Here is a letter I received from a friend of mine who is working as a government contractor in Iraq:

You know, I have a lot of respect with the young men I work around here that are in the Army. I am working to restore a power plant in Taji, Iraq, and the Arkansas National Guard controls my area. Correct me if I am wrong, but this doesn't look like my nation, and it sure doesn't look like Arkansas!
Seriously, most of these soldiers are just your normal average young men, who were looking to give a little to their country, and maybe pay for an education along the way. A noble idea to better one's self, I think. Boy, did they ever get the "bonus plan". Some have been repeatedly activated now for almost 6yrs. These troops were first in Bosnia, then Afghanistan and now Iraq. I don't know when they will be able to attend that college or trade school that they so desired, but they sure are getting one hell of an "education".
Once again, maybe I am not seeing things correctly here, but isn't the very names of the "Army Reserve" and the "National Guard" indicative of their function and purpose?
Isn't a "reserve" something you put back for emergency use only, to be used after the primary has been exhausted? Since when does the United States Armed Forces have to call up their reserves to take part in a UN deployment to a 3rd World Country like Bosnia? Since when do we have to call upon our reserves to go after a couple thousand 3rd World Terrorists in Afghanistan? Since when do we need our reserves as the front line fighting force against 3rd World Terrorists in a defeated country like Iraq, who are armed only with small arms, RPGs and homemade explosive devices? (Cough, Clinton budget cuts!)
Further, doesn't the very name "Army National Guard" denote reserve soldiers who are kept to "guard" our nation's home front? As I said before, this doesn't look anything like my nation, let alone Arkansas!
Didn't the Clinton administration declare that the National Guard was the "Militia" spoken of in the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution? The original "militias" were never deployed to overseas combat were they? Even the drafts of World War I, World War II, Korea and Viet Nam never attempted to sell us the idea that the "citizen soldier" should be used as our first line of defense for Combat Readiness. You can thank the Clinton government for putting us in this position now though. I see the militia as being one or the other. I guess Clinton must have saw things differently, but then he was not actually ever in the military either.
When the "War on Terrorism" was officially kicked off on 9/11, it is estimated that Clinton had decimated our Armed Forces to roughly 1/3 the size it had been under Reagan & Bush Sr. We were reduced in equipment and manpower to the extent that we must now call upon our Reserve and Guard Units to handle even the smallest of military action. Thanks to all the wonderful budget cuts of the Clinton administration, America has put themselves in this shameful position. Is it any wonder Clinton now chooses to reside in New York City? I don't believe he would be too welcome in his home state of Arkansas. Not by the National Guard anyway...when they ever get home...if they ever get home.
I hope they all do, and I hope that they and everyone else remembers why they had to be called into service in the first place: our nation's defense took a backseat to budget slashing, at the expense of our military men and women. I believe Teddy Roosevelt said it best, "Walk softly, and carry a big stick!" Thank you Mr. Clinton, for throwing away our big stick!
These young men and women are rising to the call of duty though, paying for our mistakes, and showing courage, grace and dignity under fire. I am honored to be associated with them in any way I can. These young men and woman have restored my faith in America. The United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave. I think we must stop and remember that from time to time. It is our courage and conviction that made our country great, not double-talking politicians who would let terrorists alone to plan further attacks against American civilians at home.
When I see what is being done under the Bush administration, I once again feel the pride of being an American swell within me. I think that was possibly the biggest casualty of the Clinton administration. I sincerely hope, that as a nation, we do not allow someone else like Clinton, or Kerry, take that away once again.
God Bless Us All, and remember always our heroes who are now at war. They sacrifice their very blood in order to continue our proud tradition of making America the "land of the free and the home of the brave". So as we go about our daily lives, let's try not to waste their heroic efforts, shall we?

This doesn't sound much like a letter I would expect someone working over there to write. First who is it to. Second most people write about things they have done or are doing. This is just praising the Bush administration and bashing the Democrates. I'm not taking a position one way or the other but I find this to be a bogus made up letter like so many out there. Hey it's election year and this is just a grass roots effort to gather more support for one side. I've seen these letters go the other way too.

Not to mention that the contractors are not supposed to be giving information on who is in their area or where they specifically are....

This sounds an awful lot like those "my good friend sent me" letters that have been floating around in emails. Most are planted propaganda. I would like anon to identify him/herself and tell us why her friend would write such an impersonal letter to a friend.

here are some messages from iraq.

http://www.emrn.com/HTML/addiemessage0.htm
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I do not want to identify myself although I am a registered user. This letter is not bogus, not planted propaganda, or anti-democratic political rhetoric. Just an observation made by someone who has been working in Iraq for the past three months. He works for a construction company based out of Houston, TX (not Halliburton). Say what you will. I thought I would share his observations. This letter was sent to his friends and I just passed it on. Obviously some of you missed the point he was trying to make about the reserve and National Gaurd units especially the one out of Arkansas. You would be surprised to learn what it is really like over there. How many of you go to work every morning with a Kalishnikov (AK-47) draped over your shoulder? Yes, contract workers over there do carry weapons. How many of you have mortar rounds shot near your location? How many of you have had an RPG fired at your facility? He has described it as the Wild West and the Indians are at the gates. He likes what he is doing over there although he is in constant danger.