Guarded by God, U.S. colonel hunts Iraqi guerrillas

[Tinoire]

21 Dec 2003 00:00:21 GMT
FEATURE-Guarded by God, U.S. colonel hunts Iraqi guerrillas

By Michael Georgy

TIKRIT, Iraq, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. officer leading the hunt for Iraqi guerrillas in Saddam Hussein's home town hones the rifle laser sight before raiding a suspected bombmaker's house.

But Lieutenant Colonel Steven Russell isn't nervous. He believes he has the best protection.

"If God doesn't intend for me to die in Iraq then nothing the enemy can do will make it so," he told Reuters.

"I have a strong belief in Jesus Christ as my lord and saviour."

<snip>

He is not your typical tobacco-chewing American soldier with nude centrefolds hanging in his barracks. Russell is a deeply religious family man who believes good old-fashioned American discipline and prayers will help lead him to Saddam's hardcore supporters.

"The diehards will just have to die hard," he said in an interview, sitting in one of Saddam's former palaces as American soldiers grunted and lifted weights nearby.

<snip>
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO833353.htm

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Great. Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore found Jesus.

Why does it seem like a significant portion of America's military leadership and officer corps is composed of raving nutjobs?

[tabasco]

30. Maybe because you don't know that many officers.

How many do you know? I knew a lot in the service and very few were bible-thumpers like this guy. VERY few.

[Spider Jerusalem]

48. I know several...

active-duty and retired (including a couple of ex-West Point instructors and a few naval aviators); they're all excellent individuals, but the ones who make the news (like this guy, like Gen. Boykin, like the psychotic chaplain who commandeered a swimming pool for improptu baptisms) seem to be totally insane.

[TheLastMohican]

47. Because it is a part of job description

You have to be a nutjob. Sane people don't live long under such conditions. And you have to be dumb too. Otherwise the experiment of indoctrination might not work on thinking people.

[karlschneider]

2. This guy is an insane motherfucker.

:grr:

[IndianaGreen]

8. We have met COL Water Kurtz!

"Are my methods unsound?"

-- Colonel Walter Kurtz

Apocalypse Now

[atreides1]

72. Not COL Kurtz

Colonel Kurtz was brave enough to live among the savages, this man calls the shots from a base camp surrounded by Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles manned by troops. God isn't protecting him,
this poor excuse for a commander is trying to pad his resume for when he retires.

Officers like this are what controls the military today, they are more then willing to send out the troops to die, and then they claim
the glory.

Maybe he should go walking through the town at night by himself, then we'll see if God is really protecting him.

[The Zanti Regent]

29. Ask my Nephew what he thinks of this ass.

While this clown struts like a third rate pimp and thumps his Bi-Bull, real men like my nephew went out and got shot.

My nephew now lay in Walter reed, a quadraplegic. An iraqui bullet cut his spinal cord. He doesn't want to hear any of that Jesus shit no more. He's 23 and his life is over thanks to assholes like Cap'n Jeeezuss

[Mari333]

54. Yes, the kids who died and are wounded, ask them

No one does, we arent even allowed to see them. and assholes like this guy make it a thousand times more dangerous for all of the ones over there with his insanity.

[LiberalFighter]

62. I agree

Those are the ones in Vietnam that would usually end up costing unwarranted troop deaths and early death for themselves. Sometimes as a result of a conspiracy within the ranks.

[Grins]

58. But...by this Colonel's thinking..

By this Colonel's thinking, God intended to make him a paraplegic.

And to carry it even further, it had to be God that intended to kill 3,000 people on 9/11, he intended to punish those in the Pentagon, he intended to kill those people with anthrax, etc.

The Colonel must conclude that it is his God that has it out for the United States because HE made an election go away (even HIS followers said so) and installed * in the White House, then attacked our people, buildings, economy, health, etc.

It's sad that the Colonel unthinkingly believes what he believes, and fails to see the same disparaging traits in others. The article ends with the Colonel saying, "They do believe that by some miracle or Allah's will or whatever they will return,..."

Read that sentence again Colonel, but change "Allah" to "Jesus" and see how foolish you sound.

[LiberalFighter]

63. They can't think that complex.

[ret5hd]

3. Save me jeebus...

while i kill them.

[kalian]

4. And does he love the smell of napalm in the morning....?

:eyes:
These people are dangerous. IMHO, I really think that they're on
some sort of crusade.

[RC]

7. Don't know if he is on crusade,

but is is obviously on something.

Maybe it is time we put non-religious people in charge of the military.

I am sick and tired of killing in the name of some higher god. If their god is so great and powerful, why can't s/he do its own killing?

[IndianaGreen]

22. LTC Russell wanted to put posters of Elvis wearing a big cross

in order to provoke a reaction from the Iraqis.

(See the links I provided elsewhere on this thread).

[Tinoire]

23. The man is warped. Sick. n/t

[montana_hazeleyes]

44. Leave Elvis out of this

Mr. Russell!

[number6]

5. Boykin Jr.

..his god has a bigger d#*& than those gur-ella's god

[grytpype]

6. Gott Mit Uns

[rooboy]

9. Yeah, they used it in 2 world wars and look where it got 'em..

jeez, even the country that had NO god kicked their butts.

[chessman]

10. Blasphemous Morons

This is pathetic...making fun of a US soldier for haveing faith under fire in a war. You guys are sad and blasphemous. I would like to see your butts over there and see if you start to think about the hereafter when your buddies are getting killed.

I suppose you consider yourselves the masters of tolerance and open-mindedness yet you ridicule a man who has faith in a time of serious danger to himself.

This is shameful and disgusting. Only cowards make fun of men who are brave enough to face danger and state their faith publically.

SAD VERY SAD..............

[FlemingsGhost]

13. LOL... When are you enlisting?

Didn't think so...

[IndianaGreen]

14. Been there, done that

and this Colonel strikes me as the sort of officer that would get his troops killed. If he were in Vietnam, he would be one of those that got "fragged" by his own troops.

[RedSock]

15. your choice

enlist or resist!

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PartyPooper]

18. Jesus was a man of peace...NOT war!

I'm sick and tired of civilians, certain military personnel, and government officials denegrating Jesus Christ...by invoking His name...whenever they decide they want to go after other human beings (slaughtering and maiming innocent souls) in a "cause" for "peace"...simply because they believe their crusade is justified in the eyes of God...and, "Jesus will protect us"! And, to do so in this illegal invasion of Iraq is particularly appalling and disgusting.

Gimme a friggin' break!

[Sapphocrat]

25. Brave, no. Unbalanced and hypocritical, yes.

Show me where Jesus said, "Go forth and slaughter Muslim children in my name, and in the name of Caesar, and in the pursuit of Caesar's oil -- and, oh, yeah, be sure to invoke my name as often as possible so that you can curse anybody who disagrees with you as a 'blasphemous moron.'"

You check your Bible for that while I hit the Alert button.

[IndianaGreen]

26. I think we need to hear people like chessman

if nothing else to prevent this place from becoming an echo chamber.

We know more now about the good LTC Russell than we did when the thread was first posted. We now know that Russell is borderline psychotic, a COL Kurtz in the making.

[FlemingsGhost]

34. Why are you relating to a film?

This is real life, Indy.

You want revolution. (I remember your early posts here at DU.) The flashpoint is coming. Are you ready.. or is this Hollywood?

[IndianaGreen]

37. We are far from a flashpoint, my friend

I am convinced that most Americans today are just like the Germans were in the early days of the Third Reich. The Holocaust was still some years away when Hitler became Chancellor in 1933.

I fear that many Americans, like the Germans, will not realize the true horrors of their regime until the very bitter end.

[Sapphocrat]

35. I hear what you're saying, IG...

...and when a rebuttal is presented in such a way that encourages mutual respect and two-way dialogue, I'm more than happy to respond in kind. But I don't think that blasting a group of people as "blasphemous morons" and "cowards" indicates a genuine desire for intelligent discussion.

[IndianaGreen]

38. I think the "morons" and the "cowards" was way out of line

particularly because many of us opposed to the war served honorably in the Armed Forces, and some continued to serve in a civilian capacity after their discharge, while some of the most hawkish supporters of the war did not serve at all.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[okieinpain]

36. the first thing I always ask people like him, is if you get shot in the

ass does that mean god doesn't love you anymore.

[Zhade]

45. No one's making fun of faith.

They're simply reacting reasonably to the insane notion that a true follower of Christ would kill. Anyone. Ever.

See, THAT'S the real blasphemy - to kill in Christ's name. You do understand that, yes? It comes through quite clear in Jesus' teachings.

[LiberalFighter]

64. How can anyone say that they are killing in Christ's name?

Wouldn't Christ had to tell his followers that is what he wanted?

[tkmorris]

49. I served Bud

This guy is an idiot. He will get people killed. I served, and I can say that. Did you?

[jukes]

55. Chessman

Only fools depend on myrthology to protect them when cynics put them in harm's way. I didn't find any superstitious bullshit to be very helpful in war, but I'm not insane or weak.

Which of our imperialistic aggressions provided you with your Revelations?

[PsN2Wind]

56. WWJK?

Cheeseman, Who would Jesus kill?
As I've said to other disruptors "When you kiss Rushs a**, try to avoid the cyst, it pains him so, he has to take drugs.

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FlaGranny]

66. If God likes this Colonel so much,

why does he hate all the GI's who have been killed and wounded, hmm? I guess the GI's who fought and died were undeserving of God's protection.

[atreides1]

73. Only One Coward Here

There is nothing wrong with having faith, what's wrong in this case is that this man belives that God is protecting him. But why did God let 3,000 people die in those towers, why did God let almost 7,500 Iraqi civilians die when we attacked Iraq.

Why has God let 463 American soldiers die, and left thousands wounded.
This man is behind concrete and sandbags most of the time, he orders his soldiers out on patrols and they get killed and wounded. Does he give his troops any credit for providing him the protection that has kept his ass alive all this time?

By the way I've already served my time in Desert Storm, when are you going to take your big mouth and enlist, or are you the type that thinks you're too good to put on a uniform, perhaps like Mr. Cheney, you have something better to do.

If this officer has so much faith he would walk around the town at night with nothing more then his sidearm and alone. But like General Boykins he uses God for his own ends, not faith.

By the way only cowards roust women and children, and fire on unarmed
civilians and are proud of their work, and the other kind of coward is the kind that accuse others of the act.

[kclown]

32. Someone please translate "Gott Mit Uns" for me

I have run across this in Eric Ambler as the punchline of a
joke, and I hate not getting a joke.

[MisterP]

33. "God is with us." (German)

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FlemingsGhost]

40. This was my post. It was deleted. I am proud...

For those who were able to read it, I stand by MY words, and MY thoughts.

(edited for clarity)

[AnnabelLee]

12. .

:puke:

[MisterP]

16. Lt. Col. Steve Russell

“In retaliation, American troops backed by Bradley fighting vehicles swept through Iraqi neighborhoods before dawn <today>, blasting houses suspected of being insurgent hideouts with machine guns and heavy weapons fire.
“ ‘This is to remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them,’ said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.”
--AP story, Nov. 8, after Black Hawk copter goes down.

“ ‘They are not allowed to go around kissing pictures of Saddam in this city,’ <Lt. Col. Steven> Russell said. ‘It will not happen.’
“Afterwards, Jaburi and Russell interviewed a middle-aged man in traditional Arab clothing who they suspect of inciting demonstrations.
“ ‘Look me in the eye. Let me make some-thing very clear,’ the American officer told the man over tea at the governor’s office.
“ ‘If our ears and eyes see and hear you are connected with demonstrations, and anti-coalition activities you will be going to jail for a very long time.’
--Reuters, Dec. 16

This is his third big story

[IndianaGreen]

19. Col Russell is also involved in the photoshop pics of Saddam in drag!

For God's sake, don't let's ask Lt-Col. Steve Russell

Following on from the US Department of Defense Science Board realising that American soldiers need to learn to "think": today's Guardian front page features a Reuters report: the 4th Infantry Brigade have had what Lt-Col. Steve Russell calls a "devious" idea: they're going to get some Photoshopped images of Saddam off the web and make them into posters to plaster all over Tikrit.

Never mind training them to think before pulling the triggers and pressing the FIRE buttons: why don't you just train them to think?

<snip>

Lt.-Col. Russell, you will remember, was the commanding officer whose men opened fire on and killed some civilians for removing from their car what might have been bomb-making equipment.

Google cache of Hangingday

U.S. encircles Saddam's village in barbed wire

By Katarina Kratovac and Sameer N. Yacoub
ASSOCIATED PRESS

UJA, Iraq — American soldiers yesterday cordoned off the village where Saddam Hussein was born, suspecting this dusty farming community of being a secret base for funding and planning assaults against coalition forces.

"There are ties leading to this village, to the funding and planning of attacks against U.S. soldiers," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, a battalion commander with the 4th Infantry Division, which is based in nearby Tikrit.

<snip>

The operation in the village of Uja, 19 miles north of Baghdad, began before dawn with hundreds of U.S. troops and Iraqi police. They erected a fence of barbed wire, stretched over wooden poles, and laid spirals of razor wire around the village, a cluster of mud-and-brick homes set in orchards of pears and pomegranates about six miles south of Tikrit.

Checkpoints were set up at all roads leading into the village of an estimated 3,500 residents, many of them Saddam's clansmen and distant relatives.

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20031031-111420-3880r.htm

Hussein bodyguard captured
Associated Press
Posted 7/29/03

TIKRIT, Iraq - U.S. soldiers captured one of Saddam Hussein's bodyguards during a raid early Tuesday in the former dictator's hometown, where hours earlier troops found enough anti-tank mines and gunpowder for a month of attacks on American forces.

The military reported a U.S. soldier killed in an attack in the capital Monday, while guerrillas blew up a major civilian bridge in an attempt to disrupt the U.S. occupation.

During the pre-dawn Tikrit raid, soldiers fired two shots before storming a house to capture the suspected bodyguard, whose name wasn't released. He was escorted from the home minutes later, blood seeping through his hat.

"We got our prime target," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell. "This man was a close associate of Saddam Hussein."

http://www.dailyherald.com/special/iraq/wwi_paststory.asp?intID=3783166

[IndianaGreen]

21. LTC Russell's brainstorm of using of 'Zsa-Zsa Saddam'

The idea was nixed by the Pentagon, but not before it made the news:

U.S. deploys 'Zsa-Zsa Saddam'
Monday, August 18, 2003 Posted: 1453 GMT (10:53 PM HKT)



TIKRIT, Iraq -- He has been portrayed as a monster, a murderer and a genocidal dictator.

Now U.S. troops are giving us a whole new vision of Saddam Hussein -- a blonde-haired movie goddess with rouged lips and a low-cut blouse.

"Zsa Zsa Saddam" is one of a series spoof images of the ousted Iraqi dictator that are due to be posted on walls and billboards around his former stronghold of Tikrit by troops of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion 22nd Armored Regiment.

<snip>

"The bad guys are going to be upset," Lt. Col. Steve Russell told Reuters. "Which will just make it easier for us to know who they are."

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/18/sprj.irq.saddam.pictures/

[LizW]

53. This guy's racking up some pretty infamous quotes

Is this not the very definition of a Crusade:

"'We will take the fight to the enemy at every turn. We are not going to hand out lollipops to them. You use a bullet for those who can't be convinced,' he said."

Notice he's specifically talking about the children of Tikrit here. Of what, I wonder does he want to convince them? To accept Christianity, uh, I mean Democracy?

[MisterP]

68. which story was that from?

link?

[LizW]

69. The one linked in the original message

The quote is down near the end of the article.

[LiberalFighter]

65. This is guy is totally sick!!

Where the hell does he live? Naturally the story doesn't state where he is from.

[IndianaGreen]

20. LTC Russell with Paul Wolfowitz (picture)

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz discusses progress and needs of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps with U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell, battalion commander for Task Force 1-22 Infantry in Tikrit, Iraq, Oct. 25. Photo by Donna Miles

http://www.dod.mil/news/Oct2003/n10292003_200310293.html

More pictures of the godly Colonel here:

http://c22inf.bravepages.com/iraqifreedompagefour.htm

[number6]

24. now I,m certain this guy is a mental case

kinda looks like Barney Fife

[NNN0LHI]

41. Does Wolfowitz wear a brassiere, or what? n/t

[IndianaGreen]

42. Ooooh, I missed that one!

Looks like he has a hormonal problem. Perhaps that is why he is such a warmonger, it makes him feel more macho.

[Judi Lynn]

46. I noticed this a couple of months ago, in this photo (omigod):

Remember Seinfeld, when George's dad decided to invent a "manssierre?"

Wolfowitz would be a good candidate:

[SoCalDem]

51. He's a scary little troll of a man

[thebigidea]

71. whoah - there's one to save for later use

[donsu]

60. he probably eats a lot of hormone stuffed meat

haven't you noticed more and more men with breasts?

[mikehiggins]

28. Holy Jesus! That's just scary... eom

[teryang]

31. This is a form of political ring knocking

...that became popular in the Army during the eighties. The born agains helped themselves politically by patronizing each other for assignments and promotions. God has nothing to do with it. It is particularly desirable for non academy types who otherwise are at a disadvantage.

So if you are in the armed forces and your superior officer asks you to get on your knees (to pray) keep in mind that if you don't, you probably won't get promoted.

[LiberalFighter]

67. Did a google and it appears Russell gets a lot of press

[Old and In the Way]

74. This guy is in for the stars......

I'll bet we're seeing this Republican generation's Ollie North being groomed before our eyes. Might even be their 2008 candidate. No question he's a publicity hound.

[lebkuchen]

39. At least he'll the lord to carry him through when he loses an appendage

or two, or three.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

43. and this is not a Religious war

Nothing to do with the idea that our god's better than your god .
We're bringing peace and democracy door to door, building by building.

[PsychoDad]

52. Of course...

The less buildings left standing the less door to door sales they have to do. :silly:

And the more children killed, the less potental pesky swing voters you have in the new Iraqi "democracy" (tm)

[SoCalDem]

50. If God is on "your side", you can do no wrong..

It's a slick way to do anything to anyone, and feel justified..

Religious zealots should not be allowed command.. It's too tempting to send others out to die for YOUR beliefs..:(

Disgusting..

[0007]

57. The man of the year on Time Magazine should have been ..

a wounded soldier with missing limbs in Walter Reed Hospital. 'Tis indeed telling how we treat our own.

And this Lieutenant Colonel Steven Russell coming across with a Christian hero attitude, like the chosen one.

Nothing wrong with some Christians, it is just a few that make the rest look like nut cases.

[enki23]

70. not quite right

nothing wrong with *some* christians, it's just the vast majority of christians who make them look like fools.

[Hobarticus]

61. Deeply religious soldier...

Ohh-kay. Biggest oxymoron I've ever heard.

Reading Scripture while killing your fellow man, under any circumstances, is hardly what Jesus had in mind, from what I've read.

Anything to make yourself feel better, I guess.

[WildThang]

75. More from the article

"It is a challenge because they assume so much about us that is just not true. They assume that we are Zionists or are here to take over all of the oil of Iraq or to spread a crusade in the Middle East," said Russell.

"It is just bizarre. The power of the rumour in this culture is mind boggling."

...

YA THINK?

[jsw_81]

76. Wonderful

So now we have the Talibornagain fanatics fighting the Iraqi fanatics. Great.

[gate of the sun]

77. there is so much that we can say about this

first of all if he does die does that mean god intended him to?
it also implies that "god" is on our side.
this implies a holy war of sorts I suppose the evil ones will be brought down and the rightous saved.

Just rambling thoughts

more.....
Do you think if this guy well expires searching for Iraqi guerilla's we will hear about it?

Side note on what a typical soldier is....tobacco chewing, centerfolds? what kind of crap is this........

the diehards will just have to die hard?

this sounds like big brother using christianity to create an image plus a criterial of who "won't die" finding the evildoers.

give me a break.