PROGRESS IN IRAQ SO FAR

A letter from an American Soldier
Ray Reynolds, SFC Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion


As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks
of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to
all of you who did not believe the media.

They have done a very poor job of covering
everything that has happened. I am sorry that
I have not been able to visit all of you during
my two week leave back home. And just so you
can rest at night knowing something is happening
in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would
pass this on to you.

This is the list of things that has happened in
Iraq recently:

-Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking
water for the first time ever in Iraq.

-Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations.

-Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded
of the weapons that were stored there so education
can occur.

-The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can
be off loaded from ships faster.

-School attendance is up 80% from levels before
the war.

-The country had it's first 2 billion barrel
export of oil in August.

-The country now receives 2 times the electrical
power it did before the war.

-100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed
compared to 35% before the war.

-Elections are taking place in every major city
and city councils are in place.

-Sewer and water lines are installed in every
major city.

-Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.

-Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are
securing the country.

-Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the
streets side by side with US soldiers.

-Over 400,000 people have telephones for the
first time ever.

-Students are taught field sanitation and hand
washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.

-An interim constitution has been signed.

-Girls are allowed to attend school for the first
time ever in Iraq.

-Text books that don't mention Saddam are in the
schools for the first time in 30 years.

Don't believe for one second that these people do
not want us there. I have met many many people from
Iraq who do want us there and in a bad way. They say
they will never see the freedoms we talk about but
they hope their children will.

We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge
anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So
if you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to
give him my address and send him to Denison, Iowa.