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Letter Home

Sep-10-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

Sgt. Joseph Sanchez, who is responsible for many of the TFO press releases you see here, shares a letter home in this column.

[Link to Full Article]

[...] During my 15-day leave, a lot happened in Iraq that included such events as the car bombings on June 24 (in Mosul), the passing of sovereignty to the Iraqi people two days early and the arraignment of Saddam Hussein.

All of these events, which took place within a week of each other, have had a dramatic effect on the ground and on the psyche of the people.

The turning point, as told to me by my many translators, the local Mosul newspaper editors that I work closely with and my Arabic friends, was the multiple car bombs on July 24 in Mosul. More than 60 were killed and 200 injured in three attacks that day in Mosul. Well, for the first time, it has had an opposite or reverse effect on public opinion as citizens have turned against the terrorists. It seems that the Iraqi people in Mosul have had enough. . . . In the past, they would thrust their anger towards the coalition and blame us. Since the attack was so close to the June 30 handover of power, the people viewed the attack as an attack against them and not the coalition. Now every terrorist or sabotage attack is viewed in this manner and the people are rallying around each other to root out the insurgents.

Be sure to read the rest.


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