SwiftVets.com

[davman]

This is a letter from, 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.
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.



Moderator Edit, SFC Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion

Moderator Note: Please do not provide the names of Military Personnel in postings on this forum. This is for their safety as well as their families'.

[2ndamendsis]

Thanx Davman! We need these letters to give us an adrenalin shot.

I have an idea....what do you think?

Many of us are emailing our fingers to the bone. Wouldn't it be a positive if we could collect these letters and "collectively" send one every few days to the media? It would be a very interesting experiment.
_________________
PROUD wife of Army ASA Vet - 66-70
mom of Sailor - Gulf 1
daughter of WW11 Army Vet

[Tom Poole]

[azpatriot]

Thanks davman for providing that I used in letters to the editors and many reports in asking why don't they report on this information.
_________________
Proud to be an American! and member of the PAJAMAHADEEN
FedEx Kinko's: When it absolutely, positively has to be forged overnight