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Letter from Iraq

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by garion11

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From a National Guard soldier

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 on 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 a list of things that has happend in iraq recently:

Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in iraq

Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations

Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded of the weapons that were stored there so education can occur.

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

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

The country had it's first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.

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 defence 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 alllowed to attend school for the first time ever in Iraq.

Text books 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 here. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there 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 challange 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

NOTE: I did not write this, just passing it on.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/reynolds.asp

5 replies

by albert franco ii

I would love to believe these stats. But, I find them utopic and almost unbelievable. Where did a sargeant get these figures? Is there anyone (independent) to back them up?

Or are we just dumping lies on to sooth our conscience so badly wounded by the torture and abuse of prisoners.

I have long believed that the US and other nations should get rid of despots like Saddam. But, when our own soldiers behave in this manner it makes me feel as if I am one of the quiet Germans that stood by while Hitler and his henchmen defecated on humanity.

We should force change in the world. But, that change must ALWAYS be for the better. Despots should pushed aside and the innocent freed. But, it looks like we are unwanted occupiers of a foriegn land. Please, demonstrate the truth of these statistics so that we can make them public.

But make damn sure they are real, because we won't be your propagandistic stooges, no matter how good it might feel temporarily.

by jardinier

Well I can't vouch for these statistics, but as the source is given as The Congressional Research Service, I'll take their word for it:

"The United States is a martial nation. It accounts for 5 per cent of the world's population, 20 per cent of the world economy, and fully 50 per cent of global defence spending. It is structured for war.
"In the 228 years since it declared independence, the US had made 200 military interventions abroad, says the Congressional Research Service, an average of one every 14 months."

And from the Washington-based journal, Foreign Policy,
"It has had much less experience in introducing democracy than it does in waging war. It has made 16 attempts, of which four have succeeded -- Japan, Germany, Panama and Grenada."

by mlayton

Here is the information I found on it...

"The information appears to have come in part from a USAID fact sheet but doesn't always jibe with what was reported there. Some statements, such as "Elections are taking place in every major city," are blatantly false. Others, such as "Girls are allowed to attend school," are true but misleading, given that girls were allowed to attend school during Saddam Hussein's rule..."

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_ray_reynolds.htm

by oz_media

Maxwell posted this same letter over a month ago.

Nobody has contested what is being done there now, you are missing the entire issue again.

Try finding something to support the need for haste and that justifies your objecting to following your own allies wishes and wait three weeks.

Are you also trying to say that you have done this alone now and we should all be thankful for it?

You gotta do better than that and at least try to stay current with your attempts to make a point.

by jardinier

Good work Garion. Did you find this one all by yourself, or did you simply copy-and-paste it from my discussion: "More grist for the mill" (May 25)?

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