Iraq's Untlold Story: Starting From Scratch

Today I direct you to weekly newsletter by Texas Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Paul Farr posted by Marines Lance Cpl. Michael Lubke (think I got all that right!). Writing from Iraq, Farr highlights some of the latest work done to rebuild the infrastructure of an entire nation--or, in many cases, building it for the first time:

...This has been a very busy week, which is the way we prefer it as it helps the time go by quicker. We visited the two water projects this week and I’m happy to report they are 100% complete as far as we are concerned. Now it’s up to the Mayor to hold up his end of the bargain and get the pipe netting to run to houses, as he promised. The completion of the two water projects marks an end to the bulk of our missions these past two months, overseeing every step of the projects. From the selection of the projects, to the selection of the contractors, to checking on the projects weekly to ensure the terms of the contracts were being met, we are proud of the work done. The team can leave Central Iraq knowing we helped the Iraqi people in this region in ways the other units did not. Although we have been in this area since April, we didn’t receive funding for projects until the middle of August. On September 9^th we started laying two electrical lines, refurbishing three schools, and building two water sanitation/distribution sites with a price tag of just over $366,000 USD. In a little over a month all projects are complete and the people benefiting from them are very pleased. Several thousand people are enjoying electricity, many for the first time in their lives. Children are returning to schools once run down and forgotten by Hussein’s regime. Once the Mayor is able to provide the necessary pipe network, several thousand more will enjoy clean potable water for the first time in their lives. As we continue to explain nearly every time we go out, the Coalition Forces can not reverse 3 decades of damage inflicted by Saddam Hussein and his henchmen in the 2 ½ years we have been here....

There's much more to read, and lots of photos that, I am just guessing here, you don't see very often in the Post. On the other hand, Farr's 128,000 readers do.

Rerouting around the mainstream media, one blogger at a time.