REAL NEWS-thank you letter-mayor in iraq to our soldiers

[rain wolf]

(I thought I'd post this since you'll (sadly) probably never see it in the political agenda that we call the news...)

February 16, 2006
SALUTING THE 3RD ACR
Greyhawk
(Updated)
Via email from a 3rd ACR family member, a letter from the Mayor of Tall 'Afar, Iraq to the men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and their families.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful
To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall’ Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.
To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.
To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.
Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi’s followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani finally destroyed them.
I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.
The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom. Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.
God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.
Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven’t the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.
NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Ninewa, Iraq

[YankeeRose]

First, let me say all glory and honor to all of our brave Troops. However...dude, I don't know who wrote the great morale boosting letter, but I don't believe it was written by a grateful "Mayor" in Iraq. There are too many things in it that read "military in origin" to me and non-Iraqi, if one knows anything about History. Sunnis are killing Shias, Shias are killing Shites, and let's not forget the Kurds...I may have the lineage wrong, but basically, round and round it goes and it has NOTHING to do with "terrorism".

[Bud]

Snopes lists this one as still undetermined
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/iraqmayor.asp

[rain wolf]

though i respect the feedback, i have to respectfully disagree...being in college, and seeing a few of my pals come back from iraq, this letter is definitly more conclusive as to how the soldiers are saying people look at us over there. many people there love us. the ones that don't are the ones who have more difficulty murdering innocent people since we are there. every soldier that i have talked to so far says they cannot believe that the media acts like we are hated there. (i'm sure there are two perspectives on that as in everything.) The guys I have talked to just say, there is a LOT of good things going on there that you do not hear about. I, for one, am willing to look at two sides of something instead of having one opinion about something and never changing it... Citizens there want the violence to end, but they do NOT blame it on us, by any stretch, as we are lead to believe. i find it funny that NOBODY questions that we are hated there, but if there is something good that comes out, everyone questions that... either way, it was nice to see some kind of feedback, even if it was the anti-american views that the media wants you to believe. ANYONE can question the authenticity to ANYTHING... food for thought. well, have a good day everyone...

[Banned]

First, let me say all glory and honor to all of our brave Troops. However...dude, I don't know who wrote the great morale boosting letter, but I don't believe it was written by a grateful "Mayor" in Iraq. There are too many things in it that read "military in origin" to me and non-Iraqi, if one knows anything about History. Sunnis are killing Shias, Shias are killing Shites, and let's not forget the Kurds...I may have the lineage wrong, but basically, round and round it goes and it has NOTHING to do with "terrorism".

good thing we have a terrorism expert like YR, who in her completely unbiased knowledge let us know it has nothing to do with terrorism.

it is not her opinion, she KNOWS it has nothing to do with terrorism.

[skydog]

All it is PROPAGANDA,PROPAGANDA,PROPAGANDA!!!


The nazi's used the same tatic during WWII

[byndrsn]

though i respect the feedback, i have to respectfully disagree...being in college, and seeing a few of my pals come back from iraq, this letter is definitly more conclusive as to how the soldiers are saying people look at us over there. many people there love us. the ones that don't are the ones who have more difficulty murdering innocent people since we are there. every soldier that i have talked to so far says they cannot believe that the media acts like we are hated there. (i'm sure there are two perspectives on that as in everything.) The guys I have talked to just say, there is a LOT of good things going on there that you do not hear about. I, for one, am willing to look at two sides of something instead of having one opinion about something and never changing it... Citizens there want the violence to end, but they do NOT blame it on us, by any stretch, as we are lead to believe. i find it funny that NOBODY questions that we are hated there, but if there is something good that comes out, everyone questions that... either way, it was nice to see some kind of feedback, even if it was the anti-american views that the media wants you to believe. ANYONE can question the authenticity to ANYTHING... food for thought. well, have a good day everyone...

I agree, a close friend of mine is over there. He was a veteran of the gulf war and has been over in Bagdad 3 times in 4 years now. He too describes things much differently than the media does. He believes we need to be there.

What really scares me is some of the things he foresees if we pull out - mainly that we are in for a world of hurt on our own soil. Of course that is just his opinion - but I would believe him and heed his advise before I would listen to anyone in our media pool or those people that have never gotten close to the reality of what is really going on (including myself).

[lonewolf]

Sunnis are killing Shias, Shias are killing Shites, and let's not forget the Kurds...I may have the lineage wrong, but basically, round and round it goes and it has NOTHING to do with "terrorism".

Shias are Shiites

Also, in this region, most Shias are ethnically Persian whereas most Sunnis are ethnically Arabic.

[Baceman Spiff]

That is a kickass post!

[YankeeRose]

Here's a real "un-American" thought for you: let the Iraqi military guard the people and police the streets of Iraq. First it was WMD, then it was Saddam, then it was Democracy, now it's terrorism.
What'll it be next? We need to convert every last one of them to Christianity? Bring our Troops home. Yeah, I'm SOOOO friggin' un-American. The ages old Civil/Ethnic/Religious Wars in the entire Middle East are nothing new. If it had been something we could have gotten involved in and helped with, relatively quickly, as in Bosnia...but THIS? We were lied to. We're still being lied to.
The "Mayor" used several alliterative words that IMO, I don't believe any up-standing Iraqi would.




Joe, if one has an un-washed mind, it's quite simple...a campaign of domination in the Middle East - for the Oil, to make scads of moolah (The only things the "Society For the New American Century" TRULY care about...not people.), will only add to the fanatical zealot international terrorist numbers.




Lonewolf...Persia is the ancient name for Iraq, is it not? It used to include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc., and even further back it was all known as Mesopotamia...at least from what I recollect...I've always liked History.

[Punkinhead]

though i respect the feedback, i have to respectfully disagree...being in college, and seeing a few of my pals come back from iraq, this letter is definitly more conclusive as to how the soldiers are saying people look at us over there. many people there love us. the ones that don't are the ones who have more difficulty murdering innocent people since we are there. every soldier that i have talked to so far says they cannot believe that the media acts like we are hated there. (i'm sure there are two perspectives on that as in everything.) The guys I have talked to just say, there is a LOT of good things going on there that you do not hear about. I, for one, am willing to look at two sides of something instead of having one opinion about something and never changing it... Citizens there want the violence to end, but they do NOT blame it on us, by any stretch, as we are lead to believe. i find it funny that NOBODY questions that we are hated there, but if there is something good that comes out, everyone questions that... either way, it was nice to see some kind of feedback, even if it was the anti-american views that the media wants you to believe. ANYONE can question the authenticity to ANYTHING... food for thought. well, have a good day everyone...

I agree, a close friend of mine is over there. He was a veteran of the gulf war and has been over in Bagdad 3 times in 4 years now. He too describes things much differently than the media does. He believes we need to be there.

What really scares me is some of the things he foresees if we pull out - mainly that we are in for a world of hurt on our own soil. Of course that is just his opinion - but I would believe him and heed his advise before I would listen to anyone in our media pool or those people that have never gotten close to the reality of what is really going on (including myself).

I have a brother in law over there, as well as a couple of friends. Like the above two posts, they don't tell me things like the media states it. And truthfully, that people would fight over this letter makes me friggin' sick. Whether anyone agrees with the war or not, you have hundreds of thousands of our best people willing to risk their lives so us dumbasses can sit and bitch on Rockpage. I don't care if you think that letter is propaganda, rhetoric, or whatever. It's good to see positive things about our troops.

Fuck the government, I could care less about them. I do recognize those that will give their lives for us to live as we do. If anyone differs in that opinion, then you aren't just un-American, you are a fucking pig.


********This rant not pointed at anyone, just my own personal opinion on this *******************************************

[Banned]

YR wrote:

"If it had been something we could have gotten involved in and helped with, relatively quickly, as in Bosnia...but THIS? "



You better bone up on your Bosnian history. Your god, blow job Billy, got out troops into that civil war, ang guess what????...WE ARE STILL THERE.

I think it is going on 8 or more years. Why don't you rant on about how Slick willie still has our troops in harm's way? Oh..he's a democrat.

[bassist_25]

Whether anyone agrees with the war or not, you have hundreds of thousands of our best people willing to risk their lives so us dumbasses can sit and bitch on Rockpage. I don't care if you think that letter is propaganda, rhetoric, or whatever. It's good to see positive things about our troops.

Fuck the government, I could care less about them. I do recognize those that will give their lives for us to live as we do. If anyone differs in that opinion, then you aren't just un-American, you are a fucking pig.

I absolutley agree with everything you said right there. I've been critical of this war since day one, but I've always made a distinction between how I feel about the politics of the war and the people who are involved in it. I go to school with many people who have already served in this war. I even go to school with someone who was directly involved in the controversy that happened a while back concerning the commanding officer who threatened a prisoner to learn the location of a sniper (BTW, I think it's sad that that officer was brought on trail. I think that there should be ethics during war, but he did what a good commander should do: Look out for the welfare of his troops).

Though Vietnam was before my time, I think that it is the saddest of all of the American wars (though it technically wasn't a war), because the troops were treated like shit when they came back. Yes, those involved with Cam Ne and similar catastrophies should always be looked down upon with contempt, but the average grunt wasn't out slaughtering defenseless people. One thing that drives me nuts are people that feel the need to ask veterans about their experiences. I have too much respect for that. I've learned that if a veteran doesn't talk about his or her experience that much, it usually means that they've seen action. Most vets don't want to think about that let alone talk about it.

I remember that a lot of people said that the First Blood/Rambo movies were very right-wing. I decided to watch them all again last summer, and I was like ,"What the hell are these people smoking?" While the First Blood movies had an obvious anti-Communist agenda, they were also blantanly anti-Vietnam. They were just anit-Vietnam from a vet's perspective, not the perspective of a social activist. John Rambo represented the shell-shocked Vietnam vet whose life was ruined by the war. The movies never justified or defended Vietnam. If anything, they condemned the whole thing, from the politicians who got America into it to the citizens that spat on the returning soldiers.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off track.

[YankeeRose]

YR wrote:

"If it had been something we could have gotten involved in and helped with, relatively quickly, as in Bosnia...but THIS? "



You better bone up on your Bosnian history. Your god, blow job Billy, got out troops into that civil war, ang guess what????...WE ARE STILL THERE.

I think it is going on 8 or more years. Why don't you rant on about how Slick willie still has our troops in harm's way? Oh..he's a democrat.

You know Joe, you are something else...your demeanor toward me on here and in person are vastly different. It truly amazes me.
Tell me, after 8 loooong years, how many thousands in casualties are we at, and how many more thousands wounded and maimed are there from Bosnia? I'm not sure how many are still there, and there still may be a "presence" in Bosnia, but how you can in ANY WAY compare it to Iraq astounds me. Also, the American people were never lied to about the reasons for going to Bosnia...or did Rush or one of your other radio Gods say we were??? Get a grip on TRUE reality.




I'm not a heartless person, what is going on in Iraq right now is a shame, but it's been going on a long, long time. It's not our job and we will never solve that problem...all tribal sides are at fault. Let the Iraqi military take care of their own people. Of course, then there goes the Oil and all of the companies making money hand over fist "re-building" Iraq would be left out in the cold and have to leave with our troops, and that would just never do.

[Banned]

YR, Why don't you look some facts on your commie left wing web sites you get your rant ammo from? See if there aren't some church burnings by muslims in Bosnia? In fact there have been hundreds since "hostilities" ended. Oh, your socialist bloggers won't tell you anything bad about Clinton's undeclared war.

Try to look at the world without the viewpoint that EVERYTHING is Bush's grand scheme for somethin or other. Even though you hate Bush and us evil neo-cons, those soldiers deserved much better than your derision.

This "dude" as you called him, posted a letter stating that someone thinks American citizens in the U.S. Armed forces are doing his people some good....and you have to dump you filthy liberal bullshit all over it.....that was disgusting.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

[YankeeRose]

Joe, it's your brain washed FINALLY ADMITTED Neo-con mind that equates ANYTHING but agreement with everything Bush does with being "un-American" or a "Communist".
("Dude" as I called him????? WTF?
"Dude" is a bad word? Sorry rainwolf, kma Joe.) Show me exactly WHERE I was "derisive" towards a single American Soldier, I dare you. I've never questioned the bravery of our Troops. EVER. You are the one who should be ashamed of themselves for your hate mongering, but you see nothing wrong in what you do, for that is what your radio Gods espouse. It is to laugh.




Jeff, it may only be our opinions, but I and several others feel we know morale boosting "propaganda" when we read it. IMO, it also reads like a member of the British military wrote it, more than an Iraqi Mayor. "Lion hearted", "knights" and every other military annotation speak for themselves.
Again, this opinion takes nothing away from the Bravery of the Troops and I wish to Heaven they were all on their way home tomorrow.

[JeffLeeper]

Not to be political , but before you dismiss out of hand , the article posted , give it a chance.

Don't let your personal dislike for someone color your opinion of the article.

If you want to be fair...be fair to everyone. Otherwise you come off as not fair , but merely opinionated. You seem a little too smart for that.

[Banned]

YR are you suprised that I am a conservative?

I have stated that I am way right of Rush Limbaugh. He is way to liberal in his support of the big tax spender George Bush. Damned, Rush used to be a good conservative.

I am so far to the right, that I have become somewhat of a Libertarian crossed with a Constitutionalist.

G. W. Bush is not in this party sadly. He spends more of our tax money than any socialist democrat could have dreamed of. You ought to embrace him, he truely is a democrat in republican clothing.

You can't get over your hatred of anything Bush to see that I do not support him, and think he is contributing to the downfall of this country just like EVERY liberal.

Read the quote from Jefferson in my signature line. This government that runs our country has gotten criminally out of hand. All of our politicians only care about getting re-elected, not about the good of this great country.

Lastly your negative post, right after the first post about the letter, shows that you cannot stand anything good being said about our troops.

[YankeeRose]

Joe, you've said you Vote "third
party"...Conservative, i.e. Republican is HARDLY "third party", but then again, I'd expect nothing less from a true Neo-con. Lies are de-rigeur. You say you can't stand Bush, yet you defend him constantly. You speak with forked tongue. I said nothing derisive against any of our Troops, or our Military, so you tried a different angle...and you are still WRONG when you tried to inject the lie and say that I can't stand anything positve said about our Troops. I started my first post with "glory and honor" to them, so only someone narrow-minded or brain-washed could think that. I rest my case, and I'm finished watching this thread. Go ahead Joe and post any way. I won't read it.

[RobTheDrummer]

You know, I've never heard of a war or President that the people wanted to fail so badly....

[witchhunt]

Never has a president failed us so badly.

[RobTheDrummer]

In what ways?

[Banned]

Never has a president failed us so badly.

Exactly what I think about Clinton. He did not fail the communist Chinese though. They now have the technology to aim their nuclear weapons at us, and all they had to do was payoff Slick Willie with illegal campaign contributions.

[lonewolf]

Lonewolf...Persia is the ancient name for Iraq, is it not? It used to include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc., and even further back it was all known as Mesopotamia...at least from what I recollect...I've always liked History.

Persia is the old name for Iran--they are not Arabic. A sliver of Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was Mesopotamia, Babylon, Baghdad and then ruled by Turkey. Today's larger Iraq was not formed until after WWI when they added Kurdistan and other Arabic land. The others make up Arabia, although Saddam will tell you Kuwait belongs to Iraq.

I have worked with people from all over the middle east and Iranians go out of their way to not be associated with Arabs. Right out of the blue, they will tell you "we are not Arabs, we are Persians".

[lonewolf]

Never has a president failed us so badly.

Read up on LBJ