Letter in response to an 'optimistic' US Army Personnel:
----- Original Message -----
From: Morrow, James L.
To: Z. Alani
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 12:22
PMSubject: RE: Pictures from Iraq.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMYJOINT CONTRACTING COMMAND - IRAQAPO AE 09316James Morrow / Contract Management
Date: 05, April 2005Attn: Z. Alani
Importance: High
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed these photos.I spent the summer in No. Iraq and, the bad press was constant.Here in Baghdad, I feel welcome. As an American I will be in this country for many many years, God Willing. I will do everything and nearly anything for these people. OIF must succeed, my new friends are counting on each of us. America will not fail here. Thanks again, Kindest Personal Regards Mr. L. James Morrow Jim GOD BLESS our Great Nations
-----Original Message-----
From: Z Alani
Sent: 06 April 2005 03:30
To: Morrow, James L.
Subject: Re: Pictures from Iraq.Importance: High
Mr. Morrow:
I have 40 extended family members in Iraq. They are NOT happy with the occupation, unfortunately. And they are NOT extremists; they are moderates who are trying to pursue a 'normal life'. After two years of US occupation, their phones don't work; their electricity supply has dwindled to 4 hours a day; their water supply is NOT potable (they can't drink it); their sewage system 'sucks', they cannot travel from point A to Z without the threat of being blown up on the way. It takes twice, sometimes 3 times the time to travel. My female family members are forced to wear a scarf on their heads whether they consent to the idea or not because they will be harassed on the street if they do not, not because their families impose that, but because security is so poor, extremists are rampant! My mother cannot drive her car unchaperoned. When our neighbor (senior lady), went into a coma there was NO ambulance to take her to the hospital. My brother, with the help of another neighbor had to take her to a 'nearby' hospital. It took them 2 hours to get to the hospital, mostly because of the security check points; the woman was pronounced dead upon arrival. No, my family in Iraq is NOT happy with the occupation. No nation under occupation would be. As an American citizen, would you be happy if China decided on a 'regime change' in the US, and 'landed' to dictate to you how you should run your life the 'Chinese' way? I don't think so.
I understand that your intentions are sincere. God bless you for that. But matters are not that simplistic. You should ask yourself, what role in a 'bigger plan' am I fulfilling? Why is the United States in Iraq? Why isn't it in Liberia? Iraq lies over the world's second largest oil reserve. The United States needs to control the world's second largest source of energy to control the world. This is NOT about the freedom of the Iraqi people. Even a seven year old Iraqi child will confirm the same to you. That is what happened when I last spoke to my family there.
The 'ex-regime' that the US removed was installed by none other than the US. Ask yourself, why when the Halabchans (Kurds in the North) were gassed, did the US turn a blind eye -during the war of attrition, where the US was supplying one regime with arms and the other with satellite surveillance services? I do not make up these facts; they are well-documented. Ask yourself why did the US, for 12 years, impose crippling draconian sanctions on the poor nation of Iraq, and observe as the country deteriorated and the people starved to death, while the regime thrived? Why did they not lift a finger to stop the slow genocide of more than a million Iraqi children -Unicef will attest to that (again this is well documented)? Was it humane to finally, 'shock and awe' the nation into total submission? Where there no other means to dismantle the regime? Of course there were, but the US had to maintain a military presence in Iraq, and had to find a reason to 'physically' control the energy resources, and that is exactly what is happening.
I do not mean to discourage you from what you are doing. Again, I'm sure that your intentions are altruistic, and I feel a little 'bad' because I come across as 'ungrateful', but the above, are well-established facts that need to be taken into consideration in a discussion as such. I am NOT ignorant, and neither are the 25 million Iraqi people who 'love' you.
Salam!
Z
----- Original Message -----
From: Morrow, James L.
To: Z. Alani
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 12:22
PMSubject: RE: Pictures from Iraq.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMYJOINT CONTRACTING COMMAND - IRAQAPO AE 09316James Morrow / Contract Management
Date: 05, April 2005Attn: Z. Alani
Importance: High
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed these photos.I spent the summer in No. Iraq and, the bad press was constant.Here in Baghdad, I feel welcome. As an American I will be in this country for many many years, God Willing. I will do everything and nearly anything for these people. OIF must succeed, my new friends are counting on each of us. America will not fail here. Thanks again, Kindest Personal Regards Mr. L. James Morrow Jim GOD BLESS our Great Nations
-----Original Message-----
From: Z Alani
Sent: 06 April 2005 03:30
To: Morrow, James L.
Subject: Re: Pictures from Iraq.Importance: High
Mr. Morrow:
I have 40 extended family members in Iraq. They are NOT happy with the occupation, unfortunately. And they are NOT extremists; they are moderates who are trying to pursue a 'normal life'. After two years of US occupation, their phones don't work; their electricity supply has dwindled to 4 hours a day; their water supply is NOT potable (they can't drink it); their sewage system 'sucks', they cannot travel from point A to Z without the threat of being blown up on the way. It takes twice, sometimes 3 times the time to travel. My female family members are forced to wear a scarf on their heads whether they consent to the idea or not because they will be harassed on the street if they do not, not because their families impose that, but because security is so poor, extremists are rampant! My mother cannot drive her car unchaperoned. When our neighbor (senior lady), went into a coma there was NO ambulance to take her to the hospital. My brother, with the help of another neighbor had to take her to a 'nearby' hospital. It took them 2 hours to get to the hospital, mostly because of the security check points; the woman was pronounced dead upon arrival. No, my family in Iraq is NOT happy with the occupation. No nation under occupation would be. As an American citizen, would you be happy if China decided on a 'regime change' in the US, and 'landed' to dictate to you how you should run your life the 'Chinese' way? I don't think so.
I understand that your intentions are sincere. God bless you for that. But matters are not that simplistic. You should ask yourself, what role in a 'bigger plan' am I fulfilling? Why is the United States in Iraq? Why isn't it in Liberia? Iraq lies over the world's second largest oil reserve. The United States needs to control the world's second largest source of energy to control the world. This is NOT about the freedom of the Iraqi people. Even a seven year old Iraqi child will confirm the same to you. That is what happened when I last spoke to my family there.
The 'ex-regime' that the US removed was installed by none other than the US. Ask yourself, why when the Halabchans (Kurds in the North) were gassed, did the US turn a blind eye -during the war of attrition, where the US was supplying one regime with arms and the other with satellite surveillance services? I do not make up these facts; they are well-documented. Ask yourself why did the US, for 12 years, impose crippling draconian sanctions on the poor nation of Iraq, and observe as the country deteriorated and the people starved to death, while the regime thrived? Why did they not lift a finger to stop the slow genocide of more than a million Iraqi children -Unicef will attest to that (again this is well documented)? Was it humane to finally, 'shock and awe' the nation into total submission? Where there no other means to dismantle the regime? Of course there were, but the US had to maintain a military presence in Iraq, and had to find a reason to 'physically' control the energy resources, and that is exactly what is happening.
I do not mean to discourage you from what you are doing. Again, I'm sure that your intentions are altruistic, and I feel a little 'bad' because I come across as 'ungrateful', but the above, are well-established facts that need to be taken into consideration in a discussion as such. I am NOT ignorant, and neither are the 25 million Iraqi people who 'love' you.
Salam!
Z