Nightmare on Wazir Street

<p>This recollection of combat nightmares is dedicated to those who stand ready to deploy engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. A little more than a century ago my great-great-grandfather Backsight Forethought returned to Ireland from service in the Boer War as a lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles. BF was according to family oral history something of a weird duck given to long walks and even longer conversations with himself. Most disturbing to his fellow Irishmen of the day was his tendency to refer to dreams as a guiding source in his life after his return from South Africa. Ultimately the confining nature of Irish society climate and country prompted BF to emigrate from Ireland to the United States where his ways blended in and he enjoyed greater room to roam as he murmured to himself about somebody named Oom. BF passed away in 1945 with his family and heirs around him. One was my great-grandfather BF II and another was his son BF III my grandfather. True to our Irish roots we had kept alive the patrilineal heritage naming each firstborn son after the man who brought the family to America. With that shared name came a shared but selective gift. You see every BF since Great-Great-Grandpa BF has been guided by his dreams. BF the First chose to write a short book about his dreams in the Boer War hoping to share his hard won insights with following generations of lieutenants facing combat for the first time. BF II said that short work helped him survive the tragedy of the trenches in WWI. BF III just back from Europe in 1945 assured his grandfather BF the First that his dreams had guided him in the long march up the Italian boot. My father BF IV experienced the same in Vietnam. And so it has proved for me. Like my great-great-grandfather I have chosen to recount my experiences on paper. This tale encompasses an amalgamation of events and lessons learned that took place during the Iraq phase of the Global War on Terrorism. I hope that by reading this narrative some leader on a future battlefield will apply the basic principles illuminated through the pain of another. Nowadays it is important to remember when making an assessment of our enemies that the insurgent has been practicing insurgency for a few years. He is extremely smart and adaptive. Right now one of them is hard at work developing a diabolical plan to try and kill you. Remember all the dumb insurgents are dead.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>