posted on February 26, 2006 07:52:56 PM new
I have a friend and sometime gun show customer working for KBR in Iraq.
I received this email from him this AM.
"LN's" is shorthand for "local nationals".
---------
Our LNs are allowed back in camp now, but they still have a curfew to contend with.
I ask them about conditions in their area or neighborhood. Two, Mo & Ralph (not their real names) tell me they are concerned. A bus station was blown up this morning. Some people are being shot. Electricity is still shut off at certain times and car traffic is not allowed after certain hours.
But then they tell me something surprising. Unlike what the news media reports, they tell me that the Shia people are banding together to protect the Sunni that live amongst them. Even though this area is called the “Shia bubble”, they have many Sunni living here. They, the Shia & Sunni, are all of moderate faiths. They do not think or practice the ways of the extremists. They do understand that the bombings and killings are mainly the work of outsiders and have formed neighborhood watch groups (home guard) to observe and report any new strangers they see. It is clear to me that these people are no different then you or I. They want to live in peace and raise their families, just like us. But unlike us, when there is another bombing or killing in the neighborhood, they do not think of themselves as victims. They just acknowledge that it is bad and a part of life right now.
Another one of them told me about a young boy that was almost killed by a passing convoy. The boy, maybe 13 of age, was riding his bicycle when he suddenly came upon a convoy coming from another direction on an intersecting street. The boy did not stop soon enough and the convoy opened fire on him and kept going, as they probably had important people in their charge. Lucky was the boy that day, for the closest bullet passed through his shirt on his left side without hitting him. When he gets home, he tells his story. Of course the parents and family are greatly relieved. But, I’m told, they do not blame the Americans or other forces that almost killed their son. They understand the environment in which they currently live. They scold the boy for not being more careful around military convoys. Everyone knows that the convoys are targets for the terrorists, who use women, children, & animals to attack them when ever and where ever possible. These people are fully aware of the danger of the country erupting into civil war. They do not want this. They do not want the Americans to leave. They understand what will happen if the Americans leave too early. It is a very stressful time for them.
I am amazed at their ability to carry on with their life, as normal as possible, in the face of so much danger. I have to be careful not to talk too much when they talk to me. As most of you, who really know me, understand, I am not always the best at saying the “RIGHT THING” at the right time. I do a lot of writing on napkins in the DFAC. It’s become a good time to think about my day and record my thoughts and experiences, while attempting to eat less.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
posted on February 27, 2006 02:46:52 AM newBut then they tell me something surprising. Unlike what the news media reports, they tell me that the Shia people are banding together to protect the Sunni that live amongst them.
Again...it that liberal MSM media...making things only appear negative.
I hear this time and time again ....soldiers saying they can't believe what the MSM is reporting - they hear it from their families who are, of course, worried when they hear all these 'reports'...it's like the media ONLY WANT to focus on the negative....not give the full story.
Even this week....most all the media have been appearing they almost WANT a civil war....like they're lusting for one, just to prove this President wrong.
THEN I read on an unbiased site....that in Baghdad the curfew had been called off.
I'm like WHAT??? with a civil war beginning???
The left is so determined to see America fail....and I just can't believe their hatred runs that strong.
posted on February 27, 2006 02:49:37 AM new
"Even this week....most all the media have been appearing they almost WANT a civil war....like they're lusting for one, just to prove this President wrong."
for a minute there,I thought you were talking about democrats......
posted on February 27, 2006 02:53:37 AM new
LOL.....nope, that wouldn't be JUST THIS week....they've been trying to bring that about for 5- 5 1/2 years now.
posted on February 27, 2006 07:45:23 AM new
Funny, talk about what the liberal MSM is reporting while FOX is reporting the exact same thing about the civil unrest. I sat and watched it Sunday night. I go between the liberal and the conservative news programs and know the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Cheryl
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
posted on February 27, 2006 12:01:36 PM newThe problem is that there is no "liberal" mainstream media.
Gawd helen, sometimes you can be really funny.....and then there's now.
The truth will come out in the wash...when it's all over and we get to hear from more US soldiers about what was really going on over there. They can't say much now because of security reasons.
posted on February 27, 2006 12:40:09 PM newThe problem is that there is no "liberal" mainstream media.
And willie did not have sex with that woman, hillary was not involved in whitewatergate & gore won the pressidental election. And katrina affected blacks more that whites.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
It's really funny or rather seriously unfortunate that you believe the corporate owned media is liberal. The New York Times helped to whip this country into the war mode and then helped to re-elect George Bush. I don't think it's funny that you believe that it's a liberal newspaper.
So called "liberal" newspapers had posters here believing a couple of years ago that the flowers were blooming and Iraqi children who survived "shock and awe" were skipping back to school.
posted on February 27, 2006 01:04:02 PM new
Kraft, you keep asking that but don't you understand that pictures of workers making mud bricks just isn't a hot news topic over there right now. Mabe when the juicy news stories calm down a bit. Be patient.
posted on February 27, 2006 01:12:26 PM newAnd let's not forget about all the reconstruction going on in Iraq. Any pictures yet?
I'm not sure I understand the question or the point that is trying to be made by asking it. If I was a cynic I might think that the question is meant to imply that there is no reconstruction going on in Iraq. But that can't be the correct implication because in this day of instant access to information one would be hard-pressed to be so ignorant. So perhaps I'm just missing some kind of inside joke. However, if its the former, here's a link which may or may not include some pretty little pictures. A simple google search may also shed some light on reconstruction efforts in the event one is used to getting one's news from the NY Times.
posted on February 27, 2006 01:13:00 PM new
Pi, this was first reported a couple of years back by Faux News. They also reported what a wonderful job Halliburton was doing over there. I now know better.
posted on February 27, 2006 01:27:05 PM new
Excellent site, RedState, but in spite of all the links, what you see are pictures upon pictures of some of the basics being restored, like water, food and electrical distribution. And yes, I also saw a picture of a man rebuilding his house and pictures of some new Iraqi police and oil well guards. Thank-you.
posted on February 27, 2006 01:34:31 PM newFaux News?
Kraft, not trying to be over critical of your posts but you posted this question in another thread, pertaining to calling something that it is not; What's to be gained by showing such ignorance?
You see the way things work, I guess, is that you take your best stab at the opposition's beliefs using distorted terms and distorted words and they do the same in return. It's not right, it's just the way it is but you obviously do it too.
