Kristinn's Report #3 from FREE IRAQ

Move America Forward ^ | 11/09/2006 | Kristinn Taylor

[Impeach98]

Kristinn Taylor's 3rd Report from FREE IRAQ

We've had a jam packed two days. Yesterday we met with the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministers of Finance, the Interior (security) and Martyrs and Victims. We also visited a former 'concentration camp for Kurds set up by Saddam as a weigh station to extermination. And we got to meet with more American troops.

Our delegation meets with survivors of Saddam Hussein’s Anfal genocide campaign.

Gold Star Mother Jan Johnson consoles those who suffered under Saddam’s Anfal genocide.

We enter one of Saddam Hussein’s concentration camps.

Today we visited a school that gives a classical education starting from the first grade. The teachers and students were thrilled to meet us.

Gold Star Families with schoolchildren in northern Iraq.

In fact, everywhere we've gone the children have been thrilled to see us. We don't have any candy to give them, just broad smiles, happy waves and the love in our hearts. But that's enough for them, because they know we are Americans and they know what Americans have done for them.

Gold Star Father Joseph Williams with the children of northern Iraq.

Later, we were in Suleymaniyah, a thriving metropolis, and were given a guided tour of one of Saddam's prison/torture centers by a former prisoner -- a hell on earth called the Red House.

After the Kurds stormed the prison in 1991 and drove out the Baathists, they decided to preserve it as a memorial and a witness to the Saddam regime's crimes against humanity. They have turned part of it into a birdhouse for 'doves of peace.'

Gold Star Families Visit one of Saddam Hussein’s prisons.

The former prisoner took us through the prison, showing us where Kurds were imprisoned and tortured, and some of the methods of torture including those used on him in his seven months there.

One of the torture rooms serves witness to Saddam Hussein’s heinous acts of cruelty and violence.

The Kurds also have on display a gallows from Abu Ghraib.

Hangman’s noose from Saddam’s reign of terror, torture and murder.

Touring the prison cells, both the families and our Iraqi Kurd escorts got very choked up. Saddam Hussein and his henchmen were evil, and they practiced it on such a scale of brutality that the Iraqis call him their Hitler.

The Kurds have also preserved some of the Soviet military tanks, armored vehicles and mortars Saddam's regime used to wage war on the Iraqi people. They are parked on the prison grounds as a reminder.

Gold Star Father Joseph Williams in front of Saddam’s tanks - supplied to Saddam’s regime by the Soviet Union.

Such was the oppression we were told, that in those day those passing by the prison on the main street were commanded to look away from it, lest they themselves be imprisoned there.

The former prisoner now has the keys to the prison, and the truth of the horrors perpetrated there can now be shown to the world.

Our journey to Suleymaniyah took about three hours from Erbil. We drove on new roads that were paralleled by new power lines and phone lines, crossed by new water lines, lined by new construction, farming and new stores.

The peshmerga (military/security force) maintain a strong security presence, but not overbearing. The police and peshmerga work hand in hand to protect northern Iraq from the terrorists -- and they are very successful. We felt very comfortable going about our day, including a stop at the town of Koya where we walked through its shopping bazaars and wandered its streets.

The Iraqi Kurds have been very friendly to us this entire trip. Even though they valiantly fought for their freedom, they know and acknowledge that their efforts could only have succeeded with the help and sacrifices of the American people. They do not want us to cut and run.

For me personally, this trip has made clear the success of the American-led effort in Iraq. That's right, I said success. None of what is happening in the northern part of Iraq would have been possible as long as Saddam and his goons ruled Iraq.

And because Saddam is gone from power, there is one less state sponsor of international terrorism in the world.

We have one more day before we go. This has been an exhilitaring, but emotionally draining trip for the Gold Star families. I am in awe of their strength of spirit and their desire to see the mission of their fallen sons succeed completely everywhere in Iraq.

Stay tuned for more... complete updates posted online at: www.MoveAmericaForward.org

Kristinn Taylor

[KSoldier]

I know what you mean about the deer-in-the-headlights look a Liberal gets when their argument falls apart...

I've noticed that every debate with a Liberal stops as soon as they run out of bumper stickers to quote.

[KSoldier]

I was watching the news today and they were talking about the situation here in Iraq (I am in Iraq right now) I noticed that all the footage that they show is stock combat footage from years ago. It made me realize just how much the media is trying to shape people's opinions about Iraq.

Most people think that we are dodging bullets every place we go in Iraq. Yes I know, gunfights are more exciting, but the truth is that we are not all infantry.

I think there should be some regulations regarding such news reports which mislead people with outdated footage. Maybe if there was a requirement to show a date on all footage over 6 months old.

Just venting...

[syriacus]

Heartening report from Kristinn. Thanks for posting it, Impeach98

[syriacus]

I wish someone would have pointed out to the American voters that Democratic President Harry Truman sent troops to Korea, in 1950 to preserve the Republic of South Korea

30,000 Americans died, saving the Koreans, in three years under Truman.

[cake_crumb]

"The Iraqi Kurds have been very friendly to us this entire trip. Even though they valiantly fought for their freedom, they know and acknowledge that their efforts could only have succeeded with the help and sacrifices of the American people. They do not want us to cut and run."

Considering the election results last Tuesday, I'm terrified that's exactly what's going to happen, and that we're going to screw over the Iraqi people yet again.

God bless you Kristinn, God bless the Gold Stat families and GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS. Happy Veteran's Day, All

[bert]

Hey Kristinn.....

Great effort !!!

Thanks for you reports on the fly. We look forward to more when you return.

[cake_crumb]

Thank you for your service. God bless you, too! And Happy Veteran's Day!

[Right_in_Virginia]

BTTT

[csvset]

Bump

[AmericanMade1776]

Thank you for the report from Iraq, and thank you for being there. Pray for your Protection, and safe return. Proud of you Kristen, and the Gold Star parents. Such Courage is always admirable.

[tutstar]

PING

[cookcounty]

"It is a darn shame that all of the MSM are following them around and reporting on them every night."

I've been a news Junkie for 40 years and I'm proud to say I haven't watch Self-Hating Defeat-o-crat TV* in months.

*aka "Broadcast Network News"

[To Hell With Poverty]

"I work in the creative dept of a Fortune xx corp.(pitty me a little)"

Oooh! Oooh! I feel your pain, as does my husband. We're both graphic designers, and are lone voices crying in the wilderness indeed, in our circles. Heck, our specialty is museum (read: leftist propaganda centers) design! Well keep the faith, FRiend. :)

[graf008]

Very interesting report.

So, did the Kurd forces occupy that prison since 1991 or where they subsequently kicked out again?

[graf008]

From what I have read (and nothing you read anywhere can be taken as fact), Northern Iraq was somewhat autonomous since Desert Storm. That is why it is so peaceful now - the Kurds had the ability to set-up much of the structure several years ago.