Read, understand, and pass on
This is a letter that my brother, Jeff, wrote. (If he sent it to you also, I'm not sorry. Read it again...and forward it!) Please read it, and forward it on to everyone in your address book. If you don't want to do this for me, do it for Jeff. Do it for America as a whole. Do it for our boys that are still in Iraq risking their lives and freedom to save ours. It's the least we can do because, as my brother Jimmy would say...they're over there covering us with a sweet blanket of freedom!
**And no, I'm not using a lj cut because this is important and you should all read it!**
Hello Everyone,
I would appreciate it if everyone reas this, its not a chain letter or an advertisement or a game.
I was just wondering if everyone has been keeping up to date on events in Iraq as things seem to be getting worse. I think at this point a lot of people unknowingly seem to distance themselves from what is happening over there, we see news stories everyday and we almost accept it as normal that these things occur on a regular basis. Well it isn't normal, and I'm going to help to give you some perspective. The recent activities that have occured, the destruction of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, the murdering of journalists trying to enter Samarra to cover the story, and the subsequent raiding and destruction of mosques throughout all of Iraq hits home with me more than it may for a lot of you. Most of you know I spent a year in Iraq last year, not many know where. I spent my year working primarily throughout the city of Samarra and surrounding areas. I lived in Samarra, and i know the layout, streets, structures, groups, and people much better than i know my hometown. There are very few places in that city i haven't driven by, at the least. This includes the golden mosque, which i drove by so many times I can't count. I have numerous pictures of me in front of that mosque with my team. I have to say I've been following the story rather closely and there seem to be a few holes. Most of which i will not discuss here because I can't really present an alternative explanation. I can say this, regardless of what you may think I can guarantee the United States is not directly responsible for the destruction of this mosque. This was a crime committed by Iraqis against Iraqis. As far as the two Iraqi Commandos they say entered the mosque at damn, It is not hard for any Iraqi in Samarra to obtain these uniforms, or a decent amount of explosives for that matter. As a matter of fact, when i left there 1060 local Iraqis employed as policemen in the city of Samarra, in the month following my departure a total of 63 different Iraqis from that 1060 had actually shown up to work some time in that month, yet all are being paid. Why don't they show up? There are numerous reasons that I won't go in to right now. A policemen is not a commando however, there is a difference but i was using this as an example to demonstrate the absolute chaos and sysfunction that is Samarra. It is a shame that this mosque was destroyed as it was a beautiful structure, visible from almost the entire city of Samarra. It's also a shame that Samarra receives almost NO news coverage, out of my year i think i saw one, maybe two articles in mainstream news that pertained to Samarra. I don't want any of you to think that this was an isolated event that occured in a predominantly peaceful city. Samarra has always been and will continue to be a hotbed for insurgency. Things were worsenning when I left and I did not see them geting better any time soon. Journalists rarely make it in to Samarra, and therefore rarely have a chance to report on the events occuring there. Samarra sits almost dead center between two rather peaceful cities, Tikrit to the North, and Balad to the South, deep in the heart of the Sunni triangle. This brings me to my final point, The Golden Mosque IS a Shi'ite mosque, located in a Sunni city. This ciy has approximately 10 to 15 Shi'ite residents. Iraqi Shi'ites do not travel to Samarra to use this mosque, SHI'ITES DO NOT PRAY AT THIS MOSQUE, shi'ites primarly stay out of Samarra for frear of being killed solely based on their religion. The actual caretaker of the mosque is a SUNNI ARAB. That is correct, this is a Shi'ite mosque ran by a Sunni that Shi'ites have not used in who knows how long. I see no reason for Sunnis to destroy this mosque other than the political value it serves. When Iraqis plan attacks they tend to use what I call the "spectacular factor". It sounds stupid but it's supposed to be. This means, they do not attack as efficiently as one may think, they primarily want to see how big of an explosion they can make, or how much they can destroy, they love "wowing" people. Which supports my theory of this being a political bombing, whether it was directed to upset the sunnis to enhance the civil war factor, or to try to get the world to blame America for destroying such a holy site, and cause trouble for the forming of an Iraqi governemt i don't know. My guess is all of the above and then some. Please forwrd this to anyone you think might be remotely interested and some that you think may not, as I feel the general public is losing touch with what our boys are doing each and every day, hopefully this will help bring the war home just a little bit more.
Golden Mosque story http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1161937,00.html
Thanks for reading,
Jeff Bradshaw
**And no, I'm not using a lj cut because this is important and you should all read it!**
Hello Everyone,
I would appreciate it if everyone reas this, its not a chain letter or an advertisement or a game.
I was just wondering if everyone has been keeping up to date on events in Iraq as things seem to be getting worse. I think at this point a lot of people unknowingly seem to distance themselves from what is happening over there, we see news stories everyday and we almost accept it as normal that these things occur on a regular basis. Well it isn't normal, and I'm going to help to give you some perspective. The recent activities that have occured, the destruction of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, the murdering of journalists trying to enter Samarra to cover the story, and the subsequent raiding and destruction of mosques throughout all of Iraq hits home with me more than it may for a lot of you. Most of you know I spent a year in Iraq last year, not many know where. I spent my year working primarily throughout the city of Samarra and surrounding areas. I lived in Samarra, and i know the layout, streets, structures, groups, and people much better than i know my hometown. There are very few places in that city i haven't driven by, at the least. This includes the golden mosque, which i drove by so many times I can't count. I have numerous pictures of me in front of that mosque with my team. I have to say I've been following the story rather closely and there seem to be a few holes. Most of which i will not discuss here because I can't really present an alternative explanation. I can say this, regardless of what you may think I can guarantee the United States is not directly responsible for the destruction of this mosque. This was a crime committed by Iraqis against Iraqis. As far as the two Iraqi Commandos they say entered the mosque at damn, It is not hard for any Iraqi in Samarra to obtain these uniforms, or a decent amount of explosives for that matter. As a matter of fact, when i left there 1060 local Iraqis employed as policemen in the city of Samarra, in the month following my departure a total of 63 different Iraqis from that 1060 had actually shown up to work some time in that month, yet all are being paid. Why don't they show up? There are numerous reasons that I won't go in to right now. A policemen is not a commando however, there is a difference but i was using this as an example to demonstrate the absolute chaos and sysfunction that is Samarra. It is a shame that this mosque was destroyed as it was a beautiful structure, visible from almost the entire city of Samarra. It's also a shame that Samarra receives almost NO news coverage, out of my year i think i saw one, maybe two articles in mainstream news that pertained to Samarra. I don't want any of you to think that this was an isolated event that occured in a predominantly peaceful city. Samarra has always been and will continue to be a hotbed for insurgency. Things were worsenning when I left and I did not see them geting better any time soon. Journalists rarely make it in to Samarra, and therefore rarely have a chance to report on the events occuring there. Samarra sits almost dead center between two rather peaceful cities, Tikrit to the North, and Balad to the South, deep in the heart of the Sunni triangle. This brings me to my final point, The Golden Mosque IS a Shi'ite mosque, located in a Sunni city. This ciy has approximately 10 to 15 Shi'ite residents. Iraqi Shi'ites do not travel to Samarra to use this mosque, SHI'ITES DO NOT PRAY AT THIS MOSQUE, shi'ites primarly stay out of Samarra for frear of being killed solely based on their religion. The actual caretaker of the mosque is a SUNNI ARAB. That is correct, this is a Shi'ite mosque ran by a Sunni that Shi'ites have not used in who knows how long. I see no reason for Sunnis to destroy this mosque other than the political value it serves. When Iraqis plan attacks they tend to use what I call the "spectacular factor". It sounds stupid but it's supposed to be. This means, they do not attack as efficiently as one may think, they primarily want to see how big of an explosion they can make, or how much they can destroy, they love "wowing" people. Which supports my theory of this being a political bombing, whether it was directed to upset the sunnis to enhance the civil war factor, or to try to get the world to blame America for destroying such a holy site, and cause trouble for the forming of an Iraqi governemt i don't know. My guess is all of the above and then some. Please forwrd this to anyone you think might be remotely interested and some that you think may not, as I feel the general public is losing touch with what our boys are doing each and every day, hopefully this will help bring the war home just a little bit more.
Golden Mosque story http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1161937,00.html
Thanks for reading,
Jeff Bradshaw