Interview With An Iraqi General

No not me. My friend Sgt. Tim. Boggs over at T.F. Boggs told me he had this lined up about two weeks ago.

I have been pestering him daily, asking when he would have the post up. I just checked my email and got this message from Tim:

Rick,

I just got back from Interviewing the Iraqi General and it was just amazing. This story is going to be huge and I ask that you can do all you can to promote it. His answers were beyond anything I could hope for.

If you are not familiar with his blog T.F. Boggs, I will tell you he is one of the best milbloggers around with consistently great posts at both his blog and Michael Yon's great online magazine. Sgt. Boggs is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Here is a small excerpt of his post:

I wrote a story for Michael Yon’s Frontline Forum a week ago about the town I am stationed in right now named Qayyarah. Qayyarah is a model for other Iraqi cities because it was once a haven for terrorists but is now safe enough for anyone to travel around in without fear of terrorists. The main reason for the safety of Qayyarah lies with one man: General Ali. He is a myth-like figure around our base and everyone knows his name. He is a strict military man but is the type of man Iraq needs so desperately right now. I hope people the world over will read this interview and learn just what kind of men are in Iraq right now willing to take control of their own country. What follows is the truth. It comes directly from the mouth of a man who knows intimately what is going on in Iraq and knows where Iraq has come from and where it needs to go.

General Ali: Yes, yes, yes. They believe me and I believe them. All the soldiers that have worked here know General Ali. I invite them to my house to eat with me and to train with me. I know they came to help the Iraqi people. That is why I work with them, that is why I tell my people the truth about the coalition. Before they might have disliked the US army because they did not have the real picture of the soldiers. I told the people though how the US army fought for us and also how they did projects for us. They fixed the schools, made roads, and made many things for the people of Iraq. The people see how we caught the terrorists, how we made it safe, they see that is more comfortable then under Saddam’s regime.

This is a long interview so Tim has broken it up into two parts. He will post Part 2 Wednesday so stay tuned.

I also have a small post up at my blog here.