Posted on 11/09/2006 5:35:59 PM PST by Impeach98
Kristinn Taylor's 3rd Report from FREE IRAQ
We've had a jam packed two days. Yesterday we met with the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministers of Finance, the Interior (security) and Martyrs and Victims. We also visited a former 'concentration camp for Kurds set up by Saddam as a weigh station to extermination. And we got to meet with more American troops.
Today we visited a school that gives a classical education starting from the first grade. The teachers and students were thrilled to meet us.
In fact, everywhere we've gone the children have been thrilled to see us. We don't have any candy to give them, just broad smiles, happy waves and the love in our hearts. But that's enough for them, because they know we are Americans and they know what Americans have done for them.
Later, we were in Suleymaniyah, a thriving metropolis, and were given a guided tour of one of Saddam's prison/torture centers by a former prisoner -- a hell on earth called the Red House.
After the Kurds stormed the prison in 1991 and drove out the Baathists, they decided to preserve it as a memorial and a witness to the Saddam regime's crimes against humanity. They have turned part of it into a birdhouse for 'doves of peace.'
The former prisoner took us through the prison, showing us where Kurds were imprisoned and tortured, and some of the methods of torture including those used on him in his seven months there.
The Kurds also have on display a gallows from Abu Ghraib.
Touring the prison cells, both the families and our Iraqi Kurd escorts got very choked up. Saddam Hussein and his henchmen were evil, and they practiced it on such a scale of brutality that the Iraqis call him their Hitler.
The Kurds have also preserved some of the Soviet military tanks, armored vehicles and mortars Saddam's regime used to wage war on the Iraqi people. They are parked on the prison grounds as a reminder.
Such was the oppression we were told, that in those day those passing by the prison on the main street were commanded to look away from it, lest they themselves be imprisoned there.
The former prisoner now has the keys to the prison, and the truth of the horrors perpetrated there can now be shown to the world.
Our journey to Suleymaniyah took about three hours from Erbil. We drove on new roads that were paralleled by new power lines and phone lines, crossed by new water lines, lined by new construction, farming and new stores.
The peshmerga (military/security force) maintain a strong security presence, but not overbearing. The police and peshmerga work hand in hand to protect northern Iraq from the terrorists -- and they are very successful. We felt very comfortable going about our day, including a stop at the town of Koya where we walked through its shopping bazaars and wandered its streets.
The Iraqi Kurds have been very friendly to us this entire trip. Even though they valiantly fought for their freedom, they know and acknowledge that their efforts could only have succeeded with the help and sacrifices of the American people. They do not want us to cut and run.
For me personally, this trip has made clear the success of the American-led effort in Iraq. That's right, I said success. None of what is happening in the northern part of Iraq would have been possible as long as Saddam and his goons ruled Iraq.
And because Saddam is gone from power, there is one less state sponsor of international terrorism in the world.
We have one more day before we go. This has been an exhilitaring, but emotionally draining trip for the Gold Star families. I am in awe of their strength of spirit and their desire to see the mission of their fallen sons succeed completely everywhere in Iraq.
Stay tuned for more... complete updates posted online at: www.MoveAmericaForward.org
Kristinn Taylor
I know, I'm sure they're sick of the ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN camera crews in their face every day. < /sarcasm >
Of course Cindy Sheehan being in a ditch in Texas was worthy of saturation coverage for weeks on end. But she has absolute moral authority and these Gold Star Families don't.
FReeper Kristinn makes his 3rd report from FREE IRAQ!
Thanks for the ping, FRiend. With all the election threads over the past several days, I might have missed Kristinn's threads mixed among them...
No problem fellow FReeper! These reports remind us why we cannot give up the fight, even if we are saddened by the election results, the cause is still just. We just have a steeper hill to climb now, that's all!
Wow, great report!
I'm so proud of these Gold Star Families, can you imagine what strength of spirit they must have to do all of this after losing their child in the war?
I'm grateful to my colleagues at MAF and to Kristinn who went along and helped make this trip such a powerful experience to follow!
I didn't realize any stories on Iraq and the goings on there, especially military, were being reported after the election.
I spoke with Kristinn, still in Iraq, this evening. He said he took almost 700 photos (I told him to take as many as he could, because the #$#&! MSM will never show us the real Iraq), and others in the delegation have taken alot of photos as well. He said that the trip has been an eye-opening experience, and he is angry that the media is completely ignoring the positive changes that have taken place, and the continued progress at rebuilding that is going on there.
If you guys have blogs, consider writing about this trip on your blog. The truth has to get out; and we can't count on Katie Couric to do it.
P.S. As I write this, I am looking at a BIG Ziploc bag of leftover Halloween candy that I tried to convince Kristinn to take with him - to give to the kids there. He only had a carry-on bag and it was packed to near bursting, so he left it behind.
Well, there's always next time, God willing.
Yeah, don't you know it's just a "situation" over there that has to be solved, and not a war that has to be won.
< /sarc>
A big DITTO and BUMP!
That's another thing everyone can do... go to your local TV station's website and find their "contact us" link; and give them a piece of your mind about their lack of coverage of the GOOD NEWS in Iraq. Smack 'em around for being UNfair and UNbalanced in their news coverage (unless you are lucky enough to have a good TV news station, LOL). Dare them to tell the truth.
We're going to be going back next year!!
Err, better English: We will be going back next year. ("We're going to be going..." LOL!)
Let's hope and pray that the 'Rats haven't forced our troops to cut and run before the job is done and the peace is fully secured.
I knew what you were saying.
I don't think you guys were ever pinged last week, after the teaser "Big Announcement" thread, so I figured I'd ping you to this one where you can find links to all the threads about the Iraq trip. The stories, photos and the audio reports from the Gold Star families will move all but the hardest-hearted of the hardcore 'Rats.
Thanks for the ping! If Kristinn is using film, his carry-on must have been crammed with film cannisters! NEXT time--pencils and erasers are light and don't take up much room. . . . Way to go MoveForward!!
Looking forward to more reports and pictures once y'all return.
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