The past week has seen both an increase in temperatures and an increase in violence here. Unfortunately, the violence has been particularly deadly for the Iraqi citizens who have not picked up arms against the coalition. It is pretty obvious here that the insurgents have determined that their best course of action is to kill any Iraqi who assists the coalition in any way. This means that even if a man hates Americans with every fiber of his being but takes a job pulling weeds around a US base, he is subject to be killed. The mujahadeen literally wait outside the bases near the highway and watch for Iraqis leaving a base. They either flag them down or they simply pull up along side of them and empty a magazine from an AK47 in to the vehicle. This occurs daily - many times a day here. Of course we are out there patrolling and trying to interdict these murders but it simply pushes the muj back and they wait further down the road. The amazing thing is that the Iraqis keep coming to work because they want to feed their families. Lately, the workers have started to arm themselves and there have been full blown shoot outs in the streets.

The following is a recap of events that have happened in our zone in the past week. Early in the week, one of our translators (Iraqi guy out of Baghdad) left one of our outposts and walked into a local restaurant to get some food. Three masked men came in to the restaurant and took him out. He has disappeared. We have made every effort to recover the guy but of course, no one knows anything.

Two days ago, a couple of boys that do odd jobs around one of our positions came in upset. They saw three dead bodies in Falluja on their way out of town that morning. We sent the Iraqi Police in to investigate and they brought the bodies out to our position. All three were Iraqi contractors who worked on American bases. One was a generator technician on our base. All three had their hands tied behind their back. All three had been beaten severely. One was shot in the face and another was shot in abdomen. The third was beaten and stabbed to death. Just like that, these criminals went out and picked up three men, all with families and then proceeded to torture and kill them, leaving their bodies in an alley.

What is even more outrageous is that no doubt that the people who are extolling the muj to go out and commit these crimes are the same ones who later in the day demand that we provide "more jobs." However, the jobs that they want are simply hand outs. They want us to give them large sums of money so that they can hire their own people. Of course, only a fraction of the money (if any) gets to the people. The majority go to the same band of criminals who have been running this society for decades. There is one local imam who is deeply involved with the insurgents who we suspect gets 30% off the top of all contracts! Again, the hypocrisy is astounding. This same guy will get up during Friday prayers and claim that we are trying to steel Iraq's oil and subjugate its people, meanwhile he is stealing a third of the money going into the town.

We have had some successes this week that you should know about. Earlier in the week, the muj mortared the same small town that I wrote about last week. Tragically some women and little girls were grievously wounded. As the Marines in the area responded to the attack, the mujahadeen attempted to ambush them. They set off a car bomb on the patrol and then opened up with RPGs and machine gun fire. Three Marines were wounded. All will recover. However, the Marines fought through the ambush and during a running firefight that lasted for hours and several kilometers, they hunted down and killed 7 mujahadeen and captured 2. That alone is another example of the heroics that the young Marines are executing daily. However, the truly encouraging element of the firefight was the response of a few Iraqi security forces guys who were operating with Marines in the area at same time.

At one point, the firefight was ongoing near an Iraqi Police station that was attacked at around the same time as the patrol above. A truck load of muj drove up and opened up on the police station. A small group of Marines were in the Police station in a joint position with Iraqi Police. The few Marines held firm and returned fire. Most of the Iraqi police fled. However, a handful stayed and fought with the Marines. While the Marines and Iraqi police held, the joint patrol of Marines and ICDC moved in to support. The ICDC soldiers did great and actually attacked a building where the muj were firing from. They are led by a Marine lieutenant who, along with his platoon has lived with them for months (another great story).

The Marines captured an Iraqi on a nearby rooftop who was videotaping the attack on the police station so the muj could use it for recruiting purposes. Imagine that, they want to record and gloat over attacks that target innocent Iraqis who are trying to raise their country up and maybe make better lives for their children. Of course, they do not have the courage to acknowledge the mortar attack that hurt the women and children. Inevitably, they blame it on the US.

There is so much shame in this society that the people cannot believe that fellow Iraqis would do such a thing. The people simply deny such an attack occurred without bothering to reason through the facts. However, when their fellow countrymen respond courageously and with honor, the message resonates. On these occasions, the lights come on and people talk openly about how much they hate the muj. Maybe even for a little while they see that a better future is possible. Unfortunately, when this happens, the insurgents recognize it immediately and act out brutally against the people in order to re-install the atmosphere of fear and instability that is required for them to succeed.

Slowly but surely, it feels like we are gaining ground. The heat and environment take their toll but you would be amazed at what the young men and women are doing out there every day.

I am copying the text of an article printed in Baghdad that clearly illustrates the chasm that is the cultural divide here. We get a kick out of these incidents when they happen. Inevitably, we stand slack jawed during moments like this. Doubt that you get a chance to hear about them but they serve as good entertainment. Have a great vacation,

Love,