Letters from Iraq # 7

just writing… it is strange thinking I am representing a country, and than I think of the young men here, the ones on dismounted patrol, the ones who go outside the wire everyday. The stress of having your life at jeopardy and also being the first contact of what foreigners think of America. Just yesterday, I wish I had my camera, I was walking to the dining facility and I saw some humvees parked in the lot, on top of the roofs were some young joes, muddy and dirty, coming off a mission, sound asleep, oblivious to the morning light. They didn’t have any billeting so they were sleeping on top of their vehicles, perilously, if they rolled over they would drop six feet. but it looked like old hat to them. those are our soldiers and also our representatives of the USA out in the field. they have the responsibility of showing the decency of the United States and its people. Its tough, you always have your finger on the trigger, you feel your nerves twitch, you feel uncomfortable. you see someone give to you what to you looks like an ominous stare, you feel your finger start tapping the selector switch on your rifle from safe to automatic. You become supremely aware of your surroundings and you enter full consciencenous, understanding who you are, the people around you, the weather, terrain, everything. you feel a threat if not unsure where it is coming from, you keeping on tapping at the selector switch. and than something happens. I don’t condone the atrocities that happen at the hands of US troops but I understand how they happen. our soldiers aren’t made of stone, there is natural fear and soldiers try their best to cover it up. Try their hardest not to admit it. I saw one soldier as we were leaving the gate, start talking non-stop. He just couldn’t stop talking out of nervousness. These politicians who brand some of our soldiers as murderers have never had their lives in jeopardy, have always lived high on the hog, could never picture their own silhouette in an enemies reticule. I am disgusted by the whole affair, republican and democrat. but I want to further say that there is alot you don’t see. the group we are switching over with, one of the girls donated her bike to a young Iraqi girl in a nearby town. One of the guys down at the motor pool oiled and fixed it up. they say they got pictures of the young girl enjoying her bike. Unfortunately alot of what you see is not on the news, alot of the good stuff that is going on. I know that sounds like standard pr that Washington tries to shove down our throat, but there is alot of good things going on here. I want to remind people, supporting our troops is not the same as supporting the war. I hope I can give you a truer picture of what is happening here, if you have any questions or curious about anything let me know.
David