This is a letter from one of our fellow employees who is a reservist serving in Iraq.
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All,
I wanted to send this out (please feel free to forward this) as some perspective from BOG (Army acronym for Boots on the Ground).
I have seen some scary stuff, heard about atrocities (luckily didn't see that), seen the chaos, etc. Contrary to the sensationalism, there is a lot of good things happening over here. Yes, the insurgents still attack every day, yes, we still lose folks every day. It's messy, and until you've actually seen it you cannot imagine how messy it is.
Having said that, we are building schools, hospitals, providing medical care, building infrastructure, etc. As a matter of fact, people are risking their lives every day doing it. The vast majority of the Iraqi people are peaceful, and are welcoming. The insurgency is very localized, and spearheaded by a (relatively) small group of people.
The insurgents basically are trying to disrupt life around here (that is their goal). The press has been sucked right in to their trap -- it's much more sensational to report on casualties, attacks, etc than real humanitarian work. And I won't kid you, they have been successful on a number of levels. When they behead someone on the internet, and a country stops sending their drivers (Nepal, Jordan, etc), that disrupts things. I have to tell our folks out here all the time, "you must adjust to an ever changing environment".
People, by their nature, do not like the uncertainty of having no idea what they may be doing day-to-day. They tend to get frustrated. That is exactly what the insurgency is trying to do, what it is designed to do. The press falls for it, the American people, the international opinion, all start falling for it -- the insurgents win.
Let me tell you about these insurgents, they are criminals and thugs. I'm not sure if this was reported over there. But about a month ago, the Mugtada Militia held a sacred mosque in Najaf. The US and Iragi military laid seige to the mosque and eventually took it back. Inside the mosque were literally tons of ammunition and assorted weapons. Outside the mosque were the bodies of an estimated 200 women and children which had been tortured and multilated by the insurgents. The embedded Stars and Stripes reporter showed me the pictures, and the article he had written. No newspaper picked up the story.
The Iraqi people have a lot of growing to do -- they have been under totalitarian rule for so long, they don't have the taste of freedom. That's why they are vulnerable to bullying, and somewhat reluctant to embrace their freedom (but they do like it so far from what I have seen). That's why we have to stay until the job is done. The Iraqi people like what they see, but they don't have the trust in themselves to self-rule and stand up to the bullys yet.
We cannot abandon them. Whether you consider the decision to invade a mistake or not -- that doesn't matter. Going forward, a bigger mistake would be to leave before this job is done.
As much as I miss home, and see and experience things I wouldn't normally want to -- I am glad to be a part of this.
Nate
***********
All,
I wanted to send this out (please feel free to forward this) as some perspective from BOG (Army acronym for Boots on the Ground).
I have seen some scary stuff, heard about atrocities (luckily didn't see that), seen the chaos, etc. Contrary to the sensationalism, there is a lot of good things happening over here. Yes, the insurgents still attack every day, yes, we still lose folks every day. It's messy, and until you've actually seen it you cannot imagine how messy it is.
Having said that, we are building schools, hospitals, providing medical care, building infrastructure, etc. As a matter of fact, people are risking their lives every day doing it. The vast majority of the Iraqi people are peaceful, and are welcoming. The insurgency is very localized, and spearheaded by a (relatively) small group of people.
The insurgents basically are trying to disrupt life around here (that is their goal). The press has been sucked right in to their trap -- it's much more sensational to report on casualties, attacks, etc than real humanitarian work. And I won't kid you, they have been successful on a number of levels. When they behead someone on the internet, and a country stops sending their drivers (Nepal, Jordan, etc), that disrupts things. I have to tell our folks out here all the time, "you must adjust to an ever changing environment".
People, by their nature, do not like the uncertainty of having no idea what they may be doing day-to-day. They tend to get frustrated. That is exactly what the insurgency is trying to do, what it is designed to do. The press falls for it, the American people, the international opinion, all start falling for it -- the insurgents win.
Let me tell you about these insurgents, they are criminals and thugs. I'm not sure if this was reported over there. But about a month ago, the Mugtada Militia held a sacred mosque in Najaf. The US and Iragi military laid seige to the mosque and eventually took it back. Inside the mosque were literally tons of ammunition and assorted weapons. Outside the mosque were the bodies of an estimated 200 women and children which had been tortured and multilated by the insurgents. The embedded Stars and Stripes reporter showed me the pictures, and the article he had written. No newspaper picked up the story.
The Iraqi people have a lot of growing to do -- they have been under totalitarian rule for so long, they don't have the taste of freedom. That's why they are vulnerable to bullying, and somewhat reluctant to embrace their freedom (but they do like it so far from what I have seen). That's why we have to stay until the job is done. The Iraqi people like what they see, but they don't have the trust in themselves to self-rule and stand up to the bullys yet.
We cannot abandon them. Whether you consider the decision to invade a mistake or not -- that doesn't matter. Going forward, a bigger mistake would be to leave before this job is done.
As much as I miss home, and see and experience things I wouldn't normally want to -- I am glad to be a part of this.
Nate