Iraq-From a Soldiers View
 

This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq. Its 100% real he's from my cousins regiment or platton or something:

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. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. 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

i didnt read it cause i could care less about him ...


on a side note : i hope they capture his ass and make him crawl around on all fours, naked, barking like a dog.

No Wal Mart or McDonalds yet? Damn.

so are you 100 % sure this is real ???? not some scasm... i would love to show this to my philosphy teachers and religion teachers. It would make them drop dead.

Is that short list worth hundreds and hundreds of American lives? oOo:

Your a sick idiot, maybe this will happen to you. annoy:

whats more valuble ? a white life or a brown one ?.. It such a hard thing to think about, we never know all the facts what is really going on is a major mystery to the general public. For all we know Iraq civilians could be getting masscred while US Casulty's may be higher, its so ff-ed up.

You know Corporate America made/distributes photoshop? Probably your shoes, TV, etc etc.

Unless you live in a tent in the middle of the woods, your sig is a failed attempt at being cool.

[quote="Short Hand":0469d]so are you 100 % sure this is real ???? not some scasm... i would love to show this to my philosphy teachers and religion teachers. It would make them drop dead.[/quote:0469d]

ha your social study's teachers are raging liberals too? i wouldnt dispute the validity of these facts, but what it fails to mention is that all of this shit was paid for by the us tax payer to the sum of 25 billion dollars....and for what? bringing "democracy" to iraq? at first i thought we would at least be getting something out of this endevure....like exclusive trade rights with iraqi oil companies or something, but no....we get 25 billion dollars to add to the already large defecit thats making the interest rates on my student loans high as fuck, and a bunch of dead soldiers, and tortured iraqi prisoners. we got ourselves into this shit and we cant just turn tail and leave now, but damnit we need to do something different. I read an interesting article in the paper today about new strategies for dealing with iraq, the one that caught my eye as the best solution was to dramaticly reduce the us presense in the country to something like what we have in afganistan....where our guys arent walking around patroling the streets of cities and getting shot in the back, they stay stationed in the countryside and act on intellegince against resistors, there supporters, and there strongholds and are ready to respond to any crisis that happens in the cities, if the need arises-granted afghanistan is still an unsetelled country today.

Reads like bullshit too me.

those were 18 good things about iraq, when there are probably 1000 bad things about iraq.

"I may be a slave to this shit but I ain't afraid of it"
'SweatShopUnion'

The kool kids do all the drugs ferich, then tell everyone on the intranet about it. Ferich you know that good buddy. beer:

If i need to be more selective in what i target with my sigs then maybe...Not all corporations are "bad" its the ones that pedal money into the government influence foreigns affairs, like Shell in Niger Responsible for alot of crap their. What should my sig say Death "name all bad corporations here", it's a general broad statement.

so, 600+ Americans died for Iraqis can have phones... yay

[quote=Eames]ha your social study's teachers are raging liberals too? i wouldnt dispute the validity of these facts, but what it fails to mention is that all of this shit was paid for by the us tax payer to the sum of 25 billion dollars....and for what? bringing "democracy" to iraq? at first i thought we would at least be getting something out of this endevure....like exclusive trade rights with iraqi oil companies or something, but no....we get 25 billion dollars to add to the already large defecit thats making the interest rates on my student loans high as fuck, and a bunch of dead soldiers, and tortured iraqi prisoners. we got ourselves into this shit and we cant just turn tail and leave now, but damnit we need to do something different. I read an interesting article in the paper today about new strategies for dealing with iraq, the one that caught my eye as the best solution was to dramaticly reduce the us presense in the country to something like what we have in afganistan....where our guys arent walking around patroling the streets of cities and getting shot in the back, they stay stationed in the countryside and act on intellegince against resistors, there supporters, and there strongholds and are ready to respond to any crisis that happens in the cities, if the need arises-granted afghanistan is still an unsetelled country today.[/quote:f90ce]

You just can't leave, now that you have fucked u p the nestb you gotta fix it up.

yeah, this is the iowa national guard--i know youd hear a different story from the marines in falluja and ramadi, or the 101st whos been there since before the war. how about the 82nd thats been home 2 months in the last three years--they might see it a different way

[quote="Duke_of_Ray":afa74]Your a sick idiot, maybe this will happen to you. annoy:[/quote:afa74]


i doubt it ... i d be in canada if they ever tried to force me to serve ... id NEVER join on my own free will ...


ps : an eye for an eye.

[quote=Judas]
i doubt it ... i d be in canada if they ever tried to force me to serve ... id NEVER join on my own free will ...


ps : an eye for an eye.[/quote:e53db]

Would you draw us pretty pictures up here in Canada ? we will give you citizenship if you do beer:

[quote="Short Hand":6458f]"I may be a slave to this shit but I ain't afraid of it"
'SweatShopUnion'

The kool kids do all the drugs ferich, then tell everyone on the intranet about it. Ferich you know that good buddy. beer:

If i need to be more selective in what i target with my sigs then maybe...Not all corporations are "bad" its the ones that pedal money into the government influence foreigns affairs, like Shell in Niger Responsible for alot of crap their. What should my sig say Death "name all bad corporations here", it's a general broad statement.[/quote:6458f]

I was just making a point, no need to flaunt your ignorance again. You don't know me, so stop making assumptions about my personal life. I do not try to impress people with my small addiction, but it's the only thing you know about me, so you think it's what I'm all about. That's where you're wrong.

The fact is, I don't know why there's bad blood between us, I used to think you were an okay guy. Then you started calling me a crackhead.

fuck doesnt look like may 11th is gonna happen ferich...

[quote=Judas]
i doubt it ... i d be in canada if they ever tried to force me to serve ... id NEVER join on my own free will ...


ps : an eye for an eye.[/quote:0fde7]

Fuck you, coward.

annoy:

[quote="Short Hand":5ad5d][quote=Eames]ha your social study's teachers are raging liberals too? i wouldnt dispute the validity of these facts, but what it fails to mention is that all of this shit was paid for by the us tax payer to the sum of 25 billion dollars....and for what? bringing "democracy" to iraq? at first i thought we would at least be getting something out of this endevure....like exclusive trade rights with iraqi oil companies or something, but no....we get 25 billion dollars to add to the already large defecit thats making the interest rates on my student loans high as fuck, and a bunch of dead soldiers, and tortured iraqi prisoners. we got ourselves into this shit and we cant just turn tail and leave now, but damnit we need to do something different. I read an interesting article in the paper today about new strategies for dealing with iraq, the one that caught my eye as the best solution was to dramaticly reduce the us presense in the country to something like what we have in afganistan....where our guys arent walking around patroling the streets of cities and getting shot in the back, they stay stationed in the countryside and act on intellegince against resistors, there supporters, and there strongholds and are ready to respond to any crisis that happens in the cities, if the need arises-granted afghanistan is still an unsetelled country today.[/quote:5ad5d]

You just can't leave, now that you have fucked u p the nestb you gotta fix it up.[/quote:5ad5d]

i didnt say "leave" i said reduce the number of us soldiers there, i think things will start to get better once we have set up a legitamate iraqi goverment. but do i think all of this shit was worth it, just to give iraqis freedom? hell no....we're getting the short end of the stick here, we need to take something from iraq, make them help pay us back the 25 billion we gave them.

[quote="Zap. USMC":b0176][quote=Judas]
i doubt it ... i d be in canada if they ever tried to force me to serve ... id NEVER join on my own free will ...


ps : an eye for an eye.[/quote:b0176]

Fuck you, coward.

annoy:[/quote:b0176]


Some people don't like killing.

[quote=Ferich][quote="Zap. USMC":1cb6c]Fuck you, coward.

annoy:[/quote:1cb6c]


Some people don't like killing.[/quote:1cb6c]

then they arent much of a man....any other time period they would long be dead or made into a slave...which is worse then death.

Wow.

[quote=Ferich]I was just making a point, no need to flaunt your ignorance again. You don't know me, so stop making assumptions about my personal life. I do not try to impress people with my small addiction, but it's the only thing you know about me, so you think it's what I'm all about. That's where you're wrong.

The fact is, I don't know why there's bad blood between us, I used to think you were an okay guy. Then you started calling me a crackhead.[/quote:dcdd0]

Ferich's right, Short Hand - You've been a real fucking prick lately. Need to pull your head in.

oook then lets kall some sort of truce. I beleive it all started with a peice back at vc.net, Inoxx flamed hella outta of a Digiality peice I had (Received soem great comments at Deviant), then all of a sudden he shut it down I think you joined in on the fest, I felt the peice wasn't being properly given a chance, more insults were being thrown toward the fact I was using grunge and grunge was trendy or something. Old news I guess, All in the past. Ill leave it their from now on.

Are all of you ignorant, media-guzzling fucks or what? I'm so God damned sick and tired of all the people who bash Bush and the war and whatever else just because bullshit Progressive Liberalism is the cool thing to follow right now.

First of all, I grew up in the Norfolk, VA area, home to the largest naval base in the world. I lived there for eight years until I moved to Myrtle Beach a few years ago. Needless to say, many of my friends ended up joining one branch of the Armed Forces or another. I keep in contact with all of them via e-mail and I have yet to hear any of them repeat all the negative bullshit from the media.

And I'm not talking about reservists. I'm talking about a Lance Corporal in the Marines whose job it is to run ammo from the trucks to the front line infantry. I'm talking about a Lieutenant who is a helicopter pilot for the SEALs and has been doing hostile drops since before major combat was officially declared. I'm talking about a Private who is a radio repairman for the Army and a PFC with a front-line Engineering Division.

Yes, all of them want to come home. Some of them are scared. All of them miss their family and friends. But they also all agree that what we see here at home is total bullshit. The majority of the country is doing better than it ever has. Education and economic prosperity are reaching unprecedented levels. But the media is too locked on the obvious strife in the larger cities where it's easier for militants to cause chaos.

Irregardless of whether you feel we went for the right reason, it's time to think differently. Do we want this to be the Vietnam of our generation? Already the Progressive Liberal fuckheads are harassing soldiers returning from battle. The same men and women who followed orders and put their life on the line in the defense of freedom and democracy. And maybe you don't believe that we went there for those reasons, but those soldiers fought with that belief in their minds, and it isn't fair to withdraw our support now.

And whoever it was that asked if it was worth the deaths of hundreds of Americans: What the fuck is wrong with you? This is something I hear echoed constantly by Liberals, which is probably the absolute pinnacle of their hypocracy. The very same people who scream and whine about the equality of different races and cultures, who sue the shit out of anyone who even thinks about allowing something so petty as nationality affect their judgement, are the very same ones who are implying that American lives are somehow more valuable than the lives of any other human being on this planet. Yes, hundreds of Americans died. But let's ignore the fact that during the last two decades, Sadaam Hussein was personally responsible for the deaths of 2 million human beings. That's an average of 100,000 people murdered each year, most of them simply for following the Shi'ite sect of Islam or for being born of the Kurd ethnicity.

Death is rarely justifiable, and I'd venture to say that it is very rarely worth it. But in this case, the sacrafices of the brave few will end in the liberation of the great many. So before you repeat what the media spoon feeds to you, try talking to a soldier. Try talking to an Iraqi. Go get the reels of footage from the CNN vaults of the Iraqis talking about how much better their lives are, that you'll never see because optimism never makes good television.

I'm sure the flames will begin shortly, they always do. So I'll pre-empt and say this:

Fuck Liberals. fire2:

I have heard similar thoughts from vets of Vietnam. oOo:

wow noc...wow. Im a liberal , but I supported the war in Iraq, weird I know. I tried saying this to a lot of my Philosphy Teachers but all I got back was bs from them, Wish I had you their to stick it to them like this man rock: Hell once i out argued one of them and then she pulled out the "Who went to university here thing on me". Don't be fooled not all of us liberals are bleeding Heart's.

PS you bastard you live in Myrtl Beach all the sun and all biggrin:

Also though what other hidden motives are their for Bush being in Iraq ? I feel if the government was more upfront about this stuff their would be a more positive response about all of this.

Lets face it, every president after JFK has been an asshat. happy:

When it comes down to it, I guess I really don't have a big problem with Liberals in the broadest of terms. My problem is with what is referred to as Progressive Liberalism.

These are the people who refuse to support our troops. These are the people bolstering the ridiculous antics of the ACLU and NAACP. The people who want "One Nation Under God" removed from the Constitution.

Progressive Liberalism is extremism, much like Extreme Conservatism is equally insane. Progressivism just scares me more because they literally seem to thrive on absolute anarchy.

I can't understand how people cant support their troops. They are putting their lives on the line for these stupid bastards that sit at home on the couch and bitch and cry that everything is wrong

Re: Iraq-From a Soldiers View
 

I dont know, but it doesnt seem likely that a medic should happen upon those statistics himself. I would say he was told that or given a piece of paper equivalent to mission statements you get at work from management. Still I can name a hundred good things that were created by the coalition invasion. On the other hand I can list one bad thing for every good. Its really hard to say, because the Iraqi people really needed our help, but it really doesnt seem worth it after you look at all the problems that came with it. I think we should change our strategy. Moving our forces to the remote countryside would be a good thing, I agree with Eames oOo: because then the irregulars wont be able to blend in with the civilian population. If they even think they can fight us conventionally, they would be annhiliated. But if you move out to the countryside, you let the enemy move in and recruit, bully, and fleece off the population even with a police force (especially one with questionable loyalties).

Well said

what exactly is wrong about removing "One Nation Under God" from the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ; considering that it was not in the original and was added after the red scare
rolleyes:

It has more to do with the precedent that would then be set, Stryker.

Every piece of currency would need to be recalled and destroyed to remove the words "In God We Trust" from them. That alone would have a huge economic impact.

That aside, this is the only democracy I've ever seen in my life where an 80% majority has less say than a vocal 5% minority.

I dont think the marines or 101st think any different, if your a soldier, your ready to die for what ever reason your country tells you to, and especially if your helping ppl at the same time, I dont care if its the USA or Iraq but we are still helping ppl, and were doing a good job, Id die for this cause, and I think we should evem send 1000's of more troops over there, also that whole Iraqi prisoner thing, he deserved worse then what they did to him...

Has anyone else noticed that when there's good news out of Iraq, it's automatically labeled as propaganda, but bad news is always unquestionably accepted as the truth?