Sgt. Chris Vinderslev: Interview

Sgt. Chris Vinderslev of the 134th Brigade Support Battalion with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard talks about his responsibilities with the unit during the deployment, housing the transient Soldiers passing through the camp and his feelings on the draw down. The Minnesota National Guard has played a significant role in the war in Iraq. Since 2003, more than 8,000 Minnesota National Guard Citizen Soldiers and Airmen have been deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and operation New Dawn. Today, more than 2,700 members of the Minnesota National Guard are currently deployed in Kuwait, and are providing security for remaining convoys as they withdraw from Iraq, in addition to managing and protecting the military bases throughout Kuwait. Through the professionalism of the Soldiers and support of their hometown communities, employers, and families, the Minnesota National Guard completed all missions in Iraq with success and honor. LINK

Wikileaks releases nearly 400,000 new secret Iraq docs, with help from news orgs

IMAGE: Each death noted in the Iraq war logs released today by Wikileaks is mapped with Google Maps, by the Guardian.


Wikileaks has just published The Iraq War Logs, described as "the largest classified military leak in history."

The 391,832 reports document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a 'SIGACT' or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout. The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths.That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period.

The Guardian is among the first news orgs to publish analysis, and leads with the statement that the files show how the US turned a blind eye to torture in Iraq, and "expose serial abuse of detainees, 15,000 previously unknown deaths, and a full toll of Iraq's five years of carnage." LINK: Boingboing

Also more on this at the link above.

The Return from Iraq ( Surprise Homecoming )

Her father just arrive from Iraq and she doesn't know it. Very sad video. LINK, Via: Neatorama

"Lost in Battle" AN IRAQI SOLDIER

This stencil took 4 to 5 hours to complete. All music is royalty free music from garage band. To straighten out some questions the background it is supposed to be a sunset or sunrise.
By: Peter Betts. LINK: Youtube