Just received an e-mail from a friend of mine who's in the army. Thought I'd post it for those curious about what it's like in Iraq from a soldier's perspective. This guy is in civil affairs. His job has changed a bit since the beginning. He was originally in Psy-ops, but has spent the majority of the war with the Brits trying to coordinate the humanitarian efforts. One of his greatest regrets is that there's no fishing in Iraq. I got a bunch of pictures also, but I have nowhere to host them, so...anyway:
13 April 2003
Hi Everybody!
Hope I didn’t raise a scare by not writing in so long, but the
internet is a hard thing to come by with this whole war thing and
all! I’m glad that my lovely fiancée Marg-rock has been answering
any questions and keeping you informed. That’s another medal for
you, love!
So I guess that Tikrit is the last stronghold, I’m guessing because
it’s unbelievable what a news vacuum I’m in. I always wondered who
those dorks were that buy those CNN box-set video tapes of news
events, and when I get home, I’ll be one of those dorks! Gotta see
what happened. I get my share of BBC, but it just seems that it’s
the same thing every hour, and I miss the over-done computer
graphics, and the Fox News Alerts.
I can say that for the last few weeks I have been somewhere in
southern Iraq. We’ve set up a Civil-Military Operations Center, a
place where all of the aid organizations can meet and coordinate
their deliveries. We’ve occupied a rather nice building and the
Royal MPs have given us permission to loot the surrounding government
buildings, and let me tell you – looting is cool! Our CMOC has
become the place to be as word spread that we have things that no
one’s seen in months – like couches and coffee - but I feel that we
deserve it after so many weeks in the field, and I feel sorry for the
guys still in those conditions. Walking through some of these
buildings is pretty surreal. You can see where people’s workspaces
were and everything’s trashed. Drawers dumped open by soldiers
looking for intelligence, shell casings underfoot (5.56 and 7.62),
broken glass, and defaced portraits of Saddam everywhere. Big, huge
buildings quiet and empty, food and tea still on the stove.
Pretty weird.
Almost everywhere I’ve been, the people act happy to see us. The big
racket going on is kids begging for water at intersections, and
giving it to dad who sells it. Another is the sale of worthless
money with Saddam’s face on it. Kids swarm the streets waving the
stuff – it’s like something out of a movie. We have 5 Iraqi men
working for us. Really nice guys that know that times are really
tough for the Iraqi people, but they can only get better. They make
twenty-five cents a day, and they’re better off than all of their
neighbors. It’s exciting to see them talk about the future. They
just know that this country is going to be better off. Information
has been withheld from them for so long that they lean forward in
their chairs and listen intently anytime we talk about recent or past
world events. They had no accurate idea of the happenings in places
that Brit and American soldiers have been to like Bosnia, Kosovo,
East Timor and Cypress. It revives the feeling of
all of the stuff that we have that we take for granted.
I know that when I get home, everyone will ask me, “So, did you shoot
anybody?” I’m not disappointed to say that for me war has been
really boring. Not that I haven’t been busy – I’m convinced that in
my own little way I’m helping to bring some needed change to this
place, and I’ve had barely any time to myself. And when we’re out, I
assure that everyone is ready and as alert as humanly possible. But
all in all this has been an action-free tour – and that’s just how I
want it to remain! The guys who actually kicked in the doors around
here have my utmost respect. Imagine yourself in 100-degree heat, in
boots, pants and a heavy shirt with the sleeves down, wearing a
helmet, 18 pounds of body armor and 30 or so more pounds of ammo and
grenades, lying in the middle of a street. Then springing up to make
a 3-5 second rush before flopping down on that hot asphalt again.
Imaging that. How can you not respect those guys?
Well I’d better get back to work. We have access to a satellite
internet connection for the time being, so I’ll try to do this more
often. I’m going to send the collections of photos that I have, and
not being the IT wiz, I’m going to do it the hard way. I know that
the files are pretty big, and I apologize to anyone who can’t keep
up. Keep the cards and letters coming. We just got our first batch
of mail in 3 weeks, and everything was appreciated.
Take care of yourselves,
Tony
13 April 2003
Hi Everybody!
Hope I didn’t raise a scare by not writing in so long, but the
internet is a hard thing to come by with this whole war thing and
all! I’m glad that my lovely fiancée Marg-rock has been answering
any questions and keeping you informed. That’s another medal for
you, love!
So I guess that Tikrit is the last stronghold, I’m guessing because
it’s unbelievable what a news vacuum I’m in. I always wondered who
those dorks were that buy those CNN box-set video tapes of news
events, and when I get home, I’ll be one of those dorks! Gotta see
what happened. I get my share of BBC, but it just seems that it’s
the same thing every hour, and I miss the over-done computer
graphics, and the Fox News Alerts.
I can say that for the last few weeks I have been somewhere in
southern Iraq. We’ve set up a Civil-Military Operations Center, a
place where all of the aid organizations can meet and coordinate
their deliveries. We’ve occupied a rather nice building and the
Royal MPs have given us permission to loot the surrounding government
buildings, and let me tell you – looting is cool! Our CMOC has
become the place to be as word spread that we have things that no
one’s seen in months – like couches and coffee - but I feel that we
deserve it after so many weeks in the field, and I feel sorry for the
guys still in those conditions. Walking through some of these
buildings is pretty surreal. You can see where people’s workspaces
were and everything’s trashed. Drawers dumped open by soldiers
looking for intelligence, shell casings underfoot (5.56 and 7.62),
broken glass, and defaced portraits of Saddam everywhere. Big, huge
buildings quiet and empty, food and tea still on the stove.
Pretty weird.
Almost everywhere I’ve been, the people act happy to see us. The big
racket going on is kids begging for water at intersections, and
giving it to dad who sells it. Another is the sale of worthless
money with Saddam’s face on it. Kids swarm the streets waving the
stuff – it’s like something out of a movie. We have 5 Iraqi men
working for us. Really nice guys that know that times are really
tough for the Iraqi people, but they can only get better. They make
twenty-five cents a day, and they’re better off than all of their
neighbors. It’s exciting to see them talk about the future. They
just know that this country is going to be better off. Information
has been withheld from them for so long that they lean forward in
their chairs and listen intently anytime we talk about recent or past
world events. They had no accurate idea of the happenings in places
that Brit and American soldiers have been to like Bosnia, Kosovo,
East Timor and Cypress. It revives the feeling of
all of the stuff that we have that we take for granted.
I know that when I get home, everyone will ask me, “So, did you shoot
anybody?” I’m not disappointed to say that for me war has been
really boring. Not that I haven’t been busy – I’m convinced that in
my own little way I’m helping to bring some needed change to this
place, and I’ve had barely any time to myself. And when we’re out, I
assure that everyone is ready and as alert as humanly possible. But
all in all this has been an action-free tour – and that’s just how I
want it to remain! The guys who actually kicked in the doors around
here have my utmost respect. Imagine yourself in 100-degree heat, in
boots, pants and a heavy shirt with the sleeves down, wearing a
helmet, 18 pounds of body armor and 30 or so more pounds of ammo and
grenades, lying in the middle of a street. Then springing up to make
a 3-5 second rush before flopping down on that hot asphalt again.
Imaging that. How can you not respect those guys?
Well I’d better get back to work. We have access to a satellite
internet connection for the time being, so I’ll try to do this more
often. I’m going to send the collections of photos that I have, and
not being the IT wiz, I’m going to do it the hard way. I know that
the files are pretty big, and I apologize to anyone who can’t keep
up. Keep the cards and letters coming. We just got our first batch
of mail in 3 weeks, and everything was appreciated.
Take care of yourselves,
Tony
