment to Iraq, joined the New Mexico National Guard's 720th Transportation Company in Las Vegas, NM, to deploy to the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort.
...
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.

posted by taosbat at 9:20 PM on September 5, 2005

But jonmc, acting like an opposition party that wants to win would so be unmoderate and nonbipartisan, totally breaking with the tradition of the venerable Dukakis.

Really? Ya think?
posted by jonmc at 10:25 PM on September 5, 2005

Obligatory Quintron Derail for the Former Senator from the Great State of North Carolina:

So I checked on the itms to see if there were any Quintron albums I didn't have already and found I had missed one, downloaded it, just now got around to listening to it.

Really eerie song with Miss Pussycat on vocals: "Underwater Dance Club down in New Orleans, dancing on the sandbags, enter through the rear, no need to know where it is..."

With the CoE, various scientists and many publications, and now Mr. Quintron and Miss Pussycat predicting the current disaster, its hard to imagine how the government remained so ignorant.
posted by pandaharma at 10:39 PM on September 5, 2005

Another Obligatory Quintron Derail:

Even though they lost their house, they did escape NOLA with all their touring equipment, puppets, organs and drum buddies loaded into the van. So they at least have the things which were the most irreplaceable.
posted by pandaharma at 11:03 PM on September 5, 2005

MetaTalk
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:11 AM on September 6, 2005