It has been a while since I have written to my friends at First
Lutheran Church about what's really going on here in Iraq.
The news you watch on TV is exaggerated, sensationalized
and selective. Good news doesn't sell. The stuff you don't
hear about on CNN?

Let's start with Electrical Power production in Iraq. The day
after the war was declared over, there was nearly 0 power
being generated in Iraq. 45 days later, in a partnership between
the Army, the Iraqi people and some private companies, there
are now 3200 mega watts (Mw) of power being produced daily,
1/3 of the total national potential of 8000 Mw. Downed power
lines (big stuff, 400 Kilovolt (Kv) and 132 Kv) are being repaired
and are about 70% complete.

Then there is water purification. In central Iraq between Baghdad
and Mosul, home of the 4th Infantry Division, water treatment was
spotty at best. The facilities existed, but the controls were never
implemented. Simple chemicals like Chlorine for purification and
Alum (Aluminum Sulfate) for sediment settling (the Tigris River is
about as clear as the Mississippi River) were in very short supply
or not used at all. When chlorine was used, it was metered by the
scientific method of guessing. So some people got pool water to
drink and some people got water with lots of little things floating
around in it. We are slowly but surely solving that. Contracts
for repairs to facilities that are only 50% or less operational are
being let, chemicals are being delivered, although we don't have
the metering problem solved yet (...but again, it's only been 45
days).

How about oil and fuel? Well the war was all about oil wasn't it?
You bet it was. It was all about oil for the Iraqi people! They have
no other income, they produce nothing else. Oil is 95% of the Iraqi
GNP. For this nation to survive, it MUST sell oil. The Refinery at
Bayji is at 75% of capacity producing gasoline. The crude pipeline
between Kirkuk (Oil Central) and Bayji will be repaired by tomorrow
(2 June). LPG, what all Iraqi's use to cook and heat with, is at 103%
of normal production and WE, the US ARMY, are insuring it is being
distributed FAIRLY to ALL Iraqis. You have to remember that only
3 months ago, ALL these things were used by the Sadam regime as
weapons against the population keep them in line. If your town
misbehaved, gasoline shipments stopped, LPG pipelines and trucks
stopped, Water was turned off, power was turned off. Now, until
exports start, every drop of gasoline produced goes to the Iraqi people.
Crude oil is being stored and the country is at 75% capacity right now.
They need to export or stop pumping soon... so thank the UN for the delay.

ALL LPG goes to the Iraqi people EVERYWHERE. Water is being
purified as best it can be, but at least it's running all the time to
everyone. Are we still getting shot at? Yep. Are American Soldiers
still dying? Yep, about 1a day from my outfit, the 4th Infantry
Division, most in accidents, but dead is dead.

If we are doing all this for the Iraqis, why are they shooting at us? The
general Iraqi population isn't shooting at us. There are still bad guys,
who won't let go of the old regime. They are Ba'ath party members
(Read Nazi Party, but not as nice) who have known nothing but and
supported nothing but the regime all of their lives. These are the thugs
for the regime that caused many to disappear in the night. They have
no other skills. At least the Nazis had jobs and a semblance of a
national infrastructure that they could go back to after the war... as
plumbers, managers, engineers, etc.,... these people have no skills
but terror. They are simply applying their skills... and we are applying
ours.

There is no Christian way to say this... but they must be eliminated
and we are doing so with all the efficiency we can muster. Our
troops are shot at literally everyday by small arms and Rocket
Propelled Grenades (RPGs). We respond. 100% of the time, the
Ba'ath party guys come out with the short end of the stick. The
most amazing thing to me is that they don't realize that if they
stopped shooting at us, we would focus on fixing things more
quickly andthen go on back to the land of the Big PX. The more
they shoot at us, the longer we will have to stay.

Lastly, all of you please realize that 90% of the damage you see
on TV was caused by Iraqis, NOT by us and not by the war. Sure
we took out a few bridges from military necessity, we took out a few
power and phone lines to disrupt communications, sure we drilled
a few palaces and government headquarters buildings with 2000 lb.
laser guided bombs (I work 100 yards from where two hit the Tikrit
Palace), he had plenty to spare. But, ANY damage you see to schools,
hospitals, power generation facilities, refineries, pipelines, was ALL
caused either by the Iraqi Army in its death throes or from much of
the Iraqi civilians looting the places. Could we have prevented it?
Nope. We can and do now, but 45 days ago the average soldier
was fighting for his own survival and trying to get to his objectives as
fast as possible. He was lucky to know what town he was in much
less be informed enough to know who owned what or have the power
to stop a 1,000 people from looting and burning a building by himself.

The United States and our allies, especially Great Britain, are doing
a very noble thing here. We stuck our necks out on the world's chopping
block to free an entire people from the grip of a horrible terror that was
beyond belief. I've already talked the weapons of mass destruction
thing to death, ...bottom line, who cares? This country was one big
conventional weapons ammo dump anyway. We have probably
destroyed more weapons and ammo in the last 30 days than the US
Army has ever fired in the last 30 years (Remember, this is a country
the size of Texas), so drop the WMD argument as the reason we came
here... if we find it GREAT, if we don't, SO WHAT?

I'm living in a "guest palace" on a 500 acre palace compound with 20
palaces with like facilities built in half a dozen towns all over Iraq that
were built for one man. Drive down the street and out into the countryside
5 miles away like I have and see all the families of 10 or more, all living
in mud huts and herding the two dozen sheep on which their very existence
depends... then tell me why you think we are here.

WMD? important... have to find 'em wherever they may be (...in Syria?),
but not OUR real motivator. Don't let it be yours either.

Respectfully,

ERIC RYDBOM
MAJOR, ENGINEER
Deputy Division Engineer
4th Infantry Division.