[GCFL-discuss] Alleged soldier

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

A few months ago, someone in this discussion group passed along a letter
similar to this one. At the time, I believed it was genuine, although no
soldier would know from direct personal experience what this letter
claimed -- statistics like this could only have come from an army
information office.

Now, seeing this new version, which appears to be slightly revised, I
suspect the whole thing is a fraud, perpetrated by someone who is
abysmally ignorant of the history of Iraq. 

For example, girls are not attending school "for the first time" because
women have had equal access to education for two or three generations --
although women did have to worry about being raped by Hussein al-Takriti
or his sons. Likewise, most Iraqis had indoor water pipes before the
first Gulf War, so that is not something they now have "for the first
time" -- if they have it now, which is doubtful. Same for immunizations,
and the alleged size of Iraqi armed forces. There is a general in Iraq
now with the mission of trying to begin to train something resembling a
viable Iraqi military, but that is just starting.

Most of all, seeing slightly different empirics here than in the last
version I saw shows that someone is playing fast and loose -- we are not
simply seeing the one and only account that one individual soldier
genuinely wrote, from the heart, to his friends.

This is nothing but an urban legend.

					Siarlys


> This is an email sent to friends of a soldier who was packing to go  =
back
> to Iraq from a two week leave. It's amazing the differences he reports
than
> the media.
>
> Ray writes:
>
>
> "As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I
wanted
> to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have =
done
> a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry =
that
I
> have  not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back
home.
> And just  so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in =
Iraq
> that is  noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is =
the
> list of things  that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it =
with
> your friends and  compare it to the version that your paper is =
producing)
>
> -Over 4.5 million  people have clean drinking water for the first time
ever
> in Iraq.
> -Over  400,000 kids have up to date immunizations.
> -Over 1500 schools have been  renovated and ridded of the weapons that
were
> stored there so education can  occur.
> -The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off loaded from
ships
> faster.
> -School attendance is up 80% from levels before the  war.
> -The country had it's first 2 billion barrel export of oil in  August.
> -The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before  =
the
> war
> -100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed compared to 35%  =
before
> the war.
> -Elections are taking place in every major city and city  councils are
=
in
> place.
> -Sewer and water lines are installed in every major  city.
> -Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
> -Over 100,000 Iraqi  civil defense police are securing the country.
> -Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers  are patrolling the streets side by side =
with
> US soldiers.
> -Over 400,000  people have telephones for the first time ever.
> -Students are taught field  sanitation and hand washing techniques to
> prevent the spread of germs.
> -An  interim constitution has been signed.
> -Girls are allowed to attend school for  the first time ever in Iraq.
> -Text books that don't mention Saddam are in the  schools for the =
first
> time in 30 years.
>
> Don't believe for one second that  these people do not want us there. =
I
> have met many many people from Iraq that  want us there and in a bad =
way.
> They say they will never see the freedoms we  talk about but they hope
> their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq  and I challenge
> anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen  to =
run
> into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to
> Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me =
and
> very
> disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email
> this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening."
>
> Ray  Reynolds, SFC
> Iowa Army National Guard
> 234th Signal Battalion


Hey, does anyone have the email address for "Ray" that we are all
supposed to forward to John Kerry? John Kerry has a web sight with
features for receiving public comment. Does anyone know Ray personally,
that is, anyone who is not themselves another fraudulent identity
invented to cover the first one?


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