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| Iraq |
| Military news from the Forward Operating Base of Destiny |
| 2007-06-29 |
| H/T Mrs. Greyhawk It's been a few weeks since we last heard from Lt. Col. Matt Green, the former Fort Lewis officer who for several months now has been leading a team of advisers to an Iraqi National Police commander in Baghdad. This piece was written June 21 but was held up due to a communications blackout. About two weeks ago I had an interesting conversation with a few Iraqi men down in one of our market places. A few middle-aged men had approached me and were skeptical about the work we were doing and said he wished that he could trust the Americans, but he just couldnÂ’t bring himself to do so. I asked if things had gotten better since February when we had arrived. He admitted that they had, but reminded me that that was only four months out of four years. I agreed, and talked about some of the positive civic improvements that were going on around him. He said he would try and be hopeful, and maybe he could meet me there in a few more months and tell me if his mind had changed.An ending not to be missed, so go read the long article, it's well worth it |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #3 RD -- a simple Thank You... you are more than kind |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-06-29 23:26 |
| #2 First rule of law school - don't ask the witness a question unless you already know (and want) the answer. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-29 19:12 |
| #1 Thanks Sherry, as per usual you contributed another 1st rate jem, Ima gonna save parts of this one. *************************** His friend, who had remained silent broke in and asked, “why is it that when you invaded Kuwait, the country was fixed in just a few months, and is now once again very rich and prosperous?” I choked up on my bat, ready to knock this one right out of the park. “Well sir, that is pretty easy. None of the Kuwaitis ever shot at us when we tried to help them. More importantly they didn’t waste time attacking each other. Four years later, you all can’t seem to put your weapons down long enough to build anything!” He was stunned, and silent. A third man, a bit older, had said nothing during the exchange. He put his arm on the second and said something in a low voice. Bahaa was mounting back up so I had to make my apologies and leave before hearing what he said....[snip] *** [snip]... “Sir, do you remember the conversation we had in the market earlier today, about rebuilding Kuwait?” “Yes,” I replied. “Do you know what the third man said to his friend as we were leaving? He told his friend that you should not ask American officers questions, when you know the truth of the answer will break your heart.” |
| Posted by: RD 2007-06-29 17:34 |