Open Letter from a Soldier in Iraq

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Got this in an e-mail today...what do you all think?

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REAL News from Iraq
Subject: OPEN LETTER TO FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF RICHMOND BEACH.

It has been a while since I have written to my friends at First Lutheran Church about what's really going on here in Iraq. The news you watch on TV is exaggerated, sensationalized and selective. Good news doesn't sell well.

The stuff you don't hear about? Let's start with Electrical Power production in Iraq. The day after the war was declared over, there was nearly 0 power being generated in Iraq. 45 days later, in a partnership between the Army, the Iraqi people and some private companies, there are now 3200 megawatts (Mw) of power being produced daily, 1/3 of the total national potential of 8000 Mw. Downed power lines ((big stuff, 400 Kilovolt (Kv) and 132 (Kv)) are being repaired and are about 70% complete.

Then there is water purification. In central Iraq between Baghdad and Mosul, home of the 4th Infantry Division, Water treatment was spotty at best. The facilities existed, but the controls were never implemented. Simple chemicals like Chlorine for purification and Alum (Aluminum Sulfate) for sediment settling (The Tigris River is about as clear as the Mississippi River) were in short supply or not used at all and when chlorine was used, it was metered by the scientific method of guessing. So some people got pool water and some people got water with lots of little things moving in it.

We are slowly but surely solving that. Contracts for repairs to facilities that are only 50% or less operational are being let, chemicals are being delivered, although we don't have the metering problem solved yet (It's only been 45 days).

How about oil and fuel? Well the war was all about oil wasn't it? You bet it was. It was all about oil for the Iraqi people because they have no other income, they produce nothing else. Oil is 95% of the Iraqi GNP. For this nation to survive, it must sell oil. The Refinery at Bayji is at 75% of capacity producing gasoline. The crude pipeline between Kirkuk (Oil Central) and Bayji will be repaired by tomorrow (2 June).

LPG, what all Iraqis use to cook and heat with, is at 103% of normal production and we, the US ARMY, at least 4th ID, are insuring it is being distributed fairly to all Iraqis.

You have to remember that 3 months ago, all these things were used as weapons against the population to keep them in line. If a town misbehaved, gasoline shipments, LPG pipelines and trucks stopped, water was turned off, power was turned off.

Now, until exports start, every drop of gasoline produced goes to the Iraqi people, crude oil is being stored, the country is at 75% capacity now, they need to export or stop pumping soon, thank the UN for the delay.

All LPG goes to the Iraqi people everywhere. Water is being purified as best they can, but at least it's running all the time to everyone.

Are we still getting shot at? Yep. Are American Soldiers still dying? Yep, about 1 a day from the 4th ID, most in accidents, but dead is dead. If we are doing all this for the Iraqis, why are they shooting at us? The general population isn't. There are still bad guys, who won't let go of the old regime. They are Ba'ath party members (Read Nazi Party, but not as nice) who know nothing but the regime. They were thugs for the regime that caused many to disappear in the night and they have no other skills. At least the Nazis had jobs they could go back to after the war as plumbers, managers, engineers, etc...these people have no skills but terror. They are simply applying their skills....and we are applying ours.

There is no Christian way to say they must be eliminated and we are doing so with all the efficiency we can muster. Our troops are shot at literally every day by small arms and RPGs. We respond and 100% of the time, the Ba'ath party guys come out with the short end of the stick. The most amazing thing to me is that they don't realize that if they stopped shooting at us, we would focus on fixing things and leave. The more they shoot at us, the longer we will stay.

Lastly, realize that 90% the damage you see on TV was caused by Iraqis, not the war. Sure we took out a few bridges from military necessity, we took out a few power and phone lines to disrupt communications, sure we drilled a few palaces and government headquarters buildings with 2000 lb laser guided bombs (I work 100 yards from where two hit the Tikrit Palace); he had plenty of palaces to spare. But, any damage you see to schools, hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries, pipelines, was all caused either by the Iraqi Army in its death throes or Iraqi civilians looting the places. Could the army have prevented it? Nope. We can and do now, but 45 days ago the average soldier was lucky to know what town he was in much less know who owned what or have the power to stop 1,000 people from looting a building by himself.

The United States and Great Britain are doing a very noble thing here. We stuck our necks out on the world chopping block to free a people.

I've already talked the weapons of mass destruction thing to death, bottom line, who cares, this country was one big conventional weapons ammo dump anyway. We have probably destroyed more weapons and ammo in the last 30 days than the US Army has ever fired in the last 30 years (Remember, this is a country the size of Texas.), so drop the WMD argument as the reason we came here; if we find it great, if we don't, so what?

I'm living in a "guest palace" on a 500-acre compound with 20 palaces, with like facilities, built in half a dozen towns all over Iraq that were built for that one man. Drive down the street and out into the countryside 5 miles away (I have) and see a family of 10 living in a mud hut herding two dozen sheep. Then tell me why you think we are here.

Respectfully,
ERIC RYDBOM MAJOR, ENGINEER, 0 Deputy Division Engineer
4th Infantry Division
 
Based on what my friends have been telling me, its certainly legit.
What reason would you have to question its legitamicy? I hope every here at FYM takes a look.
 
I am not saying it isn't legit. I have little faith in circulated emailss.
 
STING2 said:
What reason would you have to question its legitamicy?

Everything in this forum should be questioned. Especially a letter written by someone you don't know. Just because this paticular letter falls into your idealogy doesn't make it automatically 100% legit.
 
I'd like to know more about the writer. You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. But it's a very interesting letter, and yes, I read the whole thing.
 
BonoVoxSupastar,

"Everything in this forum should be questioned."

Unfortunately that typically does not happen in this forum. Anything Bush or the administration says, in this forum is constantly scrutinized and attacked, while most of the voices that question administration policy, allege bad things, go almost unquestioned and recieve far less scrutiny.
 
STING2 said:
BonoVoxSupastar,

"Everything in this forum should be questioned."

Unfortunately that typically does not happen in this forum. Anything Bush or the administration says, in this forum is constantly scrutinized and attacked, while most of the voices that question administration policy, allege bad things, go almost unquestioned and recieve far less scrutiny.

Well while we're making blanket statements don't you think one can say that those who support Bush are sheep heading for the slaughter that don't question a thing he does.

There have been articles, bits of information, etc. that have been posted that have been found to be wrong. But I think for the most part everyone tries to do a good job checking and questioning the legitamacy of each item posted. Yes this forum is not the most balanced when it comes to certain policies, but it doesn't mean they go unquestioned.
 
BonoVoxSupastar,

"Well while we're making blanket statements don't you think one can say that those who support Bush are sheep heading for the slaughter that don't question a thing he does."

There are probably about 5 people here that post often that support Bush, there are at least 50 who do not. I for one have stated many times that I disagree with Bush's position on Affirimative Action, Gun Control, and Certain tax cuts. I have supported Bush's Foreign Policy because I think its the right one. Since 9/11 I feel he has hit the nail on the head on most things in that area and I'm not about to question an administration doing policies I already believed in and advocated, provided that do it correctly.

"There have been articles, bits of information, etc. that have been posted that have been found to be wrong. But I think for the most part everyone tries to do a good job checking and questioning the legitamacy of each item posted."

I have read multiple threads in this forum where there was not one person challenging the article. A Dozen are so would post and no one would question or debate, simply they would talk all about how it was so and make other crude irrelevent remarks about Bush and his advisers.

"Yes this forum is not the most balanced when it comes to certain policies, but it doesn't mean they go unquestioned."

I have seen multiple threads that went unquestioned. If Nbcrusader, Dreadsox, and a couple of other people were not posting here the number of threads where there was no questioning or even a real debate would probably triple.

But thats the nature of this place and its always been like this. I really do not mind. I'm just pointing out that there is a double standard here when it comes to questioning things. Thats primarily because the general political/opinion here is anti-Bush and thats ok. I'd actually be surprised if it was not that way.
 
Sting, this place would be boring as hell without you, Dread, nbcrusader, and other thoughtful conservatives who help me think about my positions and why the hell I have them in the first place.:yes: :yes:
 
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The letter does deserve questioning, and, aside from questions of legitimacy, there are also questions of perspective and bias. I'm certainly not saying that, for instance, Americans would purposely bomb civilian targets, but "smart bombs," for instance, "only" miss 33% of the time. If that was the case, then, our letter writer would certainly only be passing along what he was told.

But, at the same time, I wouldn't put it past the former Iraqi regime to have destroyed its own buildings as well.

Melon
 
STING2 said:
BonoVoxSupastar,
I have seen multiple threads that went unquestioned. If Nbcrusader, Dreadsox, and a couple of other people were not posting here the number of threads where there was no questioning or even a real debate would probably triple.


If it wasn't for the above said people and a few others we would have far less discussions about this administration true. For what would be the reason to have threads where everyone agreed, it would be boring. We would have to stick more to issues of abortion, gun control and such. :wink: But we do have you all and that's what makes this place worth coming to, the debate. It's unfortunate that it's not more balanced, but the majority of U2 fans would probably lean left. But with all that being said how do you know they go unquestioned. When I see something posted, especially when it seems a bit extreme I research to make sure I don't post on an article that's not true. If I don't find anything proving it false, I'll post but still never assume it's 100% fact. So you really don't know what goes on the other side of the monitor. I'm sure I'm not alone in going about things this way. We're all here to question each other, that's why it's called Free Your Mind. Yes sometimes there's closed minds, preaching, what not, but for the most part I think we're all pretty good about making it a fair debate regardless of the unbalanced sides.

Sorry for the hijacking, back to the letter...
 
Melon,

If 1 out of 3 Smart Bombs missed their targets, potentially hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's would be dead. My best friend who is a Cobra Helicopter Pilot with the US Marine Corp has flown over Baghdad several times observing the city and the damage done and has not seen any damage done to residential area's or non-governmental non-military targets. The imprint US smart bombs, 1,000 and 2,000 pounds leave is unmistakeable from the air.

Other friends who were combat engineers raved about the precision of the bombing strikes in the area's that they passed. These were area's where the former Republican Guard Armored Division the "Baghdad Division" was stationed to the southeast of Baghdad in defense of the city. It was one of the most heavily bombed area's but my friends have reported that there was virtually no damage to civilian area's and villiages.
 
I just want to thank people for the kind words.

There are days when I find myself in here arguing points that I do not believe in. I do it mor often than not because I learn more taking opposite sides on things. I alsoo finnd I do it in my classroom.

FYI if I disappear, it is because my computer died. IT is really malfunctioning lately. Double letters, ect.

The letter may very well be true. I will search aroundd. Much like the letter that was postedd in hhere attribbuted to an author, this may well come up false. I just have a problem with inteernet circulated info, and Deep caught something bogus I once posted from a wweb page that was bogus. Very embarrasing.

Peace
 
Yep, with the more conservative view in here, what's the point. I definitely learn things and try and keep an open mind. I also agree on both sides of the fence on issues, so it helps to hear all sides.

have a good night everyone.
 
I'm not sure I can hold a candle to my conservative bretheren.

As always, thank you one and all for the kind words and thought provoking discussions.
 
Hello,

I searched around a little bit on Snopes.com and the letter is mentioned there.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/rydbom.asp

Here are the findings of Snopes.com:
Origins: This item is "true" in the sense that Eric Rydbom is indeed an engineer stationed in Iraq with the Army's 4th Infantry Division, and he sends monthly e-mail dispatches such as the one quoted above to fellow members of his congregation at the First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach in Shorline, Washington. This piece was one of those messages, forwarded to the church's prayer chain and thence to the larger world via the Internet.

The version being circulated on the Internet closes with the following line, which was not part of the original letter:

WMD is an important issue. We have to find them wherever they may be (in Syria?), but that is not our real motivator. Don't let it be yours either.

Last updated: 23 August 2003

So it indeed seems to be genuine.

C ya!

Marty
 
I do appreciate reading thoughts that differ from mine. After all it comes down to each persons beliefs.

From the opposite point of view. This has been confirmed by many other sources.

"We are facing death in Iraq for no reason

A serving US soldier calls for the end of an occupation based on lies

Tim Predmore
Friday September 19, 2003
The Guardian

For the past six months, I have been participating in what I believe to be the great modern lie: Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After the horrific events of September 11 2001, and throughout the battle in Afghanistan, the groundwork was being laid for the invasion of Iraq. "Shock and awe" were the words used to describe the display of power that the world was going to view upon the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was to be an up-close, dramatic display of military strength and advanced technology from within the arsenals of the American and British military.

But as a soldier preparing to take part in the invasion of Iraq, the words "shock and awe" rang deep within my psyche. Even as we prepared to depart, it seemed that these two great superpowers were about to break the very rules that they demanded others obey. Without the consent of the United Nations, and ignoring the pleas of their own citizens, the US and Britain invaded Iraq. "Shock and awe"? Yes, the words correctly described the emotional impact I felt as we embarked on an act not of justice, but of hypocrisy.

From the moment the first shot was fired in this so-called war of liberation and freedom, hypocrisy reigned. After the broadcasting of recorded images of captured and dead US soldiers on Arab television, American and British leaders vowed revenge while verbally assaulting the networks for displaying such vivid images. Yet within hours of the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons, the US government released horrific photographs of the two dead brothers for the entire world to view. Again, a "do as we say and not as we do" scenario.

As soldiers serving in Iraq, we have been told that our purpose is to help the people of Iraq by providing them with the necessary assistance militarily, as well as in humanitarian efforts. Then tell me where the humanity is in the recent account in Stars and Stripes (the newspaper of the US military) of two young children brought to a US military camp by their mother in search of medical care.

The two children had, unknowingly, been playing with explosive ordnance they had found, and as a result they were severely burned. The account tells how, after an hour-long wait, they - two children - were denied care by two US military doctors. A soldier described the incident as one of many "atrocities" on the part of the US military he had witnessed.

Thankfully, I have not personally been a witness to atrocities - unless, of course, you consider, as I do, that this war in Iraq is the ultimate atrocity.

So what is our purpose here? Was this invasion because of weapons of mass destruction, as we have so often heard? If so, where are they? Did we invade to dispose of a leader and his regime because they were closely associated with Osama bin Laden? If so, where is the proof?

Or is it that our incursion is about our own economic advantage? Iraq's oil can be refined at the lowest cost of any in the world. This looks like a modern-day crusade not to free an oppressed people or to rid the world of a demonic dictator relentless in his pursuit of conquest and domination, but a crusade to control another nation's natural resource. Oil - at least to me - seems to be the reason for our presence.

There is only one truth, and it is that Americans are dying. There are an estimated 10 to 14 attacks every day on our servicemen and women in Iraq. As the body count continues to grow, it would appear that there is no immediate end in sight.

I once believed that I was serving for a cause - "to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States". Now I no longer believe that; I have lost my conviction, as well as my determination. I can no longer justify my service on the basis of what I believe to be half-truths and bold lies.

With age comes wisdom, and at 36 years old I am no longer so blindly led as to believe without question. From my arrival last November at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky, talk of deployment was heard, and as that talk turned to actual preparation, my heart sank and my doubts grew. My doubts have never faded; instead, it has been my resolve and my commitment that have.

My time here is almost done, as well as that of many others with whom I have served. We have all faced death in Iraq without reason and without justification. How many more must die? How many more tears must be shed before Americans awake and demand the return of the men and women whose job it is to protect them, rather than their leader's interest?

? Tim Predmore is a US soldier on active duty with the 101st Airborne Division, based near Mosul in northern Iraq. A version of this article appeared in the Peoria Journal Star, Illinois"

On another side note Iwas aware the budget sent by the admin. had a reduction in combat pay and family separation allowance. I wasn't aware they were so steep.

Yes, that's right. Adding insult to injury, the Pentagon issued an interim budget report in July recommending a dramatic 47 percent drop in combat pay and family separation allowances for our soldiers.

Combat pay is to be cut from $225 a month to $150 a month, and family separation allowances (which support soldiers' families back home) are to be cut from an already inadequate $250 a month to a truly pathetic $100 a month.

Wow.
 
Scarletwine said:
Adding insult to injury, the Pentagon issued an interim budget report in July recommending a dramatic 47 percent drop in combat pay and family separation allowances for our soldiers.

Combat pay is to be cut from $225 a month to $150 a month, and family separation allowances (which support soldiers' families back home) are to be cut from an already inadequate $250 a month to a truly pathetic $100 a month.

How patriotic.

:down:
 
I'd be interested to find out what our veterans think. I think Dubyah broke another guiness record as the first President to seek a pay cut in a time of war.
 
Scarletwine,

Perhaps if you and others were for heavier increases in defense spending there would be no reduction in combat pay. The Pentagon is working within the Budget it has been given, indeed that should be increased, but the people on the left side of the isle are not for that.

As for what most vets think, all of my friends and their workmates have been 100% behind the effort. Certainly there are some services members that oppose the effort, but that has been true of every war the USA has fought in its history. There was one service member who early in the war brutally attacked a tent with several officers in it killing two of them.

One of my friends spent 6 months in Afghanistan last year, when we according to liberals had left. He then came home, helped prepare a number of logistical requirments for transport of the 1st Marine MEF to Kuwait and in 3 months he, several of my friends and 20,000 other Marines were on the ground in Kuwait. After conducting the largest land offensive in Marine Corp history covering 900 KM, the last of the Marines was just recently withdrawn from Iraq. My friends will be home in a few days. Spanish and Polish soldiers have taken their place in Southern Iraq.

Most members of the Military support politicians that support them the most, in terms of funding. Since 1980, that has overwhelmingly been the Republicans. The Democrats have not been the favored party of the military since 1965.

Although protest and various political opinions are VITAL to the survival of any democracy and my friends understand that and were fighting for that for the Iraqi people, most of them were very disheartened and depressed by all the anti-war demonstrations that occured in the USA and Europe in the lead up to the war in Iraq. They understood what they were doing and how vital it was to US and global security and they were amazed out how many people were willing to let Saddam dupe the world again.
 
STING2 said:

Perhaps if you and others were for heavier increases in defense spending there would be no reduction in combat pay. The Pentagon is working within the Budget it has been given, indeed that should be increased, but the people on the left side of the isle are not for that.

I don't agree with a president that wants to increase nuclear production and start testing while he's cutting combat pay. It's called money management, I don't think these pay cuts are as simple as the left doesn't want to increase defense spending.

STING2 said:
As for what most vets think, all of my friends and their workmates have been 100% behind the effort. Certainly there are some services members that oppose the effort, but that has been true of every war the USA has fought in its history. There was one service member who early in the war brutally attacked a tent with several officers in it killing two of them.

I think the question was what vets thought about the pay cuts, I don't think they are all 100% behind that.

STING2 said:
One of my friends spent 6 months in Afghanistan last year, when we according to liberals had left. He then came home, helped prepare a number of logistical requirments for transport of the 1st Marine MEF to Kuwait and in 3 months he, several of my friends and 20,000 other Marines were on the ground in Kuwait. After conducting the largest land offensive in Marine Corp history covering 900 KM, the last of the Marines was just recently withdrawn from Iraq. My friends will be home in a few days. Spanish and Polish soldiers have taken their place in Southern Iraq.

Glad your friend will be home. But I never heard any of us dumb liberals saying we had left Afghanistan. I think the consensus was that we declared victory too soon and maybe shouldn't have pulled out so many with Bin Laden not found. But hey might as well just generalise it as we all thought we left.

STING2 said:
Although protest and various political opinions are VITAL to the survival of any democracy and my friends understand that and were fighting for that for the Iraqi people, most of them were very disheartened and depressed by all the anti-war demonstrations that occured in the USA and Europe in the lead up to the war in Iraq. They understood what they were doing and how vital it was to US and global security and they were amazed out how many people were willing to let Saddam dupe the world again.

I have friends serving as we speak, some are for and some are against, but I think most of them (at least from talking to them) understood we were protesting the administrations actions and not them.
 
Bonovoxsuperstar,

"I don't agree with a president that wants to increase nuclear production and start testing while he's cutting combat pay. It's called money management, I don't think these pay cuts are as simple as the left doesn't want to increase defense spending."

Nuclear production, could you please show me in the latest defense budget that amount of money allocated to building new nuclear weapons and for testing? Guess who put in the largest increase in overall military pay for US military personal and successfully passed it? Guess where the majority of the opposition to the pay increase came from?

"But I never heard any of us dumb liberals saying we had left Afghanistan. I think the consensus was that we declared victory too soon and maybe shouldn't have pulled out so many with Bin Laden not found. But hey might as well just generalise it as we all thought we left."

To my frustration and shock, I heard plenty of people here at FYM maintain that the US had left Afghanistan when a good friend of mine had just returned from being there for 6 months. There are more US troops in Afghanistan today, 3 times as many, than when the Taliban fell from power in November/December 2001.
 
STING2 said:

Nuclear production, could you please show me in the latest defense budget that amount of money allocated to building new nuclear weapons and for testing? Guess who put in the largest increase in overall military pay for US military personal and successfully passed it? Guess where the majority of the opposition to the pay increase came from?

There are more US troops in Afghanistan today, 3 times as many, than when the Taliban fell from power in November/December 2001.

I haven't seen the latest defense budget, I was just going by what came out of W's mouth and what he wanted, as he was cutting combat pay.

Why do we have 3 times the amount of troops in Afghanistan today then when we declared the Taliban fallen, is this normal procedure, or this due to a huge reconstruction procedure? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just curious. I admit I haven't had the time to keep up.
 
The US military had about 3,000 military advisors and forward observers for US military aircraft conducting bombing during the war with the Taliban on the ground. It was the Northern Alliance that had all the ground combat troops. After the Taliban were defeated, the numbers of US troops on the ground in Afghanistan started to increase as the search for Bin Ladin continued. Right now there are 9,000 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan looking for Bin Ladin. There are 5,000 NATO troops engaged in other rebuilding and security task in Afghanistan.
 
STING2 said:
Scarletwine,

Perhaps if you and others were for heavier increases in defense spending there would be no reduction in combat pay. The Pentagon is working within the Budget it has been given, indeed that should be increased, but the people on the left side of the isle are not for that.


Defense ore attack force ?
 
Sting2,

I'm definitely not for an increase in the defense budget, it's too large a portion of the total as is. I'm for better accounting within the department, the last report said it was unauditable because of bad accounting and lack of control. So I'm sure there are ways to save money that doesn't have to cut pay. Cut the top branches pay a little if necessary not the soldiers.

I also don't think veterans are 100% behind the pay cuts according to their websites.
 
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The argument that liberal cuts in defense spending, or the desire for them, are responsible for the cut in combat pay is completely ridiculous. Bush is not a President, nor is the current Congress a legislative body, who bows to political pressure from the left. Whatever the reason for the cuts, liberal wishful thinking was not it. Most liberals I know, regardless of their position on the war itself (and let us not forget that some liberals supported the war), do not support the underpayment of our uniformed men and women.
 
Scarletwine,

I can agree with you that better accounting and auditing is needed for the Pentagon Budget and for that matter several other parts of the Federal Budget. While reforming that is important, at the same time were talking National Security, and its something that in my opinion should not be underfunded or contstrained despite the problems that exist with accounting.

The members of the military that get payed the least for the comparable work they could be doing in the Civilian sector are the Generals. If anything, their pay should be increased, especially when one considers the number of years of service it takes to make General.
 
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