Greetings from Sunny (Sunni?) Iraq

Post by **Coyote** » 2004-04-30 05:37am

Hey all...

Well, I'm here and we finally have a tenuous access to the Internet. I must say that so far things are going quite well. We have air-conditioned trailers to live in (when the power runs, they're air-conditioned, anyway) and we are comfortable at two to a room, with senior NCOs and officers in private rooms.

We've been out on missions to "dangerous places" a couple of times but to be honest the worst action we've seen is glares or the occasional rude gesture-- and this included a ride through Sadr City, supposedly a hotbed of discontent, a few weeks ago. Roadside bombs are found frequently by sweep teams, though, many of them fail to go off, so the work is being done by amateurs.

There has been no backlash at the deaths of the HAmas leaders. In fact, while the media focuses on death and hellfire in Fallujah (20 miles away) there is outside our post a wall with some grafitti on it in English: "Islam is peace, we need peace, please help us build peace"... naturally that does not make it onto any newscam.

We get lots of helicopter traffic and sometimes artillery fires nearby in support of some far-away objective, but those damn things could be firing at something so many miles away it doesn't matter. THe worst complaints we really have here so far are the mosquitoes and the unreliable power situation, and the food choices are rather bland. If that's the worst of our worries, then I consider us to be fortunate indeed.

Anyhow, this came at an opportune time-- having finished my BA and looking for work, work found me and I'm glad to be here. Now that I get to meet people here and talk to people I think we've done the right thing, although I'm sure many will disagree. We'll have to be in for the long haul, though-- there's no quick fix 'troops-out-by-Xmas' kind of thing here.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say Hi and hope all is well for the folks back home! I'll try to check in from time to time now that I have access...

Later!
~~Coyote
Anyhow,

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2004-04-30 05:45am

Good to hear from you.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-04-30 08:44am

I'm very happy and relieved you're doing alright!

That graffiti you mentioned is extremely interesting, just because we get hammered over the head 24/7 with tales of Islamofascist loonies, I for one have no difficulties in seeing how your average guy in the street in Iraq is exactly that, an average guy in the street wanting to get on with life and having no interest riding the Jihad train to his 72 virgins.

It's just that his neighbors that worry me.

Take good care of yourself and keep us posted!

Post by **Edi** » 2004-04-30 09:52am

Good to hear from you and know that you're in one piece, just make sure you stay that way!

Edi

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-04-30 10:06am

**HUGS Coyote and the rest of his buddies**

Stay Safe! We're behind all of you, for as long as you have to be there.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-04-30 10:37am

Good to hear from you, and take care of yourself. Keep us updated when you can!

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-04-30 10:45am

I'm glad we got to hear from you. Hopefully things will stay nice where you are and you'll continue to be able to get internet access.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-04-30 11:28am

Good to hear from ya, chief. I'm glad things aren't nasty but don't let that get you complacent. Stay sharp and come home.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2004-04-30 11:41am

It's alive. It's alive!

Make sure it stays that way, m'kay.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-04-30 12:09pm

I found that graffitti thing to be mightily interesting, but i can't say i'm surprised at the people doing it or the media not reporting on it, i mean, they only have so much time and people are only really interested in the exciting stuff.

Still annoying though. Anyway, glad to hear from you, it's like we've got a little sd.net reporter in iraq for ourselves.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-04-30 12:13pm

there is outside our post a wall with some grafitti on it in English: "Islam is peace, we need peace, please help us build peace"

Interesting. A good thing, too.

... naturally that does not make it onto any newscam.

*Grumbles about violence-mongering newsies.*

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-04-30 12:55pm

Good to hear from you. Glad to hear you're staying say. And I must say, it's interesting to hear from some one that's actually over there. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2004-04-30 12:59pm

Here's hoping the rest of your tour is equally as uneventful.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-04-30 01:43pm

Keep your head down.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2004-04-30 06:30pm

Great to hear from you! Hope things keep going as well as they are now.

Keep us posted and keep your head down!

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-04-30 06:47pm

Sounds like your doing well, just make sure you stay that way. Be assured that everyone here is thinking about you so make damn sure you come back safe and sound.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-05-03 01:58pm

Glad to see it isn't all doom and gloom. Be well, friend.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-05-03 02:29pm

Good to hear from ya

!

Now keep your head down and come back in one piece.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-03 03:12pm

Good to hear, Shipmate.

Stay Safe.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-12 11:24am

Glad to hear from you. Good luck and stay safe.

Grand Moff Yenchin · Post by **Grand Moff Yenchin** » 2004-05-12 11:52am

Nice to hear from you, good luck!!

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-05-12 12:17pm

Take apart a tank and mail back the pieces!

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2004-05-12 01:11pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Take apart a tank and mail back the pieces!

I wonder how much the postage for that would cost...

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2004-05-12 01:46pm

Watch were you step and remeber incoming fire has the right of way

I wonder how much the postage for that would cost...

If its a sherman and he was trying to mail it to CA from NC its $12,736 and change, from a war zone its probably abit higher(Don't ask how I know)

Post by **Coyote** » 2004-05-12 01:58pm

Well, I Am in a new base now, a small place on the northern side of Baghdad-- this is the sort of thing I can't really get into too many details about, especially on a public board... but it is kinda cool.

Actually, there is a big fat vehicle park right near us so I might be tempted to mail back a tank... it is a tank park full of captured Iranian stuff (the vehicles still have the Iranian flag painted on them). I've sen, definitely, T-72s, T-62s, T-5s... LOTS of MT-LBs, some Brazilian Engesa EE-9 Cascavels, some French APCs, some BMPs, BRDMs, BTR-60 PBs, and some more stuff. I Have pictures galore but need to find a place to develop the film... I have Rob's addres, as soon as I have pix I'll send them to him to post here and you can get an idea of what's going on.

This stuff is just sitting around, I was able to climb into a T-72 (damn those things are CRAMPED!) and slew the turret, raise the gun, etc... most of it is busted up but some are in near-new conditions, and clearly being refurbished for later use by the Iraqi Army (one we get it up and running again). There was a BMP I climbed in that was in really, really good shape.

The post I'm at now is temporary duty, I'm supposed to be here for a few weeks and then go back to south-west Baghdad. I get to work with some locals, which is interesting. I had studied some Arabic and found it to be similar to Hebrew-- so similar in fact (almost the same grammar and some of the same words) that I am finding it easy to learn. I'm hoping to get some more formal language instruction in Arabic at some point. I actually like being in the Middle East so I am not really "suffering" by being here.

The big thing being talked about now is the Abu Gharib thing. Most of us here realize this makes our job harder and makes things more difficult for us-- it spoils many of the good relations we've cultivated. But then there are of course the ones that want revenge for the many roadside bombs and guerrilla attacks that have killed friends and kids... an understandable reaction if not exactly excusable.

Anyhow, my computer time is limited and i Have to get going, but more on this later. UNtil then, y'all take care and I'll try to get some photos out some time.

--Coyote