Good Read on Iraq

[TheAnvil 0]

Forwarded to me from an Army buddy. Beers to all,

Vinny the Anvil

> OPEN LETTER TO FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF RICHMOND BEACH
>
> It has been a while since I have written to my friends at First
Lutheran
> Church about what's really going on here in Iraq. The news you watch
on
> TV is exaggerated, sensationalized and selective. Good news doesn't
> sell.
>
> The stuff you don't hear about? Let's start with Electrical Power
> production in Iraq. The day after the war was declared over, there
was
> nearly 0 power being generated in Iraq. 45 days later, in a
partnership
> between the Army, the Iraqi people and some private companies, there
are
> now 3200 mega watts (Mw) of power being produced daily,
> 1/3 of the total national potential of 8000 Mw. Downed power lines
(big
> stuff, 400 Kilovolt (Kv) and 132 Kv) are being repaired and are about
> 70% complete.
>
> Then there is water purification. In central Iraq between Baghdad and
> Mosul, home of the 4th Infantry Division, Water treatment was spotty
at
> best. The facilities existed, but the controls were never
implemented.
> Simple chemicals like Chlorine for purification and Alum (Aluminum
> Sulfate) for sediment settling (The Tigris River is about as clear as
> the Mississippi River) were in short supply or not used at all and
when
> chlorine was used, it was metered by the scientific method of
guessing.
> So some people got pool water and some people got water with lots of
> little things moving in it. We are slowly but surely solving that.
> Contracts for repairs to facilities that are only 50% or less
> operational are being let, chemicals are being delivered, although we
> don't have the metering problem solved yet (It's only been 45 days).
>
> How about oil and fuel? Well the war was all about oil wasn't it? You
> bet it was. It was all about oil for the Iraqi people because they
have
> no other income, they produce nothing else. Oil is 95% of the Iraqi
GNP.
> For this nation to survive, it MUST sell oil. The Refinery at Bayji
is
> at
> 75% of capacity producing gasoline. The crude pipeline between Kirkuk
> (Oil Central) and Bayji will be repaired by tomorrow (2 June). LPG,
what
> all Iraqi's use to cook and heat with, is at 103% of normal
production
> and WE, the US ARMY, at least 4th ID, are insuring it is being
> distributed FAIRLY to ALL Iraqi's.
>
> You have to remember that 3 months ago, ALL these things were used as
> weapons against the population to keep them in line. If your town
> misbehaved, gasoline shipments stopped, LPG pipelines and trucks
> stopped, Water was turned off, power was turned off.
>
> Now, until exports start, every drop of gasoline produced goes to the
> Iraqi people, crude oil is being stored, the country is at 75%
capacity
> now, they need to export or stop pumping soon, thank the UN for the
> delay. ALL LPG goes to the Iraqi people EVERYWHERE. Water is being
> purified as best they can, but at least it's running all the time to
> everyone.
>
>
>
> Are we still getting shot at? Yep
>
> Are American Soldiers still dying? Yep, about 1 a day from the 4th
ID,
> most in accidents, but dead is dead.
>
> If we are doing all this for the Iraqi's, why are they shooting at
us?
>
> The general population isn't. There are still bad guys, who won't let
go
> of the old regime. They are Ba'ath party members (Read Nazi Party,
but
> not as nice) who know nothing but the regime. They were thugs for the
> regime that caused many to disappear in the night and they have no
other
> skills. At least the Nazis had jobs they could go back to after the
war
> as plumbers, managers, engineers, etc...these people have no skills
but
> terror. They are simply applying their skills....and we are applying
> ours. There is no Christian way to say they must be eliminated and we
> are doing so with all the efficiency we can muster. Our troops are
shot
> at literally everyday by small arms and RPGs. We respond and
> 100% of the time, the Ba'ath party guys come out with the short end
of
> the stick. The most amazing thing to me is that they don't realize
that
> if they stopped shooting at us, we would focus on fixing things and
> leave. The more they shoot at us, the longer we will stay.
>
> Lastly, Realize that 90% the damage you see on TV was caused by
IRAQI's,
> NOT the war. Sure we took out a few bridges from military necessity,
we
> took out a few power and phone lines to disrupt communications, sure
we
> drilled a few palaces and government headquarters buildings with
2000lb
> laser guided bombs (I work 100 yards from where two hit the Tikrit
> Palace), he had plenty to spare. But, ANY damage you see to schools,
> hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries, pipelines, was
ALL
> caused either by the Iraqi Army in its death throws or the Iraqi
> civilians looting the places. Could the army have prevented it? Nope.
We
> can and do now, but 45 days ago the average soldier was lucky to know
> what town he was in much less be informed enough to know who owned
what
> or have the power to stop a
> 1,000 people from looting a building by himself.
>
> The United States and Britain are doing a very noble thing here. We
> stuck our necks out on the world chopping block to free a people.
I've
> already talked the weapons of mass destruction thing to death, bottom
> line, who cares, this country was one big conventional weapons ammo
dump
> anyway. We have probably destroyed more weapons and ammo in the last
30
> days than the US Army has ever fired in the last 30 years (Remember,
> this is a country the size of Texas), so drop the WMD argument as the
> reason we came here, if we find it GREAT, if we don't, SO WHAT? I'm
> living in a "guest palace" on a 500 acre palace compound with 20
palaces
> with like facilities built in half a dozen towns all over Iraq that
were
> built for one man. Drive down the street and out into the countryside
5
> miles away (I have) and see a family of 10 living in a mud hut
herding
> two dozen sheep, Then tell me why you think we are here.
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
> ERIC RYDBOM MAJ, ENGINEER Deputy Division Engineer
> 4th Infantry Division
>

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[Push 0]

That's all great, and I agree that deposing Saddam was a good thing. I have a question, though. Who are you liberating next? Cause I don't think that the people of Iraq are more deserving of massive military intervention than the children of Uganda, for instance.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[turtlespeed 226]

AMEN!

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[Harksaw 0]

Quote

There is no Christian way to say they must be eliminated and we
are doing so with all the efficiency we can muster.

What? I don't understand what he is trying to say, and i'm not sure I want to.

__________________________________________________
I started skydiving for the money and the chicks. Oh, wait.

[kiltboy 0]

I have a friend who's brother came back a couple of weeks ago and he painted a very different picture. Admittedly he is a Brit and was working in a different part of Iraq from the US but his opinion was that the place was a bloody shambles and there were plenty of other Brit squaddies who were of the same opinion.

Not wanting to open a can of worms but I'm seeing too much negative press to dismiss it completely.

David

[TheAnvil 0]

I have no world liberation plan as of yet. Perhaps I should formulate one.....

I've been to Africa (only passed through Uganda's airport though) and know how poor some of the people of that continent are. Truly sad. I've seen equal poverty in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, China, and several other countries. Poverty is sad no matter where it is.

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!