Letter to the Editor: Soldier speaks out about misconceptions

From the Dunn County News, Wednesday, February 23, 2005

To the editor:

This letter is in response to the Jan. 5 let­ter written by Robert D. Cleary of Colfax titled "Guerilla warfare wins every time.”

I am a soldier serving in Iraq. Your letter disturbed me and many other soldiers in my platoon. We are over here fighting for freedom, we get the local paper from home and you are bashing our command­er-in-chief. You had a chance to vote him and his staff out. You couldn't pull your team together. The majority won. Bush was elected. Get over it.

Next, you're telling us we are in a down­ward spiral. Telling us we can't win. How can you say we cannot win when we have already won? I was on a dismounted patrol in the city during election day. Voter turn-out was higher than expected. The people were thanking us for giving them a chance to vote. A chance to have a say in their own government. You say the people would rather live under Saddam's regime. In this city, 20 years ago someone tried to assassinate Saddam Hussein. They were unsuccessful.

Saddam came back and massacred 450 townspeople. I doubt it if they want him back in power. The day before the elec­tion, city people paraded in the streets happy and excited that they would be able to vote. In my opinion, the only people that are missing the old regime are those who were granted certain powers, benefits, and wealth by Saddam's corrupt system of rule - wouldn't you?

As for the comment, "99 percent of Mus­lims hate American people" - are you sure?

That's a pretty bold statement. Maybe you should consult the Muslim people before you speak on their behalf. I think you should do a little more research.

Every other day, we have an informant coming to our front gate giving us information on the whereabouts of insurgents. They see the light at the end of the tunnel and want to help us get them there. Towards the end of your letter, you try to say you support the troops, telling us we can't tell the difference between an insur­gent and an innocent civilian.

The insurgent is the guy shooting at you, the guy hitting the button connected. to the roadside bomb, the guy shooting mortars at you. The innocent civilians are I being killed by these same insurgents who have terrible aim and shoot in the general direction.

We have trained and work with the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police. We get the chance to interact with them as people.

We both have found we are alike. We laugh at the same things and frown at the same things. We have dispelled the stereo types you try to enforce. You are right. It's ­very difficult to differentiate the bad from the innocent.

We use the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police to help us decipher good from bad. I know that yours was an opinion column based on the information you know. My advice is get more information before you embarrass yourself like this again.

Hey Bob, we don't need support like yours. We can speak for ourselves. I believe it IS time we say "enough already.” We've had enough of you crying about the freedoms you take advantage of. You should try living over here for awhile. See if your opinion changes.

Sgt. Wyatt W Anderson, Spring Valley,

A Company, 128th Infantry,

FOB O'Ryan, Iraq