{From March 2006}
News brings us the unusual instead of the ordinary, and nothing could be more true than with Iraq.
There would be no daily body counts in a war (if you can call it that) if the numbers were significant. It’s common sense when you really think about it, and it applies to anything. For example, a murder or other crime would likely never make the news UNLESS the crime rate wasn’t relatively low. If you live in a town with a detailed police blotter in the local paper, you’ve got a pretty damn fine quality of life. Start worrying when they DON’T count bodies here or in Iraq.
An email sent to me recently made me think of all this. Protests and insurgency wouldn’t be covered if they were going on all the time all over the place. Negative sentiments all over the news reveal an opposite truth, one that you find when you read real people’s blogs who are there and look at all the more general information.
The constant bad news from Iraq blurs the most amazingly ethically planned military campaign ever, coupled with a reconstruction effort unparalleded in history for an overwhelmingly grateful people. But it is marred by terrorists who play on the miniscule minority of anti-American sentiment that will never change because of inbred extremism. And that makes the news. New schools, improved hospitals, the elimination of fear of their own government and open arms for our troops will not.
To make a comparison, it would be like focusing on all the school shootings in America. You may never EVER seen one or even know anybody involved in one in your entire lifetime, but the rest of the world would think it’s business as usual and representative of our culture. Heck, some of us think it is, which only shows we have no perspective at all. We just don’t get it. Which is why we hate America, and the Iraqi people do not.
The email I received was entitled “Pictures From Iraq That Are Too Shocking & Graphic for The Mainstream Media”
I added captions one would more likely expect from the news. But these are truly “from the field” and speak better for themselves — enjoy.
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- Iraqis wish we never came …
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- We spread America’s imperialsim by the death and destruction of military force …
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- It is clear who the Iraqi people blame for all of this.
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- The soldiers are the unfortunate instruments of a heartlessly political foreign policy.
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- The Iraqis live in more fear and oppression than before.
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- They have a puppet government, where only those chosen by America are on our side.
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- In the end, we will all pay, as our foreign policy breeds a new generation of terrorists.
{The responses and conversation from March 2006}
It’s good to see that there is some sunshine there. Then again, I know people on the ground there and get a different side of things:
There is a safe route we normally take, but the Army had it closed down that day. We were forced to take the main route, and it was not a good feeling at all. Sure enough, we got sprayed by a static PKM. But, with all the ammo shot at us, very few rounds impacted our vehicles. He was close enough for us to hear him shooting. In such situations, we just hit the gas and get away. We would never stop and fight unless a vehicle goes down.
It was really a minor event, considering that it was not a complex attack. None of us were hurt, but one vehicle had its armor pierced by an AP round. The PKM ammo normally has 3 ball rounds to one AP round. Luckily for me (again) the round that hit my driver’s window was not AP. It would have taken us both out. One of the pictures below shows the view of the window from the inside. The glass worked well, but notice how difficult it is to see out. Such glass can only take 3-4 hits before it gives way, but AP will go thru it.
These attacks not only costs lives at times, but they damage vehicles. Repairs often take time and you cannot take a vehicle back out until the glass is repaired, etc. It is ironic that replacing people is often easier than replacing equipment.
Current figures indicate between 60-90 daily attacks across Iraq. Of these, 3 a day are targeted against contractors. Are things worse here compared to last year at this time? I think so.
John is the owner of E-Budo, and has been working in Iraq for the last 2 years I think. Below are 2 pics of the vehicle.
Johns been in a number of encounters, and been banged up pretty good in a few. The last pic is of the hummer he was in in 1 encounter…those are bullet and shrapnel holes btw.
He’s there, because the pics you posted are true, in part due to the efforts of him, the military, and a number of his brethren. But, it’s not roses and milk yet.
{My response}
True. True.
It’s not milk and roses. But it is hardly a war zone for the average Iraqi. There are areas where terrorists (so called “insurgents”) have free reign to peek-a-boo a few shots, but unless you are actively hunting these people or escorting in high-risk areas, you may never be shot at.
A soldier deals with the nastiest of what’s out there (God bless their souls!), but also sees the everyday life which is not anything like the constant violence, fear, and anti-American sentiment that the news brings us.
And many of these “insurgents” aren’t even Iraqis, but terrorists from other nations who want a shot at us, and to bring down any regime friendly to the West. Remember, there was a small but present al-quaida connection to the old regime, as per intellignece from as far back as the Clinton administration. And the minority religious sect that held much of the power (even though it wasn’t a theocracy) is less than pleased by open elections.
So our battle is with a couple bunches of bad guys, not the Iraqi people, and the Iraqis know that. We’re the ones who buy into it being a civil war with the US backing one side, which it clearly is not.
When you planning the family trip?
{My response}
That’s a fair reality check, in humor or not. The truth is I’d like to visit out that way someday. Seriously. I would also like to see the desert in Afghanistan. Something about the footage captivated me.
But I admit it MIGHT make more sense to wait until things are a bit more stable just for peace of mind, but if I had a business trip out there, I would just use common sense and not loose any sleep over it. The same goes for Israel and a number of other places in the world, even some places in New York. In other words, there are worse places to take a family to than Iraq.
My brother who was in both Afghanistan and Iraq said the only time people (such as contractors) got captured or killed was by playing tourist in areas they were warned about — going far off the beaten path for some action or whatever. In fact, he almost took a job in Iraq as a contractor after he was honourably discharged from his tour of service.