WEBVTT

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Yes , my name is Matthew Anderson ,

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M A T T H E

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W A N D E R S

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O N . And your current position sir ?

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My current position is the Multi

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National Corps Iraq C three

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Space operations officer .

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Okay , so the interview will go

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very very similar with with what

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captain Rogers uh and and some of the

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questions that closed at him just

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because we've got recurring themes that

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our public affairs folks want us to

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work on . So should be quick , easy and

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famous . Right , is this your first

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time director ? That's my second time .

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I was here also for O . F . One and if

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you could have just like the captain is

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kind of give me before and after our

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comparison of what you experienced and

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what you saw the first time coming into

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Iraq and what you're seeing and

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experiencing now .

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Well , the first time I was here in

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Iraq , I was a company commander and we

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basically moved up behind the third I .

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D supporting them with supplies ,

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fuel and food . So I was I was more

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exposed to the elements and exposed to

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the Iraqis as opposed to today . Where

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and then a staff position ,

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multinational corps Iraq and I'm pretty

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much pretty much stay on victory base

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and don't have a lot of exposure to the

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Iraqis . Back in 2000 and three when we

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were coming up from Kuwait saw the the

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joy in the in the eyes of the kids and

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the sides of the roads as we rolled

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northward and uh and the way they

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embraced us and embraced the coalition

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forces . Um I think they're still doing

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that now ? Of course , I'm not outside

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the base so I can't see that directly .

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But in terms of changes with the

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country , I have seen a definitely an

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increase in the infrastructure uh the

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electricity , the oil ,

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the sewer water uh back

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in 2000 and three were based southwest

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of Baghdad and we worked on some small

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projects to help the local community

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interacting with the sheikhs uh to set

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up a water pump station , some water

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purification that's now happening

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across the country . And the Iraqis

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really are in the lead and we're

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building the infrastructure up . There

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is now a military , there's a national

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police operating around the country

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and that's probably the biggest changes

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Iraqis in the lead

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uh for you sir , how do you , how does

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it make you personally feel knowing um

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you're directly involved in helping

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liberate these people and freedom from

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tyranny

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feels great . Remember on april 9 ,

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2000 and three , I was standing in my

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command post watching either CNN or Fox

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and watching them top of the Saddam

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statue and the sense of pride and

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excitement at the the way the Iraqis

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were reacting in the way they did . It

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seemed that they were taking the charge

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there and being very excited about

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being free . And I think that has held

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and that continues to hold now and I

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think they really have embraced freedom

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and uh we'll see , I think this year ,

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we'll see the government form .

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Everybody will be happy

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sir . How does it again back to your ,

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your feelings impressions . Um , uh ,

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and like the captain Rogers commented

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on the coalition forces now being more

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in the support role of the Iraqi army

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taking the lead . How does that make

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you feel ? Seeing you know , when ,

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when there was nothing before and and

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now they're up on their feet and taking

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point on so many operations now . I

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think it's great . It's great to see

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the Iraqis in the lead and uh , I just

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hope we can transition the rest of the

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country over to the Iraqis and uh , get

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out of here as soon as possible .

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Outstanding Sir . Is there a point or

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comments you'd like to make before we

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finish up ? I just want to say hi to my

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family , my wife and three beautiful

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daughters in colorado Springs colorado .

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And uh say thank you to the american

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people for the continued support of the

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american fighting men and women over

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here in Iraq .

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Okay , sir , thank you very much for

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your time today . I appreciate it .

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Thank you sir .