Anybody Been To Iraq Lately?

[junior]

Just wondering if we have anybody on here that has been to Iraq in the recent past and can enlighten us about the reality of the situation. It does not look too promising from what I'm reading, but I occasionally hear someone comment that the people who are there doing the work say it is not as bad as the media makes out. Any fresh perspectives here on spearboard by chance?

[100days-a-year]

Talked Wednesday to a doctor who was home for Thanksgiving.He is born there raised here(Jax has huge Arab Christian population,mostly displaced Catholic and Greek Orthodox Palestinians,Iraqis and Syrians)He practices in Baghdad and says the money is equitable,his family is OK with being there and he feels they are as safe there as anywhere else in Iraq.Said the violence was bad but infrastructure was improving as well as living conditions where they were.Said the sectarian violence was vicious and widespread.Mostly happy Saddam is gone as he killed far more than we will ever know.Not especially happy about the prosecution of the whole conflict but realised politics dictate policy.

I have a Navy buddy working for KBR,we talk by email and I saw him in June.Our money is being spent on a shitload of humanitarian and infrastructure projects.He was only safe in a compound,he felt.

I did not feel real encouraged by either conversation.

[DIVERTOM]

I used to get e-mails from a marine I worked with and he could not wait to
get to Iraq and then saw what was really going on and could not wait to get
out of there. But now he has stories to tell his kids and grandkids someday.

[aaron proffitt]

Originally Posted by junior

Just wondering if we have anybody on here that has been to Iraq in the recent past and can enlighten us about the reality of the situation. It does not look too promising from what I'm reading, but I occasionally hear someone comment that the people who are there doing the work say it is not as bad as the media makes out. Any fresh perspectives here on spearboard by chance?

My brother is home on leave from there right now.The area his unit was in was along the Euphrates guarding that power plant that has been in the news somewhat,mainly due to the large cache of weapons that was found there when they initially took the plant.
He said that ,overall,this tour is going much better than his previous tour.As of yet,they have had 1 wounded and no KIAs.Unfortunatly,it appears that once he returns he will be in an area closer to Syria.Sure the 'excitement' will pick up once he gets to that area.His spirit overall seems pretty good.

[Bill McIntyre]

God bless him.

[richhermes]

I posted this back in June. It got a lot of views but no replies. My classmate is no longer in Iraq, but back in Japan, I think. His updates were always insightful. Thought it was worth revisiting.

http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31106

A fellow High School classmate sent this to me and I thought I would share it here. We graduated from Jesuit HS here in Tampa back in 1985. A very touching remembrance.

Dear Classmates,

The city of Ramadi in the Al Anbar Province is one of the last remaining areas of robust insurgent activity in Iraq, and on June 19 U.S. forces, along with the Iraqi Army, finally started the long awaited drive to rid the city of insurgents and foreign fighters. The goal was to enter the parts of the city under enemy control without firing a shot, and indeed the operation took the insurgents by surprise as we moved in and established combat outposts without any resistance. That changed on June 20 when the first shot was fired at a combat outpost occupied by Marines from ANGLICO in support of an Army unit. The second shot fired took the life of a Marine I’ve served with since July of 2005.

Corporal Christopher Leon was sitting under some camouflage netting on a roof top at about 7 p.m. that day when a single shot caused him to spring into action. He grabbed a set of binoculars and began a search for a possible sniper. The second round fired struck Cpl Leon in the side of his Kevlar helmet, and he fell mortally wounded. He was evacuated within 15 minutes, but died of his wound en route to the field hospital. During the course of the next two days another Marine was felled by sniper fire and several others by IED attacks, but Cpl Leon is not just a footnote in history, he was one of my Marines.

I promoted Chris to Lance Corporal last fall, and he quickly began to stand out as a fine young Marine with a good head on his shoulders and mature beyond his years. As we prepared for this deployment I assigned Marines to teams based upon personalities and capabilities. I remember when the platoon sergeant and I were reviewing the roster and came across Chris’ name and the platoon sergeant told me, “He’s a damn good Marine; he’ll do well over there.” Marines like Chris are a big part of why I stayed in the Marine Corps all these years because it is so satisfying to work along side the best young Americans our country has to offer. You see their dedication and you see their potential, and you’re proud to lead these young men who will someday be husbands, fathers, and solid citizens in their community. Chris truly stood out among his peers, one of the best of the best.

Chris was born on November 5, 1985, five months after our graduation from high school and well into our first semester of college. He was adopted at birth, and I found that out when I asked him what his leave plans were over Christmas, and he told me that he was going to meet his birth mother for the first time who was a very young and unwed in 1985. Thank God she made the choice to put him up for adoption because he became a cherished only son who graduated Lancaster (California) High School in 2004 and joined the Marine Corps that July instead of going off to college like most of his friends.

He had a busy Christmas break. Not only did the meeting of his birth mother go very well, he became engaged to his high school sweetheart, and they planned a December 30, 2006 wedding. When we deployed to Iraq, Chris’ team was assigned to another platoon in a different city, but I kept in touch with his team and others who deployed with me from Okinawa. I was very pleased to hear that he was promoted to corporal on April 1, and it was at that time I began to realize what an impact he had as a Marine and a friend on his peers. One of my Marines was on the internet that evening, and as we started talking, I saw on the screen a pretty young girl wearing an oversized Marine Corps cap with a caption on the photo saying: “Congratulations Corporal Leon!” He couldn’t have been a corporal for more than a few hours, but his fiancée was so proud of her man that she had it posted on myspace for their entire extended network of friends to see.

The Army unit Cpl Leon was supporting conducted a memorial service on June 23, and I managed to catch a helicopter flight to Ramadi to attend. The U.S. Army staged a very classy and professional ceremony as they always do. Marines and Soldiers said all the right words, roll call was conducted, and after Corporal Christopher D. Leon failed to answer roll, a 21-gun salute was fired and taps was played. Somehow I kept from bursting into tears.

Thank you for indulging me as writing this allows me to pay tribute to a fine young man who gave his life in the service of our country. We read about deaths in this war on an almost daily basis, and over the years I think we tend to become numb to the statistics and forget there is a family and extended network of friends left behind. This great adventure that all the Marines and Sailors under my command willingly undertook in February has turned into heartbreak for a family, a fiancée, and his fellow Marines. I will always be proud of my service in Iraq, but that pride will be tempered by a profound sadness knowing that the hopes and dreams of so many ended in an instant on a dusty roof top in Ramadi.

Semper Fidelis, Bruce

[mcjaret]

My son hasn't been there recently, but told me last week of a high school buddy who's there now for his 3rd trip. (This young man is the son of the local college Dean -- not too stupid or poor to have had other options, no matter what Mr. Kerry and Rangel say.) Frank said he had spoken with him and was told its a bad place right now (I believe he's a grunt in An Bar Province). Said they were in contact everyday. Said he was getting way too much trigger time to suit him.

I fear for the psychological health of our young warriors on their return. I've seen many of them return over the last few years and successfully recover from the stress of combat. Those first few weeks they were a little spooky sitting in the living room frantically watching out the windows for any hint of movement. They made it back still, but that was after the first one or two trips. What happens after 3 or 4 or ? with a very short turnover between?

Consider, Marines grunts in WWII saw an average of 40 days of combat over 4 years of war (Of course, they packed more horror into those 40 days than most people could imagine in 5 lifetimes). In Viet Nam, that increased to 240 days of combat in one year, allegedly due to the added mobility of the chopper. I'm guessing that for those in Iraq now, the number many be higher. As asked throughout history, how much can you ask a man to do before he can do no more? We cannot push these young men into the shaddows and much support them on their return to a world they don't recognize as the same one they left.

[aaron proffitt]

My brother was home recently and in the last few days he was hoe he talked a little more about what he saw.
He is in a more rural are as opposed to his last trip.He is along the Euphrates baby sitting a power plant. All in all he said that the Iraqi people are not the problem,it's the Syrians and the Iranians coming that are causing the problems.He was in pretty good sprits,he is ready for civilian life,though.Frankly,we're ready for him,too.He's a good boy.

[jeffcroci]

I did a memorial tattoo yesterday, on a fellow whos brother got killed last week in Iraq