Iraq: The Truth

I talked to a guy who served there. He said every day was just a day to survive.
The media is limited to what all they can tell. But his words chilled me.
He said if most knew the truth, US soldiers are pushed to their max.
This also made his second time to Iraq, even after requesting a hardship, to come home to a dying relative.
In WW11 that was not even denied.
He said our military is pressed to it's max in Iraq.
And the Iraq's that want freedom cannot get it, because of fear tactics from others insurgents.
His words was similiar to what has been posted. We are now caught in a civil war between two factions in Iraq.
And neither will give in, to have true peace.
He said we are the enemy because we are called the Devil and invaders.
Just thought i would share that from a person who served on the front lines in Iraq.
He said the US military was stretched to it's limits, and if anything 50,000 more troops may not be enough.

[R0cketer]

I think it's very dependent on the person. I recently talked to a friend who is serving there, or has been, I think they got out now (need to contact again) but they were saying it's not as bad as it seems, I mean it's not safe or anything, but that they normally feel pretty safe, but just can't be to blind to things.

I have no doubt it's a mess and we need more troops, and probably will be there forever, just not sure what the solution is now.

Me either. But after talking to my friend in the Marines. He said, we are there to stay. No stability from the Iraqi's and probably won't be for another 5 years or so.
The new govt. is the one oppressed by Saddam and those who dislike them are the one's launching most of the insurgent attacks now.
A civil war is a hard thing to be the odd ball in. Cause your gonna be the target, because all you want to do is keep the peace.
Reminds me of Korea and Vietnam.

[7_32]

I agree w/ Rocketer, it probably just depends on who you ask. I've talked to a man who recently returned from Iraq, and he said he did feel relatively safe, and he totally supported and believed in what our gov't was trying to accomplish.
On the other hand, I'm sure, as you just said LPD, that there are plenty who feel differently...

Oh the friend i talked to. He supports what we are doing. He is just regular military. He also said many don't see a lot of what is going on. But since the elections have taken place.
The new movement inside Iraq is destroy from within. The new government was the one's suppressd by Saddam. Those who supported Saddam and Bin Laden, well their using those who hate the new govt. as a technique to recruit others.
But he said since the realization of an actually democratic govt. could be on the horizon, things have went down hill, and a lot is being down played, so here at home people will not begin to question, why are we not committing the troops and equipment needed to end this.
My friend said he was all for it. But he said in reality. It is probably gonna take a good 5 yrs for this to calm down, and that may not end it.
He even mentioned it may be like a Korea. That the two major groups eventually, if they don't reach a middle ground, may have to separate the country.
He said the units brought in from the US to help do work etc. The faster they build up something, not soon after it is completed or near completion it gets destoryed.
Said it was routine now and beginning to work on everyone. From the full time military to the reserves and guard units.
And i guess it would. Think about it. Do this do that, and what changes? Your right back doing it again in a few months, only to repeat it and repeat it, that would work on anyone and piss you off in a way.
Your trying to help, yet you do what your told to, to have to keep redoing it because of those, who don't want a democratic society.

I may not support Bush, but I will support my troops until they all come home!

[PainfullyTaken]

I have an uncle that just got back from Iraq and he said that he was going to be scarred for life and that he was terrified the whole time, I don't think that he is never going to be the same, it's a scarry thought if ya ask me....

[MikMo]

I say get our men and women out of there and let those towel-heads have that sand heap.

Insurgent car bombs struck a market and a police bus Friday, killing at least 25 people, and a dozen bodies were uncovered in a garbage dump on the outskirts of Baghdad "? some victims blindfolded and shot execution-style.
Also Friday, Iraqi militants holding an Australian engineer hostage issued a 72-hour ultimatum for Australia to start pulling its troops out of Iraq.
The latest insurgent attacks were part of a surge in violence that has killed more than 270 people "? many of them Iraqi soldiers and police "? since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his new government April 28.
Representatives of al-Jaafari's Shiite-dominated alliance planned to meet with Sunni Arab leaders Saturday to discuss candidates for defense minister and six other unfilled posts.
Al-Jaafari hopes to win over the Sunni minority, which is believed to be driving the insurgency, by increasing their participation in his government. But Shiite leaders have rejected many Sunni candidates because of ties to Saddam Hussein's regime, which brutally repressed Shiites and Kurds. Only four Sunnis are included in the 37-member Cabinet.
The bodies, the latest in a series of gruesome finds, were discovered by scavengers sifting through garbage for scrap metal and other items to sell at a dump on Baghdad's northeastern outskirts, police and soldiers said.
An Associated Press photographer saw U.S. military, Iraqi police and soldiers at the scene, along with three ambulances.
There were conflicting accounts of how many bodies were found. Bassim al-Maslokhi, a soldier who was guarding the area during the recovery, counted 14; Kadhim al-Itabi, a local police chief, put the number at 12.
The victims, believed to be Iraqis, were found in shallow graves and seemed to have been killed recently, al-Maslokhi said. Some were blindfolded and had been shot in the head, he said.
At Baghdad's central morgue, an official said 12 bodies had been received. Families identified some of the victims as farmers who disappeared recently on their way to a market to sell their produce, said the official, Rahoumi Jassim.
An influential association of Sunni clerics, the Association of Muslim Scholars, claimed the victims were Sunnis from the Madain region, 12 miles southeast of the capital. But police said they found no identification documents on the bodies.
Madain is at the tip of a notorious insurgent stronghold known as the Triangle of Death, which has seen frequent retaliatory kidnappings and killings between Shiite and Sunni groups.
Last month, scores of bodies were pulled from the Tigris River near Madain, and President Jalal Talabani claimed they were evidence of mass kidnappings and killings of Shiites. But when Iraqi security forces raided the town, no hostages were found.
In nearby Suwayrah, 25 miles south of the capital, a suicide car bombing at a market killed 17 civilians and wounded 46, police, hospital and government officials said.
Such attacks often target U.S. military patrols, Iraqi security forces or mosques, but police said there were no obvious targets Friday.
In Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, a car packed with explosives "? and with a taxi sign on its roof "? destroyed a police minibus, said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Brian Thomas and Iraqi army Maj. Salman Abdul Wahid.
The attack at a checkpoint on the eastern outskirts of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, killed at least eight policemen, said police Lt. Col. Saad Abdul Hamid.
Elsewhere, two insurgents fired at American soldiers on patrol in south Baghdad, and one militant was killed in the return fire, the U.S. military said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have hit back at insurgents with a series of raids. The U.S. military said Friday that coalition and Iraqi forces have captured or killed hundreds of followers of Iraq's most-wanted militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in recent months, including 20 top lieutenants and other senior members of his al-Qaida in Iraq terror group.
Iraq's government said the Feb. 20 capture of an al-Zarqawi driver and the seizure of the leader's computer have yielded information on senior officials in the terror network and funding it received from abroad. No details were released.
In the holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, gunfire broke out outside a mosque controlled by followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Five people were wounded, worshippers and a military official said.
An official in al-Sadr's Najaf office, Fadhel Mohammed, accused Iraqi security forces of firing at worshippers as they left the mosque chanting slogans in support of their leader. Iraqi army Maj. Jassim Mohammed said the worshippers threw stones at the soldiers, who fired in the air to disperse the crowd.
Both sides played down the incident, saying they did not want it to escalate. Al-Sadr's followers launched two major uprisings last year, but have remained quiet since signing agreements with U.S. authorities in August.
Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired new footage of the Australian hostage Douglas Wood, and said the militants holding him gave Australia 72 hours to start withdrawing its forces from Iraq. It did not say what the militants would do if their deadline isn't met.
In the footage, the 63-year-old California resident, who suffers from a serious heart condition, is shown with his head shaven and rifles pointed at him. Australia's government has said it will ignore demands to remove its 1,370 troops.
Al-Jazeera also aired footage Friday purporting to show six Jordanian hostages captured by a different militant group demanding that all Jordanian companies stop cooperating with U.S. forces. The authenticity of the video could not be verified.
More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since Saddam was ousted in April 2003. Some have been seized for ransom, others have been used to pursue political goals. More than 30 have been killed by their captors.

Two suicide car bombers plowed into a foreign security company convoy in the heart of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 22 people "? including two Americans "? in an attack that left a busy traffic circle strewn with burning vehicles, mutilated bodies and bloodied school children.
Nearly 300 people have been killed in insurgent violence since Iraq's democratically elected government was sworn in 10 days ago.
Seven government posts remained undecided until Saturday when Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he would submit nominations for six of them to the National Assembly for a vote Sunday.
A Sunni military man who fled into exile more than 20 years ago and only returned after the ouster of Saddam Hussein was selected for the defense ministry, members of al-Jaafari's Shiite-dominated alliance said. The U.S. military is working to train Iraqi forces to take over the battled against the insurgency with an eye to reducing and, eventually, removing the American troop presence.
The U.S. military said the two suicide attackers crashed their explosives-packed cars into a three-vehicle convoy in Tahrir Square, known for its shops and a large statue of Iraqi soldiers breaking through chains to freedom.
At least 22 people were killed, including the two Americans, who were employees of the company that owned the targeted SUVs, the U.S. Embassy said without identifying the company. Three other American civilians were injured in the attack, the embassy said. Hospital officials said at least 36 Iraqis were wounded.
Rescue workers lifted injured school girls onto stretchers, including one with bandages wrapped around her neck and blood streaming down her legs. Firefighters fought the blaze, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
Iman Norman rushed to al-Kindi Hospital to be with her 12-year-old daughter, Lana, one of several girls injured aboard a minibus. Iman said the students climbed out of the bus' windows in their bloodied uniforms after the bomb damaged its doors. Lana's injury wasn't serious, but one student lost an eye, Norman said.
Elsewhere, a U.S. Marine was killed by a bomb in Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. As of Friday, at least 1,592 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have hit back at insurgents with a series of major raids across the country in recent months.
In a statement issued Saturday, the U.S. command said an April 26 raid netted a suspect described by the U.S. military as a key associate of Iraq's most wanted militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Ghassan Muhammad Amin Husayn al-Rawi had helped al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group arrange meetings and move foreign insurgents into the country.
Friday night, Iraqi soldiers fought suspected insurgents in Tal Afar, 90 miles east of the Syrian border, said Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdul Qadir. He provided no details, but said 25 militants were killed. Witnesses claimed Iraqi soldiers also suffered casualties, but Qadir could not confirm that.
Al-Jaafari had hoped to curb support for the militants by including in his government members of the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, who dominated under Saddam and are thought to make up the bulk of the insurgency. But Shiite leaders have repeatedly rejected candidates advanced by Sunni hard-liners because of ties to Saddam's regime, which brutally repressed Shiites and Kurds.
So far, al-Jaafari's Cabinet includes just four Sunni ministers, but alliance lawmakers said Saturday the Sunnis would get three more ministries and a deputy prime minister's slot.
They include the key defense ministry, which will go to Saadoun al-Duleimi, said alliance lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie.
Al-Duleimi is a former army lieutenant colonel who left Iraq in 1984 and lived in exile in Saudi Arabia until the fall of Saddam in April 2003. He is reputed to be a moderate with family ties to Anbar province, the homeland of the insurgency.
Abid Mutlag al-Jubouri, a former major general in Saddam's army who rose to prominence during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, is slotted as the Sunni deputy prime minister.
The cabinet already includes a Shiite and a Kurdish deputy premier, and al-Jaafari said he hopes to nominate a woman in the fourth position.
The oil ministry will go to Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a Shiite who held the post in the former U.S.-appointed Governing Council, Shiite lawmakers said. Mihsin Shlash, an independent Shiite lawmaker, is expected to be electricity minister.
Al-Jaafari declined to confirm any of the names, but said they have already been approved by President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police continued to dig up bodies at a garbage dump on the northeastern outskirts of Baghdad. A dozen corpses were recovered Friday, some of them blindfolded and shot in the head, police said. At least four more were unearthed Saturday, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene.
Abdul Razzaq Mutlak, brother of one of the victims, said they were all Sunni farmers who had come to Baghdad to sell their produce. Mutlak was with his brother early Thursday, he said, when men wearing police uniforms detained the farmers and took them away in three vehicles. He did not explain how he avoided being detained. Police officials said they were still investigating what had happened to the men.
Madain is at the tip of the insurgent stronghold known as the Triangle of Death, which has seen frequent retaliatory kidnappings and killings between Shiite and Sunni groups. Last month, scores of bodies were pulled from the Tigris River near Madain, and Talabani claimed they were evidence of mass kidnappings and killings of Shiites. But when Iraqi security forces raided the town, no hostages were found.
Two more bodies were found dumped on a sidewalk Saturday in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. An AP photographer showed the victims with their hands tied behind their backs and their throats apparently slit.
Talabani on Saturday visited Jordan on his first foreign trip since becoming president last month. He and Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed to fight terrorists targeting Iraq.