The Straight Scoop - A Seabee's First Hand Account of Life in Iraq

Defend America ^ | Senior Chief Art Messer

[Spruce]

The Straight Scoop
A Seabee's First Hand Account of Life in Iraq
Senior Chief Art Messer, a Navy Seabee serving with 22 Naval Construction Regiment (Forward) Task Force Charlie in southern Iraq, shared his perspective on post-war life in Iraq in a recent letter to American Legion Post 45. With Messer’s permission, DefendAmerica now shares his views with you. Dear Post 45, I caught wind of and read the recent news articles being circulated back there in the states. I figured I could clarify some things for you. As usual the news media has blown some things way out of proportion. The countryside is getting more safe by the day despite all the attacks you are hearing about. Imagine every shooting incident or robbery committed in LA or Portland being blown way out of proportion. This is a country where most of the Saddam Hussein thugs are being chased around like scared rabbits by Coalition forces. It is literally open season on them! We hunt them down like animals. There were about a million soldiers in the Iraqi army at the beginning of hostilities and most of them took off before we attacked. There are some that were very loyal to Saddam that are trying to sneak around and take potshots at us. We are cleaning them up pretty fast. There are also thugs from other countries running around, like Iran and Syria. Well, the Iraqis hate these thugs as much as we do. So the Iraqi people are hunting them down too! I can honestly say 98% of the population of Iraq love us and they do not want us to leave...ever! They say as long as we are here they feel safe. What is going on with the countries infrastructure? Everything is going well! The railroad is running again! The railroad has not run since 1991.In the city of Hillah, the power stays on 24 hours a day and it has more power than prior to the war. Some Iraqis are worried about getting too much food from the coalition because they don't have enough room in their homes to store it. The markets are open. The Seabees have rebuilt all of the schools and put in furniture and chalkboards. The kids used to sit on the floor! Now they have nice desks to sit at. Commerce is running. New money is being printed. The Iraqi Dinar has stabilized and is now increasing in value.	Most of the Iraqi men want to buy Chevy pickups (I told them a Dodge Ram with a Cummins Diesel is better Ha Ha). They pretty much want any vehicle made by General Motors. The highways and bridges are being repaired. In the Universities, the girls have tossed their deshakas (long black dresses with head and face coverings) and are now wearing western style clothes and even some are wearing short sleeves. The favorite drink is Pepsi, followed by Coke. They want us to bring them any and everything American. Any item made in America or that is from America is worth money over here. The newspapers and television paint a picture of doom and gloom and that we are having major problems over here. That is just not the case. The Iraqis have a saying about the situation over here "Every day is better than the day before". Life is flowing back in to this country and it is fun to watch and I am so glad I got to watch it happen. Some days watching the Iraqi people is like watching the faces of little kids on Christmas Day! Many of them are walking around in a daze wondering what to do with their freedom. They are starting businesses everywhere. They want to build shopping malls and factories, they want McDonalds and Jack in the Box and Pizza Hut. Of course anything American Fast Food, because of the stories the troops are telling them. We give them our old newspapers and magazines that you have been sending us and they are absolutely flabbergasted when they read them! They want us to keep bringing them. They read every single page even the advertisements over and over! This would be a good time for media to get their magazines going over here because the Iraqis just love them. So in short you see I will give you the straight scoop and keep you informed of what is up over here. I will sign off for now and send this along. Thanks again to all of you for your support. My mailing address has changed. The older one is no longer working. I will tell you the new one as soon as we get it. Senior Chief Art Messer 22 Naval Construction Regiment (Forward) Task Force Charlie U. S. Navy Seabees "With Compassion For Others, We Build, We Fight, For Peace With Freedom"

[manic4organic]

God bless our troops. And why can't ANY of this make it to the national news? Fox...hello?

[Hans]

Many thanks,
for the fine post.

[AngryJawa]

"And why can't ANY of this make it to the national news? Fox...hello?"

According to media consultants, good news doesn't sell ad space. Additionally, elite media see these kinds of stories as puff pieces.

[tsmith130]

I e-mailed FOX this story with a plea to report some good news now and then. Probably nothing will come of it but I felt better at least trying. We'll see.

[Sacajaweau]

Much appreciated. Maybe I'll post copies on my local store bulletin board.

[paws_and_whiskers]

"With Compassion For Others, We Build, We Fight, For Peace With Freedom"

Kinda says it all. Bump for truth.

[Valin]

IT"S A QUAGMIRE! A quagmire I tell you!

That's what NPR says and you can trust them...can't you?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Great article. Thank you.

The press failed the troops and the country. They thought they could cover up the truth. They were mistaken.

Thank goodness for the internet and all who shared their experiences from inside Iraq.

8 Unapologetically Pro-Coalition News Links 7

[HISSKGB]

It is so refreshing to read what is really going on.

[lawdude]

The streets of Baghdad are only slightly more safe than the streets of Wash. DC.

What does that tell you?

[Greenpees]

I'm glad to see Art is doing well. He and I served together in NMCB 40. Not too long ago. No surprise that a man of his calibur is on the front lines.

[quietolong]

Bump