tele_nut

I'm no lawyer, but no one seems to be corraborating this guys story. I think it has to be more than his word against everyone else for it to be validated. Fluff piece of journalism at best. No verifiable facts and all innuendo. They may be gone in November, but maybe not. The rest of the country really doesn't think the way they do up here in the green state. Even if they are gone I'm sure Kerry and Co. will screw up at just about everything, and be embroiled in their own scandals and outright lying. Just like their mentor Clinton did. I would predict a major terrorist incident WILL NOT occur because Kerry and CO. will be secretly appeasing them behind the scenes with their yellow political agenda. They'll use that time to regroup and then we will all pay later on....again. Conservatives need to get tuned in that the rest of the world doesn't really care that you want to play nicey nice. They'll cut your throat all the same unless you drop your judeo Christian ethic and convert to Islam. Salam-a-laykam. Remember that one. It might help you in the future.

Which boulders are you referring to exactly?

I am member of the close protection detail for Ambassador Bremer. I go everywhere he goes when I am in country. My days are 20 hour days working to protect The Machine. He is someone worth admiration. I have never seen anyone work harder to succeed. This is part of the reason I am able to get so close to many of the issues and personalities involved in Iraq and I guess why I have such an upbeat attitude overall. I did not mean to imply that my point of view is the all seeing eye by any means. I think my original point was that for the average European, American, Canadian the situation from the media looks very bleak when it is NOT. It is hopeful, and there are brave people working hard to make a better future for these people we owe nothing to other than to do our best at this point to give them a future. Kuwait is now an amazing place. Iraq can be too. I have to agree with several things said in the last few posts. I did not support the rush to war either, and I never believed the stated reasons for going. What I came to understand was the geo-political theory underlying the war and found that it made sense to me. I am a pragmatist by nature. I empathize with those people who feel sleighted by the false pretenses we went in under, and I understand that it is some peoples nature to abhor violence, war, hegonomy, jingoism. For others that is a natural state. Once again it is the beauty of this country that we live in that we are free to perceive our reality the way that we see fit. I suffered for 8 years under an administration and a president I could not stand. I felt like our nation went a little further down the road of complete moral breakdown. Now we have the complete opposite and some folks are disgruntled. That's the way the cookie crumbles. If Kerry makes it in I feel that we may make progress in some areas (health care-taxes-domestic concerns) and return to bungling in others(foreign policy-foreign appeasement). Whoever becomes president I hope that they will make our lives better. I am not really a party man either way, but I was damned glad to see Clinton gone. I was too young to understand what a complete failure Carter was, but I remember sitting in gas lines, and feeling liberated when Reagan took office. At least the hostages got to come home because Iran KNEW they were about to get NUKED. I do see this current administration as having an agenda. Iraq is going to be an issue for a long time to come and I would expect Iraq to be a military base for a long time to come much the same way Saudi used to be. I think you have to see how that all fits into place. It's like Risk. You take some important countries and you fortify them against hostile takeover because if you don't you're going to lose the whole board eventually. I appreciate every one else getting into the discussion and not letting it end on a sour note. Thanks.

The Rattlesnake lake boulder is currently underwater. There are boulders all along the hillside. There is a good boulder near the base of the Mt Si pillar in the drainage immediately to the north. About 20 feet high and room for good problems. Needs scrubbed and the base needs alot of work or alot of crashpads.

I think I addressed your points just fine. Did you want me to do a line for line response? The violence witll continue even after we leave. We will not be leaving for a long time. The puppet regime members are actually some of the finer minds in Iraq. Almost every one is an experienced statesmen and has a doctorate of some sort. There will eventually be elections. I don't think the original members who signed the Declaration of Independence were elected either. There is plenty of factual information on the web. I posted the CPA website here before which has a daily report of every school we rebuild, every road we fix, every electrical line we restore, every water main we replace, every mouth we need, every child we treat with medicines, etc, etc, etc. There is plenty of good being done there, but you choose to see what you want to see. ON ANOTHER NOTE: You SHOULD feel like a fool because you are one. I thought that when you first came on this site, and I think that now to this day. You're a self righteous mouth with a narrow point of view and a judgemental tone. You're not fit to stand in the same space as me. Good riddance.

My point was simple. You (the average liberal sitting on your ass and having sat on your ass watching television for the past year are a poor judge of what is going on in the middle east, PERIOD!) You can comment all you want. My point is that whatever you may post is often tainted, twisted, and way off track. Like most of what you have surmised in each of your postings including the last one. Most of what I read here is all the same spoonfed mindless gibberish that I have come to expect from the liberal minded folks of sunless Washington. Did SADD affect all of your minds so permanently? Or maybe it just turned your spines to jelly? Second, for the millionth time since you are only paying attention whenever you feel like it on these political threads. I am not a soldier. I am not a mindless drone. I am the tyranny of evil men. I have fully elaborated my understandings of this war in other threads. In short here it is. Oil, money, power. We have it. They want it. People like you (the weak) want to give it away so our children and grandchildren can live in a disadvantaged future. Fuck that and fuck all noble ideals that sell us out. I for one am not going to give away everything previous generations have strived to provide for us in this country because it's socially cool and it's been programmed into your little liberal minds that *we* are somehow always wrong and *they* are right. Do you really fucking believe that I don't have access to every piece of information you have? Of course I do because the ONLY info you have is the same info I can read every day online, in a newspaper, or watch on TV. DO YOU HAVE THE SAME INFORMATION THAT I HAVE? The kind you get from living in Iraq day in and day out? It's called living the current situation. Have you been 10 feet from Donald Rumsfeld in the last month? Or is the closest you have been 10 feet from your TV? Catch my drift her bud? How would you know that anyone in Iraq with even an inkling of distrust in the current administration are going mad as you put it? Have you been there? Have you been to Vietnam? Did you serve in Korea? WW2, WW1 or any service whatsoever to your country regardless of whether you agreed with it or not? I HIGHLY DOUBT IT. Opinion polls are not indicating any such thing as the Iraqi's want us to leave. On the contrary. They are scared shitless we will leave. I will point out for you that sovereignty returns to the Iraqi's in less that 4 months. They signed a constitution the other day. You know how I know that? I was there. I had to sit thru hours and endless hours of negotiations getting few hours of sleep a night over 7000 miles away from my home while you probably slept like a baby safe and sound next to your wife with your kids in the other room. Hey, that must be rough. What should I do today since my life is so rough? I'll rag some dude on CC.com who has been to Iraq with my bullshit rhethoric! YEAH So, in your business are you always able to pinpoint every X-Factor immediately? Are you able to predict them beforehand? Are you able to solve each and every problem with the utmost efficiency? Yeah, I didn't think so. So how in the world can whole nations plan for and predict and immediately fix every problem that arises? We are talking about nation building almost from scratch with three distinct factions at work here (Shiite, Shia, Kurd). There are alot of moving parts at work here, and there are certainly elements that would like to see us fail. As far as I am concerned they already kicked your ass because you are, were, and will continue to play into their hands with your worry wart attitude. You know the quickest way to bring our boys home and get this shit over with? Since you SEEM to be so concerned. Give em 110% of your support, quit talking shit and meelie mouthing at fuckhead peace rallies, hang a flag over your house, and have some pride in where you come from. Quit being afraid of what the world thinks about us and quit worrying about some other mans son being killed in combat. it's a big boy arena and big boy rules apply. I've been shot at, mortared, rocketed, driven past horrific tragedies and basically had to deal with all the shit. What do you REALLY care? You remind me of that guy in Forrest Gump that beats up Jenny because he's so damned stressed about Nixon and war in Vietnam as he rides the hippy bus to protest parties with his fraudulent agenda. Hey here's a good idea stud. Spit on a Marine Corp Lance Corporal to protest the war and Bush. See what kind of response that gets ya.

Went to Bachelor instead. A good mountain. Moderate, but plenty of terrain to explore. I'll hit the red next winter.

EXCELLENT REPORT

Oh yeah, and if you had BEEN to Iraq and actually TALKED to some of the poeple who lived there you would KNOW FIRSTHAND about the sick shit the Saddam Baathists were doing to their own people for years and years. You would know that there are mass graves all over Iraq, random killings, rapes, and torture. So I would say that a few of them getting blown up for the hope of a better tomorrow is a small price to pay.

C'mon, don't be that IRRITATINGLY naive as to suggest that making a short tourist visit to anywhere that may be war torn would enlighten YOU. You gotta get in there, dig around, walk around in the JDAM riddled Baath party HQ, travel the roads, interact with the people, experience some danger, breath the nasty air. I am suggesting that exposure to an event would give you a clearer picture of what the situation is. I can imagine the crux pitch of the nose because I saw it on an Erik Perlman video once and Dan Osman gave me a firsthand account. I am now an expert on Nose policy and nailing issues? I can now sit across from someone who actually climbed the nose and tell them what’s what? Exchange beta? “Well dude, according to Masters of Stone I KNOW I need a 50M rope to nail the King Swing!!!! Give me a break. Clearly I am wasting my time and my breath trying to bring this point home here. I would say many here are about as informed as someone who read "Into Thin Air" and now feels like they can sit back and comment on the state of guiding or climbing even if they have never climbed a mountain in their life. Did this not happen? Is this happening in almost every instance of your lives as you get brain dumped by CNN and FoxNews everyday? From what I am seeing on the news I would make this analogy. When there is a climbing accident, and the news media reports it, do you not feel a twang of annoyance because they have absolutely NO clue what mountains, climbing, or the events relating to the accident are actually about? Do you feel like they have butchered such events in the past and sensationalized them while at the same time doing somewhat of a disservice to the actual event in progress? Everyone is EXTREME this and EXPERIENCED that. Well the current level of reporting on many events relating to policy and events overseas are about as intelligent. They are spreading fear into you because you let them, and you form opinions based on not what you know because you have been there, but because of what you have been TOLD. It is an election year is it not? Think about it. You are free to comment as much as you want about whatever you want and that is the freedom this country enjoys. Yet, you shit all over the same system that has empowered you, and at the same time villianize those that don't think just like you because you are filled with doubt and fear of your way of life. You would rather hide in your box, debate the topics, criticize the persons who are on the stage. As far as your NAVY captain speaking out about the war in Iraq. I would tell you that the ONLY positions a navy captain would hold would be low level positions in some paper pushing rear area in what is a ground war/ guerrilla area dominated by Army and Marine Corps assets. A navy captain has little access to classified documents and therefore very little of the big picture is fed to them. PR is and will always be PR. It is laughable to me that a Navy officer could speak eloquently about anything except the state of the chow hall and his or her bulging gut. There are thousands of people running patrols in every area of Iraq being exposed to real danger and they aren't having breakdowns. They are doing their jobs and doing them well. The real folks are either engaged presently in the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or training for the next rotation. Furthermore, don't feel for me. I feel for you. The edge of your real understanding extends to about the end of your nose. A nose probably stuck in front of this brain damage box about 99% of your time.

Do you see me playing tiddly winks and sucking on a latte in some Bohemian cafe? Tell me something I don't know. At any rate I am all for collateral damage. What terrorists understand is that it is human nature to NOT retaliate in the worst possible manner possible. They take advantage of world opinion in order to further their aims. Instead of a discussion about what shitheads the terrorists are we engage in trite commentary about what world leader we can rip on ONCE AGAIN from the safety of our living rooms. Id say if Israel were handed carte blanche to do what they wanted the palestinians would be facing genocide. Ironic since the nation of Israel was created after a genocide they nearly succumbed to. They know the worst case scenario and they don't want to fall victim to it again.

You have successfully recused yourself from any future discussions regarding this issue. Thank you! Thank you very much! Actually I've lived in Baghdad, Iraq about 80% of my time the past year, and I will be back there again very soon. I've also been to some other nasty places in my life so how about choking on that cup of shut the fuck up now?

That's like telling a firefighter that their presence at a fire is invalid because they did not initiate the arson which created it.

Omnipotent power to waste your time and your feeble mind.

OW..uh yeah..whatever dude.

i don't claim to speak for any of the participants to these tragedies. wouldn't you think that someone remote from these actions, yet informed and rational, is in fact best suited to assess their sanity? No.

I can't believe you sissy's in Oregon closed the best lifts for a little gust like that! Weak.

If you don't live in a place where you can can die on a daily basis then you really have no basis to even discuss this issue. What do you really know? Do you know what it's like to see body parts sprayed all over your neighborhood? Do you know what it's like to carry a weapon in urban combat? Do you know what it feels like to have to think about getting blown to pieces every day? Have friends or family vaporized by some brain dead terrorist zombie? How can you judge their actions from the security and disassociation you enjoy? Move over there for a couple of years, or put a few years over in Iraq then come correct. Do you think those people in Oklahoma weren't thirsting for revenge?

Once it was like a right of passage to brave the gauntlet of spray. Now, like climbing in general, it has been watered down to encourage the timid to join in. Spray is merely angst leaving your body.

Entrenched in the safety of his basement Tele_Nut muses; "It's not really that friendly of a site. Jerkoff."

I would bet that there were clauses to let either one of the principals out of the contracts. If there is enough heat turned up then their may eventually be a bidding process. I have to say from experience that the cheapest bidders often end up providing very shoddy service and we end up losing in the end. KBR has now been at it for quite a while, and have some good systems in place. It would be harmful to have to put all new people on the ground. And I have to tell you that finding good people to go to these types of places to do this type of work is not easy. Even with high salaries the burnout rate is tremendous. If there is graft on KBR's part then that should be immediately investigated and the offenders punished on a par with someone committing treason. My thought is that we should stick with what we've got at this point and get this thing over and done with. We need to move on from this experience quickly, even though I fully understand that we will probably be in Iraq for the next 20 years and in great strength for at least the next 5. What I think is important is that good can come from this situation if we keep sticking to the high ground and not let ourselves get too embroiled in class and party segregation.

All companies contracting to the government are also free to make bids and give it their best shot. I did not participate in the contracting process for these huge multi billion contracts. My point was good old boy networks exist all over, not just in companies like KBR. I'm dishing it back at you. I understand it is within the context of these boards and not a personal attack. It is the internet. Thrash away and enjoy.

E-Rock why don't YOU let me have it. I am right here waiting. North Bend to be exact.

There have been numerous occasions on this site that I have been slandered and defamed by various entities that disagree with a conservative outlook. This is the PNW AND a climbing website of which the majority of individuals are decidedly leftist. Often I have been referred to as fascist when there was a time and a place where that was simply referred to as patriotic. Hence, I bristle when I hear references to Germanic imperialism, despite my being German to boot. No offense taken. Sorry to make your into to the board a rough one. Much better. I prefer to know that the person I am talking with over the internet is not a tree hugger who's biggest military experience was watching Platoon on cable. I serve on the close protection detail for Ambassador Paul Bremer in Iraq. I only returned to the states 5 days ago. I have been in Iraq since July and prior to that I served in the military in close quarter ground combat units. My education is Information Technology and Criminal Justice. So now we have an understanding on the board. If KBR employees or company officers are guilty of using their influence to overvaluate contracts or charge for services not rendered than they should face charges. I have no problem with that. There is a tendency in situations such as a war, where confusion can reign for short periods to take advantage of that chaos. If there were instances of this occurring then punish the guilty and not the whole company. My point was simply that I see these folks driving shit trucks, water trucks, fuel trucks, serving chow, cleaning floors and bathrooms, building barriers, erecting temporary housing, fixing electrical problems, and a myriad of other small day to day chores that occur and I empathize with them having to make a living in a combat site. Not with the crooked executive that uses power and influence to rip off honest Americans who pay taxes and have sons and daughters serving in the region. I am at a loss to understand who was more capable of placing that amount of logistics on the ground in Iraq? DynCorp? They couldn't punch their way out of a paper sack. CSA? Retarded. Bechtel? They already soaked up all the construction contracts. Washington Group? Corps of Engineers? I have been in Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Iraq, Kurdistan and Afghanistan and I am not aware of who might have been better suited than KBR. Clue ME in.

YEAH you are out of line. Get back on the short bus ass-monkey. If you want to refer to me as *HEIR* then just lock your heels in place right now and bust out a salute. Otherwise, don't get nasty brother. What were you a PAC clerk in the military? What prestigious contracts did you negotiate? Maybe you should take a class in militarism 101. The war was planned years before the Bush administration came to power and this is a well documented fact. But your point serves nothing to carry the argument for the fact that Halliburton was and is the right company for the job. If you want to apply your weak kneed argument to something than why don't you apply it to the civilian sector as well. Nordstrom's for example. Do you NOT think that there is a good old boys network that exists there? How about Calloway Golf? Marmot? Etc, etc, etc. There is a market for certain good and services and certain companies fit the bill. Shoe fits wear it, that sort of thing. I don't work for Halliburton. I owe them zero loyalty. I have no vested interest in the company whatsoever.