My Interview With Rob Ballew - Part 1

This interview was sparked by Rob's piece here: Hello from Baghdad

For this interview I am taking off my pundit hat and putting on my old journalist's hat (it's a fedora, if you must know). I'm setting aside my opinions about the war and the news media.
Instead I thought I could be of more use asking some of the questions that I figure many want asked of Rob …. I admit I don't know Rob well and I get the impression he and I might disagree on many issues. But he has a story to tell and I want to help him tell it. So I asked him if he'd consent – as Walt D did – to an interview via email.

Here are the resultsof the first part of what will be a multi-part interview. I'm shooting for part two to go up around Sunday but between the war and my job taking me offline for 24 hours at a time logistics is a bit tricky.

Let me set this up by quoting from Rob's piece:

That was until May 31, my unit was activated and I was sent for my second tour of Iraq. We are going on our second month here. Time is hard to find here, especially when we are outside the "wire" doing missions. Thus my lack of postings and articles, for this I apologize.

So what is it like in Iraq? First of all it is freaking hot, High temps in the 100's. With all of our gear ( which I hate) the temps can become unbearable even in A\C. It is also pretty boring, missions only take a few hours and for the most part action is only a few seconds long. When not on missions we spend time watching movies, working out or thinking of our lives back home. And although there is an occasional mortar attack or fire fight we all actually feel pretty safe in our base camp.

Iraq is still a mess with blown up buildings as well as vehicles not to mention trash strewn out all over the road. Making it a pretty tough ride when scanning for IED's or EFP's any piece of trash or curve can be a death trap...

How has your position on the war changed as a result of you going over and fighting in it?

Not to much really. This is my second tour here and if nothing else it has helped to strengthen my resolve to finish what we started and make sure we leave Iraq a stable country. And to give the people here a chance at the life a lot of us take for granted.

War is not fun for anyone and whether you agree with the keeping our troops here or not, we still owe it to the Iraqi people to keep on working to help them stabilize their country. And believe it or not most soldiers I talk to tend to feel the same way. If only Congress and the people back home had the
resolve the troops have.

What has been the biggest surprise for you in fighting in Iraq?

That the media sensationalizes everything. I even fell for the act.

Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of bad stuff going on here. But this is not the "quagmire" the press makes it out to be. Our morale is high here even with the bad there is a whole @!$%# ton of good going on too. The way the most media puts it we are fighting a losing battle, but i really can't say we are losing. I just feel that way and I'm here in the thick of it.

What is the biggest misconception that you've noticed about life in Iraq?

For soldiers or for Iraqi citizens?

Well, for soldiers, it is not really the hell everyone makes it out to be..

We have access to the Internet, showers, pretty decent chow, gyms, and all the things we need to sustain ourselves. Truth is, it is paradise compared to my last tour in 2003. Now, yes, it is dangerous here: Mortars, IED's and ambushes can happen at any time. But we are trained to react to these things and highly professional in our jobs.

For Iraqi's other than fear of insurgent, I see them doing there best to make their lives better. Little businesses popping up. Iraqi's working for us. As I have written before, the Iraqis will be fine - they just need help to get where they can take care of themselves.

How much interaction have you had with Iraqis. I know some say the Iraqis want us there, some say they don't: what has been your experience and observations?

I don't interact very often due to our movement times and curfew, But for the most part the IP's and IA tend to work well with us. Not to mention the citizen task forces set out all over to help protect their roads. It is actually pretty neat to see the Iraqi people standing up for themselves.

What kind of work specifically are you doing there?

I don't know whether or not I can answer that but it pretty dangerous at times.

If I asked you where you were specifically would you have to kill me? In Baghdad is about all I can say any more and I will have to kill ya. ;)

Have you been following the news about Blackwater (the controversial private security firm). What are your thoughts about it?

Not to much, really. There seems to be a love hate relationship with these private firms, at least in my book. Part of the reason is because we do the same damn job, making a hell of a lot less money. On the other hand they do help keep troop levels down. There is good and bad to them.

I do feel the ROE (Rules of Engagement) should be the same across the board whether civilian or soldier. We have very strict rules we have to adhere to, if for nothing else than keep ourselves and the Iraqi people safe.

How much access do you have to the news media? Is Internet access restricted? Are you going to get in
trouble for just doing this interview?

Bunch of questions there. Well, for the first one. We get plenty of access: CNN or FOX in the chow hall, a daily newspaper and yes we have full access to the internet. Me get into trouble? I have no clue, I usually have a good way of wiggling myself out of trouble for such a big guy;)

What do you need there that we, us newsviners, can provide? Books? Music? Wacky articles about Britney Spears?

Maybe some hot pics of either Jessica, Biel or Alba. Truthfully, we are doing fine and to know that people back home are still behind us, no matter what they feel of the war, is all any of us need. This is our job and we as American soldiers must put away any partisan feelings we have and do our jobs and hopefully come home safe and sound to our families.

ADDED:

Scott,
IP = Iraqi Police
IA = Iraqi Army
Thanks,
Dan

(I asked him for a mini-bio) I have been in the military for over 14 years now 3 on active duty with the 10th mountain Division, And the last 11 plus years in the National Guard. I have been to Iraq twice, First in '03 and now. I volunteered this time because I couldn't let my friends/brothers (sorry I am in a all male unit) go it without me.

Back To Top

	Hello from Baghdad.	Rob Ballew	Tue Oct 2	114
	Part 2 of My Interview With Rob Bellew, Who Is In Iraq	Scott (Scoop) Butki	Fri Oct 5	18
	Caring for One Another - Part I	bcobbweb	Wed Oct 3	1