My Discussion With An Iraq War Veteran....

[FirefightnRick]

A friend of mine and co-worker just returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq and I finally got a chance to spend some time with him three days ago and ask him about all there is going on there. I wanted to share with everyone what he told me because like many of you, I only get my info from the news sources here and had not known anyone close enough to ask all the questions I had. And not surprisingly, it turns out I didn't know shit about what is going on there and I was completely amazed to hear all that he had to say.

We talked for hours and I wished I had written down the names of the town/villages he was at and all the terms that the military folks use. It's just refreshing to hear factual information as to what is going on and to hear about all the GOOD that is going on and the thousands who are benefitting.

Some of the more interesting things he described to me was that first off, people here cannot believe the poverty that existed and still exists over there. Nothing that hardly any of us can ever imagine exists. He stated that they would know when they were coming into an area that had some sense of modernization because they would see windows that actually had GLASS in them. Most areas he was in had zero infrastructure. Nothing. No hospitals, roads, electricity, phones and certainly no emergency response structure of any kind. Nothing. He said, while he was there the division he was a part of built countless schools, hospitals and police stations and countless bits of infrastructure that all of us take for granted every day. He said the people there who he met greatly appreciated all that they did for them, especially the police and military personnell who have risked it all themselves to try and step up and make a difference for themselves and their own families. He said the guys who are hiding the IED's that we have seen in videos and in emails and youtube, that often times those persons may have absolute no connections to Al Queda or of the beliefs of the extremists who hate and want to kill american soldiers and police forces. But many of them are so freakin poor that it practically takes very little money offered up to encourage them to do it. I asked him about the "Surge" we have heard so much about and what that was about? He said it was basically the Marines getting off the bases and getting out into the communities and being with the police and military forces they trained. He said the Iraqi forces really had no idea how to properly police the areas, and many of the areas are extremely remote. But the reason the "Surge" has succeeded so well is that they got out to be with these folks to assist in everyday police work and enforcement. That, plus the local leaderships and their followers have finally gotten sick of the violence and started to help turn these people in. This is giving some of the more populated areas a chance to actually set up a "Crime Stoppers" reporting system that they are now taking advantage of. Said the Iraqi forces are starting to recieve a lot of local assistance in rounding up the bad guys one by one, and it's working. He said we gave and trained the country's military force "Retinal Scanning" systems. Now they scan countless thousands of people who cross the borders trying to get a handle on that situation as you can only imagine because of the vastness of that country.

I asked him about the moral of the American Soldier and what he thought about those here who shoot their mouths off in order to hurt the U.S. cause over there and, lets just say he didn't have a damn thing nice to say about that. It didn't surprise him at all that a recent Gallop pole showed that the U.S. citizen had the most faith in the U.S. military and the least in the U.S. congress, which Gallop stated was something like the lowest rating of any entity in their 35 year existence? He said as hurtful as it may be against the American soldier doing his job, for such things as Al Jazeera TV splashing it all over local television and radio in the biggest cities, that it still didn't hurt moral. He said, what would hurt moral more than anything else would be when someone back home would have bad news to share, whether from them being sick, or have bad news within a family, and the helpless feeling the G.I. would get for not being able to do anything to help out.

Overall, he gave me a COMPLETE AND DIFFERENT point of view than what I have gathered from the news sources we have here in the U.S. I have left out a ton of stuff but you get the idea. He said he believes that Iraq will be a new Democracy within that very backward part of the world and that they will be a quality Ally for the U.S. down the road.

Rick

Edited July 19, 2008 by FirefightnRick

[meangreendork]

That's about on par with what I hear from people coming over there as well. The good thing is that the media doesn't seem to be turning the tide of opinion against the soldiers overseas, and I'm happy about that. Most people I know, despite their political leanings, have a great deal of respect for the soldiers. Those who don't agree with the war really disagree with it based upon what the government did to justify it and how it was initially handled, but again, no one's got anything against the soldiers themselves. About the only people I know with problems with the soldiers are the far, far lefts and I don't pay attention to them or the far rights either.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

That's about on par with what I hear from people coming over there as well. The good thing is that the media doesn't seem to be turning the tide of opinion against the soldiers overseas, and I'm happy about that. Most people I know, despite their political leanings, have a great deal of respect for the soldiers. Those who don't agree with the war really disagree with it based upon what the government did to justify it and how it was initially handled, but again, no one's got anything against the soldiers themselves. About the only people I know with problems with the soldiers are the far, far lefts and I don't pay attention to them or the far right either.

Well said...

[Green P1]

While I am in no way disagreeing with any perspective offered by a Veteran of the War in Iraq, I have a first cousin that is home on injury leave that would seem to rather harshly disagree. I would probably just have to assume that it's a case of "different strokes for different folks."

Edited July 20, 2008 by Green P1

[EagleD]

Me too, P1.

Rick,

Did he comment at all on the private contractors?

[JayDub]

Last week, I spent a three hour flight next to an Army Infantryman coming home for his 18 day R&R...on his way to see his wife and kids for the first time in 8 months. I kept the Jack and Cokes coming...after all, he deserved it...and we had a great conversation.

He said he has been in Iraq at some point in the year...every year for the last five. The story I got from him was similar...that we really have accomplished alot in Iraq. However, he seemed to agree with the opinion of majority of the U.S. in that we really need to be in Afghanistan and not in Iraq. He said that every day, Iraqis are killing Iraqis...and we are just stuck in the middle.

One story in particular that really seemed to irk the hell out of him...was one where they got word that a guy planted a car bomb in the middle of a local market in Mosul to kill fellow Iraqis. He and his guys went in, cleared the streets, and did a controlled detonation of the bomb, thus saving countless Iraqi lives. When it was over, the shops in the markets had broken glass from the shockwaves off the explosion. The shop owners threw a fit to the U.S. Military about this and WE had to pay them for the glass. Nevermind the fact that it was their own people that planted the bomb...and the U.S. Army came and got them out before it blew. He said it was at that point he realized how ungrateful some of these people were...and how we were viewed by the Iraqis. He said he felt that we have done all we can do in Iraq, and it is time to get back to the original objective...fighting terrorism, not occupying Iraq. (Occupation was his word for it...I'm not putting words in his mouth.)

Now, this is a career guy. In the time I spent talking with him, I really got the feeling that that he loves his country, loves serving his country in the Army, and is proud of what he does. This is a guy who has sacrificed the last 5 years of his life that he could have spent with his kids...to be in the Middle East trying to make a difference. When a hardcore, frontline guy like that starts to have second thoughts about what we are doing over there...maybe it is time to re-evaluate.

And here's to him tonight...counting down the few remaining days 'til he leaves his young family once again to head back to that hellhole. Thank God we have people like Staff Sergeant Blackburn watching our backs...

Best conversation I've ever had on a flight...