In this since 2004

I'm guessing there's more to this than we can fathom. I remember enjoying our trips into their controlled territories. I felt safer there. Not sure why. They seemed so casual about everything that was going on back in '03. Almost like they finally stepped out of the dark ages and they were waiting for their neighbor with cars on blocks to do the same. Suppose they have little faith in the new government-sponsored army and intend to do away with the local insurgent population. Yes, they are there. All the locals know who the bad guys are. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Best way to get their attention is with media. Imagine 8 year old boys, who are scared of girls, running your country...

Gotta pipe in here. Night mission, watching the bullets fly over Mosul. Saw most had green tracers. Decided it was celebratory gunfire. Asked my interpreter how to fix things. Opened up a can of worms. One of the things he said sticks with me to this day. "We all lie, we need politicians that don't, most of us just want our lives back."

Thanks for this. I was dumbfounded by the number of kids who spoke English. I never felt good just giving them stateside packages of crayons and pens. I wanted to apologize for being there. Thanks again.

OMG you are amazing! Thank you kind sir!!!

We were directed to escort dead foreign fighters to a graveyard I don't remember. I do remember ak47 rifles engraved on the headstones. Someone else who's been there can totally chime in. Point of this is that my folks did not kill any Iraqi's. I have a sneaking suspicion that we never fought Iraqi's at all. Just something to ponder...

No worries folks. Thanks for all the effort. I submitted a shot of dinar with my screen name for verification some time ago. No idea where that went. Please don't lose sleep over this. Thanks again.

Okay folks, the fact they are talking about 'western' stuff is a good sign. That means they're watching the news like us.

Oops. Didn't spot the response. Sorry. Is there a way to upload a pic that is small enough? I reduce things down as best I know how, then get the message that it's too large. Thank you for your help with this.

I wonder what it will take to get the private citizens back in their banks. I recall conversations where people we worked with didn't hate or like us. We were just the next occupying force. This is a country that has been fighting too long and has grown jaded. Unfortunately for us, they know if they hold cash, they can leave when things get ugly and the banks are closed. Maybe a permanent US base will bring in the people who are still sitting on the fence. And yes, I would totally do a tour at a developed base in Baghdad. Met a ton of awesome people who just wanted their lives back and would really enjoy seeing them again.

All, Could you use my pic for verification as my profile pic? I know it's out of focus. It's the first pic I was able to upload. Computer Challenged, Me.

We used to clear houses when an informant told us about unauthorized weapon caches. Most of the time, we didn't find anything important. What was interesting was the community response to a person having their home raided at 3AM. They lost face amongst their friends almost immediately. That said, I wonder if we, they, whoever is running this show, is keeping that knucklehead around for just such an occasion. Hopefully, there is a bigger plan for not removing him from government. Like finding out all the things he's done, who he's supported, where the money went, who controls it, etc. Just thinking out loud.

When I was there, it was fire when fired upon. What we really need is faith in the system and faith in our troops. Let our seasoned guys do their job without prejudice. Let the negs begin. Give our boys EVERYTHING. We can fix things if allowed to. Lost track of the places I've been 'in support of.'

We're seeing a country trying to adjust to modern times. Internet, cell phones, online banking. This is massive. In their minds, the world stopped turning. Anyone who remembers raw sewage running down the streets when the town leader wore white knows what I'm talking about.

I'm hoping for something closer to Oman. Iraq has more resources, after all

So if the exchange rate changes, what's stopping the average Iraqi citizen from trying to get US dollars from their local bank instead of Dinars?

Not able to resize any smaller. Thanks.

Pretty sure they killed a bunch of terrorists in their prisons recently. Just saying.

Anyone going to ask where they're getting that money? Loans? Taxes? Bonds? Private investment?