If you look at the polls, that is probably how the vote would go here. There are those of us who believe in what we are doing, and as in every crowd there are the ones who complain and gripe and try to get out of doing anything positive for the place. All in all, I would say that the majority see the good we are doing here.
Bush is the man to lead that plan. The plan we have is working, it will just take a WHILE. This is no summer vacation we are on.....
Politics is a subject most in the military don't want to discuss, almost like religion, abortion, and a few other hot topics
Also, some of the guys we have been looking for are NOT Iraqis. Foreign fighters seem to be some of the ones funding all the mayhem. The last two VBIED's we had at our camp were set off by two light skinned guys (a la Syrians) who ran them in close, got out and hauled ass, then blew them up.
Since we have been here, I have seen many things change. Bridges have been reopened, roads paved, sewage projects began, water projects expanding, etc... Most of the stuff the media does not cover We escort the CA (Civilian Affairs Teams) a lot, so I get to see both sides of the "war" It seems there is a VERY small fragment who do not want ANY of this to happen, since it will mean that democracy and the people in general will see how much better life can be. Let me tell you, right now, Iraq is not exactly a place I would live in my wildest dreams. Clean water is hard to attain for a large percentage of people, [censored] runs out in the streets (as it always has), and things are in disarray for many reasons.
For one, the people actually have a chance to buy goods that until now, they could not own. For instance... microwaves, satellite dishes, DVD players, air conditioners and the like that have been things only the very rich and Baath Party members could have. What does all of this new strain do to the power grid. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the ragged power lines and generators here will not handle the current demand. It doesn;t help that the insurgents blow up towers and power plants as soon as we put them up
Another thing, until recently, only a FEW people had or could afford cars. Now, they are being shipped into the country in droves. The cars I am talking about are mostly Hyundais, Kias, Opels, etc... but there are some older Hondas, Mazdas, BMW's and Mercedes coming in to. Iraquis like these four door trucks and especially Bongo trucks since they are always hauling stuff. Lots of the Kia vans are Taxis, along with a bunch of the cars. People will be piled all up in the back of trucks, vans, or whatever they can catch a ride on. it is CRAZY to say the least. I have a few pictures that you would love to see. Cops in America would go crazy looking at the [censored] I see here every day.
Two...all of our years of UN sanctions did nothing to help the lower class and working families. Goods either had to be sold locally (and no one had $$$ except the Baathist) or traded locally for material goods. Now, of course, there are markets all up and own the streets and roads. You can go to Hussein's palaces and then walk right out of them into the street (like at Al Adamiyha where the famous Lover's Den for his son is) and see the stark difference. The palaces are decorated with wealthy fixtures and ornate stuff out of this world. Gold AK's, a Golden horse chariot and stuff like that when people are begging out in the street and unemployment is high. For one thing, there were two classes in Iraq......Saddam's Baathist party and everyone else. There is no doubt Saddam stole from the UN "food for oil" program and used it for his OWN benefit. What he was buying with all this money, I will let you decide
As for security, the Iraquis are coming around. There is no way anyone could expect to take people off the street and have them as professional as the US military in a couple of months. Most of the people with experience in the military are or were Baathists, so it would be hard to turn it over to them as Saddam loyalists. Day by day, we are training the ING and the NIA to be better soldiers. There are some dang good leaders here, that given the chance, will make a difference in the security issue. Slowly but surely, we are using the Iraqi forces more and more to guard infrastructure, do raids, man checkpoints.....the things they NEED to do to tame the insurgency.
Hopefully I will be home before the summer comes at home Wife and kids are ok. I just need to hurry up and get home so I can spend some more quality time with them
I haven't capped one yet. TC's normally manning the radio and controlling movement of my guys. Not so say I haven't seen a bunch fall under fire, cause my guys are THE [censored]
Oh yeah, the KBR guys are getting it done for us. They work FOR us. No problems getting things done once they ever get the go ahead to start a project. Buildings up in a month that would take a year in the States. My laundry is done by KBR and my meals are always there for me....can't complain
Bin Laden.....we really never discuss him since we are in Iraq. Hussein and Sadr come up all the time because we see pics of them, posters, and stuff hidden in peoples houses about them.
I bet if we were in Afghanistan we would discuss him more since he is a "local" if you know what I mean. It would be like us discussing Hitler while we are walking around in a bombed out Japan after WWII
As for how long before it is safe...that is the billion (s) dollar question. If we are smart, we won't pull out until the new government is in FULL control so we never have to come back here again. If we had only done this in 1991, we would be so far ahead of the game. The troops will pull out slowly and surely as the new government feels it is ready for us to leave.
By the way, we are still in Germany, Japan, Korea, and other countries that I think troop numbers need to be less in. Bring them here when we need them, like now (during Ramadan) and in the coming elections.
That Saddam was a threat is no question in my mind. Of course, there are lots of threats in the world, and I believe standing up to one of them and doing something about it will make the US safer (a la Lybia ) in the long run. Iraq is a rich country, if that fool Saddam had not raped it for his own pleasure the last 30 years....... The ground is fertile around the rivers and they have a great climate to grow anything they want. Lots of CHEAP labor too. Iraqi bike in the future maybe There is also enough oil that the country could be nice just like Kuwait is. Gas lines here are like back in the States in the 70's. All Iraq needs is a couple of refineries and that would be a big help
Anybody ever been to Kuwait??.....roads WAY out in the desert have street lights.....SMOOTH ass roads, nice buildings and stuff everywhere,....HOT as [censored] though
Man, o man....I could go on and on about some of the things I have learned here.
On the lighter side.....You ought to have seen the huge fight I almost started at a school the other day when I brought out some pencils and pens to pass out that some nice folks back home sent me to give to the kids.....you would have thought they were fighting over $100 bills or something A kid in America would look at you silly if you offered him a piece of candy or a pencil. Damn near every kid here will ask me for my pen if I have one on my IBA.
Goes to show you that we need to be thankful for what we have at home. We also need to be glad we have the opportunities at home that we do I hope I remember this when I get home too
