Iraqi Officer Challenges Media Misinformation about Coalition Forces
Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 12:13AM This isn’t Saddam’s Army anymore. It used to be that Iraqi soldiers intimidated civilians, but now in the new Iraq they are interfacing with the population and building relationships with the locals. They even visit classrooms and read to school children. It is now considered a part of their duty to build trust between the two.
Civil Affairs Officer MAJ Zyad Junade Omar of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraq Army Division also bridges the gap between locals and Coalition Forces as he tries to set the record straight on misinformation by some Arab media that portray U.S. soldiers in a negative light.
Take for example the positive domino effect that MAJ Zyad had in his community:
He described a conversation with his son, Tarik, 6, who after watching an Arabic newscast, asked Zyad why he was working with the “bad coalition forces.”
“I told my son that the news was wrong, and then I took him to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Warrior where my U.S. friends showered him with candy and presents during a party they were having,” Zyad said.
Since then, his son corrects any misgivings other Iraqi children may have about the coalition presence here. “I thought it was important to invite the (coalition forces) to our schools and other projects we undertake in the community, so that the Iraqi people can see that the IA (Iraqi Army) and CF (Coalition Forces) are partners in the rebuilding of a new Iraq.” he said.
Well, whaddya know. U.S. forces aren’t so bad after all. And neither are Iraqi Forces. Despite what in the West glean from our news sources about Muslims being completely violent, intolerant and inhumane, we see evidence to the contrary all over Iraq, and considering what the Iraqi Army used to be under Saddam, it is a remarkable testament to their character.
The Iraqi Forces, mostly Muslim made up of different sects, promote unity between Arab, Turkman, Kurd, and Christian. In December they visited an Assyrian Christian school for a Christmas party at the invitation of the Christians. Despite misperceptions, Muslims and Christians can coexist very well.
Why is the Iraqi Army going the extra mile? For the same reason U.S. soldiers do it.: for their children and their future. COL Tariq Wasah Fakhri said, “Whatever we can do for our children, we should do. We are helping to rebuild a better Iraq and a better future for our children.”
Now it’s our job to stop the spread of misinformation about Iraqis in our sphere of influence. Go and do likewise.
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Reader Comments (17)
Mission Accomplished!
So hostile against Muslims doing well, mudkitty. I'm beginning to think you're racist who prefers Arabs live under a Saddam Hussein than in a free democracy.
I've seen no indications to the contrary in any of your comments about Iraqis.
Great post, Amy...
And I keep seeing all these "ominous" articles in the major papers, about how it's all going to fall apart.
Thanks again!
More evidence of General D. H.Petraeus’ vision.
Hillary R. C. continues her "misinformation " from the bully pulpit during the dem. primary stump. She keeps saying that Bush and this decision to help Iraq was a failure. I’m beginning to wonder if Hillary does not understand that the world is full of “other people” then besides herself.
Fantastic post, it made my day.
Look when a governemnt kills a million people our media call him a strongman and kow tow to him. In reality the liberation of the people Iraqm even the counter-revolution launched in the aftermath was better then hussein.
Amy, in that case you would be incorrect and un-insightful.
In fact, I didn't make a comment about Iraqi's at all, now did I? You just bore false witness against me by implication. You need to confess.
Come on girl, you need to up your game. I have "faith" in you, that you can do it.
I'm sorry, mudkitty. Why don't you explain your "mission accomplished" comment so I don't have to misinterpret it?
I thought you were against the war, which means you'd prefer to have things in Iraq the way they were. Maybe I misinterpreted that, too.
So Amy, you disagree with "Mission Accomplished?"
Amy, Amy, Amy...don't you know, that getting rid of Saddam was not the point, but merely the excuse?
How so? An excuse for what?
For invading and occupying a sovereign nation that had nothing to do with 9/11 (according to Bush himself.) What did you think?
Why would Bush want to invade another country? What have we gotten out of it?
Iraq may have been sovereign, but Saddam was an international outlaw. He also fired an estimated 400 times at our Air Force over the no fly zone and tried to assassinate George H.W. Bush in Kuwait. We had ever right to invade this sovereign country that by the way the majority of Iraqis wanted to happen. The Shia uprising was a powerful movement to overthrow Saddam but they couldn't do it without outside assistance. Clinton promised aid but of course he was all lip service.
So by taking sides with Shia Muslims, we are taking sides with a religion...? No? You said it yourself.
As for what we've gotten out of it...dip - you sound like a liberal.
What? Taking sides with Shia Muslims? How about trying to prevent genocide? Do you support saving Darfur? How is that different? I don't mean to be condescending, but Sunni and Shia are both Muslim so to say supporting the overthrow of Saddam is supporting the Shia "religion" is an ignorant statement.
If I really sounded liberal you'd like me, mud.
And of course you cannot point toward a self-serving result of overthrowing Iraq. The sacrifice of our soldiers is proof of that. We reap a benefit eventually down the road but the end result is a free, thriving Iraq which benefits the entire Middle East.
You haven't prevented genocide, you've promoted it, Amy.
The Sunni's don't support "de-Bathification." Talk about genocide! As for Muslims, Islam is a religion, not a race. Shia's and Sunni's derive their distinction from the fact that one religious faction is Arab/Semitic, and one religious faction is not. Big, HUGE, Monumental difference, though they both share the same religion. The problem between the two religious factions is not religious, it's tribal, and racial. Bush basically took a baseball bat to that hornet's nest. Not the way to go about it rightwingers!
As for whose benefiting, just look at the the last 5 year run Mulit-national, and International, and U.S. defense companies have had in the stock market. My dear, you are either naive, or deliberately obtuse.
Mud's logic leads to a maze of dead-ends and horrible consequences. That's what she wants.
mudd, I just cannot take you seriously. You have no clue what you're talking about. You're just too uneducated on the subject and I simply don't have the time to personally tutor you. I've written many, many articles and posted videos that go into detail about the insurgency, counterinsurgency, bebaathification, sectarianism, and you simply don't listen to the experts in the field on this issue.
I listen to subject matter experts, not armchair QBs like yourself. You obviously haven't been reading my blog lately or following the reconciliation process between Christians, Sunni and Shia, nor do you knwo the difference between them.
Bill Clinton even said when he signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998:
You're even willing to sell out bro. Bill in order to be right on something you know nothing about! Unlike you, I accept the truth whether it comes from a good (like GEN Petraeus) or bad (like B. Clinton) person.
Brian - you're wrong to the point of out right lying.
And, Amy, what does Bill Clinton have to do with Bush's execution of his war on Iraq? Or is Bill Clinton the smokescreen you always out up when you don't have a good response? What next? You're going to blame the Civil War on Bill Clinton? When in doubt, yell "It's Bill Clinton's fault!"