Travis Haley & John Lovell Discuss Blackwater, Najaf and the #1 Attribute of a Warrior 

Dang it. I thought I had an original comment, but nope, you beat me to it 😂

All hail the Clone Father!

😂

No shit. Good to know. And I can see it now, lol

Made my day

Really that's his dad. G

Damn, it HAS been 20 years since my first tour. I don't remember everytime I was told "Don't shoot" but one of the ones that sticks out to me is the first time we got hit with an IED. Outskirts of Sadr City at night, spotted a dude on a minaret with AK, binocs, and radio set. Explained the situation to my platoon sergeant in the truck with me, and asked if I could smoke the guy. "Not unless he's shooting at us." 15 minutes later when we had turned around and headed back down the road(Combat Engineers doing route clearance) we got hit with our first IED. Dude wasn't on the minaret anymore. Those events piss me off more than the IEDs I got hit with later on. More even than when we lost comrades and even my team leader. Another dude I DID get to shoot turned out to be a civvie who made a mistake. Fuckin hell, what a shitshow.

Its the people you fought against, and the people you worked for that was the problem...Semper Gumby...stay flexible.

Having been in Fallujah as part of 3/4’s assault into the city, and then returning as combat replacement to Najaf with 1/4 , after the militia was destroyed at the mosque, I find this statement questionable. 1. No one had Sadr “dead to rights”. He was holed up in the Mosque with 1/4 and the rest of the MEU queuing up to assault the mosque and the parking garage when that pilot dropped the JDAM on the parking garage and destroyed their center of gravity. This ended the hostilities. And the MEU commander, Col Haslam, allegedly tried to court Marshall the pilot. That Pilot saved countless lives as the entire place was daisy rigged to blow. What set Sadr off was when CAAT destroyed his security detail 3 weeks prior when they stupidly attacked CAAT when they drove by his house. And there was the utter destruction of the Ag University. 2. Damage payments were made to the local population in response to the Iranians offering to give Sadr $5 million to restart the militia after he surrendered. The US wasted money and paid out 5 to 1 over the Iranians. Sadr di-died out of there to Sadr City. He was still wanted and targeted. Side note, I have pictures of his abandoned house. We were not working with him and actively worked with Sistani to limit Sadrs power.

@@Peter-mf6gd Me: "I remember having Al-Sadr dead-to-rights, hiding in the mosque, being told to stand-down." You: "I find this statement questionable." Also you: "He was holed up in the mosque with 1/4... queuing up to assault the mosque... when that pilot dropped the JDAM... This ended the hostilities." If you're going to try to counter what I said, you should probably actually say something counter to what I said. You repeated exactly what I said, only with more words. Good job. As for the U.S. working with al-Sadr, when I returned with RCT-8, in early 2005, he was on the "No Target List" and had told the Mahdi Militia not to target U.S. forces. Furthermore, he attended meetings with the "State Department" and there were reports of him being made an OGA asset. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that we were not allowed to target him with the context that if we killed/captured him, we'd cause a sectarian war, which we were still attempting to avoid. So, great job repeating what I said, only with more words, while claiming what WE said to be "questionable." You really showed me! LOL

I will agree that the US was strange bedfellows with Al-Sadr after 2004. He won 30+ seats in the government and proved himself a capable statesman. So we HAD to sit at the table with him. He never changed his spots toward the US and was frequently fighting US forces in Baghdad and Basra in 2006. As far as him being an asset, he has always been outspoken and counter to US policy. I can’t see him working for the US. Having him dead to rights- you don’t make a 3rd martyr out of the same family. He knew that and used it to walk away and gain power. You are correct about the targeting after 2004 up to 2006. 2006 he started again and went into self exile to avoid k/c.

Thank you for recognizing that people learn differently. It's so true.

He's flannel grandaddy?

​@@joecam1167....... isn't it obvious?

An oversight! My b

Travis didn't have the experience as Thumb , but Travis Hailey is a very squared away dude. Recon and Blackwater team leader

That’s because Tim Kennedy is a tool and a half.

It’s a tough choice though, most of the three letter agencies are just as bad. FBI was just as involved in Waco and Ruby Ridge