Jul 19 2008
Yikes! And I thought Baghdad was Rundown
Just went rolling through a few towns the other day but when getting to Ramadi I was surprised how trashed that place still is. Actually worse then what I saw of Baghdad.
Ramadi was a key location for the Ba’ath party and assorted other loyal Saddam goofs so the coalition forces did some re-decorating via at the outset of the war. But still, it’s been how many years now? Clean it up already as you and your children live there.
I was up there to take a look at a few places that we suspected as potential problem areas for movement. In hindsight I think the whole place is a problem area.
Getting out of the MRAP I certainly gained a better understanding of their hardship but was also trying to reason why they didn’t rise up against Saddam. Knowing that they are above pre-war levels in all the basic needs (water, sewage, communication, electricity, health, etc…) and recognizing it to still be a complete dump one can only imagine how bad it was under that yahoo.
Trash in the street. Wires running like spider webs barely over the streets. Metal objects sticking out of the ground everywhere. Other then one soccer field I didn’t see anywhere the kids can play safely.
The populace is certainly much more used to use rolling through certain cities and areas and that showed the other day. As soon as I got out to take pictures people to start coming out of their “homes” and seeing what was going on. This is a pain because not only do you have to scan the area for IEDs as you walk and all the vantage points for possible yahoos but now you have to continually scan the crowd as you try to do your job. Basically, you are looking for anyone in the crowd with a possible weapon, cell phone, camera, or just watching too intently to what we are doing.
All in all it was a success. I got the information I needed and the engineers got the information they needed to collect.
Below is a picture of an MRAP in case you didn’t know what they look like as well as some pictures from one of the streets we rolled down.
Semper Fi,
GySgt Jonathan Jenkins
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Good greif, it is amazing that they have any power at all with that speghettie of a mess. What a great report!!!!!
Thanks for the photos!Congrats on meeting the General too! One question- what the heck’s up with the boat???
Just saw Glenn Beck live, will send you the dvd when it comes out. We love you! God protect you!!
So how do the slums in Iraq differ from North Philly? They look the same, and in Philly there are more shootings and killings than in Iraq.
Check out the number of killings just in PA, NJ and NY in a week and it is totally shocking. And the Dems have the guts to tell me there is no war in the USA !
Yes there are certainly some oddities out here. Like the boats and no way to move them to the lakes.
As for North Philly, oh yea it rivals some fo those neighborhoods for sure. haha
HEY KID,
I PRINTED SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS AND PHOTO’S TO SHOW GRAM, AND SHE WAS HAPPY TO HEAR YOU’RE WELL. SHE IS VERY WORRIED FOR YOU TO BE THERE;HOWEVER, IT’S NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WALKING THROUGH CAMDEN NJ. SHE LOVES YOU VERY MUCH. OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALWAYS. IF YOU NEED TO BEIN TOUCH WITH GRAM, SHE IS WITH ME IN NORTH CAROLINA. PLEASE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND STAY SAFE. YOU ARE VERY LOVED.
AUNT LEE
Nice site! Your address has been never issued to us - Family you know! Hope you are doing well and we are keeping you in our prayers for a safe return. Whitney (our daughter) deploys in February but she is on the USS Eisenhower. Pray she never sees some of what you are seeing! Thanks for all that you do and know we are all so proud of you.
Hey there ya all! Thanks for writing.
No reason to be worried at all. I love it out here actually.
you do have alot of family praying for you. be safe and let me know what i can do for you.