With the troops in Baghdad and Balad

Well, I had really hoped to blog every single day I was in Iraq, but the schedule was so tight, and connectivity so hard to come by due to the logistics of where we were staying that I just couldn’t. Anyway, how do I put my trip into a nutshell? Bottom line, I saw firsthand that our troops and our strategy are working. Captain Garcia took us to a school in Balad (wow, I never thought I’d be in an MRAP convoy—those vehicles are HUGE…so glad the troops now have that protection!) where not only did we get loved by 400 little girls (about 6 years to 14 years old), but the Mayor of Balad and about 4 city council members were there(see photo above, the Mayor is to my left). I was impressed by Captain Garcia’s diplomacy skills as we talked with these men through an interpreter. They were grateful for the school supplies we brought…and then asked us point blank if we could help them build schools. I told them that if it weren’t for the monumental logistics of building right now, we’d be there. Hopefully soon. By the way, this was trip was sponsored by American Airlines, and Operation Iraqi Children in cooperation with the Department of Defense. The whole purpose is to “help the soldiers help the children” and in so doing, our efforts support the troops and their overall strategy to win the hearts and minds of the people. It sure seemed to me like they have succeeded. We took 20,000 tons of school supplies for the soldiers to distribute throughout Iraq…and from what I saw in Balad, those kids and teachers will be hugging our soldiers for a long time.