Letter from ANG soldier serving in Iraq

[inheritmylife]

From the point of view of 1 soldier serving in Iraq, things are improving much more than we are permited to believe back home. I am shocked that, if these claims are infact true, we would not be hearing about it on an hourly basis from Fox News and the Presidential Reelection Campaign. Makes you think.

> This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National
> Guard, serving in Iraq:
>
> As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted
> to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done
a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I
have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home.

And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq
that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the
list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with
your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)
>
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever
in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the
> war.
> * 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before
> the war.
> * Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in
> place.
> * Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
> * Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
> * Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
> * Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with
> US soldiers.
> * Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever
> * Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
> prevent the spread of germs.
> * An interim constitution has been signed.
> * Girls are allowed to attend school.
> * Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time
> in 30 years.
Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have
> met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They
say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their
children will.
We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone,
> anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John
> Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa.
> This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted
> with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a
> friend and let them know there are good things happening.
>
> Ray Reynolds, SFC
> Iowa Army National Guard
> 234th Signal Battalion
please support our troops

[GORILA-UNIT]

u know wat bro i respect everything u said but i wanna ask u a simple question, who the **** is the american government to decide people's fade.U.S sold iraq all their weapon in iran/iraq war and millions of people died, after they're done with saddam with the excuse of the iraqi people they invade iraq and kill ****in inoccent people and i think thats ****in bs as far as im concerned **** the american government

[GORILA-UNIT]

u know wat bro i respect everything u said but i wanna ask u a simple question, who the **** is the american government to decide people's fade.U.S sold iraq all their weapon in iran/iraq war and millions of people died, after they're done with saddam with the excuse of the iraqi people they invade iraq and kill ****in inoccent people and i think thats ****in bs as far as im concerned **** the american government

[GORILA-UNIT]

u know wat bro i respect everything u said but i wanna ask u a simple question, who the **** is the american government to decide people's faith. U.S sold iraq all their weapon in iran/iraq war and millions of people died, after they're done with saddam with the excuse of the iraqi people they invade iraq and kill ****in inoccent people and i think thats ****in bs as far as im concerned **** the american government

[Fat Guy]

From the point of view of 1 soldier serving in Iraq, things are improving much more than we are permited to believe back home. I am shocked that, if these claims are infact true, we would not be hearing about it on an hourly basis from Fox News and the Presidential Reelection Campaign. Makes you think.

> This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National
> Guard, serving in Iraq:
>
> As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted
> to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done
a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I
have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home.

And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq
that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the
list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with
your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)
>
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever
in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the
> war.
> * 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before
> the war.
> * Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in
> place.
> * Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
> * Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
> * Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
> * Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with
> US soldiers.
> * Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever
> * Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
> prevent the spread of germs.
> * An interim constitution has been signed.
> * Girls are allowed to attend school.
> * Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time
> in 30 years.
Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have
> met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They
say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their
children will.
We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone,
> anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John
> Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa.
> This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted
> with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a
> friend and let them know there are good things happening.
>
> Ray Reynolds, SFC
> Iowa Army National Guard
> 234th Signal Battalion
please support our troops

This sounds a bit political to me… My question is where does this soldier get his facts? (From the Army Times Newspaper).
I know for a fact the U.S. Military does not allow outside sources of news to be distributed to combat troops for morale reasons. Most of the troops receive their information through military media forums (Army Times Newspaper, AFN, ect.). I know this first hand, because I was in the first Gulf War, the only distributed newspapers, and other sources of information were sponsored by the military. My family always knew what was happening before I did, even though I was there. In addition, I became friends with one of the reporters for the Army Times Newspaper and she explained to me what kind of stories they could report and what was edited out of the military newspapers. Anything, which was negative about the war effort or disheartening (like heavy casualties), was kept out of the papers and anything that was positive was embellished and made headline news. So most of the soldiers received a slanted perception sponsored by U.S. military and usually the slant had the spin of “see all your fighting was not been done in vain, but it was for the greater moral good”.
I hope to God what this soldier is saying is true, and I believe he believes in what he is saying. However, I am a little suspect of his sources of information as I think we all should be.

[inheritmylife]

I didn't write the letter, I don't neccesarily believe the letter, as you may gather from my last sentence that prefaced the letter. Ease up.

[inheritmylife]

as far as im concerned **** the american government

Then vote Liberitarian, because neither of the "Big 2" have a plan for this country that is worth wiping your ass with.