Reply #20: Chief Wiggles

[RandomUser]

http://chiefwiggles.blog-city.com/

He's a military intelligence guy, currently working as a strategic debriefer in Baghdad. He spent 3 months in a POW camp in the Iraqi desert, getting information from high level Iraqi generals who surrendered according to the instructions on the fliers dropped from the air. He ended up bonding with many of them and becoming lifelong friends, meeting their families who came to the camp visiting the prisoners. These Iraqi generals were the ones the very first ones to surrender, the ones who wanted to save the lives of their men, even if it meant facing Saddam's wrath.

A couple of months ago, he got transferred to Baghdad to head up the a strategic debriefing group -- connecting with Iraqi civilians who come forward with information about arms dealers, guerillas, etc. He and his partner are the ones who give the information to the people conducting scouts and raids. He never forgot about the generals he's bonded with, and even posted letters the daughters of the generals had sent him, asking for help to free their fathers. He loved the Iraqi's he had bonded with and set up an online petition drive to lobby washington, and worked through the channels lobbying American generals, culiminating in the Rummy visit to Iraq, to get the Iraqi generals released. A week or so ago, he succeeded and many of the generals were released.

He's recently set up a toy drive. Basically, people sent toys and the soldiers go on special toy trips, to deliver toys to children in hospitals and neighborhoods. The toy drive serves two purposes -- helping Iraqi children and boosting troop morale by giving soldiers the chance to put a smile on a child's face.

His was one of the blogs I followed during the Iraq war and the aftermath. It's because of him that I don't see American soldiers as evil occupiers. I made sure to read not just Salam Pax and Riverbend (Iraqi's living in Iraq), but Chief Wiggles and the blogs of other soldiers in Iraq. It helps to give you a balanced perspective from both sides. Some of the soldiers who blog support Bush, some soldier bloggers hate Bush, some Iraqi bloggers hate Bush, some Iraqi Bloggers like Bush. It's good to see all sides.