It Ain't Necessarily So. [Army Spec Ops letter from Iraq - a must read!]

E-mail from SOCOM ~ Courtesy of Freeper Lexington Green | 01 Jul 2003 | Mark w/ Army Spec Ops

[AFPhys]

Thanks for the PING on this great news DAY!

You have often been in my thoughts, RCgirl... I'll be bakk here a bit more often soon.

[clamboat]

This letter may be the real deal, but I gotta say it has a certain odor of hoax, or at least of a convenient PR stunt constructed by centcom staff. I mane, it is just too perfect.

The same letter was posted on oldguns.com on July 20th, two days before being posted on FreeRepublic. That does not mean much, except to note that the text does not match what was posted here. The one posted on oldguns.net is shorter and has some text rewritten.

I also think it incredibly convenient that the writer mentions Japan and Germany as examples, amazingly just like some freerepublic posters have done. This thing looks like it was lifted directly from some FR posts.

And lastly, the writer mentions joint patrols with Iraqi police. Every report I have heard or read said that the Iraqi police are a surly, ill-disciplined force that will not stick their necks out for anybody. One radio report of a roadblock the other day had the voice of one ID3 member expressing subdued rage at the cowardly local police who would not even man a checkpoint for more than half and hour, leaving our guys out there to do it alone in punishing heat.

I don't know, anyone else feel uneasy with how perfectly this letter seems to have a counter-point for every hot Iraqi issue discussed on this forum? Mybe I'm just too cynical, so I'll slip on my absetos long-johns now.

[Mr. K]

why doesn't fox news have a "letter from the front" feature every day?
This would be a great letter to start

[Billthedrill]

A BTT and a banner day. When we get a surly NPR reporter muttering that the raid on Uday and Qesay was a "hollow victory" you know the SOBs are on the run. The Iraqis too.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Howdy, pardner! I was glad to see your name on the 'Uday = DU in pig latin' thread (heh). Some people on the left mistakenly believe we're going to quit and surrender to Clinton and Kofi.

Four months, AFP...our troops rock! (^;

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

clamboat, I'm glad to know it was posted at another websight. Hope it travels around the world.

 

The letter was posted at Southern Command in Tampa.

 

As for editing, I almost cut out a few paragraphs in this letter, some is personal. Whether someone posts it whole, or a sentence at a time, the letter matches what the troops have been saying (to no avail) for months.

 

Freepmail Lexington Green for further details.

The Iraqis have been conducting joint patrols with our troops in various parts of Iraq for weeks. They die going after the bad guys, too.

You can check out today's security report:

NUMEROUS POTENTIAL SUBVERSIVE ATTACKS DETERRED
CENTCOM ^ | July 22, 2003

..or check out the other work the troops are doing along side the Iraqi people today in Iraq:

COALITION AND IRAQIS TEAM UP FOR HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
CENTCOM ^ | July 22, 2003

...or the many, many previous CENTCOM security reports largely ignored by the press:

*COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Great idea. Maybe when enough of us ask, they'll listen.

From ONE DAY IN IRAQ , posted July 7:

 

On June 10, one brave US Soldier was killed and another wounded - the result of hostile fire. On the same day, over 146,000 US troops  worked at undoing SADDAM's regime across Iraq. That's one day in Iraq.

 

* CENTCOM released over 45 progress reports: Coalition security and stabilization successes - in the last 30 days alone. These include reports on the massive caches of bad guy weapons, millions of bad guy $$$, and lots of bad guys taken out by Coalition troops (often with the help of the Iraqi people) - including detailed reports on the three major aggressive June campaigns to root out Saddam loyalists (resulting in return fire, but far more enemy destroyed) - and the massive, cooperative rebuilding and humanitarian efforts - daily progress throughout Iraq. 

 

CENTCOM reported it. The press ignored it.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

When we get a surly NPR reporter muttering that the raid on Uday and Qesay was a "hollow victory"

Tsk. That's a big fib...one more fib in a pattern of fibbing over decades. Imagine the number of fibs and fibbers required to convince the world that "Nazi" and "Fascist" are "right-wing" terms, or that it wasn't the Republicans who were lynched with the slaves they helped free - by the Democratic ("left-wing") Ku Klux Klan.

Impeach the press.

[Lexington Green]

Skeptics can read the letter on the Special Forces Association website.

http://www.sfahq.org/commobunker.htm

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Lol! That's simple enough. (^:

Did you see that Andrew Sullivan linked your letter - this thread - to his websight? We're competing w/ Pfc Lynch's homecoming and the demise of the Hussein brothers today. The letter will be just as good tomorrow.

Thanks again, Lexington Green.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

If you have time for a quick lift, check this out. Cigar Man?

[Lexington Green]

RC-

I originally got this as email. Just found the website tonite. Would have been easier to post it if I'd known last nite. You've done a great job getting this out. Thanks.

LG

[The Raven]

Excellent read. I think this is the first time I read excepts of an original FR post elsewhere (Andrew Sullivan) with a link here !

[Athelas]

Great post, thank you RC.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

You are very welcome. Lexington Green shared it and generously allowed me to post the thread. Please pass it on.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

I have never enjoyed posting a thread more, LG...or sharing a letter with others.

Not even this one:

Oh, oh... dware's doing it again:

 

It's Time Again (Mussel Man Challenge II)

(^;

[Athelas]

This comes from Time Magazine through NRO. I'm sure most know of this stuff but I think its important for people to know what kind of people the letter writer is protecting us from:


"A chef at Baghdad's exclusive Hunting Club recalls a wedding party that Uday crashed in the late 1990s. After Uday left the hall, the bride, a beautiful woman from a prominent family, went missing. "The bodyguards closed all the doors, didn't let anybody out," the chef remembers. "Women were yelling and crying, 'What happened to her?'" The groom knew. "He took a pistol and shot himself," says the chef, placing his forefinger under his chin.

Last October another bride, 18, was dragged, resisting, into a guardhouse on one of Uday's properties, according to a maid who worked there. The maid says she saw a guard rip off the woman's white wedding dress and lock her, crying, in a bathroom. After Uday arrived, the maid heard screaming. Later she was called to clean up. The body of the woman was carried out in a military blanket, she said. There were acid burns on her left shoulder and the left side of her face. The maid found bloodstains on Uday's mattress and clumps of black hair and peeled flesh in the bedroom. A guard told her, "Don't say anything about what you see, or you and your family will be finished."


I am personally very greatful for his defending our Country from the likes of these...god I don't even know what to call them. I can't think of anything that fits that I am comfortable posting.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you, Athelas. You are so right.

The White House and Defense Dept. websights both have extensive records - updated regularly. The press should be telling the world:

Tales of Saddam's Brutality [lengthy, graphic]

Silent No Longer: Iraqi People Reveal the Past
American Forces Press Service ^ | June 26, 2003 | Linda D. Kozaryn

[GranpaVet]

I am getting personal stuff (letters came through)that supports this. Even had a telephone message. take it from me - you can't take some stupid media report as representing reality.

[lainde]

bttt