Rebuilding of Iraq

Rotty261

Rotty261

Active member
Hello everybody, first and foremost I am back on the web finally. I was last here and posting about three months ago when I got out of the service. I recently took a job with a company that is working in Iraq.

On to the good stuff. I hope not everyone out there believes everything that they are seeing in the media about what is going on in Iraq. There are a lot of fallacies being preached through some of the media channels. I have seen a lot of really good things since I have stepped off the plane into Iraq. I have been here for a couple of months now and am really enjoying my job and the fact that most of the Iraqi people are happy to finally be able to enjoy so many freedoms that they once did not have. It is true that there is still fighting and dying happening over here, but not everywhere, and it is not as extreme as it is made out to be. As far as I can tell the majority of the Iraqi people really want to make there country a free place. A lot of the Iraqi people have signed up to be Police Officers, Military (Iraqi National Guard), and even Border Patrol to make a difference in their countries future. I would like to hear others opinions about what they think is going on over here. I would also be happy to answer whatever questions I can, keeping OPSEC/COMSEC in mind.

Again it is great to be back.
 
The media is NOT portraying an accurate picture of what's going on in Iraq, especially the major networks, ABC, NBC, CNN, ect.

They, for the most part like to sensationalize stuff. When a few Iraqis go up against our forces they make it seem like the whole country is up in arms and revolting. They portray it as though we are totaly losing the war, they show none of the fact that 90% of the Iraqi people are happy that we are there.

I'm glad we finally can hear the real scoop on this board from someone who is actually over there, rather than hear someones biased opinion based on even more biased media coverage.
 
Rotty261,
First off, thank you to your service :D

How easy is it for you to talk to normal Iraqi's? Do you always use a translator, or one of those electronic gadgets I heard the DoD was issuesing?

Also, how is the job at disarming these militia's going? I know that Saddam left alot of good stuff lying around for these guys to take as they choose.
 
I am right there with you Rotty261. I was in Iraq from the war until August. Yes there was some violence going on there but that is only one side of the story. I show people my pictures of Baghdad and they are surprised. Most people remark that the people there are smiling at me.

I had an Iraqi man come up to me and talked to me in English. He told me that 90% of the people are glad Saddam is gone. He said every family over there has lost a son, father, brother or in-law due to Saddam's wars or violence. Lastly, the 10% that are fighting now are the ones that had it good when Sadam was in power.

Stories like that will never make the front page of the papers BUT anything bad that happens does make it.
 
GuyontheRight said:
How easy is it for you to talk to normal Iraqi's? Do you always use a translator, or one of those electronic gadgets I heard the DoD was issuesing?

Also, how is the job at disarming these militia's going? I know that Saddam left alot of good stuff lying around for these guys to take as they choose.
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Since the questions are for Rotty, I will keep it brief.

Based on my experiences:

It's quite easy to talk to the Iraqis, in general, they are friendly and cooperative and even those that aren't sure of us tend to be somewhat cordial. Even some of the insurgents/terrorists I've interviewed have been polite. :lol: As for the language barrier, it can be a hindrance at times, especially busy, crowded and "eventful" times. Most of my fellas speak Arabic, but for those that do not - translators are not too hard to come by and pointie-talkie cards as well as other devices are good for short conversations. Most everyone picks up on the key phrases quickly.

As far as disarming (a large part of our bread and butter) we are and have been finding a lot of weapons, explosives, and ammuntion caches. There are various civilian contractors working with us to help dispose what we have confiscated. It is still going to take a long time to locate and dispose all of it. Getting weapons over in the middle east is akin to walking into a store and purchasing a pack of Wrigley's gum in the states; always readily available. Other than this, there really isn't much more that needs to or can be said.
 
After the Allies won WWII and occupied Germany, there were Nazi die-hards called Werewolves who waged a guerilla war against Allied targets and assasinate German civilians who were helping the Allies.

Same thing is happening today in Iraq with radicals, a good third of them aren't even Iraqis. We already won the war, the media is blowing everything out of porportion.

I glad we have guys here to actually report the real truth of whats going on over there. Its nice to see that we are doing some good to actually promote freedom and democracy.
 
After the Allies won WWII and occupied Germany, there were Nazi die-hards called Werewolves who waged a guerilla war against Allied targets and assasinate German civilians who were helping the Allies.
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They did not do nearly the damage that the Insurgents In Iraq have done though. That is, after the war, during the final months theyd butcher anyone with ties to the Allies. [/quote]
 
I think it took the allies around two years to finally stop them completely.

Everything worked out fine in the end though, same thing is going to happen today.

Also what might have helped they forbade any reporting of the Werewolves in the press. I guess they were smart back them.
 
Yea, did you hear Bush's speech last night? He mentioned a writer In a major paper back In '46 who was calling the occupation usless and a mistake. Just served to remind us that this isn't the first time this country has been dealing with insurgency operations after a war, and It wont be the last.
 
Yeah I heard. He even said maybe the same guy is still around writting stuff, LOL.

Most of the media has alot of left wing bias that can't really be trusted completely. I'm glad theres other outlets to get information nowadays (the internet being one of them) they no longer have the stranglehold they used to.
 
had an Iraqi man come up to me and talked to me in English. He told me that 90% of the people are glad Saddam is gone. He said every family over there has lost a son, father, brother or in-law due to Saddam's wars or violence. Lastly, the 10% that are fighting now are the ones that had it good when Sadam was in power.
Click to expand...

Yea the guy was pretty mucha nut, HE EXECUTED HIS OWN SON-IN-LAW, the nut.


Hey Rotty be safe over there, by the way, do you know how long your gonna be there, and which part of Iraq are you in specifically or do they keep you mobile?
 
Rotty, another question If you have the chance, or perhaps Rnder can answer it, whoever see's it first :D

Could you ballpark a figure of how many contractors (CIS, etc.) type people are In the country right now. Have they been In any of the actual major fighting In Fellujah and Najaf, and is the US coordinating combat missions with them, or are they not aloud to touch things In an "offensive" manor? Thanks guys, and be safe.
 
Take care of yourself, Rotty.

If you are in my area, you can drop me a PM. I'm a senior vice at my local VFW. Love to buy you a beer and talk about absolutely nuttin.
 
I can't/shouldn't answer any questions with particular numbers and/or locations. I am a stickler for OPSEC/COMSEC, as I should be since I am the head security guy on this base. I can say that there are a lot of Iraqis doing the fighting against the AIF (Anti-Iraqi Forces) lokie RNDR said most people are pleased with the overthrow of Saddam and a lot of them are fighting and dying for their country. RNDR you were pretty much spot on with all that I have seen. Interpreters are hard to come by, luckily I have a couple of my own, but you tend to start picking up on words and phrases pretty quickly. The dissarming process will probably never end, that is until they get full control of the borders, and once the insurgents start to obtain a vested role in the political campaign and get one of their people in office they will probably take a different approach to reaching their goals, hopefully through the political forum. I am mostly in the Northern region, which is always subject to change.....Of Course. Airborne where is your VFW, I am looking to relocate to a different part of the country when I get home maybe I will be close. Take care everyone, I should be on a lot more often, we have pretty good commo where I am at, finally.
 
Harrisburg, PA.

Something to keep in mind. Like many states, PA doesn't tax active duty. You can also switch your state at any time to establish residency. Further, PA vets (one year as a "resident") get preferential treatment for state jobs. Finally, if you sign up with the PA Guard (Air of Army), you get free tuition to any state school, regardless of GI Bill benefits.

Lots of states probably run similar programs. I know Texas really takes care of vets. I don't know where you can find some central clearinghouse for info, but if you list some states, I can do the grunt work for you.
 
Were you in the 101st airborne Airborne_eagle? My mom was attached to the 101st during desert storm. Im not 100% sure what she did but I think it had somthin to do with the mail.

OFF TOPIC, sorry
 
No. The only airborne unit I served with was the 1/10th SF in Germany (92-93).

It's a login I made about four years ago for internet bulletin boards. The first board I started posting on was a Philadelphia Eagles fan site. So, I just keep the login for all the boards.
 
Airborne, If I am every in your area I will get a hold of you. If you got the time to do some leg work on states benefits for vets I would appreciate some information on Oregon. Real pretty out there...

Battle rages on in Iraq, seen on the news there is more action down in Fallujah. I think the majority of Iraqi people are getting really tired of the insurgents running around shooting and killing innocent civilians as well as coalition forces, and I personally think they will start taking their own action against them. Let us hope that these bugs will get squashed soon. This could be a very profitable country once the fighting stops.
 
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