***The opinions expressed in this interview are those of myself and the interviewee only and not necessarily those of the Army or the DOD***

I’ve had the great opportunity to work with Sgt. Keller at CENTCOM public affairs he and his superiors have graciously allowed this amateur internet journalist interview another soldier. This time, I spent some virtual time with SFC Smith who is serving his country in the area around Basra, Iraq. I would also like to thank SFC Smith for taking time out of his very busy schedule to spend time answering my questions. As I said during my last “boots on the ground” interview, I believe that it’s vitally important to publish the opinions of those serving their country. I also believe that it’s important to find out about the good stuff going on in Iraq. The MSM joined the out of Iraq drumbeat long ago, and because of that I feel that we often don’t hear about the good things happening there. So, without further delay, here’s my interview with SFC Smith.

There are hundreds of missions going on EVERYDAY that you all back home do not hear about. It does not meet the media agenda I guess. We have teams here that specialize in rebuilding Iraq, and they carry out tons of projects to better this place. They are repairing sewer systems, building wells, building schools, even repairing the roads in this country. The truth is that there are hundreds of them going on everyday in this country without the media attention reserved for the “blood and guts” coverage. We have even started women’s schools for the advancement of the women in this country, which is a far cry from the treatment of women throughout the Middle East. I, myself took part in a park opening in a smaller city in Iraq- it was my proudest moment for me personally in this country, to be able to see the kids run around all excited just like any other group of kids back in the states. Our guys took a corner property that was trash and made it into a full playground for the kids to use. You should have been there- a beautiful sunny day became a beautiful moment in that small city. The kids were running around like crazy, “amped” up on the pure excitement of the park that they had watched grow before them for weeks now becoming open for them to play on. The Iraqi leadership for the region was there- sheiks, mayors, governors and plenty of Iraqi police. Our leadership was there too, but it was the small team of civil affairs specialists that had put it together that were cornerstone in improving that little town. They are probably the most trusting soldiers we have here in Iraq. They roll into towns and cities, big and small, and try to make a difference for the people of this nation who suffered so much under Saddam. They look at each place and see it as a challenge to build into something better, despite the targets they could be to the enemy. They risk a lot coming into some of these towns- I hold the utmost respect for them and love to work with them when I get the chance.

I am in Southern Iraq. This is my second base I have been stationed at. Our bases are great. We have little apartments we live in, and we even have Burger King and Pizza Hut here (Taco Bell arrives next month). In fact, they say that AAFES (our version of Wal-mart) has 175 fast food restaurants in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan- imagine being at war and being able to swing by and grab a burger or pizza after a long days mission.

Administrators note: The answer to the above question needed to be edited for security reasons.

YES. Problem for you all is that they will never report it back there in the states. For instance, I saw a press conference from General Casey, the MNF-I Commander, in regards to the provinces here. Iraq basically has 19 “states” compared to our 50, except they call them provinces. That said, in terms of security 14 are considered “green”, 3 are “amber” and 2 are still “red”. Instead of telling the American public that story (I believe it is called the truth) the reporters they send over here sit in their cozy hotel in the IZ in Baghdad and only report the doom and gloom from the footage they buy from local reporters. Has your nightly news ever started their coverage with the feature story “14 of 19 Iraqi provinces show MAJOR improvements” or “heavy fighting reduced to 2 provinces”? Yeah, I knew you had not- rhetorical question I guess. The general said it best- we have 5 areas with problems, 2 with serious problems. This country is never going to truly get along, they haven’t for a thousand years. That said, they aren’t in a civil war, but they are never going to be like America, either. The truth, as often in life, lies somewhere in the middle. The issue of Sectarian violence- It was the same under Saddam, just state-sponsored sectarian violence that tortured women and children at a much worse level. Why is it that Hollywood stars will rush to support the end of genocide in Africa with 200,000 deaths, when Saddam systemically committed genocide on his own people for over 2 decades, more than 2 million lives lost and the only time a Hollywood star came here was to protect Saddam’s reign? They (Iraqi’s) are a different culture, and we are rebuilding this country under that culture, as different from ours as it is. They don’t always get it in what we expect of them, but they are still fascinating people- even if it is frustrating. Imagine a culture where corruption was not only accepted, but so commonplace that it wasn’t even considered improper.

I will answer both of these together. The answer is certainly complex, but I’ll point out one thing. The American soldiers are growing VERY disenfranchised with the American media and the impact it is having on the American people’s view of this war. The media is not telling the truth about this war, they are not telling what is going on over here.

There just seems to be no integrity in the entire media empire- how in the hell do those guys sleep at night? As I mentioned before, hundreds of improvement missions go on here daily, and NONE of it gets reported. We have advanced the cause for women’s equality more in this country in the last three years than during Saddam’s entire reign of over 2 decades. Yet, none of it gets reported. I met a man here that was a LT Colonel pilot under Saddam, and he made $75 a month. Now, he makes $15 dollars a day selling Iraqi gifts, and he has employed his son to work for him, also making $15 dollars a day. Their family income went up 12 fold in the new Iraq. Imagine a minimum wage family that makes a combined income of $40,000 a year suddenly making $480,000 a year. Iraq’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world and the guys with street side markets in Baghdad say they earn 30 times what they were ALLOWED to make under Saddam. A street cleaner in Baghdad now earns what a teacher was allowed to make under Saddam. This country should be a thriving country with a great middle class- and it is moving closer to that now that when a madman controlled it. Yet, no one wants to show the positives of Iraq. No one wants to tells both sides of this story. Instead of going out and telling the true tale here, the reporters want to sit in the green zone and live off the footage they buy from the local reporters (with no means of authenticating the coverage). We’re not asking for much, just be fair and tell both sides of the reality of Iraq. So, for the American people, I guess the message is for them to demand more from their media outlets. Enough of the “groupthink”, look at both sides of this place and demand some level of integrity from your local news, your local paper and on up to the big networks. They have no desire to conduct themselves ethically, so we must, as a united nation, demand more from them and write them to tell them so. Write your elected officials as well, and tell them you demand more integrity from the media and politicians who get caught up in the collective trashing of the war effort. War is never an easy endeavor. To win, it takes commitment, and if you are TRULY “for the troops” then you cannot be against the war. If you are “for the troops” then what people need to say is “get the job done, then come home” rather than trash the efforts we are sweating and bleeding for over here. See the positives in bringing freedom to a decimated people and creating a democracy in the middle east. We know this is serious business, but making it into a quagmire isn’t going to help- it will only make this thing drag on. If the American public just loved this nation HALF as much as the American soldier we’d be so much better off- where are all those flags we saw flying after 9/11??

I don’t interact with them daily.

So, let’s look at this issue in purely numerical terms. Iraq is a country of 24 million people. If they TRULY wanted us to not be here, we wouldn’t be. If only 5% of Iraqi’s took up arms against us, that would be an army of 1.2 million people, and we’d be running for Kuwait! That doesn’t even account for the estimated 20,000 foreign fighters that have come here to become Martyrs and such. So, imagine if the people of Iraq truly “didn’t” want us here. This is their country and when they are ready, we’ll be gone and they’ll be running it. In the meantime, they want what every other person wants- they want security, food on their plate and a chance to better themselves and their families. That said, most know what the deal is and want the Iranian spies and foreign fighters to clear out and give them a chance to be their own country. Look at their vote- they had a higher voter turn out than America. They are a very literate people and are very educated. Americans would be surprised how many Iraqi’s took English in high school. Most of them are frustrated with the stalemate of the progress because of sectarian violence, and sometimes their frustration just comes out. They want to be able to do their jobs without masked gunman taking them hostage, or long American convoys driving by that they have to pull over for. They want what we all want- normalcy. The thing they are missing is the commitment to excellence we have as Americans. For more than 2 decades Saddam held them under his boot, and they learned to accept less than the best, and now we need to convince them to believe in excellence again.

If you pay someone to side your house, and half way through the project they come into some problems that are going to cost more money and time on your house. Do you quit the job, fire the crew and curse the job they did and especially the decision to side the house in the first place? And if you do that, do you expect your house to get better after the half job is done? No. We all make decisions in our lives, and we make them based upon the best information available at the time. If the road afterwards has some unexpected turns, we don’t quit and get off the
road- we adjust to the changes and keep moving forward.

To quit in Iraq now, will make every life lost part of something less.There are patriotic Americans who have given a loved one towards this cause, and they want to know it was for something important, something real and something honorable. No one wants to think they lost a loved one for something we quit on part way through, accented only the negatives, and hid the reality so we could make it out to look at negative as possible. We, as a nation, cannot allow that to happen to those who lost a loved one, or for those who gave a limb or serious injury here in Iraq. We must continue to view both sides of this conflict and see the truth that lies in the middle and remember these heroes daily. If we leave Iraq, Iran, Syria and Al Qaeda will undermine everything we have done. Iran will mobilize the Shiites and Al Qaeda the Sunni’s. The country will fall into complete rebellion as both groups fight to gain control of one of the world’s largest oil reserves. We will be forced to watch on our nightly news as the violence (which we think is bad right now) in Iraq is compounded by the complete loss of all morality into large scale genocide. What will happen in Iraq if we pull out now will be genocide the modern world has never seen. What we stand for as Americans cold be lost forever if we pull out- how will the world view America after the world watches Iraq tear itself apart and allow Al Qaeda and Iran takeover an entire country? All of these left-wing groups and out of touch politicians- what do they really think is going to happen if we just pull out like they grandstand about? Those of us who have been here see past this farce logic- America was built upon the ideology of freedom from oppression, and Iraq today is not just a war, but a battle in a larger war, the war against terror.

For me, as with most soldiers, it is family. We live well over here, for soldiers at war. In fact, we live better than any other American soldiers at war throughout America’s history. Most of us even have cable TV in our rooms brought to us by AFN (Armed Forces Network). So, when we get home it will be the issue of family, those loved ones we have been dreaming about for so long. Right now, the Army is our family and our comrades in arms are our loved ones. Yet, the moment we get home we want to squeeze our loved ones and feel them in our arms. We want to laugh with them, to see how much they have grown without us. We will have stories to tell, some good some bad. But, those stories need to wait until another day, because when we get home we want to enjoy every second of every moment with our families, to lavish in the moment of enjoying the freedom we have defended. Of course, there is also a strong desire to be able to do what we want for a change, without anyone giving you any “orders”. Also, I plan on getting engaged and making that “big plunge” everyone talks about.

Morale is good. Of course, the longer anyone is away form home, the more we miss home. We just get tired. Even though the heat has died down, everyone I talked to is just a little tired. I am different- I am not married nor do I have any children. I am completely in awe of those soldiers with small children, and families. They are sacrificing more than I can imagine with time lost in their children’s eyes. They, like the soldiers we have out on convoys every night are the true heroes of our units. I have a soldier with newborn twins, and I monitor his situation back in “Fort Living Room” closely. I volunteered to deploy here- I actually had to fight to get to come here. Morale here is also more multi-faceted than people at home might think. Those engaging the enemy daily are tired and looking for a break- yet, those soldiers in support roles are longing to be apart of the “a team” and out on the field playing the big game, their morale struggles stemming from a lack of being able to make the biggest impact here as possible. Soldiers are almost all “type A” personalities and are very competitive, each wanting to do their part and more in defending our greatest of nations.

Well, it is really more of a 50/50 deal. Some are re-upping, some are not. As an Army National Guard Retention NCO, I have kept a keen eye and ear on this very issue. A lot of good soldiers are “extending” to continue to serve, but a lot are not. However, the war is not as big of a factor as one might think. In my observations, the long train up we received prior to deploying, as well as the “internal politics” of any organization are bigger factors. Something that we struggle with here, just as with civilian organizations, is employee satisfaction and commitment. When you take someone from their home and deploy them thousands of miles from home to do probably the most dangerous thing in their lives, an organization must ensure that its employees are taken care of at all levels, especially the middle management levels. Overall, the “re-upping” rate is not what it could or should be, but not a negative outcome either.

1. [...] My son Jim, at Thinking Right, with the approval and encouragement of Centcom has conducted another interview with a deployed GI. Spend some time over there and enjoy what you read. Please pay particular attention to Sgt. Smith’s remarks regarding the MSM, as well as his feelings about returning home. [...]

   Pingback by The Flight Deck » Interview — 2/21/2007 @ 11:07

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2. [...] Thinking Right: Soldiers On The Ground Hopeful For The Future Of Iraq [...]

   Pingback by A Little Media ‘Interaction’… » JusticeSoldier.com — 2/22/2007 @ 19:28

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3. Dawn Patrol

   Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. If you’re a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link…

   Trackback by Mudville Gazette — 2/23/2007 @ 08:34

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4. Jim Cannon of ThinkingRight interviews…

   …Army Sgt. 1st Class Troy Smith….reminds me very much of the immortal words of 2nd Lt. Mark Daily.

   Trackback by alphabet city — 2/23/2007 @ 11:48

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5. Over at Thinking Right….

   ….you can read an interview with an American soldier in Iraq. He doesn’t have kind words for the American media.# What can the American public do to help you… to support bo…

   Trackback by Media Lies — 2/24/2007 @ 20:31

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6. [...] Soldiers On The Ground Hopeful For The Future of Iraq [...]

   Pingback by Yankeemom — 2/25/2007 @ 11:28

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7. Jim interviews Sgt. 1st. Class Troy Smith

   This is a very good and detailed interview between Sgt. 1st Class Troy Smith and Jim of Thinking Right. It appears that the Soldiers over in Iraq are more optimistic about the future of that country than the politicians back home are. It is only natu…

   Trackback by DoD Daily News — 2/28/2007 @ 10:29

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8. [...] Soldier’s View of the Situation in Iraq- ThinkingRight via Mudville [...]

   Pingback by Worldview - Blog Archive » 20070302 Worldview Web Roundup — 3/2/2007 @ 11:45

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1. 

   Great job Jim, I hope you let HH know of your interview, he should mention it on his show today. However…for some reason the colors or the fonts you use give me a headache…seriously. I don’t know which it is but it hurts!

   Comment by Mr Bob — 2/22/2007 @ 14:53

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2. 

   Great article Jim - my brother didn’t even tell me about it until his post today! Thanks for all you do for us!

   Comment by T.J. — 2/22/2007 @ 22:24

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3. 

   Troy is a friend - good to see this interview! I always value his opinions! Thanks, Troy!!

   Comment by Flag Gazer — 2/23/2007 @ 13:08

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4. 

   Fantastic job. Your heritage, passed down from preceding generations is what makes this the UNITED States of America.

   We (right thinkers) have your backs covered. Push comes to shove, we will be doing the pushing and shoving.

   Comment by El Cid — 2/23/2007 @ 20:54

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5. 

   Good interview. Lots of keen insights from the viewpoint of our guys on the ground. My only carp is that we really don’t get a good idea how SFC Smith fits into the scheme of things there. As a SFC he may spend lots of time as a FOBBIT, which doesn’t demean his points of view in the least, but certainly might be different from a platoon sergeant out walking the streets with his guys.

   Comment by NOTR — 2/23/2007 @ 23:06

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6. 

   Army Strong. HOOAH!

   Comment by SGT Sack — 2/24/2007 @ 12:50

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7. 

   Excellent interview. Again. Your questions are very impressive and concise. His answers are very important, informative, uplifting, educating, etc. Thank you for pushing for a second interview. I was thinking of doing the same, and now I have hope.

   Comment by Rosemary — 2/24/2007 @ 20:18

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8. 

   NOTR,

   I’m not really willing to go into a lot of that stuff with the guys that I interview because of operational security reasons. I will not do anything that puts these men and women in any more jeapordy than they’re already in.

   Jim C

   Comment by Jim — 2/25/2007 @ 06:57

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9. 

   This is GOOD stuff! everything the sgt! said makes since to me!..I am a Vietnam vet Living in Saigon I think I get more Info here than they do in the world! (USA). I just cant get it through my thick skull! What is wrong with Americans protesting the war! All our troops are volunteer’s!!!!!!!they want to be where they are! and do what they are doing! So everyone should get behind them….There are 2 rules to war #1 young men will die Rule#2 You can not change rule # 1……..RAP BROWN

   Comment by Rap Brown — 2/25/2007 @ 07:18

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10. 

    Excellant interview!

    Comment by Jenn — 2/27/2007 @ 09:19

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11. 

    
    Our 10th Mtn Division was deployed to Italy to engaged the Nazi in 1944. I was a kid then.

    I have a blog now, and I attempt to convey an Alert & Aware Status to those that don’t have a clue. Hot-Air Politics is the enemy here at home.

    We have recorded 102 Comments on ‘Here’s Your War’
    post. I hope to get some comments from the Sand Box.

    Snake Hunters Weblog is after the 2-legged Snakes.
    As you know, we have ‘em here in the USA, and the
    Troops confront them daily in Iraq/Afganistan.

    When the Imam “conditions” kids, they become a
    tough suicidal enemy. Hamas & Fatah, Sunni/Shiite kill each other if they cannot find an unarmed Israeli. We don’t understand the tribal mentality.

    Most here do not understand the Wahhabi Kill-Culture. The propaganda is designed to confuse and
    split us, weaken our resolve. That’s why I blog.

    Snake Hunters Comment Section is Open Forum. We would delight in hearing from Troops on the Ground. You guys have the Straight Scoop! reb

    http://www.lazyonebenn.blogspot.com

    Comment by Ralph E. Benn — 2/28/2007 @ 23:51

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