Iraq through the eyes of a Danish grunt..

[Vicelord John]

Really interesting stuff, but that place sucks!

[Chef]

It is fascinating to see an historical event through the eyes of those participating in it. This seems so much more real than the news. Thanks for posting these.

[-AX-]

One of the most facinating thread I've seen on SSP. Period.

[dfane]

awesome photos Freki
and thanks for your serving
god bless

[dfane]

Originally Posted by FREKI

Maybe if you read up on the actual facts you'd feel differently..

First of all, none of these pics are from the invasion, I didn't get to the country before early fall 03 making the begining of the pics from the occupation and the rest from when the Iraqi government had asked us to stay and assist

Second the "war/liberation/invasion" call it whatever you want was done with several UN resolutions backing it and as all following trials have shown was perfectly legit..

And finally about that "went terrible wrong" part - southern Iraq is coalition troop free, it's now a democracy with safer streets than you'll find in most of the US - and the shiites aren't killed or oppressed by the Baath party or Saddam anymore, just as larger tribes such as the Bani Maliks or militias such as the Mehdi aren't allowed to run free or bully others anymore..


So while I certainly won't try to justify the way the military action was sold to the US or some other places, I will ask you to look at the facts for the area these pictures are covering

We were there to help the people, we assisted the police, we assisted the government, we funded infrastructure and we secured cooking gas and drinking water to an area of and with nearly the same population/size of Denmark and we trained new soldiers and police who are now themself under their new elected democratic government running the place pretty succesfully...
I wouldn't ask you to, but I would ask you to look up the facts before speaking out falsely like that..

It's not without reason the UN desperatly tried to help the Shiites for 10+years before what should have been done in '91 was finally done..

Saddam put these people on the frontline of 30 years of war - he starved them, he killed them, he drained their marshes, he stopped their water supply, he mined their fishing zone and fields and he tortured, he conscripted them to fight attack Iran, to attack Kuwait and later to defend against the most powerful military force ever assembled doing Desert Storm and under OIF and executed people by the 10.000's and send even more in jail without reason leaving their families to starve without a provider..


If there is anybody on this planet I sympathizers with it's the southern Iraqis and I am happy I got a chance to do something with my life that ment a lot to a lot of people and hopefully will mean even more to the many generations to come who will grow up in a free, secure and hopefully rich nation after all that suffering and pain

F that guy
He is just blinded by hate and intolerance.
You had a job and you did it. Unfortunately there are alot of people out there who will not appreciate or understand the facts of the world.

[dfane]

Originally Posted by Trantor

you seem to forget that Brazil was a dictatorship not long ago... in fact, in my first ten years of life, the country was still a dictatorship, if you consider the end of it with the first direct election of a president since the 60s...

not only we didnt need foreigners to free us (nor did any other S.American dictatorship) as in fact it was the US itself who quite supported and even trained these S.American dictatorships grunts and secret polices.

Brazil didnt have foriegn troops invading because they were not invading neighbors, killing millions of its own people, breaking resolution after resolution etc etc.
Sadaam was a bad man and of course there are alot of bad men out there, but he had an embargo that countries like France, China and Russia ignored and profited off of the death and misery of the people there for cheap oil (and they were the biggest opponents to the war of course), he played games witht he inspectors. It would be the equivilent of the Germans shooting at planes in no fly zones and breaking resolutions during the marshall plan.
Its not like Freki was there on vacation

[Nightsky]

I looked at your pictures again...probably the most unusual photos on SSP!

[edsas]

Sorry I missed this the first time around. Stunning photos, FREKI!

I understand your reluctance to have posted them initially, but there are more of us here that appreciate what you guys did over there than you might think.

[DLLB]

Absolutely wonderful thread.

Gives a good idea of what it is like there. WOW, you guys are very brave to have served there (as are soldiers serving anywhere)!

[Infernal_Elf]

thanks alot for sharing theese pictures

and its really brave of you to potentially risk your own life to help bring peace in Iraq

good to see Iraq from some other angle

[CanadianCentaur]

Those are incredible pics!

Glad you chose to show us Iraq from a viewpoint not many people get to see.

[Jounouchi11]

Originally Posted by Reverberation

world one unlucky kids they are growing up among conflict

[Black Star]

An amazing viewpoint of of you're tour.

Is that you on the tank turret?

Is that a WWII Russian tank?

[Ray]

Hero of the Wastes!

[FREKI]

^

Thanks all for the feedback!


It's been 7 years since I was last there.. no more foreign troops anymore.. I sure hope they get the future they deserve.. it will take hard work, but what doesn't..

Originally Posted by BLACK STAR

Is that you on the tank turret?

Is that a WWII Russian tank?

Yup it's me

It's a T55 so not quite WWII era, but plenty old..