Commentary: Most Iraqis appreciate U.S. help -- contrary to news
 

By Bonnie Murphy

BALAD, Iraq (Army News Service, July 2, 2004) -- I'm appalled at the "news" as it's reported from Iraq.

Just as disturbing is the lack of knowledge a lot of people have about what's really going on, why we're there, and what it's really like. I'd like to set the record straight.

My job as an environmentalist is primarily the protection of the environment and the disposal of Department of Defense-generated hazardous wastes. I volunteered to go to Iraq, and last December I was selected to set up the first disposal operations in the forward deployed area.

I have been stationed at Balad Air Base, LSA Anaconda, since Dec. 28. On several occasions, my work has taken me to Baghdad. I extended my initial tour from 120 days to 155 days, and June 7 I went back to Baghdad for six more months.

Ninety-five percent of the Iraqi people want us there, and it's only a handful of insurgents with weapons who are attacking our bases, convoys and troops. The older generations say that although they may never see the freedoms we're trying to bring to their country, they know their children will enjoy the rights that we take for granted in this country.

I've had the opportunity to meet and speak with day laborers coming on Anaconda. They are grateful for the work and pay they receive. Men have taken my hand with tear-filled eyes and thanked me because they can now provide for their families -- something they couldn't do when Saddam was in power. I've met engineers, pilots and well-educated men who, for the first time since Saddam took office, are returning from self-imposed exile to their homeland and are able to find work on our many U.S. bases.

Before I left Balad, I was able to coordinate the donation of $3,500 of hospital disinfectant and dental amalgam to the local hospital from the DRMS inventory of excess property. Our Balad team of doctors and medics make regular scheduled visits to the surrounding communities to provide medical care and assistance to the people and teach new technologies to Iraqi medical personnel.

People are being taught field sanitation and hand-washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs. About 400,000 children have now received up-to-date immunizations. And 100 percent of the existing hospitals are now open and staffed, compared to 35 percent before the war.

On behalf of my organization, the Defense Logistics Agency, and its partner, Army Materiel Command, we're sponsoring a local secondary school. We've received $65,500 of Saddam's money to completely rebuild the school. Our school is only one of 11 schools being sponsored by different units on LSA Anaconda. School attendance is up 80 percent, and for the first time girls are allowed to attend classes.

Our facility engineers and Seabees are rebuilding outdated sewer lines and constructing a new water treatment plant that will serve the entire area. This is being done in every major city. More than 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time.

We're updating and constructing new power plants throughout the country. Now the entire populace receives twice the electric power it did before the war. More than 400,000 people have telephone service for the first time.

The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off loaded from ships faster. Farmers are being educated on better methods, and new technologies are being introduced. Local contractors working on our bases are, for the first time, able to receive lubricant oils, and hydraulic and brake fluids for their equipment.

The newly formed Iraqi Civil Defense Force trains on LSA Anaconda. The teams work and learn side by side with our soldiers, and they are proud to be learning from us and eager to help in the battle against the handful of insurgents making life miserable in Iraq. Every day our troops are finding buried weapons and chemicals that must be disposed of. The dangerous chemicals pose a threat to the environment, health and safety of not only the Iraqi people but the world if they were to come into the wrong hands.

I've met some wonderful soldiers serving in Iraq. As a nation, we should all be proud and supportive of the mission, Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I believe in my job, my country, and I want my grandchildren to always be able to enjoy their freedoms. That's why I'm going back.

(Editor?s note: Bonnie Murphy is a Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service employee who volunteered to go to Iraq in December. Prior to her work at Balad Air Base, LSA Anaconda, Murphy worked for DRMS out of its headquarters in Battle Creek, Mich. DRMS is a field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency. Murphy was awarded the DLA Employee of the Second Quarter for the work she has performed in Iraq. She recently decided to extend her tour in Iraq until January. At the time she wrote this commentary, she was home on leave in Florida attending her daughter?s high school graduation.)

Thank you to Bonnie for her service to this country. And thanks to Joy for bringing some good news to us.

Arrow>>>>>>

Isn't that the Easter Bunny on Santa's sled? Look closely he's sitting next to the tooth fairy.

SparrowHawk62,

Just because Bonnie Murphy looked for the good and found it does not make her delusional.

She spoke out on the good she found and helped create because that is her job and her perspective. She continues to do so even when there are many others saying everything is going badly and everyone there hates us.

If it is your wish to believe one side and not the other, feel free to do so.

I, for one, will look for both sides of the story. I'll celebrate our victories, not just those on the battlefield, and be sad for each defeat.

I have taken it on myself to spread the good news about our great military and civilians fighting this war against radical Islam around the world and leaving the negativity to others.

Have a nice day

Joy

Keep postingJoy!!!! I for one really appreciate your mission!!! Good news is always welcomeat my house!!!:nn:

Arrow>>>>>>

I think the story is pure bullshit. Written by and reported by some soft as baby shit liberal. Some sand crab thinks the rag heads all love us and everything is nice and rosie. Yeah, they love the American dollar when they can get their filthy hands on it. I wonder how many of these dollars will buy weapons to be used against our troops? Or maybe the US will again arm this worthless sand pit so they can fend off the nasty neighbors?
Pull the troops out and carpet bomb the sand hoppers until there is not a one of them using air!

Not a personal attack, just my humble opinion. I take no offense in being named in the above quote. But as I have said before if I am singled out, I will strongly voice my opinion in my defense.

Do They Know?06.27.04 posted by The Jersey Cowboy

In less than an hour I'll saddle up my humvee and head out on the road. Iraq will probably still be asleep, although I'm sure there will be a few early birds out and about. It will be later, when the mission is over and we're on our return, that I'll see all the little kids out by the road, waving.

They come out in gaggles, standing energetically by the roadside merely to wave at the passing soldiers. Some don't stray too far from the gates to their homes or the fields they tend, but others come right up to the verge of the road, waving and giving us the thumbs-up. I always try to wave back, even if I'm driving and I know they can't see my gesture very well. If there's anyone that's worth helping in this country, it's the children.

"Why do they wave?" I find myself asking silently, and as I drive I try to puzzle it out. Most of us wave back and don't give it another thought, or we see them gesticulate their pleas for food and water and merely think them needy or label them munchkins. Hell, if I was a little kid and the foreign soldiers I always wave at never threw me food, why would I still be out there waving, every day? It's not as if Americans cruising up and down their littered roads is a new sight, for they probably see us several times in a day. So what else is there?

Could mere children possibly see us as liberators? Do they know that all this time we've been fighting to excise the people among them that oppose freedom and democracy, that insist on terrorism and tyranny? Is it conceivable that these children know that we're trying to provide them with a better life than their parents had, and do they wave because they appreciate our efforts? Do they stand by the roadside because they are thankful? I can almost imagine Hadji-junior getting tucked into bed at night by one of his mothers, and her speaking to him: "Those are Americans that drive past our house every day. Americans got rid of Saddam. Americans are here to stop the fighting. They want to make our country a proud place to live. They want to help you go to school, to help you stay healthy, to give you opportunities your father never had. You should always be thankful for the Americans..." The children might be too young to understand the weight of our actions, but I doubt they're too young to be thankful, especially living with parents who can tell them how good they have it.

I do seriously doubt that's the conversation we never hear, but it's worth thinking about. Out there among these alien people I'm sure that there are those that are truly thankful for our existence. I've met them. I've been approached by lawyers and doctors and commoners that have expressed heartfelt thanks in halting English that we are here, that we are making a difference. It's an overwhelming sensation at times. One of my close friends back in Jersey recently went to an anti-war march, knowing where I am and what I'm doing, and yet these people are strangers in every sense of the word and they thank me. And the children...

Today I'll wave back, like I always do, because you're never too young to be thankful.



Replies: 16 Comments

Kay Harrison said @ 06/28/2004 05:11 AM EST

Amen, Cat!

Glad to hear from you again - you have been missed!

I suspect that some conversations very like that have and do go on in the Iraqi homes - keep the faith!



Roamin said @ 06/28/2004 05:21 AM EST

Congratulations to you, the cat and all your brothers over there. You have created a free country as of today's early ceremony. What you have done for freedom and democracy around the world will be remembered as a milestone in history for hundreds of years. Your friend's march is already forgotten. Please accept my wave of thanks.



Mommy said @ 06/28/2004 06:54 AM EST

How proud I am that you understand in your heart how it must be for these people. How sad I am that any child, even one of mine, must experience and endure this sadness. Hate the situation, but never hate those involved, for as you can see many don't have the choice, they just are...stuck in the right place, but at the WRONG time. God Bless My Mikie..and all who labor with him. I love you!



Oscar Newman said @ 06/28/2004 10:17 AM EST

I've read correspondence from American soldiers in the Civil War, from soldiers who fought in both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. I marvel at the insight and high levels of literacy demonstrated by our men and women in uniform. I always look forward to reading your web log and become worried when you go long periods without writing. Please know that you have the love and support of your countrymen, and that whatever we may believe about our politicians in Washington, we will not allow our soldiers to be disrespected or unsupported. I pray every day for your safe return. I pray that you feel my gratitude for your sacrifice. The kids who wave to you from the streets of Iraq are not the only ones wishing you well.



Betsy said @ 06/28/2004 12:44 PM EST

Amen to that Oscar, and ditto. My pride for our military runneth over. Today is a day in History that will .. will .. be remembered. It could not have happened without our brave sons and daughters. God speed.



Kim said @ 06/28/2004 09:28 PM EST

So glad to see you post. Was getting nervous. Believe that you are loved at home and missed by people that you will probably never meet in your life.
We are behind you...as are the children.



TwistedSister said @ 06/30/2004 12:47 PM EST

It is good to know that the children of Iraq have role models like you guys instead of the dictators and terrorists they are used to. Keep waving!



Ann said @ 07/05/2004 12:37 PM EST

It's all about freedom and prosperity for the children of the world. We'll leave the world a better place than we entered.



motorcyclebob said @ 07/05/2004 01:39 PM EST

My pride runs deep! You are doing the right thing! I pray for the things you have to do and those you don`t have to do (such as waving) All children appreciate a smile and wave, best medicine at the moment to give. "God Bless" An American Vietnam Vet in country for 3year 1 month. I have some insite to: As you are doing a great job! "Thanks to our Troops"!! Motorcyclebob



Harry said @ 07/05/2004 01:53 PM EST

Cat, Thank you, so much, for your service to your country! You guys are true Heroes changing the world.



ArtbyRuth said @ 07/05/2004 02:03 PM EST

Thank you for sharing this experience with us! Thank you for serving our great country!!



Linda-A proud American! said @ 07/05/2004 02:27 PM EST

Got your website from iraqthemodel.blogspot.com of all places! We prayed for u guys in church on July 4th...we had tears of pride and thanks for your faithful service to our wonderful country and to all those children in Iraq u talk about who will grow up in a free country now because of our military's sacrifices!
We have a daughter at Biola University in California who is looking into joining the Navy when she graduates to carry on the proud traditions of her grandparents(WWII vets), mom (me-a former reservist) , dad(who flew during the vietnam war). We will be proud to have her join you & others in serving the USA.
May God Bless You and bring you safely back to the land of the free and home of the brave!



Mke Openshaw said @ 07/05/2004 03:17 PM EST

We're very proud of the work you're doing over there. I sincerely believe many of thos kids (and their parents as well) WILL be good friends over time, thanks to troopers like yourself.
Stay safe.



ManInTheShadow said @ 07/05/2004 04:07 PM EST

Since I was born in a communist country (former Czechoslovakia) and now I am free I appreciate so much your doings. Maybe it would be enough for you, and by far the most easiest, just to follow the orders of your commanders, but when I read your lines I have just one thing comig to my mind ... thankyou, thankyou, thankyou ... I know that US is not perfect neither it does not have to be the best place to live at ... but if there are people like you ... then ... thank you, thank you, thank you.



Sue said @ 07/05/2004 04:10 PM EST

Thanks so much for all that you guys are doing in Iraq.

We in America are so grateful to all you guys who are fighting for our freedom in this country as well as Iraqi freedom.

Keep on waving at the kids. This has got to be a great source of encouragement for you guys!




Ron C said @ 07/05/2004 05:48 PM EST

Cat - it's too damn bad that I can't be over there waving to express my thankfulness - along with so damn many others that would join, if they could.

When you see the next group of kids - add about 150 million Americans to the image - kids, parents, grandparents - all damned thankful!

http://www.thequestingcat.com/blog/a....html#comments

I think it sad that in this land of mega communication capability we still have to clamber and scrape for the reality of it all. I have no doubt that the author is being forthright in sharing her perceptions and experiences. Equally, I know there are conflicts, acrimony and grief happening and she is probably experiencing some of those as well, se la guerre.

Currently, the dictates of ?Political Correctness? and election season dynamics would have us all being cynical, engaging in condemnation and seeing nothing but chaos, bedlam and scenes from Dante?s Inferno. My take is that we should be realistic in our expectations and assessments and the evaluation of progress, or lack thereof, risks and opportunities. As well, there is very little that is intrinsically realistic or accurate being reported by the media Kings and Princes at this juncture. Maybe after November, eh. If a change of administration is then on the plate, I?d bet that the ?news? will then magically take a turn for the better, we?ll be hearing wondrous sagas from the fields of ambrosia and all that stuff. In reality, Iraq is Iraq, is as it has always been and the warring will go on and on and on, just as it has for centuries. SOSDD

I am more receptive to first-hand accounts from people that are there and doing things and that are open and forthcoming about their role and mission. At least then we have a shot at evaluating perceptions and comments and are not burdened unnecessarily by what some media King or Prince or spin doc thinks we should be thinking or ?knowing?.

Scamp