Category Archives: Me
Do No Harm
Two weeks ago I was in Iraq drawing cartoons for happy soldiers headed home to Fort Hood. A few days earlier I had drawn troops, doctors, and other medical staff at Walter Reed hospital in Washington, DC.
Fortunately, I didn’t meet anyone like Major Nidal M. Hasan. In 2007, as a resident at Walter Reed, Dr. Hasan gave a “medical lecture”. You can read about it in this Washington Post story by Dana Priest. Along with talk about beheading and boiling oil (UK Telegraph) he says, “we love death more than you love life”.
That kind of talk may cause you to miss your flight at the airport, but Hasan was sent to Fort Hood as a psychiatrist. At Fort Hood he gave away his possessions and, while shouting Allahu Akbar, allegedly shot 43 people, killing 13. His former Imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, on the lam in Yemen, called Hasan a hero.
I hadn’t figured on jihad in Texas.
As for claims that Hasan was just one more stressed out GI, David Ignatius, of the Washington Post, thinks the military “may be the most resilient part of American society right now”.
Comments
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More Stuff About Our USO Trip
Okay. Here are my pictures from the trip. I recommend the slide show. I like it. We did a lot in a few days and I’ve been a little confused due to jet lag. For example I have no memory of staying over-night in Germany. But I do remember the shower door opening from a corner, same as last year. I may have lost my mind but I know I’m clean.
Thankfully, Mad magazine’s Tom Richmond has a comprehensive account of the entire trip. As if he can be believed. However, I’m intimidated enough by his caricatures to accept whatever he says. Please go to his site to see what really happened. Thanks.
David Ignatius really rides with the helicopter swells. And he knows what he’s talking about. Here’s what he had to say about the Sunday Baghdad bombings.
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USO Cartoonists Trip II
Well, that was interesting. I’m safe at home now on a quiet Ohio Sunday with my wife and daughter on fall break. I slept for hours, watched football with friends, and mowed up the leaves in the back yard. Meanwhile suicide bombers killed 147 people in Baghdad. The Wall Street Journal says the prime minister blamed al Qaeda and Baath party members.
Our friends asked where I’ve been. Um, Baghdad, Mosul, flying around in Blackhawk helicopters (go here to see our gunner in action), hitting golf balls off the veranda at Saddam’s lodge (go here to see my porch swing), sitting in his chair at his palace, feeding his fish, that sort of thing.
Here we are at the Baath Party House in Baghdad.
Tom Richmond; USO photo by Jackie Zettles
Things weren’t always weird.
We began our trip by visiting wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda. They were mostly young Marines wounded by improvised explosive devises in Afghanistan. Their mom’s, dads, and girlfriends were with them. Grandparents too. One young marine was joined by his wife and newborn twins. Another by his two sons and 17 year old daughter. He said he loved his job and wanted to return to his unit.
They were an inspiring bunch but not all of one mind. One kid, hit by an IED, said that getting blown up once for his country was enough.
They all appreciated the pictures we drew for them but some seemed to like them more than others.
From there our USO handler,Tracy Thede, hustled us off to Frankfurt, Germany and on to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center & USO Wounded Warriors Center.
USO photo by Jackie Zettles
At Landstuhl we drew doctors, nurses, administrators, brass, and bottle washers.
Next stop was Ramstein Air Base where we encountered families of troops leaving for Afghanistan as well as some returning troops. We drew them all.
Landstuhl, Germany; USO photo by Jackie Zettles
Landstuhl, Germany;USO photo by Jackie Zettles
Then it was back to the Frankfurt airport. We were always surrounded by Americans, either on planes, on bases, in hospitals or in our very cool bus . I didn’t feel like we had really left the USA. That was about to change.
We arrived in Kuwait at night and, as Tracy issued our body armor in the Persian Gulf humidity, she announced that we were considered high value targets. I don’t think Tracy’s warning had quite the effect she was going for. Given the current state of the newspaper cartoon business, being considered a high value anything is a great achievement.
We also learned that Kuwaiti citizens receive $10,000 a month in oil royalties – like Alaskans, only better. Our appeals for asylum were denied. We did, however, get to stay in a swanky hotel with excellent food.
Jeff Bacon draws; USO photo by Jackie Zettles
The next morning we visited camp Arifjan and the Area Support Group for Kuwait. They have a rec center with bingo, world series poker and an early release theatre. There is also soccer, flag football, and basketball.
The Peach Tree 10k race is very popular on the 4th of July. The temperature in July runs 115-130.
Another hard to believe bit of information is that they import sand from Saudi Arabia for construction. The Kuwaiti sand is too fine and it gets into everything. I’m still coughing it here in Akron.
We moved on to Camp Buerhing, a defensive camp in the north of Kuwait.
Tom Richmon, Mike Peters, and Jeff Keane; USO photo by Jackie Zettles
Next we drew for the troops at Camp Virginia and then dragged ourselves back to the hotel for dinner.
Tomorrow would be the big day – Iraq.
Suited up in kevlar, we boarded a C-17 transport for Iraq. It’s like a huge flying basement with exposed pipes and wiring. We landed in a war zone and bravely made our way into the base… with its swimming pool, hot tubs, computer games and 24 hour chef on call. It was an R and R base. Guys were lounging around in shorts and t-shirts. We looked… colorful.
Stephan Pastis, Gary Trudeau, and Jeff Keane on C-17
Mike Ramirez guards the rear
The next day was awesome. Left at 8:30a.m. got back at 10:30p.m.. We flew all over Iraq in Black Hawk helicopters! I had the seat right behind the gunner first thing in the morning. He gave me earphones so I could hear everything and ask questions. They flew over a shooting range on the way to our first base and let loose with the machine guns. He told me over the headphones what was about to happen but the other guys were out of the loop. They were not pleased with my failure to communicate.
We went all the way to Mozul in northern Iraq. We drew tons of pictures and were a big hit. Blast walls were everywhere with bunkers and sandbags. They don’t see much action anymore and they seem to contract everything out. Iraqis do the patrols and they have Ugandans handlling camp security.
Supreme council of the National Cartoonists Society
Morning coffee
Tea for Two Million
I was in DC at the American History Museum on Saturday to sign copies of The Great White House Breakout, a children’s book I co-authored with Helen Thomas. I signed quite a few books for Tea Party protesters coming in from the Mall.
They seemed friendly for angry people. A guy from New Jersey told me there were a million and a half people on the Mall but that the MSM would call it tens of thousands. Technically that wouldn’t be wrong. It would just be a question of how many tens of thousands. Sure enough Sunday’s Post described Tens of Thousands of protesters.
Conservative protesters aren’t in your face like progressive protesters. They’re also funnier, although Billionaires for Bush were pretty funny at the 2004 GOP convention in NY. Some on the left have called the Tea Party types right wing terrorists. That’s so over the top that many protesters now identify themselves as Right Wing Terrorists. One guy took it a step further by adopting another popular pejorative, Tea Bagger. He was dressed in a giant burlap bag with 2 real tea bags dangling from it and a sign saying, “dip me in Boston Harbor again”.
