TO ALL: Most interesting. This is a response to a message that said rules of engagement (ROE) were causing Army deaths and did not apply to the Marines.

No it's not true. The ROE are dictated by CJTF-7, not individual commanders. They are the same for Army and Marines, not to mention the Navy and Coast Guard. We're required to be armed at all times.

The two magazine rule is that you must have at least two magazines on your person at all times, this helps when you're engaging the enemy. Most people carry at least three pistol mags and seven rifle mags respectively. Both Army and Marine units openly display their weapons.

They both shoot when threatened also. Several attacks have been thwarted by Army and Marine personnel shooting first. We're also much better shots than the enemy. They tend to spray and pray, while we tend to just shoot them.

The Army has more attacks because their AOR encompasses Baghdad and the surrounding areas where the bulk of the attacks have taken place. I've noticed the press does a poor job in reporting our response to these ambushes. To put it plainly, we kick butt! The usual 'real' report reads: "Five IZ (Iraqis) fired AK-47s and RPGs at patrol (or convoy), soldiers (or marines) returned fire resulting in 3 KIA, and 1 WIA, 1 escaped. RPGs missed, AK fire ineffective, no US casualties."

We do take some casualties, and that is not a good thing, but we are very effective at counter-firing at the ambushes. Aggressiveness has proven very effective.

The enemy is primarily made up of insurgents from Iran and Syria who hire Iraqis to attack coalition soldiers, not disgruntled Iraqis who are mad that their power is not on all day yet. They provide them with AKs and RPGs and send them on their way with a promise of cash after the attack. They even give motorcycles to kids which they get to keep if they ride by a coalition checkpoint and drop a grenade.

After one such attack, we found out how easy it was to shoot people off motorcycles. You can hear them from a long way off and shoot them long before they get within grenade dropping distance.

We have good leaders, and they're responding aggressively and well to the attacks, they emphasize that everyone must engage the enemy whenever they show themselves. The kids here are excited to do their job, and they do it well, with the proper weapons and lots of ammo. We go out with M2 50 cals and Mk-19 automatic grenade launchers mounted on our vehicles. We carry SAWs, M-203s, M-16s, and M9s. We also carry several different types of grenades and use everything as needed.

We read press articles on the net that have no resemblance to reality every day. Just last week I read an article where a car bomb killed fifteen American soldiers, destroyed three armored vehicles, and one tank at the Baghdad Airport. Our unit there was surprised when we told them about it since they've been there the whole time and never heard any explosion. The press lies, they make things up, and they misrepresent things to forward their own ideals. It would be funny except that so many people believe them.

Take care,

John H. Taylor, LTC
CA Babylon, Iraq

Any Credibility that Al Jazeera may have had before today has been smashed. Today a demonstration was to be held to demand the release of an Imam who was a close personal friend of Saddam and used his Mosque to store weapons and as a Refuge for Baath Party members. The Demonstration was to be broadcast live on the Arab News Network and they wanted to get real exclusive News. They wanted Americans to fire on the crowds. In order to ensure that we would, they PAID people to carry weapons in the crowd and to fire them at us in order to provoke a Violent Response from US troops.

Thing is, this isn't the first time Al Jazeera has PAID for the spreading of Anti-American Sentiments in this country or even this city. And these people are so desperate for money right now that they will do anything for it. A little boy who used to hang out at the Gate of the Civilian/Miltary Operations Center (C-MOC) and has since we occupied the building was given money and photos of Saddam Hussein and told to run through the streets shouting Anti-American slogans. Now, this boy had until that day been at the C-Moc every day, hanging out with American Soldiers who treated him pretty well. When stopped by us and asked why he was shouting such things, he replied that two men had paid him to do so. ... The two men turned out to be Local Al Jazeera correspondents.

No one is keeping economic statistics now. But consider the Al-Rewad Exchange in Baghdad, one of dozens of firms that will wire money into and out of the country. Omar Tabra, a heavy-set man who presides over the business, says $6 million in cash is moving through the operation every day, evenly split between incoming and outgoing transfers.

"In the short run, I can't see improvement because of the attacks on coalition forces and sabotage," Tabra says. "But in the long run, you have all the potential for improvement in this country: oil, land, manpower, Persian Gulf ports. What else do you need for an economic boom?"

One place that is already booming is the Shorja market in central Baghdad. The noisy open-air market is now as crowded and busy as at any time in the past.

Fawziya Hamza, 50, a Baghdad housewife, looks through a stall where shelves are filled with shampoos and tables are piled high with blocks of soap. Life here, she says, is "getting better and better."

Muhsin Hamid Akar, 32, has been doing a brisk business selling satellite phones from a small store in another part of downtown Baghdad. He urges his fellow Iraqis to be patient: "A man gets the flu, it takes seven days to recover. After 35 years of dictatorship, what can anyone expect?"