OIF vets; Bite Me got your medal
So I was reading the Army Times today, something I don’t normally read and I ran across this article about the Iraq Commitment Medal, a medal designed by the Iraqi government for members of the US military who helped the Iraqis throw off the yoke of Hussein and fought back the al Qaeda militants who invaded the country.
The title of the article is what drew me to it; OIF vets waiting for Iraq Commitment Medal. Yeah, I’m sure you’re not all ready to go on strike if you don’t get another bit of ribbon. But towards the end of the article is what tempted me to write about it;
• Will anyone get one? The short answer is yes: Vice President Joe Biden. He received a medal from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a special “day of commitment” ceremony in Baghdad on Dec. 1, 2011. Since then, however, the Defense Department has removed an illustration of the medal design – and photos of Biden receiving the medal – from its website.
In his speech in Baghdad, Biden noted that the U.S. was withdrawing combat troops from Iraq in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement between Iraq and the coalition.
“A promise made is a promise kept,” he said.
Somehow I missed that story, probably because it was on Military Times and I don’t read that POS normally. But, the fact that Bite Me got a medal that celebrates American commitment to Iraq is a comedy of errors. For one thing, Bite Me wanted to partition Iraq into four different countries – yes, the smartest man on the planet wanted to break the nation up into pieces. That wouldn’t cause any problems would it? I mean, the war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein began because Hussein claimed that Kuwait was the 19th province of Iraq.
Additionally, Bite Me called the “surge” a failure;
Biden offered an early rebuttal to next week’s testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there. Petraeus and Crocker are expected to say the recent buildup in troops has succeeded in improving security. But they also likely will say that a period of assessment is needed this summer before officials can decide whether troop withdrawals can continue. Democrats have called this approach unacceptable and said they would pursue an alternative policy through legislation. They said their focus will be on restoring the strength of the Army and Marines and refocusing the nation’s resources on fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. “I believe the president has no strategy for success in Iraq,” Biden said. “His plan is to muddle through, and hand the problem off to his successor.”
Both Bite Me and Obama voted against the “surge”, the crowning achievement in Iraq, but somehow he gets the Iraq Commitment Medal. I don’t think “commitment” means what they think it means. I know you guys don’t care about one more little foreign award, but I’m pretty upset at the fact that Bite Me, who tried to end the war before it reached any kind of success, and voted to cut off spending for continued operations no less than six times in 2007, and then in 2008 tried to undermine the security that had been won in Iraq by demeaning the momentous achievements by the troops there, gets the only Iraq Commitment Medal in existence.
It’s like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to someone who has been warring their ass off. Or something.
Added Here is a video of the full event were you can see the Iraqi Government giving the medal to the VP.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues
Hopefully he gave it to his son who is an OIF vet.
Accepting medals is hard work. He is presently on his 3rd vacation this year!
May as well give Pelosi and Benjamin Bronze Stars for their efforts on behalf of AQ, and Harry Reid a Silver Star for declaring defeat.
Most times, irony is delicious. This is bitter. Does Biden understand the level of mockery of America induced by al-Maliki?
Hell If they gave medals to Kerry and he threw them away, then displayed them with his boonie hat at every occasion, I guess Biden can get a gong if it makes him feel like he participated much as every school awards every student an award whether they earned it or just showed up.
There used to be an award given on line called the PITA medal, The Pain in The Ass medal.
Biden should get one of those with two stars.
Here is one thing that I thought odd.
“The Department of Defense has not received the medals from the government of Iraq, as a result there are no medals available to approve or distribute at this time.”
If that were the case then how come the Vietnam Campaign Medal can still be bought since the country of origin has not existed since 1975? Are you telling me that one cannot make a medal from design plans and start a production line in the course of a year?
well,,they did give obummer a noble peace prize for being a dumbass!
It is just one of those many little slights that just annoys the shit out of me. Yeah It doesn’t seem like it should mean anything, but damn when you have been promised something you would like to see it.
Pete they gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize for winning a popularity contest and for things he intended to do. The fact he didn’t do them is irrelevant of course.
Maybe they gave him the medal for spending American money like an Iraqi? Commendation level is the start, then the next step is superior achievement medal for spending 100 million taxpayer dollars on vacations, etc..
Pelosi, Kerry, and Feinstein will get distinguished warfare medals that are higher than Bronze Stars because they got serviced by the country and worked so hard to put drones in the air after all.
i dont give a damn about another ribbon, but i sure as hell dont want bite me to have it!
So are these the Medals that we are going to affix to the tips of our bombs for the next time we go in, like the Japanese friendship medals Gen. Dolittle dropped on Japan during his raid?
I like the idea of a medal from a host country but I feel like my ICM was good enough, especially since it wasn’t a mockery of our service there and Biden doesn’t rate one.
He’s welcome to it. Our award system has long been broken, and I have zero ‘commitment’ to Iraq.
Folks, this is actually just pretty much typical “business as usual” regarding foreign decorations and DoD. Prior to being authorized for wear on a US military uniform, a foreign decoration must be approved and accepted by DoD. Biden getting a copy of this is not out of line with past practice. Often the first few are presented to visiting dignitaries and/or high-ranking folks before the official decision to accept the foreign decoration is made by DoD. The normal process is that a foreign government offers the medal to the US. DoD then determines whether or not to accept it and authorize it for wear by US personnel. If DoD accepts it and authorizes it for wear by US soldiers, the foreign government then provides it to the US for initial issue to US troops who qualify. Once those initial issue supplies run out, further procurements are at individual expense through commercial channels. That all happened with the VCM. However, since the RVN no longer exists, that one is now strictly a commercial purchase item. Foreign medals are not always accepted by the US when offered. Korea in 1974 came up with one – the ROK Service Medal – and offered it to the DoD for issue to all US soliders who had/would serve in Korea since the Korean War. (This is NOT the same ROK Korean War Service Medal that was later accepted by DoD in the 1990s for Korean War vets.) DoD formally turned it down in 1976 because no corresponding US decoration was authorized (one was retroactively authorized 38 years later, in 2004 – the KDSM) and because “current duty in Korea does not warrant a medal”. However, in the interim a number of these ROK Service Medals were presented to US personnel in Korea by Korean military/government officials. They were (and are today) NOT authorized for wear by US personnel. The ROK Service Medal is pictured here, along with some background information regarding the situation: http://www.foxfall.com/fm-roksm.htm I have one I purchased some years ago as a curiosity/keepsake. It’s a very nice medal. I kinda wish the DoD… Read more »
I hope it’s denied. Our own campaign medal is enough and taking out the trash is noble enough without having to have an additional pat on the back for doing the right thing.
I believe you are right, there was a miscommunication as to what “commitment” means in the Iraqi tongue. Perhaps they have it confused with our “ass clown”, or “turd burglar”.
I would imagine at this point that most people that served in Iraq (that are still serving) are thinking, “Don’t hand this thing out! I don’t want to shell out any more money on friggin’ ribbon racks!”
If Jesus came back today, he’d say “WTF?” I am pretty sure I could do without another trinket to try to explain to my grandkids someday. “Grandpa, what’s this medal for?”
Me: “I’m not sure, but the VP of the US got one and said we were supposed to get one just like it….”
I already get funny looks for some of the silly shit I have on my ribbon rack…please, no more bullshit ribbons.
I spent 2 years in the early days in that hell hole. They can keep the medal, for all I care.