Sunnis vow to play ball.

After admitting last month that not participating in the elections was a bad move, saying: "Now the Sunni community faces the fact that it made a big mistake and that it would have been far better to participate, " they have had to succumb to the will of the Iraqi people.

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's Sunni Arabs endorsed a list of 15 men Thursday to represent the minority on a Shiite-dominated committee drafting the new constitution.

The agreement removes the final obstacle hampering efforts to get the minority's representatives to sit on the committee, which has just until mid-August to draft a charter to guide Iraq in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

``The atmosphere in the meeting was very cordial,'' said Abdul-Rahman al-Noami, one of the two Sunni Arab legislators on the 55-member committee. ``We cannot satisfy everyone on the Sunni street but I can say that we have achieved about 90 percent of this and that's excellent.''"

This has got to take the wind out of the sails of the "insurgency" there. From the outlook we heard from the media before the last elections, you would have thought the Sunnis would never do this. This 180-degree turn seems to this observer is yet another historic moment.

Click here for link.

Interview with Lieutenant Rusty Rhoads - Army Reserve - Part Two

Inside Iraq - What is the age range of the enemy? Have you heard of any women taking up arms against the Coalition?

Lt. Rhoads - I don't know what the average age range is. Of the times I was personally attacked in Iraq, I was only able to see my enemy once and I was more concerned about keeping my soldiers alive than taking a census of who was shooting at us. All the other times I was attacked were through indirect methods such as mortar fire and remote detonated bombs.

I have never heard of women taking up arms against the Coalition. It goes against the culture there.

Inside Iraq - Opponents of the war hold up Abu-Ghuraib as an example of the US' oppression against the Iraqi people. What is the prevailing attitude and treatment you observed toward the citizenry there?

Lt. Rhoads - Watch the video "Voices of Iraq." This video pretty much sums up my experience. The Iraqi people, with the exception of some of the older citizens, have only ever known oppression and violence in their lives and Abu Ghuraib does not fit their definition of either. To them the men were not tortured, they were humiliated. I don't think the average Iraqi citizen gave much passing thought to what happened at Abu Ghuraib. The ones who did were angry, but at the same time laughed it off as being absurd as an example of oppression. I think Americans (me included) were more ashamed of what happened there than the Iraqis were outraged. It was a stupid thing and it gave our enemies propaganda to use against us. Now, the real horror of Abu Ghuraib (that you didn't see in the media) was what happened afterwards. Most people know that the prisoners were released when the scandal broke, but what they don't know is that the women who were in the prison and witnessed what happened were then murdered because they saw men being humiliated. I learned this through an Iraqi woman whom I had lengthy discussions with. What the soldiers did at Abu Ghuraib was disgraceful and damaged our country, but the killing the women afterward was unforgivable.

Inside Iraq - Some of our leaders are asking that troops be pulled from Iraq as soon as possible. What effect do you think that would have on Iraq and its people?

Lt. Rhoads - I need to preface my answer to this question with a disclaimer. I am not a foreign policy expert; I am a soldier and a citizen. My answer is based completely on my experience there and nothing more. I would not want people who read this to think that I know any more than that.

My answer to your question depends on how you define "as soon as possible." If it means as soon as is physically possible, i.e. tomorrow, it would devastate the country. For better or worse we are currently the last line of protection for the Iraqi people. When that changes, we can pull troops. To do otherwise will set America back and create an entire country of people (Iraq) who hate us for leaving them in their time of need. The first President Bush demonstrated this when he encouraged the Shiites of southern Iraq to rise up against Saddam and then did nothing to help them. Many of those people still have hard feelings toward the U.S. because of that. Wouldn't you? Pulling out now would result in far more deaths than the country is now seeing as all out civil war would erupt and different factions clamored for power. I think it would result in a country very hostile to the United States and completely defeat our original goal of ousting Saddam Hussein.

My personal opinion is that the "leaders" calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq know that it isn't a feasible option. They can safely sit back and say it because they know it isn't going to happen. They say it only because they want to take pot shots at President Bush. I think it's pretty irresponsible on their part. It's fine to disagree, but they carry it too far and damage our country in their effort to gain political advantage.

A good example might be Kuwait to compare it with. I don't think most people know that we never left Kuwait after Desert Storm. I sure didn't until I got there. There are permanent U.S. military bases in Kuwait that have been maintained since that time. We will definitely see a similar situation in Iraq. For that matter look at all of the wars of the 20th Century. Vietnam is the only place I can think of where the U.S. has fought a war and does not still have a military presence. We are still in Korea, Japan and Germany among others. Back to the Kuwait issue; I got the distinct impression that the Kuwaitis don't particularly care for our presence there but they sure don't want us to leave because we are their body guards from other countries in the region. As a result, they try to keep us "out of sight, out of mind" by restricting American military movements and not allowing service members to interact with their society for anything other than official business.

Inside Iraq - How often did you interact with the Iraqi people, any special relationships formed while there? Do you still keep in tough with any Iraqis?

Lt. Rhoads - I interacted with a few Iraqis on a daily basis. These were the people who I would hire to come on our camp and do labor for us so we could free up manpower for missions and people I would buy office supplies and furniture from. I got "out on the town" twice a month or so depending on mission requirements. Unless it was the middle of the night, there were always plenty of Iraqis, especially children, who would approach us because they were curious about what we were doing or they were looking for a handout. I always liked interacting with them because I always learned a lot. Like I said, I met a lot of children, but I also met a lot of police officers, Iraqi National Guard recruits and average "Joes." The ones who came around were always friendly.

Abbas was murdered a few months after I arrived. I had gotten to know him pretty well. When that happened, I didn't allow myself to befriend any more of the locals because I didn't want to feel that loss again. With that said, I was friendly to anyone who would be friendly with me and I would talk to anyone who was willing to talk with me. Most of the people I interacted with did not speak very good, if any, English and I don't speak any Arabic, so that made for conversations comprised of a lot of broken sentences, body language and gestures to communicate. It can be tough to convey much more than the simplest ideas under those circumstances. I don't stay in touch with any of the Iraqis I met for this reason, it would be too hard.

Inside Iraq - What is your overall impression of the Iraqi people? What do you see in the near future for them?

Lt. Rhoads - My impression of the Iraqi people is that they are just like you and I; people. They have the same hopes, dreams, needs, wants and desires. One area where they differ is that they don't have a grasp of what freedom means. They don't know that they have the opportunity to stand up for themselves and do what is right. They are terrified (sometimes with good reason) that somebody is going to come into their house in the middle of the night and murder their family because they stood up for what they believe. Up until a few months ago, an election meant that the people in power would decide what was best for them and the voting was a sham. The January election was the first time that they were allowed to voice their individual opinions in several generations. When you listen to the average Iraqi speak and you have a good interpreter, you will laugh at the similarities between Iraqis and Americans. Again, watch the video "Voices of Iraq." That is the closest I have seen in any media outlet to the truth.

With all that said, their culture is vastly different from ours. It's difficult for us to understand their customs, although they quickly adapt to ours. The way it was explained to me is their culture is made up of three components; religious law, civic law and tribal law. The three quite often conflict with each other. To the best of my understanding, it seems to me that most of the fanaticism comes from tribal customs and not necessarily Islam. I think over the centuries tribal customs in some areas have twisted Islam into something that it is not. Just like the Christian Bible, the Koran leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Just like Christianity, the Muslim religion has been twisted and abused by those seeking power. I would hope that as Iraq moves toward the future that the tribal customs will start to fade out of the picture.

The woman I mentioned earlier whom I had lengthy discussions with put it best. She was a modern educated Iraqi woman with a degree in chemistry. When I asked her how we can ever put our differences aside and better understand each other, her reply was something like this: When you see an Iraqi, you see a potential terrorist. When I see an American soldier, I see a potential abuser such as the soldiers at Abu Ghuraib. We both have to learn to look beyond that and establish a level of trust at individual levels before we can get along in harmony. As individuals, that is pretty easy to do, as societies and cultures, that is not so easy to do. It will be the end result of many individuals learning to trust each other that will eventually lead to peace and cooperation. Success will not come from politicians and religious leaders.

It is difficult for American soldiers to put these differences aside. Their first priority is in keeping themselves and their comrades safe and alive. This is in direct conflict with the trust issue. Other than the few soldiers who are disgruntled simply because they are in Iraq, I think most of them understand this at some level. However, doing something about it is the hard part. The American military is doing its best to educate service members about the culture, but it is up to the individual to actually put a foot forward and try to truly understand it. On the flip side, I think most Iraqis have figured out that American service members don't want to cause them harm. It's a difficult situation because it is so easy for the simplest things to become lost in translation.

I see the country of Iraq as one with a huge potential. It is poised to become the dominant country in the Middle East. It is made up of a people that are largely secular and willing to change. It has vast resources with a modern mindset. My hope is that Iraq will emerge as a model for other Middle Eastern countries to emulate. It is going to take a lot of time before the country gets to that point. This is a country that has literally been at war since Saddam invaded Iran in 1980. The end result is a lot of families without fathers, mothers working in a society that doesn't necessarily accept them in the work force, children who drop out of school to work so the family can survive and as a result, very high illiteracy rates. There are millions of young men in that country who have no direction or sense of purpose. They become easy fodder for the Islamic extremists. The path to prosperity in Iraq lies number one in security and number two in education.

I do believe that some form of democracy will emerge, but I don't think it will take on a form that we are necessarily going to recognize. The people there are still learning what freedom means and during this time they are very vulnerable to external influences, many of which are not in the best interests of the United States.

Inside Iraq - If you could talk to every US citizen, what would you like him or her to know about Iraq or this war?

Everything contained in my answers to the first eight questions.   I guess if I was to add anything it would be the following: First and foremost, it was worth it.   Second, be patient.   Nothing worth doing is ever easy.   Third, we must hold the course until the Iraqis can take care of themselves.

View the full interview, info and prep HERE.

Contact Rusty at rusty.rhoads@us.army.mil

Interview with Lieutenant Rusty Rhoads - Army Reserve - Part One

"I am a First Lieutenant (1LT), U.S. Army Reserve. I was in Baghdad, Iraq at Camp Liberty (formerly Camp Victory North) from March 2004 to March 2005 with the 411th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) under the 1st Cavalry Division. The 411th is a Reserve unit from Hawaii that was placed under the 1st CAV for our deployment. I was the Headquarters and Support Company (HSC) Executive Officer (meaning I was second in command for HSC). My job was to lead, manage and oversee missions that were assigned to my company. These missions included construction, security escort for contractors and combat engineer support to maneuver units (i.e. infantry and armor) during combat operations. I am a traditional reservist meaning that I do my one weekend a month and two weeks a year until called up."

Inside Iraq - Since you've been stateside, how does the coverage by the mainstream media of Iraq compare to what you have observed while you were there? Are they doing a good job in your estimation?

Lt. Rhoads - I had the advantage of viewing American mainstream media while I was there. I had a satellite dish and TV connected in my room in Baghdad. I was able to pick up CNN International, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC and Fox News. What I saw then was that the events that were reported were for the most part accurate as far as I could tell. However, there were many events that were not reported. There were also many reporters who reported "just the facts" but you could tell from the tone of their voices and body language that they were anything but impartial and objective. I would have to say CNN's reporters and anchors were the worst in this respect. Most of what I saw reported focused on the negative (i.e. American service members being killed, Iraqi citizens being killed, etc.). The bottom line is they reported the facts, but not all of the facts. There was very little reporting on the good things that were happening.

I was with a construction unit and some of what we did involved cleaning up Baghdad and improving the quality of life for the people there. None of this was ever reported, even though the biggest project of this type that we did was visible from the Sheraton Hotel where most of the reporters hole up in and never come out. Most of the newscasts where you actually see the reporter in the frame are taped from the roof of this hotel with the city as a backdrop. This project was the construction of a park on the east bank of the Tigris River (right next to the Sheraton) near the outskirts of Sadr City. When we were assigned the mission, I thought it was insane. I asked myself "Why would we build a park, when the people need water, sewer and electricity?" However, the completion of that park coincided with a dramatic drop in acts of violence in Sadr City. Our commanding general credited this drop in violence in part to that park among other efforts by Army Engineers. Go figure. He expressed his anger and outrage to us at the fact that he could not get a single major media outlet to report on the dramatic drop in violence in that part of the city and all of the efforts of the American military that lead to it. One day it was in the headlines with attacks and violence and being touted by the media as one of the so-called "no go zones" then the next it fell completely off the radar screen. Now a few months later the average American probably couldn't tell you where Sadr City is.

The park we built was not the first effort on our part to bring peace to Sadr City. The unit we replaced in the spring of 2004 built a lot of schools in that area. These efforts were unsuccessful because as soon as the school was built and turned over to the people, looters would come in and steal everything of value including furniture, windows and air conditioning units. In hindsight, I think the park was an effort on our part to offer something tangible that could not be stolen from the people. Efforts to build schools and infrastructure are still ongoing, however, most of the work is being done through USAid by local contractors.

Another effort that we did was on a humanitarian level with our Operation Caring Hands. Many units have similar programs with different names. Operation Caring hands was a grass roots effort by our soldiers and NCOs to help improve the quality of life for the poorest of Baghdad's residents. Many of us had friends and family mail us clothing and school supplies so that we could take them to the area schools and orphanages to distribute. The story I wrote about Abbas generated a tremendous response from people asking me if there was anything they could do. I always told them about Operation Caring Hands and told them to send stuff and boy did I get a lot of stuff from these people! My battalion would generally distribute about a 20' container load of goods to schools each month. The parents, teachers and children really appreciated it. Considering that a good wage in Iraq for a blue collar worker is about $5 a day and for a college educated professional about $10 a day, the stuff we gave them really meant something. Oddly enough, to my knowledge the media has never picked up on any of this and reported it.

One of the things that really irritated me about the media while I was there were all the "talking heads" and so-called "experts" who will say anything no matter how stupid, untrue or damaging it is. All they seem to care about is that somebody is willing to put a microphone in front of their face and give them camera time to spout their nonsense. Most of these people had no idea what they were talking about. One good example that is top of mind is Chris Matthews of the MSNBC show "Hardball." He tries to portray his show as a news show, but he will not allow anyone to present facts if they don't coincide with his opinion. I used to scream at him through the TV screen out of sheer frustration at the uniformed things he would say. Another one is Aaron Brown on CNN. His smug comments filled with innuendo combined with his obvious ignorance is extremely infuriating. There were many others, but these two stood out the most in my mind.

I have been home for almost three months and to be honest, I have not paid much attention to the news coming out of Iraq because I know it is only half the truth. I learned everything I needed to know while I was there. I know that someday it will be over and as long as America does not lose its resolve, we will be better off and the Iraqi people will have a country they can be proud of. In the mean time, I don't need the daily play-by-play.

One thing that really amazed me is that I spent 12 months on the ground in Baghdad and was involved in many events that were on the news, but yet I did not see one single reporter during that entire time.

Inside Iraq - According to some recent polls published, the majority of Iraqis want the US troops out. Does this mesh with your experience there?

Lt. Rhoads - The media answer to this question is a simple "Yes." My answer is with a question; "How would you feel if foreign troops were on American soil en masse?" Of course the Iraqi people want us out, but the follow on question that is never asked in these polls is; "When and under what conditions?" My experience, and I asked as many Iraqi citizens as I could when I was there, is that the Iraqi people want us to leave AFTER peace is restored and they have the tools in place to secure themselves. The people who benefited under Saddam's regime never wanted us to come in the first place. Everyone else, Shiite, Sunni and Kurd are really glad that we came. Now they want their country, but not at any cost. They want to see it done right. Most of the Iraqis I interacted with were very grateful that we ousted Saddam. Just like us, they weren't expecting what happened afterward and I don't think they blame us for it. They recognize that they need our help to get the problems under control before we leave. Part of the problem is that there is not a strong sense of nationalism in Iraq. In the United States, most people consider themselves to be Americans first and foremost before they identify with other groups be it ethnic or regional. In Iraq, the people identify most strongly with their tribal and ethnic roots before they identify themselves as being Iraqi. I think over time this will change as the Iraqis build a country they can be proud of.

Inside Iraq - When we see news stories, the enemy is described as "insurgents" or "terrorists". Can you fill us in on who the enemy actually is and why they are fighting?

Lt. Rhoads - I'm really not qualified to answer this question because I was not in a position where I was dealing with captured enemy. I had no interaction with them. We built detention facilities for them, but that was about it. I was also not involved in intelligence gathering. With that said, all I can offer is my opinion based on what I learned through intelligence that I had access to and general knowledge that I have learned along the way. I know there are other people out there much more qualified than I am to answer this question.

I don't like the term "insurgents." I get irritated every time I hear this term applied to Iraq. An insurgency implies that there is a movement that has the popular support of the people. What is happening in Iraq definitely does not fit this definition because most sources will tell you that less than 5% of the population actively supports their cause. If I recall correctly, it's more like 3%. My experience confirms this. Some of them are terrorists in the traditional sense that they want to oppress through sheer violence, and some of them I would say are part of an insurrection; an organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another. Many of the Iraqi's who have a colorful grasp of English refer to them as "F***ing Terrorists!" I think I like that term the best because it comes from the people most affected by them. The enemy is such a small percentage of the population that I don't know how else to define them.

I see three distinct groups who are fighting us in Iraq and could be defined as the enemy. There is a fourth group who try to harm American soldiers and usually get themselves killed in the process largely because of cultural misunderstanding.

The first and easiest to deal with are the Shiite extremists. I don't really see them as our enemy, they are just prone to STRONGLY disagree with American interests and many of the fanatics aren't afraid to take up arms to express their difference of opinion. They rose up in the spring and summer of 2004 under Mahdi's (sp?) Militia and we fought them mostly in An Najaf and Sadr City. Their beef with us was basically that they were not confident that the Shiites would have a real say in the formation of the new government. These fanatics are few in number, but they have the ability to get large groups of people stirred up and bought into their cause. I haven't heard much about them since the elections. Most of my dealings with the populace were with Sunnis, so I don't know a lot about how the Shiites feel. We do need to work with these people to achieve our goal of a stable and free government in Iraq.

The second group is the former Baathists. These people fight us because they used to have power under Saddam and they want it back. I have heard that there are strong indications that Saddam actually planned the "insurgency" by planting cells around the country with instructions about what to do when we took control of the country. These people also know that they are in for a world of hurt when peace finally does come because the Iraqi people will hold them accountable for their actions. These people might try to hide behind religion as their reason to fight and they no doubt fill their "grunts" heads with religious fervor, but in reality they are a secular group. Religion is simply a convenient vehicle for them to achieve their desired results.

The third group, and I think the most difficult to deal with, are the Islamic extremists who hide behind the cloak of religion for their actions. These are the biggest enemy in the "Global War on Terror." They have used Iraq as a target of opportunity to kill Americans. As callous as it may sound, I say better there than here. American troops are trained to deal with people like them, the American public is not. This group is what most people think of when they hear the word terrorist and this is where Al Qaida fits in. In reality, they want the same as the other two groups, which is political power. The religion they hide behind is a farce as far as I am concerned and these people are no more than thugs and gangsters. They are no more Muslim than I am (which I'm not). When was the last time you heard of the leaders of one of these groups intentionally becoming a martyr? I never have. If they believe so much in their so-called religious beliefs, why are they not willing to die for them as easily as they send others to die? Comparing the average Muslim to these extremists would be like comparing the average American Catholic to a member of the IRA or worse. I think most of the influence from this group comes from outside of Iraq, although, they convince a small percentage of Iraqi's to follow their cause.

The fourth group is not really a group; rather they are individuals who are victims of circumstance and cultural misunderstanding. One of the horrors of war is that, in spite of our best efforts, innocent people are killed. Iraq is an honor culture. Part of what that means is that if you wrong me, I must exact revenge for what you did. There have been cases where through misunderstanding, collateral damage or pure stupidity on the part of the general public that innocent people have been killed by American troops. Sometimes, when this happens one of the family members (usually a husband or brother) of the person(s) killed in these incidents will decide they are going to get revenge. This usually involves loading a car with explosives and making a suicide run on American troops or going out on the highway with their AK-47 to take pot shots at passing convoys. In their belief, if they die while getting revenge they will go to heaven. I think this belief is rooted in Islam, but has evolved away from it through tribal custom. It's unfortunate that it happens, but I do believe it is getting better as civil government is re-established and the public gains an understanding of how the American military works. Most of the traveling public keeps a respectable distance from American convoys simply because they don't want to be shot. It's difficult as an American soldier because you don't want to harm innocent people, but sometimes it's difficult to discern the bad guys from the idiots. Here's an example of how such a misunderstanding can happen: I was involved in a situation where a man in a car tried to run a road block that we had set up for a construction project. It was in the middle of the night in downtown Baghdad and there was a curfew in place. The man was not supposed to be there in his car. Most of the curfew breakers (there weren't many) would stop when they saw us, slowly turn around and head the other way. This guy did not. The soldier pulling security where the car was approaching did exactly what he was supposed to do. I won't go into detail about what the soldier did because part of the protection of American troops involves keeping our rules of engagement a secret. You'll just have to believe me when I say that the soldier did the right thing. Unfortunately, the man did not understand the warnings he was given and ultimately ended up getting shot in the head. Luckily his injuries were not fatal and we were able to provide first aid and get him to the hospital. As far as we could tell after the incident, the man did not have any ill intentions toward us. He didn't have any weapons or explosives in his car and he wasn't a known bad guy. Why he made a run at us is anyone's guess. Personally, I think he was drunk and got confused or maybe he decided he wanted to commit suicide via American soldier. The soldier who did the shooting was understandably upset and very shaken. He didn't want to shoot anyone, but he did his job to protect the rest of us from harm.

View the full interview, info and prep HERE.

Contact Rusty at rusty.rhoads@us.army.mil

Iraqis build their own future.

By; Lieutenant Rusty Roads - U.S. Army Reserve

Rusty writes a heartfelt and moving story about a relationship he had with an Iraqi businessman. He is also my first interviewee; coming up in my next post.

"An Iraqi friend of mine was recently brutally murdered along with some of his family. It upset me quite a bit and I needed a way to vent. My way of venting a lot of times is to write what I'm thinking about. I hope you can appreciate it."

THIS IS A MUST READ.

Click here for link.

Information Overload.

In starting this project, I decided that I would devote whatever time or effort was needed into it, as I see it to be a worthwhile thing. But Michael Yon has gone above and beyond. Although he does not claim to be a "reporter" he is doing a great job. So much so, that reporters in the future may reference his work, so as to emulate it.

Here is the link to his blog. But be warned, it is very difficult to pull yourself away from.

Click here for link.

Why do this?

With the onslaught of rapid fire news stories on every car bomb, abuse allegation or mistake by coalition forces in Iraq, in addition to the consistent complaints of returned military personnel that the media coverage seems to ignore the real progress being made there, I feel the need to seek out some other points of view than what we are being fed through the media.

I personally feel insulted by the seemingly only negative reporting being pushed on all of us. So, I said to myself, "Surely some good is resulting from this conflict... surely." So I started this blog.

The purpose of this blog is not to sugar-coat anything that is happening in Iraq, rather to highlight firsthand accounts of what is happening there and paint a more balanced picture.

Thanks for visiting, Hope this proves educational to all.