Saturday, October 30, 2004
GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ
(Sent to us by Alice and Harold Wood)
This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq:
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 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons
stored there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded
from ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in
August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first
time ever in Iraq.
* 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.
* Textbooks 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. 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
Thanks to Alice and Harold Wood of Ga
(Sent to us by Alice and Harold Wood)
This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq:
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 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons
stored there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded
from ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in
August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first
time ever in Iraq.
* 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.
* Textbooks 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. 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
Thanks to Alice and Harold Wood of Ga
