Posted on 06/24/2007 3:05:17 AM PDT by leadpenny
Stafford County Army officer whose men were captured in Iraq criticizes Congressional leaders who he says are making decisions about Iraq war based on polling
See related video (at FLS link)
His 7-year-old son is going to be a baseball player, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Infanti proudly tells a visitor as the boy smiles shyly.
Daddy is a soldier, and is far from shy about that. There's no escaping that fact; no forgetting it, not even for a moment, not ever.
Infanti, 50, made it home to Stafford County from Iraq to see his wife, Roberta, and six children on an all-too-short leave for Father's Day and his son's high school graduation.
On a sunny day last week at his airy home in an idyllic setting straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, a beaming Roberta made coffee as she talked about the way the community pitches in to help; how coaches pick up the kids for games.
Their 9-year-old daughter hugs her father tight, as though she never wants to let him go. But he will go. He must. And even his youngest children seem to understand why. He leaves Tuesday to continue the search for his men who were captured last month by al-Qaida-backed insurgents.
'BAD GUYS KNOW I'M COMING' Lt. Col. Infanti is commander of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division.
Infanti said the May 12 pre-dawn ambush was designed to capture American troops as hostages. Three were dragged away after a firefight, he said. One was found dead, floating in the Euphrates River on May 23.
Islamic radicals have released a videotape claiming the other two have been murdered and buried. They offered no proof, but blamed the massive, 4,000-man door-to-door search Infanti has helped to direct and personally conduct.
As his youngest children sat quietly in the next room, Infanti swore he won't stop until he recovers his lost men and deals with those who took them. And he criticized members of Congress he says changed their minds about supporting the war purely because of polls.
"I'm gonna continue to search until they kill me or they send me home. That's just the bottom line.
"And when I find [the missing soldiers], I'm gonna keep running down the guys that did it like dogs--until they kill me or send me home.
"The bad guys know I'm coming. And they're gonna put up a fight. And that's OK."
It couldn't be more personal to Infanti. The radical Islamic State of Iraq, a militant group loyal to Osama bin Laden, released a propaganda videotape blaming the supposed killings of the two captured men on "the American army and their leaders."
It said they "do not care for the feelings of the soldiers' mothers" and didn't heed the insurgents' demand to end the manhunt.
"They're like my kids," Infanti said of the captured men.
continued (page 2)
Captured Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., Infanti said, was born in the Dominican Republic, English is a second language to him, and he was teaching himself Arabic on the fly while fighting the war. "With the shortage of interpreters, we'd use him to communicate."
Captured Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., is "a good kid."
The soldier found floating in the river, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was a "big kid," Infanti said. "He'd get after it," he said, meaning Anzack fought hard.
"The soldiers will do whatever you ask them to do," Infanti said. "That's the greatest thing about American soldiers. They'll go without food. They'll go without family. They'll go without television. They'll go without comfort. They'll go without a bed to sleep on. They'll shave out of a coffee cup, using hot coffee. They'll take a shower with baby wipes because they don't have running water. They'll walk through the mud. They'll walk though canals containing you-name-it, it's in there. They'll wear dirty, filthy clothes. They'll get sores. They'll work in 130-degree heat. They'll pass out. They'll get an IV and start going again. They'll get four hours sleep for seven days a week.
"What used to be [a] 365-day [tour of duty in Iraq] has now gone to 15 months and maybe 18," he said. "They'll go without a break, waiting for an explosion, or waiting to die, or waiting to get wounded. And hoping, if they do get wounded, it's minor enough so maybe it's good enough to get 'em out of there, but not good enough to incapacitate 'em for the rest of their life."
CRITICIZING CONGRESS
Infanti said he's frustrated with members of Congress who voted to approve this war and now say they've changed their minds.
"When people stand up for a political sound bite and say they support the troops, but they don't support the war, I have questions," Infanti said.
"They're the ones that allowed what happened to go on. They're the ones that authorized the president to go to war against Iraq.
"The question I would ask, not as a soldier, but as a citizen, is when did they change their minds?
"We've had over 3,700 soldiers killed [actually, about 3,533 confirmed U.S. deaths as of Friday].
"Did they change their minds at 1,999?
"At 3,699?
"Or did they change their mind when a poll said the America people were losing support for the war?
"That's the question I want to ask: 'Did you change your mind when a poll said you weren't going to be re-elected?"
PRAISE FOR IRAQI ARMY
He said his soldiers believe the war is winnable, and so do the Iraqi soldiers with whom he works.
continued (page 3)
Infanti said the Iraqi Army is getting a bad rap, that no one he knows is "saying the Iraqis are cowards or don't do their jobs." Not once in the 10 months he's been there has he heard that.
"If anything, my soldiers will say the Iraqis are aggressive to the point of recklessness digging up IUDs with the wires attached and bringing them back to show what they've done."
"We've been in gunfights where some of them just get up and take off after the bad guys through the bullets," even though they don't have the same protective equipment American soldiers do.
VISITING THE WOUNDED
This week Infanti and his wife went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda to visit some of his wounded men there.
"I had a soldier yesterday, a sergeant of mine, who lost half his arm and most of his leg, tell me 'As soon as this arm thing gets better, I'm ready to go back. I think I could operate a machine gun.'"
Another soldier he visited had been shot in the leg by a sniper. Surgeons saved the leg, but he can't straighten it out any more.
Infanti told the soldier it took a month, but the Army had gotten the sniper.
"And he wanted a picture of the guy's body so he could hang it up on his wall. But we don't do that stuff. Anyway, he was happy because [that sniper] won't hurt any more soldiers."
Infanti learned the sniper was being paid 500,000 dinar a month, or $490, to take 10 shots at American soldiers. For each hit, the sniper got another $490.
"It's really a shame because he ain't gettin' no more [money]," Infanti said. "He took three rounds in his chest from an Apache helicopter. That's what he got for his $490."
Staff researcher Craig Schulin contributed to this story.
Michael Zitz: 540/374-5408 Email: mikez@freelancestar.com
10th Mountain Ping.
God, I love journalism majors. They provide such comic relief.
}:-)4
Staff researcher Craig Schulin contributed to this story.
Pinging you to this:
Infanti said the May 12 pre-dawn ambush was designed to capture American troops as hostages. Three were dragged away after a firefight, he said. One was found dead, floating in the Euphrates River on May 23.
But you can NOT miss Moose’s Post #3. Moose do you think the reporter was referring to the 2nd GYN Battalion?
Just proves the terrorists are p*ssies.
Wow to Infanti!
LOL! Great catch Moose4.
Very funny.
LOL! What's the MOS number for that classification?
666., I believe.
No, leadpenny....it’s 9920
Probably 6969.
}:-)4
You’re probably right. :-)
Great story!
"And when I find [the missing soldiers], I'm gonna keep running down the guys that did it like dogs--until they kill me or send me home.
"The bad guys know I'm coming. And they're gonna put up a fight. And that's OK."
My kind of Soldier. Give em hell, Sir!!!
"Climb To Glory"
My God. Those poor Iraqi women!!!!
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