Monday, April 12, 2004

Remember who we are dealing with

Regardless of the many incidences of violence against our forces in Iraq, the majority of the Iraqi citizens support our efforts to bring peace and stability to their country. They, for the most part, are with us all the way, using other more peaceful means to do their part in accomplishing this goal. Through their efforts the majority of Iraqi cities remain calm and orderly, despite the efforts of a few to disrupt that.

We must understand that these aggressive acts against us are being waged by a small group of displaced Fedayeen soldiers, ex-intelligence officers, displaced Ba’ath Party members, Saddam loyalists, and insurgent foreign fighters. These wanted criminals have nothing to lose, hanging on to the hope that disorder and instability will perhaps weaken our resolve to continue the pursuit for freedom.

Even Moktada Al Sadr’s fanatical group of religious zealots is very small in comparison and does not represent the majority of Muslims in any way. Yes, as the news media reports, Al Sadr has been on our radar screen for some time, as we have looked for a way to peacefully remove him, without creating a martyr. Al Sadr represents a small group of very uneducated, extremely poor Muslims, who blindly follow this self proclaimed religious leader’s direction to create havoc and mayhem.

He is only looking to add validity to his desire for acceptance and position in the Muslim world, hoping through reconciliation with the U.S., it will legitimatize his campaign. He continues to fight against the majority of Muslims, using radical means to hopefully initiate change. He basically has a group of thugs who will stop at nothing to destabilize the existing Muslim Shiite hierarchy, centered on the Circle of Knowledge, headed by Sisany.

The message is clear. The majority of Iraqis are peace seeking people who are kind, loving, and appreciative of all that we have done for them. This was demonstrated to me personally on numerous occasions as they welcomed me into their homes with open arms, presenting me to their families as their brother, sharing their food and hospitality and all that they had to offer me.

Over all I found the people very generous and kind, but lacking in know-how and initiative to do much about their plight, having been accustomed to being controlled by a heavy hand holding a big stick. We need to help them erase the fears that have kept them frozen in their tracks.

I really need some volunteers 

All of us at Operation Give continue our efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people through the children, as we press forward with our plans to provide toys, school supplies, and medical supplies. My team of soldiers and Iraqi civilians are busy moving the containers into our warehouse and taking toys out to children, touching them with good old American generosity.

I really appreciate all of you who continue to send in your generous donations to assist our cause. Our warehouse is filling up with great stuff, as we prepare to fill another 40-foot container with fantastic toys and school supplies.

We have a problem though. We have all these boxes that need to be sorted and repackaged to make the best use of our space. We need to sort like items into the same box and make sure they are repacked, shrink wrapped and palletized for shipping.

I really need some volunteers to help me in accomplishing this task. I could use some community groups, like Church groups, or Veterans from Foreign Wars, or any other organization to volunteer. Please call me if you have time to volunteer to help out. It isn’t hard work and any one can do it. If we can get enough people out at the warehouse we can get it done in no time at all. Any amount of time would be appreciated. I will bring the cold drinks.

Our Current Projects

I have been going around speaking at schools, churches, and neighborhoods to spread the message of all the good that is happening in Iraq and to promote the cause of Operation Give in hopes of collecting as much school supplies and toys as possible. 

Right now my son Matthew is working with local schools to collect supplies the last week of school as the students clean out their lockers. We are betting there will be a lot of stuff the kids would usually just throw away at the end of this school year. We are planning on conveniently placing large boxes around the schools so the students can throw in their left over pencils, paper, binders, books, markers, rulers, calculators, etc.

Several of the schools have asked me to speak for 10 minutes or so at a school assembly to launch the donation campaign. We are also in the process of making posters and fliers to pass around to communicate our message. We would love to work with any school wanting to participate in such a program.

We are also working with a number of Scouts who have designated this as their Eagle Scout Project, hoping to collect new and slightly used toys and school supplies from their local community and neighborhood. A number of Scouts have been calling to see what might be done and how to go about gathering up such supplies.

We welcome any ideas and new opportunities to further this cause.

Thanks for all your support and willingness to help, evident through your generous donations. Let’s not lose our momentum.

Getting the supplies to our soldiers

In our efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, it is the soldiers who are anxious to participate in handing out the toys and school supplies. The soldiers hope the people will change their perspective and attitudes about the soldier’s true intentions relating to the Iraqi’s freedom.

We are hoping to put a good percentage of the toys and supplies into the hands of our own military servicemen, who come in contact with Iraqis on a daily basis.  I have received numerous emails from soldiers hoping to acquire either supplies or a means for shipping existing supplies. I am working closely with a number of soldiers who have expressed such desires and requested assistance in shipping school supplies.

We will work with any individual, group, or organization who wishes to gather up donations but lack the means to get the contributions to our soldiers, mailing costs being somewhat prohibitive.

If you are a military person or know someone in the military over in Iraq or Afghanistan and wish to get involved in providing school supplies, toys, or medical supplies for the children of those countries, please contact me immediately.

Thanks so much. Have a great day.

Chief Wiggles

Doing it the Wiggles way.