Accident, unlikely.

Capt. Travis Patrquin

Officer Killed in Battle, but His Ideas Live On

By MARTHA RADDATZ

Dec. 15, 2006 — President Bush has spent the last few weeks engaged in complex briefings with senior military officers, State Department officials and outside experts as he tries to come up with a new plan to achieve victory in Iraq.

But a young captain serving in Iraq's violent Al Anbar Province has offered a simple explanation of what the problem was in Iraq and how to solve it. Among his observations is the importance of having a moustache in Iraq.

In a military known for its sleep-inducing, graphically dizzying PowerPoint presentations, the young captain's presentation, which has been unofficially circulating through the ranks, stands out. Using stick figures and simple language, it articulates the same goal as the president's in Iraq.

The creator of this PowerPoint presentation, "How to Win in Al Anbar," was Capt. Travis Patriquin.

But Patriquin will not see victory in Iraq. He was killed by the same improvised explosive device that killed Maj. Megan McClung of the Marine Corps last Wednesday.

Now, we're supposed to believe that they were randomly killed by an IED.

Yet, how conspicious was this couple. An Army captain, a Marine female major, hell, a blind man with kids could track them down. While the Captain was talking about winning over the Iraqis, he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Remember a few years ago, the Marines wanted their own, special utilities, which they got. The Army then made their own. So, when you have a soldier and a Marine riding around, they're relatively easy to spot.

Once again, it must be understood that Iraqi intelligence is better than ours. And these people were dangerous. So, instead of some spook or SF guy pulling him aside and saying "young captain, you stick out like a sore thumb, you speak Arabic, you travel with a Marine woman officer, and you talk to all these sheiks. You are a marked fucking man. They know you", his bosses let him run around until he got killed.

Even his powerpoint presentation shows a frighting lack of awareness of the intelligence network which runs Anbar. The guerillas knew who this guy was, because some of the same shieks he was cultivating were telling their cousins about this bright young American. And they drew a very different conclusion.

Which is why his HUMVEE got blowed up.