A letter from Iraq ... Please read

[kinney29 0]

THis is an email an Army buddy sent me from one of his other buddies.

As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a
very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back
home.
And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently

(Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that
your
paper is producing.)

* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.

* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.

* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there
so education can occur.

* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships
faster.

* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.

* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time
ever
in Iraq.

* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before
the
war.

* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35%
before
the war.

* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are
in
place.

* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.

* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.

* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.

* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side
with US
soldiers.

* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.

* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
prevent the spread of germs.

* An interim constitution has been signed.

* Girls are allowed to attend school.

* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time
in 30 years.

Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I
have
met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way.
They
say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their
children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone,
anywhere to dispute me on these facts. If you are like me and very
disgusted
with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a
friend and let them know there are good things happening.

Ray Reynolds, SFC Iowa Army National Guard

234th Signal Battalion

[wmw999 2,589]

You friend has a lot of buddies; this one has been around long enough to have made it into snopes.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[pajarito 0]

I realize that much of this is probably general knowledge and has been reported over here already before, however, I wonder, if this is truly updated inside information or information straight from the source, how his COMSEC Officer feels about his reporting other than personal information via e-mail or letters to his buddies back home. I don’t doubt the progress at all. I think much good is being accomplished there and we are winning. I just wonder about information contained in “an email an Army buddy sent me from one of his other buddies.”

[bigway 4]

it is really hard for me to belive that one soldier has wittnesed all of this or know of all this for a fact. It very much strikes me as a letter written to be distributed to dispute the media(this it say) and does not look like a letter that someone in the middle of a warzone would write to his mate. Who would go to war and have the time to conduct an investigation into all these facts to put there name behind it, you would think they have a few other things to worry about rather than what all our friends think, seems like a chain email.
do you think he missed out on adding anything else to the list or is that it?
if you are going to a war zone where would you have the time to find out all of this including the percentages.
Just my view, i more than likely could be wrong as i am not there.
poor guy though, if you going to war you think you would be doing something productive when you are in the line of fire. what a waste of a stamp!

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[kinney29 0]

I can't repond other that the fact there were both in the same guard unit. I'm sure something like this would get around quick. Tell me why I shouldn't believe my buddy or what is written?

Does the fact that this has been around make it less crediable? Does it make the successes in Iraq suddenlly turn to failures.

Even if it's been posted before and my buddy lied to me and it isn't from his buddy, I still think it's worthy of being read. As a former soldier and also former member of the media I am frustrated with the focus on the negatives in Iraq from our major news outlets.

[bigway 4]

Quote

accomplished there and we are winning.

sorry i must of missed something...what are you winning????
it is not your country what on earth could you win???
i never knew there was a prize...i thought no one knew why you are there....please, i dont want to sound ignorant but please tell me what the U.S. is winning in the country of iraq

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

• Quote

[bigway 4]

the only battle you are fighting in iraq is the battle of defending yourself in foreign land because you just killed everyones children.
the only war you are fighting is a war of revenge for your soldiers being killed because the people of iraq are pissed you are in their country and blew it up with missiles.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[pajarito 0]

Like I said, I don't doubt great progress is being made over there despite all the negativity that's being pointed out these days. The positive stuff is not usually newsworthy but the sensational bad stuff always is. I personally witnessed lots of progress being made on the ground in Afghanistan that rarely made the news. I'm just questioning the source. Not your buddy or even his buddy but where they got it from. Wendy posted that it was in snopes. I read it and it brings up legitimate concerns about reliability. I seriously doubt that a SFC in a National Guard Signal Unit would have access to the compilation of top level statistical information. Maybe some lower level stuff but nothing like is included in this list. It’s a nice wish list but I’d need to see some verification before I started jumping for joy.

[pajarito 0]

Quote

i dont want to sound ignorant

Too late...

[kallend 2,150]

Quote

I can't repond other that the fact there were both in the same guard unit. I'm sure something like this would get around quick. Tell me why I shouldn't believe my buddy or what is written?

Does the fact that this has been around make it less crediable? Does it make the successes in Iraq suddenlly turn to failures.

Even if it's been posted before and my buddy lied to me and it isn't from his buddy, I still think it's worthy of being read. As a former soldier and also former member of the media I am frustrated with the focus on the negatives in Iraq from our major news outlets.

This, from the US Government itself, destroys the credibility of this so-called "letter".

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[bigway 4]

thats the easy answer, please i am not from your country(obviously) but please tell me why you think your troops are in iraq, when no one ever asked you to go there and the UN said no. besides that why are you in iraq? what did they do to you, who did they threaten, why are they dangerous to the world.
please answer. i am not taking the piss, i would like to know what you think their purpose is of being in traq.
i do not belive you are there for the oil

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[kinney29 0]

This, from the US Government itself, destroys the credibility of this so-called "letter".

[bigway 4]

wow, you just found your get of jail card.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[billvon 3,119]

>>i dont want to sound ignorant

>Too late...

Enough of that.

[bigway 4]

alot can happen when you kill alot of people and force things into their life......just hope they are not belivers that revenge is a dish best served cold when your country leaves them alone. You could also look at this as when you leave it goes back to how it use to be and george bush has just blown all those tax dollars. that will be a kick in the teeth

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[bigway 4]

hey starting to think i need to be doing some editing....but i would honestly really love that questioned answered. it is funny how people can stand up for this war but not be able to give an answer on why there is a war or what america is in this country for without having to post a link to a media story or a government release.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[pajarito 0]

There are about 400 pages of debate on the topic of whether we should or should not have gone into Iraq and what we hope to and have accomplished in other threads. I was just pointing out that there might need to be some skepticism with regards to this letter that came from a friend of a friend of someone in the military in Iraq. Especially if it appears on snopes.com.

[wmw999 2,589]

Quote

Note the date! March 2004. A lot can happen in a shor t amoutnt of time. But thanks for playing

That letter had made the rounds enough to be in Snopes by April 2004. It's been posted here in Bonfire before
Here (April)
and
Here (June)

Really really wanting something to be true, and ignoring the evidence that it's not the whole truth, doesn't make it true.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kinney29 0]

Quote

You could also look at this as when you leave it goes back to how it use to be and george bush has just blown all those tax dollars. that will be a kick in the teeth [reply/]


So you think it will be how it used to be?

Germany - After World War I we left, Hitler rose to power, we defeated him and are STILL there. We have many military bases in Germany to prevent what happened after World War I.

Japan - Having learned our lesson from Germany, we stayed in Japan and are STILL there.

South Korea - Having learned our lesson from Germany, we stayed in South Korea and are STILL there.

Iraq - We are building permanent bases are are going to stay there.

This is not a new thing for our country. We have defeated dictators before and brought democracy and prosperity to other countries in the aftermath of war. We are an impatient society who has to see everything right NOW. We ARE doing the right thing over there.

• Quote

[rushmc 23]

Quote

hey starting to think i need to be doing some editing....but i would honestly really love that questioned answered. it is funny how people can stand up for this war but not be able to give an answer on why there is a war or what america is in this country for without having to post a link to a media story or a government release.

The reason is to disrupt those that support terror and doing that makes not only the US safer but the world as well. I truly believe that is what is being done. The reason the US is as strong as it is, is because of freedom! Being free turns loose the power of the people. If, no when, Iraq becomes the country it is going to become the terrosts will have to go some where else because the people of Iraq will no longer tolerate them being there. When they, the bad guys, set up shop somewhere else and export there terror we will go get them in their new home, where ever that may be.

Now I await being flamed for my opinion

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[skyhighkiy 0]

I would agree with that,

and I think a lot of the push towards staying in countries in which we have defeated enemies is in large part because of a wounded pride. (iraq, wounded pride over vietnam) If someone messes with us, we're going to show them we're the boss(seems to be our mentality),

I was in full support of going to war, Hell I had several friends that got sent off, one of which, the last time I saw (about 7 months ago) was doing P.O.W. training. I was in full support of getting saddam, but we definately have no reason to stay there other than to establish that we're the best and that no one had better mess with us.
I just hope we don't end up taking over too much territory and have the world rise against us...

JMO

BE THE BUDDHA!

[bigway 4]

hence why the world is now sick to death of the american government. you never do leave,
world police!!

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[billvon 3,119]

>When they, the bad guys, set up shop somewhere else and export
> there terror we will go get them in their new home, where ever that
> may be.

The flaw in your reasoning is that they all moved to Iraq AFTER we invaded. If our invasions cause increases in terrorism, we are not doing ourselves any good.

[bigway 4]

your country is not anywhere near free.
terror alerts all the time, and this is a free country?


protecting the world?
no you are not! their are bombs going off everywhere cause of america! there are terrorists because of america.
Terrorist that terrorist this....only in america!
visit new zealand and you will see what is like to be free. poilce, no guns, no airforce, no bombings, no supporting america and their stupid wars. You say it is okay to stop other countries having WMD when you guys have them, next you will tell me that it is okay because you have a trusty government and military.
far out, get with it america!

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[bigway 4]

Quote

I just hope we don't end up taking over too much territory and have the world rise against us...



now you have a head on your sholders. that is exactly what all american need to see because this could very well happen in the next generation.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

• Quote