Posted on 09/21/2004 5:13:52 PM PDT by JayRay
Just an interesting perspective that contradicts our intelligence experts. This Marine believes in the mission in Iraq. God Bless him and our other service members.
====================================================== Posted at 3:35 PM, Pacific
From a Marine Corps Major in Baghdad:
"A thought from Iraq - "Doom & Gloom about Iraq's future....I don't see it from where I'm sitting."
[For those of you who haven't gotten my "Thoughts" before, I'm a Major in the USMC on the Multi-National Corps staff in Baghdad. The analysts and pundits who don't see what I see on a daily basis, in my opinion, have very little credibility to talk about the situation - especially if they have yet to set foot in Iraq. Everything Americans believe about Iraq is simply perception filtered through one's latent prejudices until you are face-to-face with reality. If you haven't seen, or don't remember, the John Wayne movie, The Green Berets , you should watch it this weekend. Pay special attention to the character of the reporter, Mr. Beckwith (the Journalist in the movie) . His characters experience is directly related to the situation here. You'll have a different perspective on Iraq after the movie is over.]
The US media is abuzz today with the news of an intelligence report that is very negative about the prospects for Iraq's future. CNN's website says, "[The] National Intelligence Estimate was sent to the White House in July with a classified warning predicting the best case for Iraq was 'tenuous stability' and the worst case was civil war." That report, along with the car bombings and kidnappings in Baghdad in the past couple days are being portrayed in the media as more proof of absolute chaos and the intransigence of the insurgency.
From where I sit, at the Operational Headquarters in Baghdad, that just isn't the case. Let's lay out some background, first about the "National Intelligence Estimate." The most glaring issue with its relevance is the fact that it was delivered to the White House in July . That means that the information that was used to derive the intelligence was gathered in the Spring - in the immediate aftermath of the April battle for Fallujah, and other events. The report doesn't cover what has happened in July or August, let alone September.
The naysayers will point to the recent battles in Najaf and draw parallels between that and what happened in Fallujah in April. They aren't even close. The bad guys did us a HUGE favor by gathering together in one place and trying to make a stand. It allowed us to focus on them and defeat them. Make no mistake, Al Sadr's troops were thoroughly smashed. The estimated enemy killed in action is huge. Before the battles, the residents of the city were afraid to walk the streets. Al Sadr's enforcers would seize people and bring them to his Islamic court where sentence was passed for religious or other violations. Long before the battles people were looking for their lost loved ones who had been taken to "court" and never seen again. Now Najafians can and do walk their streets in safety. Commerce has returned and the city is being rebuilt. Iraqi security forces and US troops are welcomed and smiled upon. That city was liberated again. It was not like Fallujah - the bad guys lost and are in hiding or dead.
You may not have even heard about the city of Samarra. Two weeks ago, that Sunni Triangle city was a "No-go" area for US troops. But guess what? The locals got sick of living in fear from the insurgents and foreign fighters that were there and let them know they weren't welcome. They stopped hosting them in their houses and the mayor of the town brokered a deal with the US commander to return Iraqi government sovereignty to the city without a fight. The people saw what was on the horizon and decided they didn't want their city looking like Fallujah in April or Najaf in August.
Boom, boom, just like that two major "hot spots" cool down in rapid succession. Does that mean that those towns are completely pacified? No. What it does mean is that we are learning how to do this the right way. The US commander in Samarra saw an opportunity and took it - probably the biggest victory of his military career and nary a shot was fired in anger. Things will still happen in those cities, and you can be sure that the bad guys really want to take them back. Those achievements, more than anything else in my opinion, account for the surge in violence in recent days - especially the violence directed at Iraqis by the insurgents. Both in Najaf and Samarra ordinary people stepped out and took sides with the Iraqi government against the insurgents, and the bad guys are hopping mad. They are trying to instill fear once again. The worst thing we could do now is pull back and let that scum back into people's homes and lives.
So, you may hear analysts and prognosticators on CNN, ABC and the like in the next few days talking about how bleak the situation is here in Iraq, but from where I sit, it's looking significantly better now than when I got here. The momentum is moving in our favor, and all Americans need to know that, so please, please, pass this on to those who care and will pass it on to others. It is very demoralizing for us here in uniform to read & hear such negativity in our press. It is fodder for our enemies to use against us and against the vast majority of Iraqis who want their new government to succeed. It causes the American public to start thinking about the acceptability of "cutting our losses" and pulling out, which would be devastating for Iraq for generations to come, and Muslim militants would claim a huge victory, causing us to have to continue to fight them elsewhere (remember, in war "Away" games are always preferable to "Home" games). Reports like that also cause Iraqis begin to fear that we will pull out before we finish the job, and thus less willing to openly support their interim government and US/Coalition activities. We are realizing significant progress here - not propaganda progress, but real strides are being made. It's terrible to see our national morale, and support for what we're doing here, jeopardized by sensationalized stories hyped by media giants whose #1 priority is advertising income followed closely by their political agenda; getting the story straight falls much further down on their priority scale, as Dan Rather and CBS News have so aptly demonstrated in the last week.
Thanks for listening. Feedback is always welcome, though I can't promise an immediate response...."
Yes, yes, yes! A one way ticket to the kill zone.
Keep telling it like it is Major.
Excellent, thanks!
To contact the Major: William.Truax@vcmain.hq.c5.army.mil.
It's great to hear information unfiltered from the source. I dropped the Maj a note.
God Bless him and his guys over there.
Firstly,
I stand smartly at attention and salute you Major. May the good Lord return you and your men save once you complete your honorable tour of duty. Just about everything you said can be verified by many sources, such as articles written by 1MEF at the Marine Corps. main site OIF.
I hope many people read closely what you wrote and copy the article and email to people they know. I know what you said was nothing but hard correct facts! HOOOORAAH.
My nephew is attached to 2/2 Hq. S2 and has been between camps Mahmudiya and one of the four camps in Fallujah since March. They are on convoy going south as we write as you most probably are well aware. So praise the good Lord I will in about two weeks be walking around Camp Lejeune waiting to wrap my arms around my Marine soon! He has seen fellow Marines blown up, and has had to return fire in some battles during these seven months. So I for one know somewhat you guys are going through over there.
YOU ARE THE BEST OF AMERICA as our President made known last year. Now if only ALL AMERICANS can realize the truth in that statement. You are warriors with a heart of gold, placing yourselves between enemy fire and innocent children and women. If the damn sneaky ultra liberal MSM had even a shred of honesty, they would be showing people what you guys have accomplished under such adverse and un-predictable conditions. But Major. Keep the faith. MANY OF US DO KNOW THE TRUTH. There are many of us in the States that know why you must be there, and keep praying for you guys. I think more so then first appears.
So in closing. Thanks for the article I understand the need for you to share the info. God bless you and all our
servicemen/women that serve with honor and commitement.
Semper Fidelis Major. personel correspondance accepted.
George
Wish it was that easy. What we have to remember is Sadr
City is a huge area in the city of Baghdad. What you
suggest simply would not be possible because it would
require litterly thousands of snipers to be hanging out
on equal amounts of houses and buildings, etc..
Just picture Sadr City as a area as big as Broklyn NY.,
filled with row after row of homes. Plus please remember,
we no longer in most cases control over what battle is fought where unless our guys are fired upon. It is up to the IIG (Iraqi Interim Government) to decide when our forces are required to do a "mop up". Sadr City houses
probably over a half million people. We just can't go in
and kill people. How do you tell 3PM in the morning, for
instance, what a person is carrying? You are aware I am sure that all Iraqi's are permitted to carry a AK47 rifle for self protection. So as you can see, it is not so easy
to do what you wonder about. Hope this answers your question.
For anyone interest, you may want to read and article I post the other day titled:
Something you won't see in the MSM author: Marine_Uncle
It will give a nice picture of current events 12 miles south of Baghdad. It fits into what the Major shares here.
I am urgently seeking someone to adopt a soldier that was mistakenly given to me. I'm afraid to send it back for fear that this soldier will get lost in the paperwork. I have already adopted someone and can't afford another.
If anyone is interested, please freepmail me.
Thank you, Sir, for you service to your country and to freedom-loving Iraqis. Thank you also for serving your country by giving us the straight story on what's going on in Iraq.
Well I just took what the corporal said to be true, since I have heard many ofter similiar stories from mil sites, and from San Diego News etc., for past six months or so.
I simply wanted to share what I read. Do understand that there are at most, twenty cities/towns in Iraq that the news broadcasts bad news from. Funny they don't bring any good news from the other 800-900 cities and towns of Iraq.
You only see the bad stuff that happens in a few key cities.
Yes I fully understand many towns/hamlets are not worth having insurgents do their work in. But I can assure you MSM does not present anywhere a balanced picture of what is going on over there. Think for a minute. Iraq for the first time has a government in place that was actually formed by a democratic process for most of those members.
That is people where voted in by free choice of the vote.
Not by cohortion. First time since Iraq became Iraq that this has actually happened. We have the majority of Shite Clerics lead by Sistaini actually demanding full elections
by democratic process. This has never happend in Iraq.
MSM cannot tell the American people this stuff, all they can do is continue to make it look like all is lost.
EXACTLY WHAT BIG JOHN KERRY AND HIS COMMIE BUDDIES DID FOR NAM. Once again the MSM is doing exactly what they did in the sixties. Do remember JFK and his affiliations with a known communistic group who lead America into defeat....not by the Military.........we would have won the war, but by the liberal politicians with alternative agendas and the use of the MSM to carry it out. Be careful friend not to get lost in between the trees as to what appears to be and what actually is happening over there and in Afganistan.
Of course I respect your right to your comments and I harbor no resentment whatsover. If this Iraqi problem does not end to our liking, it will not be because of the lack of leadershiop by GWB and our military. It will because of the scum bag now after supporting the war and saying one with a clear picture of what Saddam Hussein..... and not
voting to take him out and establish a democratic state in Iraq should be running for president, NOW says the war is lost, everything is wrong.......look we lost 1000 men....
the insurgents are killing innocent Iraqis..........
We must stay the course or really suffer in the long run,
while France, Germany, and other snicker and laught at us,
and then in the future go back in there and support some ill defined new dictatorship and make billions on selling their oil, and selling them new weapon systems to do again what Saddam did.
I must of misspoke, I believe that you are right, just asking questions, since I don't have a clue. We are going to when this thing. Again, sorry.
meant that I was a little naive, not you...I can't type worth a hoot...
As a Marine who has just returned from Iraq and who also worked on the Multichannel Corps staff I completely agree with the content of this letter. The situation in Iraq is grossly misunderstood by the media. During nearly every day of my time in Iraq from January through August we experienced significant victories and advancements. We were able to establish an independent sovereign state in Iraq in little over a year of hard work. Indeed Iraq has progressed at an incredible pace and as long as we remain committed to victory the progress of freedom will continue until Iraq is stable, secure democratic and free. Sure there were tough spots along the way, but even during the height of the Fallujah crisis in April we achieved greater success than failure especially in terms of tactical gains against the insurgency. The reality is that the government of Iraq is truly gaining traction and as we move toward the January elections Iraqi society will continue to develop essential democratic institutions at every level. Additionally the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure continues to out pace the insurgent's efforts to derail the rebuilding process. While it is not easy going and the insurgency remains a very destabilizing threat, every day the Iraqi government, security forces, and society get stronger and the insurgency gets increasingly isolated and desperate.
No problem. If you did say it was naive that is ok. So many of us simply are not getting a balanced view. I could not be angry with anyone on this tough call. Keep the faith. We will prevail. More Iraqis are getting pissed off with the bad guys, and many hate the foreign insurgents with a passion. And it shows in how many police and new Iraqi army people are now being trained by our United States Marine Corps. We will prevail if we stay under GWB. If Lurch gets in, heaven knows! The guy lies so much from day to day you never know what he really intends to do. Surely he must of got a message when the French said a few days ago that regardless of who gets elected, France will not send one soldier into combat or SASO (Security and Stabilization Operations) type situations.
Time will tell.
Yo Marine,
I stand at attention and salute you sir! God bless you.
My nephew 2/2 hq S2 Lord willing will leave Al Mahmudiya in a few days for BIAP, to return to our blessed shores. I can
hardly wait to hear that he has boarded a big bird to return to Camp Lejeune.
Thank you sir for serving your country with honor. The SEALS, Airborne Army in general, Navy, Airforce are great folks to! But USMC! You are the best!
Thanks for the further excellant posts as what is going on in Iraq! Those still on this thread, lets us also remember what our guys are doing in Afganistan. They are ready for their first democratically held election. Imagine. Such a backward nation full of tribes of all type peoples living under the yoke of Islam, now having the preciouse opportunity to vote for who they want in their government.
GW Bush and his administartion know exactly what is required to do in world politics, contrary to what the sick looking traitor Lurch continues to spit forth!
And so sad so many people havn't a clue!
Lord have mercy on this land. There are still a lot of us in it that love it and cheerish those Godly principals you allowed to guide this country for so long. Give us a bit longer to still have our freedom as a grandparents had.
Semper Fi Marine, and God keep you safe.
Just curious. Has the Major by chance frequented this site?
I obviously had addressed him as though he may be listening in.
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