A Plan To Kill Everyone by Michael Totten

That has pretty much been my motto from my drug interdiction days, and has saved my behind more than once.

From Michael Totten:

“Do you have plates in that Kevlar?” one Marine sergeant said to me as I donned my body armor on our way into the city. He was referring to steel SAPI plates that fit inside Kevlar vests that can stop even a sniper round.

“No,” I said, and I didn't care. The odds that I, personally, would be the first person shot in Fallujah for months were microscopic.

“Look,” he said. “You are not gonna get shot. But you should still carry some plates.”

One lieutenant forced me to wear Marine-issue body armor – which weighs almost 80 pounds – before he would let me go out on patrol with him. I felt like Godzilla lumbering around with all the extra bulk and weight, and I didn’t really feel safer. Running while carrying those extra pounds all of a sudden wasn’t much of an option. Sacrificing most of my speed and agility to make myself a little more bullet-proof might not be worth it. But perhaps that’s just what I told myself so I could justify wearing lighter and more comfortable armor. It’s hard to say. What I do know for certain is that Fallujah at the end of 2007 was neither scary nor stressful. No one can go there right now without feeling what is perhaps a dangerous sense of complacency.

But complacency kills. The Marines are reminded of this fact every day, as was I when I traveled and worked with them.

The day I arrived at India Company's Forward Operating Base, which had been converted from an old train station, all the Marines had to attend readiness training classes designed to offset complacency.

“Too many Marines are getting complacent and lax,” Captain Glenn said. “Complacency is as potentially deadly as an IED at this point.”

Source: Michael Totten

While you are on the website, donate a little if you can afford to do so. You would be surprised to know how many people just kick in $5 or $10 periodically. I am one of them.

Remember all the bad press about Fallujah when it looked like we might be in trouble there. Now that things are much better, you don't hear much about it.

I also remember Senate Majority Leader, Senator Harry "Surrendercrat" Reid declaring the war lost, and victory hopelss. The same with the "Traitor of Johnstown" Congressman Jack Murtha.

Always remember that these people put politics, and their hatred for President George W. Bush above politics, and our service men and women. Never forget that for a second.