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Running an ISP in a Warzone
musatov writes "SGT Coughanour, David A (HHC 1-110th Infantry US Army) speech on NOTACON 3: "Right now I am currently serving in Iraq where I run IT operations for a small chunk of the Sunni triangle. One of the major projects that we have accomplished here is setting up an ISP that supports 350 subscribers. It has also survived multiple mortar attacks, and is built entirely on Linux."
Download video (80 MB QuickTime) Requires latest QuickTime installed. A mirror is available for people to download it."
I used to work at an ISP in Detroit.
Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
Maybe it IS possible to run an ISP in Manchester (UK) after all!
Who'd a thunk it?
I've always found disaster recovery plans to be an annoying necessity in large businesses. I'd hate to see all the other paperwork that would be needed if my systems were subjected to mortar attacks. That certainly justifies the need for clustering over a WAN.
Multiple mortar attacks would explain a lot about my isp.
Here's the best line: "And there are couple of reasons why we do it: The uh...the DoD gives us an MWR cafe, for every 1000 troops you get something like 6 to 12 computers. And that's great, except some of the grey-list sites are kind of blocked so basically you can't get porn off it, among other things."
Runner up:
"Managed to get a Power Mac G5 smuggled in from eBay"
"These people look deep within my soul and assign me a number based on the order in which I joined" --Homer re:
Bulletproof hosting..
This sig all sigs devours
Now that's running Linux in sandbox mode.
For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
If they can survive putting an 80MB video file on the front page of /., well, lets just say I'll be far more impressed.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Linux...easy.. The hard task is doing that with Windows.
To dare, is to do.
Is there anything Linux can't do?
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
It's about time that TCP/IP was tested in the conditions it was designed for.
Seriously, other that to act as a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army, what's the news here? All-Linux mom-and-pop size ISPs have been the norm, I think, as far back as 1994 or so.
but you have to DL quicktime for windows to watch the video
See. If he hadn't been running Linux, I don't think he'd have uptime through those mortar attacks. Windows just can't handle that kind of abuse. I think that's an oft-forgotten selling point of Linux that should be cited more often.
Yeah, your OS has cool graphics. But how does it stand up against a mortar attack?
They also have to watch out for TCP/IP packets that arrive out of ordnance.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
Linux really is a bulletproof OS!
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, KIA = 0 (0% KIA)
When the a Mac in the war zone they have a display an small IED (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_explosive _device ) on the screen?
But Windows systems are good in a war zone, a soldier can easily use the BSOD function.
Fight Spammers!
They're not insurgents. They're terrorists.
main(0)
I thought Mario and company will finally get Internet service when they go to the Warp Zone.
I wonder if anyone has tried that for real. Some sort of multiple server system up and running when someone puts a bullet through one without the system missing a beat. Now that's a video that would get some attention, both for the insanity and technical merit.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Lets see, there's the Linux angle, with optional (anti)piracy garnish.
Then there's the Iraq angle.
Then there's the "we should be feeding people before we bother to set up ISPs in the 3rd world angle".
Gosh.
S/N ratio dropping to zero in 10...9....8....7....
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Talk about a Denial of Service attack.
Talk about proving an o/s ! Now Linux needs to be tested under Mars conditions only.
Read radical news here
"And that's great, except some of the grey-list sites are kind of blocked so basically you can't get porn off it, among other things."
I wonder how good their access to news is considering that 85% of our troops think that their role in Iraq is to retaliate against Saddam for his role in 9-11. There seems to be a disconnect between what the troops believe and what the President has publicly stated before and after the war started.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
It's just very, very neat to see how people do technical work like this in adverse situations.
I'm passing this one on to my branch's VP of disaster planning. He's very cool, and likes to have a little "extra" to hit people over the head about good planning.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
The subject line says it all...
You're just bitter because:
1. You didn't showboat before he did
2. You have a small penis and are overly defensive
Seriously, nobody made you watch this.
KIA packets are fine, you know they are dead. You have to watch out for those MIA (Missing in Action) packets. I would imagine that your enemy is trying to capture as many as possible and then interrogate them to get some useful information.
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
Let's see them survive a mortar hit.
I was stationed at Camp Taqaddum for about 10 months in 2005. The MWR internet center was across camp a few miles so I decided to set up my own satellite based connection. Peak usage was about 80 soldiers and marines, fed off of multiple wireless APs.
The ability to be in constant communication with family while we were not out on missions (we did security patrols of our Area of Operation) was a great boost to morale. Web cams and email meant you could see and talk to the people that mattered most to you.
We sold the operation to another unit just before we left, and there were 3 other systems I helped set up in our area serving other groups.
To the current soldiers, marines, and others at Camp Taqaddum: Give 'em Hell and keep your buddyies safe!
Let's see them survive a /.ing. THEN I'll be impressed.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
It has also survived multiple mortar attacks,
But more importantly, can it survive a slashdotting?
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
Here are a few mirrors to use up. I'll probably bring them down after a few TB of transfer...
6 _hajjinet.mp4
0 6_hajjinet.mp4
New Jersey
http://www.def-con.org/~nocfed/downloads/notacon0
Texas
http://www2.def-con.org/~nocfed/downloads/notacon
Are they using HP Storageworks maybe?
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/cache/49205-0-0-225
This certainly gives "Blue Screen of Death" a whole new meaning.
NOTACON? Sounds like an ISP funded by Nixon.
I guess the US army and its associates are fighting an illegal war.
Anyhow, this will probably be one of your most favorite sites: http://icasualties.org/oif/
My guess is: everything is going very well...
I'm waiting for the day the number on the above website will equal the number of casualties
of the WTC-disaster. After all, the war in Iraq is supposed to have something to do with 9/11???
Doesn't it...
Cheer up!
It should be: /Fark reference, originally "Not particularly. . ."
Particularly effecitve against an insurgency.
no WRONG... howevermuch you disagree with them they are NOT terrorists they are fighting against an occupation of their country by a foreign power and even if you agree with the aims and objectives of that operation (I don't by the way, or rather I do not believe the stated aims and objectives; democracy and the rule of law. Nowhere in them is oil mentioned!)
Even calling them insurgents is being a bit disingenuous although by stretching a point I could agree. However unpalatable 'freedom fighters' is more the correct term, at least by any dictionary definition.
since the one in the summary has stopped working already...
http://www.lassitu.de/notacon06_hajjinet.mp4
So a Soldier in Iraq avoided hostile fire, an extremely ineffective logistics system, a broken mail system, US Army censorship, and demands on his time from his day job to set up a computer system that allows him information that he couldn't get elsewhere. That goes to show the initiative of the NCO in our Army today, as well as how pointless it is to censor information. **AA should figure that out. I know the Army is trying to deal with blogs leaking information, and they have a lot more power over their people than the **AA does over its "customers." (Although I am sure the **AA is jealous of the entire Gitmo thing.)
http://bgcommonsense.blogspot.com
computers don't care if bullets are fired near it. and if bullets were fired at it, then it wouldn't matter what OS it was running.
I IM chat with one of my high school buddies that is serving in Iraq. They get about 1/2 an hour of computer use to email friends and family. My friend logs in and checks the class bulletin board and chats with whomever is online. So far, it has worked. One thing he noticed was the he was not able to run some chat java applets. Other than that, it works well and at least I'm happy to know that he's still well.
Vi havas e-poston.
Yep, that's the one. Damnnit.
Got modded troll by non-Fark readers too.
Get your own free personal location tracker
This was a cool video! Mod it up!
Spoken like someone who has never beeen there!
Gives a new meaning to the term "The Server Crashed"
As someone who was over there I really wonder where zorby.com got their info. 85% think we are there to retaliate against Saddam; nope. I'ld have to say that 85% percent believed we were there for the oil (granted this was at the beginning of the war, immediately after the WMD fiasco). I'ld even say that 15% still believe that we are there for WMD. But noone I know thought it was ever about Saddam and a link to 9/11.
Then you've got the Sunni vs Shia mini-war, which Hussein kept suppressed while he was in power.
There's also a whole bunch of asshats streaming in from other countries so they can "pursue jihad against the infidel" or whatever they call it.
My patience is infinite, my time is not.
Sgt. Coughaner was quoted afterward, "We survived the Sunni Triangle, but got 0WN3D by Slashdot!"
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
Last I heard, only about 25% of the population has power at any given time. Try fixing that first, before you start bragging about an ISP.
Blar.
Parent makes a valid point.
.....
/former ISP employee
I don't think you CAN do this with windows! To have all the functions that a rag-tag ISP needs, DNS, REG-AUTH, WWW, GW, DHCP, PROXY, FIREWALL, BACKUP's & secondary services..... (and those services I've forgot), ALL running on minimal HARDWARE INFRASTRUCTURE.. Equate his 'Gateway' PC to run running Windows Server 2K/2K3 and software for ALL those services, and see if it holds up performance wise (P4, 2G ram, 170 user online max ??). Sorry, Windows on that machine w/ the matching software for services WOULD NOT be able to handle its role.
The security aspect of running it all on windows is a whole different can o' worms
I'd like someone to point to an ISP operation 'like that in TFA', that runs solely on windows. Any ISP worth a grain of salt has *nix spread where critical infrastructure is required!!!!
...to the term DMZ.
The coolest system of the three that Tachyon offers is the 'Auto-Deploy CAS' system, where you just plug it in, push a button and the thing finds the satellite on it's own.
A bit spendy, but we've found them to be the most reliable solution for broadband communications.
we see things not as as they are, but as we are.
-- anais nin
Yeah because it's obvious that he was speaking about the entire effort in Iraq instead of just himself and a handful of guys.
Do you LIKE being a twat?
That guy is going to get a great job when he ETSs.
That was a great presentation and gave me a lot of great ideas.
Get over it...
I Like the riders in the video:
... personal injury .. if you perform a similar test"
.308, I suggest a B61 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb) although Im not sure if your right to arms extends to these....
"The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty..."
and
"HP shall not be liable for any damages... lost profits, business interruption
So anyone out there (especially in the states where you are allowed to arm yourselves to defend against rogue HP Disk Arrays and such like) thinking this would be a good idea should think again. And remember, to completely erase data on a HP disk array you will have to use something more efficient than
They're fighting against an occupation by killing their countrymen? Have you SEEN the casualty figures? These fuckers kill something like 10 Iraqis for every 1 US soldier. I don't remember George Washington blowing up crowded markets in order to kill 3 British soldiers, or putting American children in the path of British horses and then blowing up all of them when the brits come to a stop.
Whatever term you decide to use for them, don't for one minute beleive that their goals have anything to do with freeing Iraq from opression or occupation. The vast majority of your "insurgents" employ terrorist tactics, and their ultimate goals have more to do with gauranteeing power for themselves and their supporters than with bringing freedom to the average Iraqi. If that doesn't make them terrorists, then you must be employing a very unusual definition for that word.
This is actually a bug, Linus will release a patch in a day to correctly explode in a motar attack.
My Hello World is 512 bytes. But it's also a valid Fat12 boot sector, Fat12 file reader, and Pmode routine.
Good. I figured that access to news probably wasn't blocked and reget insinuating that it might be.
A more logical guess is a lack of time and interest in the news and a greater trust for what your commanders and buddies believe than what the media says. Is that the case?
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Our troops do try to help where they can w/ water, power and food. Sadly, the insurgents destroy most of their and the Iraqi governments efforts. As far as this guy setting up an ISP for his soldiers to stay in touch with their families and keep up with current events, I say more power to him. As far as you saying "So what" to his efforts, then I feel sorry for you. Unless you have been over there, then I think you have not the slightest clue about what you are speaking. Try not to belittle our troops, please. They did not choose to go to Iraq and they may or may not believe in the war itself, but I think it shows alot of ingenuity that they can set up a network that can stay up in those harsh conditions. Also, since I am in the military and I know firsthand what these brave soldiers are going through, I feel compelled to let you know that I think you are a complete F-tard. Stop parroting whatever hollywood and the news media crap out onto you tv. If you think that the U.S. military isn't bending over backwards to help these people, then you need to either join up and help or get a plane ticket and head on over. Obviously you know how best to change the situation over there for the better, you loudmouthed jerk.
but can hajinet survive a slashdotting? Let my download accelerator GO! Steve
Well, without resorting to nitpicking over dictionary definitions (although I did doublecheck "insurgent" on dictionary.com to make sure I'm not totally off base), I'd say insurgent fits. They are fighting against the currently established authority, and they are the minority. Most Iraqis seem to just want to get on with their lives. I think they want to trust the democratic process, but there's too much other crap going on for it to function like it should (or at least as well as it does in other countries).
I think it's also appropriate to argue that there are some terrorists among their ranks. Remember, those are people who's primary weapon is fear. Beheading people on television is an attempt to instill fear, not win battles. Suicide bombers...I don't know which label I'd apply to them, but blowing up a mosque isn't really a tactical or strategic move.
So I guess that 50% of the adult population there ISNT illiterate anymore?
Dont worry, guys like you will work their hardest to make sure those 'cliches' are moved to some other town so that they dont make you look bad.
Sure it can survive multiple mortar attacks, but how long can it survive having an incompetent liar running the war?
Rumsfeld should resign immediately!
-Don
Take a look and feel free: http://www.PieMenu.com
The guy called his site hajinet, after all. When he gets back home, he's gonna settle in Alabama and run a new ISP called niggernet. But Linux will make him feel good.
This post not indended as flamebait, just an observation on how outrageously jingoistic a name the guy picked. And no-one has called him on it yet.
"Only the small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity." - Marshall McLuhan
Dude, this guy specializes in networking, NOT power and water engineering. So regardless of whether or not these people lack security, hospitals, power, and water...he can't do squat about it. He CAN however apply his skill set to getting a network up and running.
Life is not for the lazy.
"ISP that supports 350 subscribers"
So that's where my 350 Billion in tax dollars go.
Wouldn't that be a huge waste of time. Everyone over here signed up for it and went willingly. Despite Kerry's fear mongering statements, there is no draft. If a soldier is politically minded, 9 times out of 10 you can guess which side they are on. More importantly, its not the role of a soldier to agree or disagree. That choice is made when you decide to enlist. Under Clinton, I did my job. Under Bush, I am still doing my job. Also it is incredibly insulting to have you imply that I am depriving other soldiers of access to a free press, when you have absolutely nothing to back that statement up with. On NIPR and MWR networks, the DoD blocks the same things that most companies and schools do for the same reasons. Please, remove your tin foil hat. There are enough issues that a real to worry about.
You think this is the work of that 'one guy'? Nah, it's an Army PR push. If the Army wants good PR, as I suggested, try getting the juice on reliably first.
Blar.
The Coral Cache works too if you don't mind waiting a few minutes for it to negotiate a connection. I've been getting about 20-50 Kbps on a semi-reliable shared small college connection. http://hajjinet.com.nyud.net:8080/video/notacon06_ hajjinet.mp4
"Running an ISP is a Warzone"
meaning to the term "Somebody set up us the bomb!"
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Yes you could say that you have built a nationwide microwave backbone, and you did. Congratulations. Also there is a world of difference between Baghdad and Habbaniyah. Take a convoy between here and there sometime. And no, none of the work I do on SIPR or NIPR will ever get talked about. That is what I am paid to do. This is a side project so we can all check our email. All of us. Not just the people lucky enough to have an office, or the time to hang out at BIAP all day cracking WEP keys. Good job flexing your l33t haxor skills on a few poorly defended APs, and invading other people's privacy.
Could be so wrong but i dont believe the US had todo there anything in the first case. The so called 'terrorists' and 'WMD' and that kinda crap has nothing todo with what's going on right there. This is nothing more then modern colonialism in order to secure some sweet crude oil. And apperently some people arent happy with the current situation being oppressed by some new dictators who isnt even from their own people.
Nobody has commented on the connotation of the term 'hajjinet'.
(Please feel free to strengthen the arguments in this off-topic post.)
In order for the U.S. military to operate effectively, there must be strength in the chain of command. Following orders is critical, dissent cannot be tolerated .
Therefore, it is up to the non-military citizens of the U.S. to provide a check on the transient civilian military leadership (president, vp, sec defense).
This is nominally the job of the U.S. congress. But when the dominant party in congress is the same as the party controlling the white house, congress is very unlikely to act responsibly with respect the their oversight of the executive branch.
FURTHERMORE:
Bush/Cheney knowingly and willingly used faulty intel to argue for removing Saddam from power.
Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld knowingly and willingly disregarded professional military advice for stabilizing Iraq after general military victory.
These acts resulted in the deaths of U.S. military personnel and Iraqi civilians.
These deaths were preventable, either by not entering into this needless war, or by conducting the war according to professional military planning. People would still die in the event of military conflict, but creating a completely insecure and destabilized country where people die needlessly for years on end was avoidable.
These acts by Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld constitute gross criminal negligence and incompetence resulting in death (manslaughter).
So my question for those in uniform is: to the extent to you are allowed to address these points, what should we (American civilians who are not memebers of congress) do about it?
Irrelevant comment, makes no difference as to who they are killing, did we call the french resistance terrorists when they killed 'colaborators'? and do you know the war in which most americans where killed? ..yes its the civil war = inc/h_boston_massacre
By the way look up the history of the american war of independance first before you make comments! http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/wr.php?main
after one quick google and by your definition of 'terrorist tactics'
Not wishing for a moment to defend the killing of anybody, but you are in error in conflating freeing from oppression and freeing from occupation the two are not the same or even related
I AM sure the goal of all the opposition groups is to remove foreign troops from their country and I am equally sure that each group has its own agenda after that. Think how you would feel if foreign troops where camped on the white house lawn
'terrorist tactics' seems to be defined as anything done to the coalition , legitimate tactics is defined as anything done by the coalition,
BTW why do you think the civilian iraqi casualty numbers caused by the occupying troops are so vague? could it be that the news is being manipulated ? If it where not I would have to doubt the inteligence of the US military, its a standard tactic in any conflict.
Soldiers in a recognized hazardous area get "danger pay" (don't recall the exact name as it's been a while), but I'm always surprised by what people think about danger pay. When I was in the gulf the first time around, danger pay amounted to $220 per month. AFAIK, there's no special pay for being stationed overseas.
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
wholeheartily agree! my point is more along the lines of the use of language and how perceptions can be slanted by the constant and repetitive use of emotive terms,
and also the point that a terrorist is an aggressor whereas these people are reacting against aggression.
"take a convoy to Habbaniyah"
... just centerd out of BIAP). After all, command wants sensors in interesting places. You know damn well building a wireless network on Habbaniyah is no more difficult that building it in any place in America. Tell me, has your uplink or NOC survived a direct mortar hit yet as you seem to imply (surviving rocket attacks and all. You are trying to pass yourself off as some hot shit kid for when you get out but you are not doing anything fancy and defintely doing shit lower speed that the true professional IT folk in Iraq rebuilding the data infrastructure for both the civilian gov, MNF-I, and the commericial providers. Your a fucking poser and it annoys me. As bad as some REMF trying to pass himself off as a secret squirrel to his friends back home.
Been there, done that a couple months ago and been to places even smaller, more obscure, and more dangerous (and yes I either helo or ground convoy once a week to a variety of places all over the country
De Oppresso Liber
Here's the difference:
Insurgent - guerilla fighter. Maybe not regular army, but attacks primarily military or militant targets. The US Special Forces engage in this "asymmetrical warfare" sometimes.
Terrorist - attacks primarily civilian targets, avoids military targets, not in any kind of regular army. Noteable for use of kidnapping, media manipulation, and handmade explosives used in surprise manners such as car bombs.
If all they did was car bomb checkpoints, they'd be guerillas, and valid combatants, likely gaining the rights of soldiers under the Geneva convention. Targeting buses full of children does NOT make you a soldier, merely a criminal, no matter you intents, and leaves you with only basic human rights.
The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it. - William Gibson
Just go into your firewall settings, and set up a very large 'DMZ' ;)
Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
Wireless NIPR would be permitted if it met FIPS 140-2. Read your reg.
I know of a few people who are doing it right now actually.
So...bzzzt.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Well said.
But the average Slashdot reader isn't interested in hearing that these so-called "freedom fighters" will do things like pass out poison to families with kids, telling them it's free bird flu vaccine from the Americans.
Right now, they think I'm making this up.
At the end of the day, the only evil they believe in is some kind of vague corporate badness manifested by "oppressive" DVD copy protection schemes and proprietary file formats in office software.
Fortunately, they're exactly the demographic least likely to actually vote or otherwise act in any way. They're annoying, but harmless.
They're fighting against an occupation by killing their countrymen?
As much a as a "countryman" a Serb is to a Croatian.
If you hadn't been paying attention there are about 3 types of Insurgents.
1. The old Saddam Bathists and Sunni Supports
2. The Al Queda Terrorists (mostly foreign)
3. And the Shia Militias
Or rather... The Sunni's and Shia's have no problem killing each other since they see each other as two different groups and the foreign Al Queda don't mind who they kill since they aren't Iraqi.
Each have their own agenda, but I do agree they don't really benefit the average Iraqi.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm a veteran myself. Keep your six cleared.
Hi bitch. It doesn't take a BA in political science (which I have) to know that you don't know what the fuck you are talking about in terms of what a "terrorist" is, despite the fact that the definition may be contested in academia.
...
Please, do yourself a favour: go to jstor.org (or your local university library) and search for "terrorist". Fuck, go to oed.com. Learn what the term means in standard definitional as well as political science application context. Then come back, repost, apologize for your ignorance, and carry on.
Notice I'm not providing you with a definition? Teach a man to fish
Hey man, they are not killing collaborators, you know that. They are killing everyone that happens to be in the way of their bombs. they are not putting bombs on military installations or even government facilities, they are putting bombs in front of schools, mosques and hospitals. It takes a bit of truth-streching to compare that with french resitance. And by the way, I don't know in which world do you live, but in this world an absurdely high proportion of the iraqi terrorists are not from iraqi after all. See the lists of suicide bombers, and on the majority of cases they are from Siria, afghanistam, Arabia and so on. So, too much for your argument. Have you seen boy? they had elections, most of the iraqi people voted (different from americans, they value the right to vote) and all they want is to live peacefully. If there were no terrorist attacks financed and operated by non-iraqi nationals, probably the US troops would had gone away a long time ago. But each terrorist attack makes more difficult to the US to retire their troops. The terrorists don't want to free their country. They want to cause instability, to make the elected government to resign, and to stage a coup of state against those who have been democratically elected. That you don't like americans tatics in iraqi is one thing, one thing that probably I could even agree with you, that you don't like Bush's way of doing things, ok, I can also agree with you. But don't come calling suicide baby killers freedom fighters, and don't be so silly as to compare those monsters with the heroes from french resistance.
Your ad could be here!
They need to block big stuff: video, CD images...
They need to block software: spyware, adware, etc.
In some places they have to go over a satellite link or worse.
This is from my 24 year old cousin who is a computer tech for the DoD working in Iraq and Afghanistan. His dad was special forces and my cousin was raised in Germany because that is where they were stationed.
His job is to see that AAFES (Army supply stores) network and POS terminals are installed and work correctly.
When he sent me this e-mail this morning he said "I do not want you to wonder why I may be in federal prison." Talk about a way to wake up to one's morning e-mail!
________________________________________
Subject: An issue needing rectification.
From: "Henderson, Zachary D."
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:27:03 +0100
To:
Mr.. President,
My name is Zachary Henderson, and I am faced with an inequity I can no longer stand.
That, after serving as a Department of Defense civilian for almost sixteen months in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, I am required to pay federal and state income taxes.
As you may be unfamiliar with the present tax laws, please allow me to elucidate. Military members serving in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan are not required to pay taxes. I do not begrudge them that at all; they have taken an oath to serve. A contractor, working for more than 330 days outside the United States, fall under the Foreign Earned Income Tax Credit, and their first 80,000 is tax free. As a Department of Defense Employee working for the Army and Air Force Exchange service, I am not entitled to that exemption..
I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a citizen. As an Eagle Scout, I am well versed in civic duties and the requirements of the individual in the role of the state. However, this inequality between Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors is not rational. As a man of principal, this dilemma is now intolerable, and I can no longer stomach it.
I face the same mortar attacks as soldiers and contractors while on bases, and I have. I face the same risk of getting shot at while traveling and I have. Yet all the others out here sharing the dangers that I face enjoy a benefit that I do not.
I submit to you that this is wrong, and I will countenance it no more. Therefore, I am notifying you in writing that I am refusing to file my taxes for the year 2005, and will not file them for 2006, either.
I am fully aware of all the consequences of my actions. I implore you to do all in you power to resolve this issue. Allow those to serve in equal danger to receive equal benefits.
This letter is being sent to you, Vice-President Cheney, Mississippi Senators Lott and Cochran, Representative for the State Of Mississippi Rodger Wicker I.R.S. Commissioner Everson, and the Stars And Stripes newspaper, to draw attention to this plight, and to ask for a speedy resolution for the almost 500 in the same crux that I am in.
I thank you for you time and attention to this matter.
Zachary D. Henderson
Presently in Bagram, Afghanistan
Libertas in infinitum
From what i saw in a video, he used Linux because of the cheapness, rather than reliability. Most of the service men, used WinXP laptops, and only a small 5% used linux, and only cuz they didn't know how to use system. The best system is one you know how to use, and not Linux or Windows.
The Americans firebombed Japan, then nuked it twice, killing up to half a million people. They firebombed towns full of civilians with houses made out of paper and wood.
The insurgents' actions are horrible, but don't for one second think that the US isn't guilty of similar things in the past.
The alternative is for them not fight at all, since Coalition firepower is completely superior. Interresting that many people see Coalition forces as heroic as they shoot missiles from helicopters at people armed with AK-47s and RPGs, while someone willing to take his own life by blowing himself up to get at the enemy (whoever that may be) is seen as a coward.
Let us, for the sake of argument, say that the occupation of Iraq is categorically wrong. How exactly should Iraqis resist this occupation when conventional tactics againts Coallition forces are sure to fail due to inferior firepower?
Funny you should say that. I'm actually half Serb and half Croat. While I lived in Yugoslavia, we all got along fine. The whole conflict blew up because of a bunch of idiotic extremists and politicians who decided that slaughtering eachother might be a good idea. Pretty good parallel to what's happening in Iraq. But nobody was suggesting that the way to end the Serb-Croat conflict was to get the "UN occupation force" out of the country.
1) Will the type of violence which the insurgency can employ harm the Americans more, or the Iraqi people more.
2) Does that same violence have any hope in defeating the US forces.
When all you're really accomplishing is to harm yourself and your people, without doing any damage to your enemy, it's time to consider new options.
It's very similar to the Israel-Palestine situation - Palestinian terrorist groups have no hope in hell of defeating Israel. If they had a legitemate goal to achieve through their bombings, they might have been succesfull, but it's become clear that they can't even agree on what they really want. AND over time it's become quite clear that their killings don't accomplish anything except reprisal killings by the Israelis. So the time has come where the Palestinians should be considering new options. Yet all they're able to do is fight between eachother, and blow up an occasional Israeli cafee to give themselves some legitemacy in the eyes of their people.
Getting back to iraq, the insurgency has a snowballs chance in hell of defeating the US. That should be quite clear to anyone not completely brainwashed by the anti-American propaganda. Meanwhile, the Americans have repeatedly stated quite clearly what their goals are in Iraq, and have stated that once those goals are met, they will depart. So what makes more sense - kill thousand of your own people and cause the rest to live in poverty without basic ameneties and services by retarding the development of the infrastructure.....OR join the police force, join the army, work WITH the Americans to rebuild your country...and then IF they refuse to leave, THEN blow the fuck outta them? If the insurgency had not sprung up immediately after the invasion, I can gaurantee that US troops would not be in Iraq right now. How can you call what they're doing an "occupation" when their primary goals consist of giving Iraq it's own army and police force, and rebuilding their infrastructure? And, if the "insuurgents" are the ones fighting for Iraq, what exactly is it that the new Iraqi army, and the Iraqi police are doing? The way I see it, THEY are the REAL heroes. They have inferior equipment and inferior training to their american counterparts. They're at increased threat of being kidnapped and beheaded, or otherwise executed. Every time one of them lines up to JOIN the military or police force, he knows there's a good chance that some suicidal son of a bitch might blow him up along with the rest of the recruits. Yet they still join by the hundreds. How can anyone have any respect for the "insurgency" when compared to such heroic individuals? There's just no comparison.
HELL YEAH!!!!!!! OOOOOH Rah! Thank you so much for your duty and your service. What you guys do makes it all so much better for the families here at home so they can see their boys and men. (Boys = sons in this case) Thank you so much for standing out there on the wall for us here at home.
I second that!!! Give 'em Hell!
Sorry man... the Internet pooped on me.
Don't get me wrong I am not condoning anything that they do. but to call them terrorists is in my opinion wrong regardless of their acts. I am sure most people could give you lists of attrocities commited by both sides. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation they, and the vast majority of the Iraqi population want foreign troops out of their country, Using the word 'terrorists' just serves to obscure the rights and wrongs of the situation. I agree that each attack makes it more difficult to withdraw, but is that not due to the 'macho' attitude prevalent at the moment rather than the rights and wrongs of the situation? In saying that they want to cause instability and your emotive comments afterwards you claim to know what their motives are, is that just what you've been told ? or is that just good propaganda from the US? I'm not so arrogant as to claim that I know ALL their intentions good or bad. Using the words 'suicide baby killers' is just stupid, and makes finding a solution more difficult.Looking back I can remember similar comments about the IRA during the seventies and now it seems OK to talk with them and even allow their political wing power. My comparison with the resistance is justified I think, after all the Germans probably called them 'terrorists'
My point is mainly (and perhaps not articulatly enough spelled out in my original post) that using emotive language to trash your opposition is standard practice, and that we should not fall for this type of creeping propaganda
You think he didn't have to get approval to run the setup? You think he didn't have to get approval to talk about it? Geee...CS grads are down in the US, recruitment has finally reached the new lowered bar, and warfare is becoming more and more computerized. And here we go, on Slashdot, with this article.
Whatever.
Blar.
Ah, yes, that old stereotype. Seen much of that have you? Goddamn media misrepresentation. FYI helicopter support is rarely used for such targets.
Some, but also camera footage from gunships blowing people to smithereens. But I admit I am dependent on others accounts in this matter.
Will the type of violence which the insurgency can employ harm the Americans more, or the Iraqi people more.
This is a valid point, but the rebels cannot (I assume) get close to Coallition forces except when they are in areas with many civilians.
Does that same violence have any hope in defeating the US forces.
No, not 'as such'. However, a prolonged occupation and climbing casualities can sway public opinion in Coallition countries and force a withdrawal.
Getting back to iraq, the insurgency has a snowballs chance in hell of defeating the US. That should be quite clear to anyone not completely brainwashed by the anti-American propaganda.
True, if you are speaking of a military defeat. However, if the US was to withdraw a large amount of troops from a turbulent Iraq, most people would see that as defeat.
Meanwhile, the Americans have repeatedly stated quite clearly what their goals are in Iraq, and have stated that once those goals are met, they will depart.
And those goals are what, world peace? Stability in the Middle East? Germany is still has US troops and bases, the war ended in 1945. Ditto for Japan.
How can anyone have any respect for the "insurgency" when compared to such heroic individuals? There's just no comparison.
I don't respect the insurgency, but I also don't respect the "liberators of Iraq" (illegal occupiers) or the "police of Iraq" (a de facto sectarian milita). Iraq is going down the same road as Yugoslavia did and it's time the US & the UK started eating that big serving of international "I told you so" they have waiting.