some of the good things in Iraq...
 

From: Seitz LtCol Scot S
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 8:40 AM
To: 1MAW MWSS171 All Personnel
Cc: Fenstermacher Col Stephen M; Kirkpatrick LtCol Stephen F; Chase
LtCol Eric T
Subject: ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Marines and Sailors,

As we approach the end of the year I think it is important
to share a few thoughts about what you've accomplished directly,
in some cases, and indirectly in many others. I am speaking about
what the Bush Administration and each of you has contributed by wearing
the uniform, because the fact that you wear the uniform contributes
100% to the capability of the nation to send a few onto the field to
execute national policy. As you read about these achievements you are
a part of I would call your attention to two things:

1. This is good news that hasn't been fit to print or report on TV.
2. It is much easier to point out the errors a man makes when he makes
the tough decisions, rarely is the positive as aggressively pursued.

Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1...

... the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active
duty.

... over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

... nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.

... the Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

... on Monday, October 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the
prewar average.

... all 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are open,
as are nearly all primary and secondary schools.

... by October 1, Coalition forces had rehab-ed over 1,500 schools - 500
more than scheduled.

... teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.

... all 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.

... doctors salaries are at least eight times what they were under Saddam.

... pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700
tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

... the Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccinations to
Iraq's children.

... a Coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq's 27,000
kilometers of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands of
farms. This project has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi men and
women.

... we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services and
over two-thirds of the potable water production.

... there are 4,900 full-service telephone connections. We expect 50,000 by
year-end.

... the wheels of commerce are turning. From bicycles to satellite dishes
to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities and
towns.

... 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time
customers are opening accounts daily.

... Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.

... the central bank is fully independent.

... Iraq has one of the worlds most growth-oriented investment and banking
laws.

... Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

... satellite TV dishes are legal.

... foreign journalists aren't on 10-day visas paying mandatory and
extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for "minders" and other
government spies.

... there is no Ministry of Information.

... there are more than 170 newspapers.

... you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.

... foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.

... a nation that had not one single element - legislative, judicial or
executive - of a representative government, now does.

... in Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils.
Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the
city council elected its new chairman.

... today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and professional
organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.

... 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in
Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.

... the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events.
Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen
international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab
League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30
Iraqi embassies around the world.

... Shia religious festivals that were all but banned, aren't.

... for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites
celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.

... the Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large
and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.

... Uday and Queasy are dead - and no longer feeding innocent Iraqis to the
zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force cooperation,
torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, or murdering critics.

... children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree with
the government.

... political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed, or
are forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.

... millions of longsuffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.

... Saudis will hold municipal elections.

... Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents.

... Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms.

... the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian -- a
Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for democracy and
for peace.

... Saddam is gone.

... Iraq is free.

... President Bush has not faltered or failed.

... Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the Press
corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's important.

Iraq under US lead control has come further in six months than Germany did
in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII. Military deaths
from fanatic Nazi's, and Japanese numbered in the thousands and continued
for over three years after WWII victory was declared.

It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let
alone attempt to build something else in its place.

Now, take into account that Congress fought President Bush on every aspect
of his handling of this country's war and the post-war reconstruction; and
that they continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this conflict
has been a failure.

Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our brothers
and sisters in this conflict, do you think anyone else in the world could
have accomplished as much as the United States and the Bush administration
in so short a period of time?

These are things worth writing about. Get the word out. Write to someone you
think may be able to influence our Congress or the press to tell the story.

Above all, be proud that you are a part of this historical precedent.

God Bless you all. Have a great Holiday.

Semper Fidelis,

long live propaganda

do you think the US service men and women in iraq will get a holliday

so any list of accomplishments the US has achieved in Iraq is propaganda? I just don't get that line of thinking

no i dont think any list is propaganda but notice that most of the numbers end in zeros


who is supplying the drugs - ... pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700
tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

who distroyed the water and phones - ... we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services and
over two-thirds of the potable water production.

this satement doesnt even make sense - ... 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time
customers are opening accounts daily.

no bank is independent - ... the central bank is fully independent.

any one would love to get their hands on US currency - ... Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

this is just funny - ... satellite TV dishes are legal.

a rose by any other name - ... there is no Ministry of Information.

iraq wanted to do this before too - ... the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events.
Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen
international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab
League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30
Iraqi embassies around the world.

ill put money on this being false - ... millions of longsuffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.

the fix has always been in on nobel prizes - ... the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian -- a
Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for democracy and
for peace.

Saddam in not gone just captured - ... Saddam is gone.

even the US says they are occupying iraq - ... Iraq is free.

look here for news http://news.bbc.co.uk/ - ... Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the Press
corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's important.

Ok, so, it isn't propaganda, but it's not important because the BBC didn't report it? *blink blink*

Its people like you Stan that will be the reason America loose this war, and I know you'd all just love to see it happen. But I'll tell you what we are going to succedd, because 1) America is the best country in the world, with the best damned military this world has ever seen and 2)[ edited because I can not follow the rules], we'll finish the job that we started and the world will be a better place for it. I find it very disturbing that people like you would have the US fail, have the lives/hopes/ and promise of 25 million people crushed just to spite us.... do you have a soul or sense of compassion for your fellow man?

It's amazing how you spin what he's saying, accusing him of not having compassion for his fellow man.

It's amazing to me how you claim only the way the US is doing things now is humane. You'll have to excuse me if I don't have the same faith in your country as you do, considering their track record over the last few decades.

Do you people honestly think the US gives two shits about the people of Iraq? All these little stats on how much "better" things are getting is merely a show for the people of the US who still think there has to be a sense of morality in order to justify actions.

If it wasn't in the interests of the US to attack Iraq, Saddam would still be gassing his people using chemicals from the West and none of you would be saying a word about it. So please spare me the moral lecture. No one said anything for decades while Saddam ruled, where was your compassion then?

The world will be a better place? Hardly. I for one am not looking forward to a world where the declining hegemonic is getting nervous and lashing out around the world in a failing attempt to maintain supremacy.

SLM3

I've always said Saddam was an assfuck, I wanted his head on a stick long before Bush went in and cleaned house. As for America not caring, you may be right, but the fact remains that 25 million people are better off then they were a year ago, and all you can do is piss and moan about it.

Again with the spin.

Do you really see most of the opposition to your viewpoint as pissing and moaning about Iraqi's no longer living under Saddam? It's like thinking 9/11 was about terrorists attacking US values or some such nonsense.

You're bent on creating an opponent who disagrees based on a premise that is totally unnaceptable, such as Iraqi's being free or terrorists hating freedom. Why don't you instead discuss the real arguments your opponents advocate?

It's not about freeing people, it's about interests. If you dispute this, then fine, argue that. If not, then is it so hard to believe that I might not be comfortable because if and when it suits the US to oppress me in order to pursue its interests then I'll be living under the next Saddam?

The overthrow of a government by outside forces is illegitimate when the motives are selfish and hypocritical. That is my argument, and it has nothing to do with whether the Iraqi people should be free or not. I would applaud the US if it had followed through with its word after the first Gulf War instead of leaving all those Iraqi's who rebelled to be slaughtered. But, in reality, it did not come as much surprise considering the US could never control a bottom up reformation, and therefore left them to be killed and are now instituting a reformation they can control.

SLM3

Right on! I'm not sayin' it's America, love it or leave it! But! I'm not sure why some of these assholes live here if it's such a terrible place. I hope there is no possible way you can see any "spin" in this. It is about as straight forward as I know how to get.

Probably a good thing the first Americans didn't think that way.


SLM3

You wanna' explain to my poor dumb ass what this pertains to? If anything.

Soooooo we can only overthrow governments where doing so brings no benefit? The end result is if your view was the way things worked, Saddam and he merry men would still be free to do all the wonderful things they did to said 25 million people.

I like my view better.

The US did a good thing by liberating Iraq. I'm sorry you didn't like it but it doesn't really concern you.

Um, did you even read the thing you quoted? It transcends in every way what you had to say.

Are 25 million Iraqis better off today than before 12 years of U.S.-led sanctions, continuous bombing, and two major U.S. military campaigns? Catagorically and emphatically no. I have no love of S.Hussein but he's going to be a pretty difficult act to follow. 1991 Iraq was a pretty advanced place in terms of civilization. They had water, electric, and communcation systems that were the envy of the area and a literacy rate that was close to America's (65% if memory serves). Hussein kept Iraq's three divisive ethnicitys in check (admittedly this was done with favoritism and violence, but are going to do any better when Shia Iraq decides it wants to be its own theocratic country?).

This post reminds me of the 'Hitler wasn't all bad' type. Sure, sure he did some bad things, but he did a lot of good things too, yea thats it.

[Edit:Possible Goodwin's Law violation]

!2 years ago, Saddam chose to invade a nation and lost. He then chose to sign a treaty that among other things, said that it was legal for him to taken out had he violated the treaty.
He was allowed to sell oil for medicine and food, but he instead chose to use his nation's resource to purchase weapons from France, Germany, China, and Russia.

And people blame the US? Saddam made his bed. Its so sad that the UN, Europe, and the American Left would rather have done nothing, and let the above nations continue to let Saddam violate the UN, the self same institution that they claim is so holy that no one should oppose it. Silly logic, huh?

I was implying that it's a good thing the first Americans didn't just up and leave because they didn't enjoy living under the British.

SLM3

The end result would have been the US aiding the Iraqi's whom they told to rise up after the first Gulf War. This is the ONLY legitimate way the toppling of Saddam could have occured. It would have been done by the people, of their own free will, with ASSISTANCE from an outside force who was doing so in order to honestly help create a better state for the people. Hegemony isn't total. There's always been dissent and if it is the will of the people then they will act when the time is right. How else can we know the result is what the people wanted?

You keep inferring that the US was acting solely to liberate the people of Iraq. I disagree completely. How do you explain all of the other dictators the US helped install and support to this day? How do you explain Mugabe still in power? What about the era of Pinochet? Libya says it's going to dismantle its WMD so Qaddafi is suddenly a good guy worthy of US aid?? Shall I go on? Why is it so hard to believe that a "liberation" based solely on reasoning that has nothing to do with liberating carries a lot of resentment in the world?

SLM3

Thanks for your comments, SLM3. IIRC, you aren't in the US right?

Regardless, the reason some US citizens might agree with SLM3's points isn't because we like complaining, only see the negative, etc.; it's due to the belief that these actions aren't in our country's long-term interest. That's what the discussion should center around--which actions will produce the best results? But we can't do that with people accusing people with a different opinion of harboring ill will towards the same country and ideals we share.

I live in Canada. So, close enough to the US to know what most of the people there seem to be thinking. Far enough away, though, not to be deported to Syria for "questioning" because of my Middle Eastern descent. Just joking, of course.
;)

You think the CIA is already reading my emails?


SLM3

Well, that's pretty much what brought them to America in the first place.

Endymon32 could you direct me to some proof of this point because if it is ture i think we need to start a new thread


and for the record i am not inside the US

and one more point if i may yes SLM3 the CIA is reading your emails just like they keep and eye on this lovely board

Of course the CIA is reading everything posted on these boards - what else do you think they have to do? We are at the top of their list of priorities - there is a black Suburban parked in front of my house - wait, they're gettin out................

C'mon guys! Get real!!!

Go to the SPRI website. Accourding to them, Russia, France, Germany and China make up 84% of Iraq's post gulf war weapon supplies.
Remember that black hawk that was shot down that had all the media talking about what a quagmire IRaq is? It was a FRENCH made rocket that took it down. Why was that not posted on the headlines?

No, I think the CIA is more busy doing things like getting Libya and Iran to dismantle their WMD programs.

Just for the record I am NOT in the CIA.

I work as a driver for the ACE Tomato company, but I have never worked for the CIA nor do I take plucky housewives on international spy adventures.

I do wish I could get to know you all better, so if you would PM me your real names, address, that sort of thing I bet we would all have a good time.

Its more fun that way for someone like me who doesn't work for the CIA.

there are going to be good things that come out of iraq but the bad are going to outnumber the good the innocent lives lost (American,British,Iraqi) as long as this is a gureilla war and they keep up the hit and run tactics then they can keep fighting for there cause. surely people if your country was occupied you would everything in your power to regain control. half of these gureillas probably aren't even pro saddam they just want their country back.

So we should have gave up with Japan and Germany since it cost waaaaay more lives and had less results in this time?

Yea, I'm sure they are real freedom fighters as they move to targeting Iraqi civilians since they are easier to kill then armed troops.

Left over Bathists and imported terrorists, they won't last long.

did i actually say that, no. what part of germany east or west? neither. all i said was the gureilla war is going to continue.

If the insurgents aren't pro-Saddam why don't they realize that the quicker they stop killing innocent people, the sooner they will have their country back. This to me smells like terrorists, nothing else, baathist leftovers and extremists that seek to destroy any progress towards democracy.

you have to remember that before the war saddam emptied the prisons of all kinds of criminals. i highly doubt these people are sympathetic to saddam. it is a different culture and they don't simply lay down arms and hope the occupiers will leave, they would fight. like i said before how many people would roll over if their homeland was invaded?

The original posters attachment reads like a pep talk at school. While I'm sure some of it's true, I don't things are a rosey as that.

I suppose that's because it was a pep talk to a certain commanders troops. Lord knows they can't look to the American public to make them feel like they aren't risking their lives in vein, and you don't have to be afraid to say it, i'm sure it's all true.

The whole "I support you guys, even though from my perspective your just over their killing innocent civilians", I'm sure doesn't keep morale up for too long.

probably not but people should realize these soldiers didn't choose to go to iraq

But they did choose to join the military.

Um... 50% dont get the holiday off anyways during peacetime, nothing different.

Yes they did. They agreed to accept and obey all orders recieved (not including internationally illegal or morally objectionably orders)

Yes, if they did not they'd simply leave the broken water mains alone, let all the Iraqi's die of dehydration and make it the 51st state. But we DO care, hense the concentration on rebuilding the public schools, the rebuilding of the water mains, etc.

Yes, you got it... we destroyed the phones because we dont like them talking to their grandparents. Think about it, an army that can not communicate can not organize effectively. It saved countless US soldiers lives.

This was in regards of the Central Bank pre-war. It was not a bank but the treasury of Saddam. It is now independant from the Bathist party.

Not really, it is to help prevent terrorists from easily communicating, not that difficult to figure out.

Well you just lost money. They no longer live in fear of Uday, Qusay, and Saddam picking up thier daughters, raping them, skinning them alive, and then returning their daughters in shoeboxes. Yeah they may fear the stray bullet or terrorist, but everyone in any slum in America fears stray bullets.

"Um... 50% dont get the holiday off anyways during peacetime, nothing different."

most do get the holidays off my friends in the military who are at home are off for over a month, the only people operating are essential staff. satellite dishes are all over Baghdad. what do phones have to do with an army communicating i doubt they are probably using sat. phones much like Osama. rebuilding the only the the Americans care about in Iraq is the oil black gold texas T. they chose to join the military where they went was out of thier hands. so they never actually said "hey I hear Baghdad is nic this time of year."

Your fish is my command!!! Look at my thread, who really armed Saddam.