[Coleman]

Here's a letter from my dad's close friend that is over in Iraq. I thought I'd post it, not necessarily as a political statement, but for more of just an interesting short read about a real person that I know.

[quote:65dba]Subject: Update from Iraq (the REAL WORLD according to Josh Watson)

Update from Iraq

All,

The dust is still here, but the temperature is starting to drop - fall is
coming. There is no change in foliage because there is no foliage, but you
can definately tell the difference. There are even clouds in the air every
now and then. I am not sure what the temperature is at night or early
morning, but it is a big enough change compared to what we have had.

Things started to get a bit squirly a few days ago. A local member of the
town came up to an Iraqi check point and told them that there was an IED
(Improvised Explosive Device) placed on the road near the south side of
town. As it turns out, the IED they saw was a "dummy" and there was a
secondary charge nearby that was real. Fortunately the US soldiers found
them both and blew them up.

The next day, another local told the Iraqi Army that there was an IED near
the north side of town. The US went out and detonated that one as well.

Then, two nights ago an Iraqi Army patrol saw two men out in the streets
after curfew. When they were stopped and asked what was going on, they ran
and one threw a remote detonator. When it hit the ground, an IED went off.
The Iraqis caught and detained the two insurgents and we have been
questioning them since. Yesterday I went out into town with the US/Iraqi
patrol looking for a weapons cache based on info from the two insurgents -
found nothing.

This is acutally all very good news:
1. The local towns people are telling us things.
2. The locals are mad at the insurgents.
3. The Iraqi Army is doing a very good job.
4. The insurgents that are here right now do not seem to be that smart.
5. The US folks are top notch.

Bottom line, the US is training the Iraqi Army. The Iraqi Army is catching
the bad guys, and the locals are assisting us all. This is the way to
victory here. I am glad that I am here and a part of it.

Attached is a picture that I took when we were leaving Kuwait to come up
here to Iraq. It struck me as quite perfect (no it was not staged). Here
is the ruck of a soldier getting ready to go to Iraq at the call of his
country and he has a constant reminder of home.


Staying safe.


Josh[/quote:65dba] the picture that he attached was a picture of a teddy bear attached to his rifle. It was really huge, and I didn't feel like resizing it.