Our Allies.

Michael Yon brings you the pictures from Iraq you won't see in the Mainstream Media.

Also read this excerpt from an E-mail a friend of mine send me while he was serving as a soldier in Iraq:

I am in Iraq. What a trip it was. (...) The convoy commander (...) swore like a trucker, because, well ... she was. Girls who swear are cool because they remind me of mom :) (...)

About 11am, I crossed the berm. (...) I guess I was kind of hoping for a sign, "Welcome to Iraq. Keep our highways clean." Rather, it was noticeable only in the fact that the visible standard of living plummeted. Mud houses, out houses, and satellite dishes. This was southern Shia Iraq, one of the poorer regions, and often repressed by Saddam Hussein.

Leading up the berm that separates Iraq and Kuwait, there are signs spray painted on jersey barriers. Most of them read along the lines of this, "Don not throw food or water from vehicles. Uniform Code of Military Justice punishable offense." When you cross into Iraq, you understand the reason for the signs. The road was lined with small kids, giving the thumbs up, smiling and shouting for MREs (our field rations). To the average American soldier, smiling kids (especially ones who looked like they could use a good meal) warrants a gift of at least your candy, if not your whole meal. While the American soldier is incredibly fierce in battle, he/she is also incredibly compassionate. Many soldiers are fathers themselves and were reminded of their own kids. It was very hard for other soldiers and myself not to make a gift of our food or water.
The signs were a testament to this. However, the big picture is that we don't want kids running out in the road to get tossed MRE's when there are trucks moving around. So, I guess the signs have a point.