Report from Iraq from an acquantance

[Steve St.Laurent]

This was posted today on another site I'm on from one of the members there. Good to hear positive reports versus the constant one sided negativity we hear from most of the media:

Under 80 days now! And I get 2 weeks of leave in 30 days.! When I get back off leave I will only have 4 weeks left! Where did the time go? Seems like last month I was in Baqubah gettin' IED'd every other day. Life here in Kirkuk has been really quiet. We found some caches and arrested some IED makers, but only one squad out of our entire company has been attacked as of yet. No one has been hurt and the Iraqi's (police and military) have advanced greatly in their respective jobs. We have opened 2 clinics, 4 schools, assited in thier hospitals, gotten road and sewer work done, and stimulated thier local economy by numerous shopping expiditions. Everywhere we go in our sector people still come up to us and thank us and generally just want to shoot the breeze. They offer cool drinks and hot chia, food and sweets. They even point out the bad guys to us. I got to arrest an area top 10 dude when a citizen came up to me on the street and pointed him out to me. As my fire team walked up to him he stood up and placed his hands behind his back! Funniest thing I have seen here.

I know that things in other areas aren't as quiet, but the soldiers and marines are still doing the same work in the communities that we are. I don't think the media reports all of the good being done here or the happiness or hope that the Iraqi people have. If you haven't seen the movie " Voices of Iraq" I recomend it. It is a accurate portrayal of the Iraqi people.

The heat here sucks now. It is amazing how much water can come out of a person. At midday I have a stream of sweat from my head, down my back, thu my crack, down my legs and into my boots. I squish when I walk!

Sorry I missed out on the big rally in June. Hopefully another will come along.
My time is up.
Take care and have a beer or 6 for me.