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E-mail Traffic in Iraq Shows the Positive
NewsMax ^
| January 10, 2004
| Staff
Posted on 01/10/2004 6:03:37 PM PST by Bubba_Leroy
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004 7:37 p.m. ESTE-mail Traffic in Iraq Shows the Positive
Making the rounds of GI e-mail traffic in Iraq these days is the follwing inspiring missive. It is reproduced below in its entirety and exactly as written:
Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1:
- The first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty (~60,000 Iraqis providing security to citizens).
- Nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.
- The Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.
- Power generation hit 4,518 megawatts (Oct), exceeding prewar output.
- All 22 Universities & 43 technical institutes/colleges are open
- Nearly all primary and secondary schools are open.
- Coalition has "rehabbed" 1,500+ schools (500 ahead of schedule).
- Teachers earn from 12-25 times their former salaries.
- All 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.
- Doctors salaries are at least 8 times what they were under Saddam.
- Pharmaceutical distribution has gone from almost zero to 12,000 tons.
- Coalition has helped administer 22 million+ vaccinations to children.
- Coalition has cleared 14,000+km of Iraq's 27,000km of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands of farms. This project has created 100,000+ jobs for Iraqi men & women.
- Coalition has restored over 3/4 of prewar telephone services and 2/3+ of potable water production.
- 4,900+ full-service telephone connections (~50,000 by year-end).
- Commerce is expanding rapidly (bicycles, satellite dishes, cars, trucks, etc) in all major cities and towns.
- 95% of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time customers are opening accounts daily.
- Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.
- The central bank is fully independent.
- Iraq has one of the world's most growth-oriented investment and banking laws.
- Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.
- Satellite TV dishes are legal.
- Foreign journalists are not on "10-day visas" paying mandatory fees to the Ministry of Information for minders. There is no such Ministry.
- There are 170+ newspapers.
- Foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.
- A nation that had not one single element legislative, judicial or executive of a representative government, now does.
- In Baghdad alone, residents have selected 88 advisory councils.
- Baghdad's democratic transfer of power (1st in 35 years); city council elected its new chairman.
- Iraqi Chambers of commerce, businesses, schools and professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.
- 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.
- The Iraqi gov't regularly participates in international events.
- Since July the Iraqi gov't has been represented in 24+ international meetings, including UN General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank, IMF and the Islamic Conference Summit.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it is reopening 30+ Iraqi embassies worldwide.
- Shia religious festivals (all but banned) are no longer illegal.
- For the first time in 35 years, in Karbala, thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.
- The Coalition has completed 13,000+ reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.
- Uday and Queasy are dead, and no longer feeding Iraqis to the zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force cooperation, torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, or murdering critics.
- Children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree with the government.
- Political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed, or forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.
- Millions of long-suffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.
- As a side effect, in neighboring countries, (1) Saudis will hold municipal elections, (2) Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents, (3) Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms, (4) The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded (first time) to an Iranian (Muslim woman) who speaks out for human rights/democracy & peace.
- Saddam is gone.
- Iraq is free.
Little or none of this information has been published by the Press Corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's important. Iraq, under US lead control, has come further in six months than Germany did in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII. Military deaths from fanatic Nazi's and Japanese numbered in the thousands and continued for over three years after WWII victory was declared. It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let alone attempt to build something else in its place.
Now, take into account that many people in our government and media continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this conflict has been a failure. Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our sons and daughters in this conflict, do you think any other country in the world could have accomplished as much as the United States and its coalition partners have in so short a period of time?
Karl Nielson LT, CHC, USNR 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Chaplain
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: goodnews; iraq; progress; sincemayfirst
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator
To: All
Show your true colors!
Reach into that purse and donate to Free Republic!
3
posted on
01/10/2004 6:11:14 PM PST
by
Support Free Republic
(I'd rather be sleeping. Let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep!)
To: Bubba_Leroy
"Somebody get me the Mylanta..."
To: GalaxieFiveHundred
...or the Arsenic.
5
posted on
01/10/2004 7:56:38 PM PST
by
expatpat
To: Bubba_Leroy; seamole; bert
Thanks, seamole. I am glad the troops are reading it. It was for the troops. They should have been reading this info in NEWSMAX, BBC, AP, Al Jazeera last Oct. 9, following Paul Bremer's CPA briefing where he listed the accomplishments of our awesome troops and Coalition allies on the 6-month anniversary of Baghdad Liberation Day.
I just put them in a list form and added the press's daily mantra of doom to the beginning of each line, as I did on posts daily, and added the final lines.
Chief Wiggles had it up on his blogsite as an e-mail from a CO. He was kind enough to credit me, after I reminded him that I sent it to him last Oct. w/ my 'lil mass-emailing. It's his New Year's eve entry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
The Chief wished to share the following email, which he received from "ragtimecowgirl", with all of you. (You can find this wonderful young lady here.) |
Email follows:
Subject: Fw: Accomplishments
"Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1..."
Coalition Provisional Authority, White House | Oct. 19, 2003 | L Paul Bremer, VP Cheney (w/ liberties taken by me)
Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1...the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty·.....
http://chiefwiggles.blog-city.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have the list covered at FR.....my original, 10/19 , as an e-mail from the troops: here, and picked up by Frontpagemag.com here on 12/3, then another e-mail here, and here, here, here, and the good Chief's, and Newsmax.
It only took 6 weeks to reach the non-Freep universe.. (^:
To: seamole
Hasn't this already been reported by the NT Times? Er, no? Hmmmm...
7
posted on
01/10/2004 8:00:54 PM PST
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
("...the right of THE PEOPLE to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.")
To: MJY1288; Calpernia; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; Ernest_at_the_Beach; BOBTHENAILER; ...
See #6. Thanks to everyone on the ping list that helped me get this info to the troops.
This is the last time I will ping you to this "e-mail". NewsMax reported it, so it reached a large audience.
I hope NewsMax does a follow-up, and apologizes to the troops. The troops, their families, friends ~ and the French should have heard about all of these accomplishments by Oct. 10th, from OUR free press who ignored the very public CPA briefing on Oct. 9, the 6-month anniversary of Baghdad Liberation Day.
Good job, troops!
The list is far longer today, and growing daily...buried, still, under the press's daily litany of doom.
If you want on or off my, Calpernia, and xzin's Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail one of us. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
To: Bubba_Leroy
Count on the fact you won't see this on network news.
To: Ragtime Cowgirl
I knew I had read that before on Chief Wiggles' site. I meant to FReepmail you and tell you: Job well done.
I'm not surprised the soldiers and Marines are sharing it. It sums up nicely in one place all they have accomplished. Great work.
11
posted on
01/10/2004 9:27:50 PM PST
by
Choose Ye This Day
(Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only... (James 1:22))
To: Ragtime Cowgirl; Bubba_Leroy
Thanks!
Bump and bookmarked.
12
posted on
01/10/2004 9:33:57 PM PST
by
Valin
(We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.)
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
Because this is all a part of a vast ultra-extremist/neoconservative/religous-right plot.
13
posted on
01/10/2004 9:38:24 PM PST
by
Valin
(We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.)
To: Valin
bump
14
posted on
01/10/2004 10:00:12 PM PST
by
Coffee_drinker
(No More Pearl Harbors)
To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Good news that makes me smile every time I read it. I'm glad our guys/girls have seen this one!
RC - I didn't realize YOU wrote that article!
(may I have your autograph?)
15
posted on
01/10/2004 10:08:46 PM PST
by
getgoing
(Candle in the window 'till they are home.)
To: getgoing
Lol, hugs for sharing the good stuff with me, too, J.
To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Was good to read it again six weeks later.
FR -- always first with the news!
17
posted on
01/11/2004 4:53:12 AM PST
by
RottiBiz
( Help end Freepathons -- become a monthly donor.)
To: Bubba_Leroy
Thanks for posting this. It makes all the trouble seem more worthwhile. I hope the Iraqi people will realize someday what was done for them. I also want to state my appreciation to all of the United States military particularly those who have lost their lives and who have been injured facing the challenge of their injuries. Anyone reading this, please donate to the Disabled Veterans of America. There are a lot of guys and girls out there who need our help.
To: getgoing
I called you "J" instead of "C"...convicted by "J.C." for not giving credit where the credit is due! (^:
To: Ragtime Cowgirl
RC, more on our chaplain-sounds like a great guy:
Trading Blue Water for Green Thumbs Fighting 13th Pitches In On Oahu
Capt. Bill Pelletier KAILUA, Oahu -- Nestled high on a Hawai'ian mountainside, between heaven and heavenly beaches, sits St. Stephen's Monastery. The monastery is home to a group of Catholic nuns of the Carmelite order, many of whom came to Hawai'i from Southeast Asia decades ago following their calling to serve. Friday, they got a visit from another group that ended up in Hawai'i as part of its own calling. More than a dozen Marines and Sailors from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) visited the monastery Aug. 29 as part of a MEU-sponsored community relations project. The MEU, part of Expeditionary Strike Group-One, was in port for liberty and training through Sept. 3. The trip was organized by Lt. Karl Nielson, 13th MEU chaplain, who said the Marines and Sailors received a rare opportunity. "Very few people ever get to see the inside of a cloistered monastery," said Fr. Nielson, a Benedictine monk as well as an ordained priest. "So I think it was interesting as well as rewarding for them." The volunteer working party was led by one of the nuns, Sr. Teresita, down a path through stepped terraces and man-made ponds teeming with koi. At one point, the trees in the several-acre yard cleared and the crew had a postcard view of Kaneohe Bay below, while behind them, foliage-clad mountains provided an abrupt contrast. "We are very glad you're here, thank you for coming," said Sr. Teresita, pointing toward the end of the path, with a warning. "Down there are honeybees. Don't go!" The Marines ranged in rank from lance corporal to lieutenant colonel and represented Battalion Landing Team 1/1, MEU Service Support Group-13 and the MEU Command Element, all of them chopping, pulling, raking and hauling bags to clear the thick undergrowth that was choking the hillside. Lance Cpl. Erick James, a communications Marine, broadened his horizons that day. "It was a pretty nice experience, I never met a nun before," said the Houston native. "I was on my best behavior." The crew sweated under the tropical sun for two hours before taking a break for lunch. Then, they returned to the task for another hour before cleaning up, returning their tools to the shed and returning to USS PELELIU, docked in Pearl Harbor. MEU NBC Chief SSgt. Monica Brooks, who worked with foster children while stationed in Okinawa, said the spirit of service never gets old. "It's always cool to be out there and involved," said Brooks, an eight-year veteran. "Plus, it's good for the Marines to be out in the community instead of on working parties back on ship." The Navy made a good showing, with Nielson, RP2(FMF) Bien Duong, HM1(FMF) Dominique Reboya, and HM1(FMF) Keith Newsome joining the Devil Dogs. Duong said the entire experience was worth the effort and was a good way to get out without spending hard-earned money. "It was for a good cause, and besides, your sweat is free."
20
posted on
01/11/2004 5:56:45 AM PST
by
getgoing
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