From our friends in Iraq
We continue to hear from readers who are themselves in Iraq, or who have friends or relatives in Iraq, with messages responding to "To our readers in Iraq." We have posted two messages from Marine Gunnery Sergeant Steven Krueger (here and here). Yesterday we also heard from his mother:
I am the mother of Gunnery Sgt Krueger, and I want to thank you so much for publishing Steve's letter. I know it means a lot to him. As you are aware this is Steve's third depoloyment to Iraq and he leaves behind a wife and two beautiful sons. I know he misses them but he also believes in what he does in the Marine Corps.Mrs. Rask also sent us the photo of Gunnery Sergeant Krueger with his platoon (above), adding "he is on the far right of the picture (the one without a gun). This is the first tour for most of these men."I have to tell you since he was a very young man, he always wanted to be a Marine. He has been all over the world and has trained with many different coutries and has made many friends. He is usually a very quiet person and doesn't speak his mind and I was really surprised at the letter. He so believes in this and I wish people would just put politics behind and understand we need to continue with this effort. I suppose because many people have never lived the life of a soldier, Marine, airman or sailor, can understand the sacrifices these young men and women, along with their families. We didn't go in the military for the money, that's for sure. Again, thank you for publishing his letter, I know its means a lot to him...
Thank you.Marilynn Rask
An Army lieutenant writes from Baghdad:
I’ve walked around parts of Baghdad with only my sidearm and a rifle. So yes, there are parts that are safe. I don’t know if I would do it just anywhere in Baghdad, that’s why they are bringing in more troops. It will get worse before it gets better, but someone has to stand up and fight for these people until they are ready and willing to fight for themselves. Until they have the confidence they need in their government take action against these thugs in the streets, they will continue to be cowed by them and will do nothing for fear of reprisals.Reader George W. forwarded a message from his son-in-law in Iraq:What McCain said about Petraeus going out in an unarmored HMMWV, I doubt it is true. There are very few unarmored ones left and those that still remain are not in the best of shape. They get used and abused for daily transport on the FOBs, Compounds, etc… a general would likely not have something like that to drive him around. Also, it is a standing policy that you will not leave any compound or FOB without an armored vehicle. But then again, he is a general and they tend to do what they will. I doubt anyone will object, much.
I truly agree that the Iraqi people are smart and want to come together and be one nation. There are a few issues that are holding this effort back. The Iraqi people understand that in order to unify they must get rid of the sphere of influence the extremist Islamic groups have over them, however, they value life over death. This is nothing new for mankind, we all strive to climb Maslow's ladder. The main problem lies within our government, not theirs. The average Iraqi is aware that our Congress is calling for a Fall '08 pull out of all combat troops. This means that the areas controlled by Sadr and the Sunni extremists will remain in their control after we leave. For the average Iraqi this means death to possibly the entire family if they conspire against the those who will return to control upon our departure. The Shiites under the control of Sadr, who is reported by the American media as living in Iran, will continue sending death squads in to the Sunni area and remove those Shiites who are not "with" him. The Sunni will retaliate with suicide bombings made in the form of cars, trucks, and people. They will continue to try and maintain what little they have left.Our next biggest problem has to do with the American people. The majority of Americans "support the troops" yet they fail to recognize that true support is allowing us to do our ugly job. What is our job? We are in the business of destroying things, we remove bad people from bad areas thus making it safe for the innocent. The American people can not stomach the cost of doing business. I have said time and time again that it is better to lose one Soldier here than a civilian at home. The people of our country have a short memory span. We forgot the 11th of September for what it really was within a year. We were attacked. They forget that Iraq's leader was a tyrant who has killed more people than any other leader in the Middle East. He ranks up there with Stalin and Hitler for what he did to the people of this country. The liberals and the weak minded citizens that have bought their line of crap have remembered only one thing over the past seven years, Bush beat Gore. Since they focus on the "theft" of the White House they are blind to the true meaning of our country. We say bring us your poor, your tired, your hungry. We take care of the persecuted and provide justice for those who have no one else to turn to. The American people will not be able to handle the true cost of finalizing this war, the death of the US Soldier.
I think the other issue we face is the flow of information reaching the US. In wars past the media has been the one that kept us going as in WWII with footage reals in the theater and articles in the papers supporting the conflict. As the press became more liberal we saw the information put out more devastating to the home front psyche. We controlled the media during the Gulf War and it worked to the Army's advantage. For this war we embedded reporters to allow the people to see what progress we are making. This has caused the media to think of it as a right to be on the ground instead of a privilege to be by our side. The media constantly distorts the work of the platoon or company on the ground. They push the liberal agenda of turning the average American against the current administration.
Training troops to take over control of a country takes time. We can not expect the Iraqis to learn something to our level in just a few years. There are only two other Countries in the world that can "plug and play" with the US Military, Great Britain and Australia. Both of which fall behind during maneuvering battles. We will not have a strong Iraqi military or Iraqi police to stand on their own two feet until we guarantee them that we will not leave them. They too fear for the safety of their families when we leave. When we pull out of Iraq reprisal killings will start and we would have left this Country in worse shape than when we entered. The Military and our leadership have made mistakes in actions and by not reacting here, however, nothing we have done as a military could possible do the damage that our Congress is doing to this country and war right now.
Thanks for taking care of my wife and the children, your kindness and generosity towards us is greatly appreciated. I am thankful that their daily survival needs are met by you and the rest of the family. Knowing that allows me to concentrate on the task at hand which is getting all my Soldiers home alive and injury free. If you share this with others please remove my position and title as well as my area of operations. Thanks again.
Always keeping my head down and spirits up,
[B.....]
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