WEBVTT 00:00.860 --> 00:03.380 I'd like to start off very generally , 00:03.390 --> 00:06.300 just kind of tell us a how how are 00:06.300 --> 00:08.356 things going right now ? I mean , we 00:08.356 --> 00:10.411 have the elections , of course , you 00:10.411 --> 00:12.633 know , just around the corner , um what 00:12.633 --> 00:14.800 what is the focus ? What is your focus 00:14.800 --> 00:17.022 right now ? Okay , your name is brian , 00:17.022 --> 00:19.356 correct ? No , sir , I'm sorry , George , 00:19.356 --> 00:21.300 Howell . Okay , George , I'm sorry 00:21.300 --> 00:23.522 about that . George . Let me tell you , 00:23.522 --> 00:25.578 let me tell you , George that things 00:25.578 --> 00:27.633 here in Mosul are going very well um 00:27.633 --> 00:30.010 where three days out from elections and 00:30.010 --> 00:31.920 the situation here in Mosul , the 00:31.920 --> 00:34.450 security situation is 10 times better 00:34.450 --> 00:36.561 than it was just a month ago , just a 00:36.561 --> 00:39.360 few weeks ago . The far more stable and 00:39.360 --> 00:41.582 secure environment now in Mosul than it 00:41.582 --> 00:43.860 was in the recent past . I'm going to 00:43.860 --> 00:46.620 ask you to just flatter me with one 00:46.620 --> 00:49.160 thing we we see kind of a video 00:49.160 --> 00:51.800 fluctuation here in our screen , 00:51.810 --> 00:54.143 explain to us the power situation there , 00:54.143 --> 00:57.120 what's going on with that ? Sure . Uh 00:57.130 --> 01:00.790 power comes and goes um most , most of 01:00.790 --> 01:03.680 Mosul has power most of the time . Uh 01:03.690 --> 01:06.210 It's just not all of Mosul having power 01:06.220 --> 01:08.520 all of the time . And so we always keep 01:08.520 --> 01:10.590 our generators running as well . And 01:10.600 --> 01:13.480 with that , we we always uh we almost 01:13.480 --> 01:15.880 always have power As the military basis , 01:15.890 --> 01:18.790 but it may not be 100% power . So with 01:18.790 --> 01:21.740 that we get a lot of lights uh flashing 01:21.740 --> 01:23.796 and different things like that , but 01:23.796 --> 01:26.520 we're good to go , I understand talk to 01:26.520 --> 01:28.960 us about the situation as far as it 01:28.960 --> 01:31.970 relates to security in Mosul . Uh I'm 01:31.970 --> 01:35.170 reading a wire copy here that says four 01:35.170 --> 01:37.340 individuals were detained in Northern 01:37.340 --> 01:39.620 Iraq . Um I don't know do you know 01:39.620 --> 01:42.040 about that or uh in general ? What is 01:42.050 --> 01:45.420 the situation ? The security situation 01:45.430 --> 01:47.670 is getting so much better uh here in 01:47.670 --> 01:50.720 Mosul we have seen in the last month . 01:50.730 --> 01:53.490 Um the number of terrorist attacks have 01:53.500 --> 01:55.540 significantly dwindled and the 01:55.540 --> 01:57.373 proportionality of those tax has 01:57.373 --> 01:59.970 dwindled as well . Of course they had 01:59.980 --> 02:02.290 last month . They had the uh the very 02:02.290 --> 02:05.730 large attacks against one of our bases . 02:05.740 --> 02:08.700 But since that time , with the increase 02:08.710 --> 02:10.800 of coalition forces , thousands of 02:10.800 --> 02:13.010 coalition forces here and with the 02:13.020 --> 02:15.020 increase of Iraqi security forces , 02:15.020 --> 02:17.242 thousands of Iraqi security forces here 02:17.242 --> 02:19.960 as well . Um Our forces have been able 02:19.960 --> 02:23.300 to identify to locate and to seize 02:23.310 --> 02:25.640 capture and in many instances kill the 02:25.640 --> 02:27.696 terrorists that are battling against 02:27.696 --> 02:30.100 the people of Mosul trying to steal , 02:30.100 --> 02:32.100 really trying to steal their future 02:32.100 --> 02:34.100 from them . Talk to it's just a bit 02:34.100 --> 02:36.267 about that . As far as people that you 02:36.267 --> 02:38.433 see , who are interested in the voting 02:38.433 --> 02:40.322 process . Uh What what are people 02:40.322 --> 02:42.760 saying ? What is the what is the morale 02:42.760 --> 02:44.982 as far as the general populace ? As far 02:44.982 --> 02:47.930 as voting ? That's a great question 02:47.930 --> 02:49.986 George . I'll tell you that I'm in a 02:49.986 --> 02:52.460 unique position because I've been doing 02:52.460 --> 02:54.627 radio Collins shows with the people of 02:54.627 --> 02:57.240 Mosul um several times a week . In fact 02:57.250 --> 02:59.472 we did one today , we did one yesterday 02:59.472 --> 03:01.970 and the day before and uh the people . 03:01.980 --> 03:04.202 So I'm able to interact with the people 03:04.202 --> 03:06.424 that way , not to mention the fact that 03:06.424 --> 03:08.591 I get to interact with them when we go 03:08.591 --> 03:10.591 out into the city and we're finding 03:10.591 --> 03:12.591 that the Children , the men and the 03:12.591 --> 03:14.650 women are waving more often to us , 03:14.660 --> 03:17.720 they're smiling . Um and the questions 03:17.720 --> 03:19.609 that we've been getting are about 03:19.609 --> 03:21.331 elections . So they know about 03:21.331 --> 03:23.730 elections and uh many of them are 03:23.730 --> 03:25.786 excited about elections . I say many 03:25.786 --> 03:27.952 because not everybody is excited about 03:27.952 --> 03:30.730 elections . Um really what it is , it's 03:30.730 --> 03:32.786 become an education process . Having 03:32.786 --> 03:35.008 never had these types of free elections 03:35.008 --> 03:36.952 before . I've received a number of 03:36.952 --> 03:38.952 calls where people are asking do we 03:38.952 --> 03:41.119 have to vote ? Is it mandatory that we 03:41.119 --> 03:43.341 vote ? And so we've been educating them 03:43.341 --> 03:45.563 on the process and what elections are . 03:45.563 --> 03:47.508 We've been kind of helping the the 03:47.508 --> 03:49.563 government , the government has been 03:49.563 --> 03:51.397 educating the people , the Iraqi 03:51.397 --> 03:53.508 security forces , Everybody , all the 03:53.508 --> 03:55.452 Iraqi officials are talking to the 03:55.452 --> 03:57.508 populist . And in addition , when we 03:57.508 --> 03:59.563 interact with the populist , we help 03:59.563 --> 04:01.730 them understand what elections are all 04:01.730 --> 04:03.841 about to having uh since we just went 04:03.841 --> 04:05.841 through our own elections uh in our 04:05.841 --> 04:08.008 country just a few months ago . And so 04:08.008 --> 04:10.008 we've assured them that Not 100% of 04:10.008 --> 04:12.119 Americans voted , but elections still 04:12.119 --> 04:14.286 happen and uh the people that you vote 04:14.286 --> 04:16.452 for don't always get elected , but the 04:16.452 --> 04:16.370 but the nation goes forward and that 04:16.380 --> 04:19.080 free elections are a great thing and uh 04:19.090 --> 04:20.979 it's we're really hoping that the 04:20.979 --> 04:23.470 Children uh the Iraqi Children will 04:23.470 --> 04:25.581 have a bright future because of these 04:25.581 --> 04:27.748 free elections . I have possibly three 04:27.748 --> 04:29.748 more questions for you . And then I 04:29.748 --> 04:32.290 think we'll call it good uh talk to us . 04:32.300 --> 04:34.470 Uh well , first of all , let me tell 04:34.470 --> 04:36.470 you , there's there's a group of uh 04:36.470 --> 04:38.470 Iraqi nationals here in the Seattle 04:38.470 --> 04:41.140 area who uh drove down to Los Angeles 04:41.140 --> 04:43.370 last week too to take part in the 04:43.370 --> 04:46.420 election there in Iraq . Uh do you 04:46.420 --> 04:48.670 think that the energy here with people 04:48.670 --> 04:51.440 here is is more than that of the energy 04:51.440 --> 04:53.607 there as far as people ? Or is it vice 04:53.607 --> 04:56.500 versa ? Or is it equal ? Well , I 04:56.500 --> 04:58.444 really can't talk about the energy 04:58.444 --> 05:00.600 there because I'm not there . What I 05:00.600 --> 05:02.544 can talk about is I can talk about 05:02.544 --> 05:04.740 Mosul and I will tell you that the 05:04.740 --> 05:07.110 people want to vote . The vast majority 05:07.110 --> 05:09.277 of people that we've talked to want to 05:09.277 --> 05:11.388 vote . Are they afraid to vote ? Many 05:11.388 --> 05:13.443 of them are afraid to vote ? They've 05:13.443 --> 05:15.499 been threatened for months . They've 05:15.499 --> 05:17.832 been threatened for years . And in fact , 05:17.832 --> 05:20.054 living under Saddam , if they didn't do 05:20.054 --> 05:22.166 the things that Saddam told them they 05:22.166 --> 05:24.332 had to do , they were their lives were 05:24.332 --> 05:26.332 in jeopardy and many times they and 05:26.332 --> 05:28.499 their family members would be killed . 05:28.499 --> 05:30.666 So the people want to vote uh the ones 05:30.666 --> 05:32.888 that were coming in contact with , They 05:32.888 --> 05:35.110 want to vote . They want a happy , free 05:35.110 --> 05:37.221 and peaceful future . They want their 05:37.221 --> 05:38.999 Children to grow up without the 05:38.999 --> 05:41.110 destruction without the the car bombs 05:41.110 --> 05:42.777 and the I . E . D . S and the 05:42.777 --> 05:44.832 terrorists going through town firing 05:44.832 --> 05:46.999 their Ak 47 at any security official . 05:46.999 --> 05:49.054 They see they want a stable free and 05:49.054 --> 05:51.370 secure Iraq and there there are growing 05:51.370 --> 05:53.481 pains of course , but I think they're 05:53.481 --> 05:55.703 excited about it . We're really looking 05:55.703 --> 05:57.814 forward to elections because Mosul is 05:57.814 --> 06:00.037 stable and secure . We've we've created 06:00.037 --> 06:02.148 the environment . And when I say we I 06:02.148 --> 06:04.092 mean the government and I mean the 06:04.092 --> 06:06.092 Iraqi security forces and coalition 06:06.092 --> 06:08.037 forces together unitedly , we have 06:08.037 --> 06:09.759 created the environment uh for 06:09.759 --> 06:11.870 elections to happen now , it's just a 06:11.870 --> 06:13.870 matter of seeing whether the people 06:13.870 --> 06:15.981 come out and vote . Now as far as the 06:15.981 --> 06:18.037 work that you've done of course with 06:18.037 --> 06:20.092 striker Brigade talk to us about and 06:20.092 --> 06:22.259 this is kind of a tough question . But 06:22.259 --> 06:25.540 I mean this uh this new uh new found 06:25.540 --> 06:27.762 freedom for Iraqis of course comes with 06:27.762 --> 06:29.873 sacrifice . I mean what what sorts of 06:29.873 --> 06:32.400 sacrifices have we incurred with with 06:32.400 --> 06:34.560 our own troops from this area ? 06:36.240 --> 06:38.573 Well , that's a great question . George , 06:38.573 --> 06:40.684 I'll tell you one of the phrases that 06:40.684 --> 06:42.684 were that we constantly use here is 06:42.684 --> 06:44.907 that freedom isn't free . Freedom costs 06:44.907 --> 06:47.018 something and it costs something from 06:47.018 --> 06:49.340 someone and in fact in order to 06:49.340 --> 06:51.451 establish our own freedom and to have 06:51.451 --> 06:53.673 the free nation that that we enjoy with 06:53.673 --> 06:55.951 the rights and liberties that we enjoy . 06:55.951 --> 06:57.900 It costs a lot of good and noble 06:57.910 --> 07:00.860 quality blood . Um to establish that 07:00.870 --> 07:02.990 freedom and the Iraqis and there are 07:02.990 --> 07:05.800 many good Iraqis that want freedom . 07:05.810 --> 07:08.032 And even though they've been threatened 07:08.032 --> 07:10.032 not to work with coalition forces , 07:10.032 --> 07:12.199 many of them still work with coalition 07:12.199 --> 07:14.366 forces . And uh we asked them to say , 07:14.366 --> 07:16.477 aren't you afraid that something will 07:16.477 --> 07:18.699 happen to you ? And they say no I'm not 07:18.699 --> 07:20.754 afraid because freedom and then they 07:20.754 --> 07:22.754 say back to freedom isn't free , it 07:22.754 --> 07:24.921 costs something . Somebody has to rise 07:24.921 --> 07:26.588 up . Somebody has to look the 07:26.588 --> 07:28.810 terrorists in the eye and say enough is 07:28.810 --> 07:30.810 enough . We want a free nation , we 07:30.810 --> 07:33.032 want a bright future for our Children . 07:33.032 --> 07:35.143 Now you also mentioned a sacrifice on 07:35.143 --> 07:37.199 the part of the soldiers we have the 07:37.199 --> 07:39.450 greatest soldiers in the world , we see 07:39.450 --> 07:41.450 them day in and day out . These are 07:41.450 --> 07:43.617 young soldiers here um new soldiers to 07:43.617 --> 07:45.839 the striker brigade and new soldiers to 07:45.839 --> 07:48.061 the army and they joined at a time when 07:48.061 --> 07:49.839 they knew they were going to be 07:49.839 --> 07:51.950 deployed . It's not like in days past 07:51.950 --> 07:54.061 where they joined and they may or may 07:54.061 --> 07:56.117 not deploy in their 20 year career , 07:56.117 --> 07:58.172 these soldiers join the army knowing 07:58.172 --> 08:00.061 that they were going to deploy to 08:00.061 --> 08:02.117 hotspots in the world . And they are 08:02.117 --> 08:04.339 some of the neatest young men I've ever 08:04.339 --> 08:06.561 seen . In fact I was having dinner with 08:06.561 --> 08:08.672 a group of these these young infantry 08:08.672 --> 08:10.839 soldiers and they had just gotten they 08:10.839 --> 08:12.950 were just excuse me just preparing to 08:12.950 --> 08:15.172 go out on a mission . And then the next 08:15.172 --> 08:17.394 morning at breakfast I saw them again . 08:17.394 --> 08:19.561 They had been out all night conducting 08:19.561 --> 08:21.672 missions um and helping to make Mosul 08:21.672 --> 08:23.783 safe . And I asked these soldiers the 08:23.783 --> 08:25.839 same questions , aren't you afraid ? 08:25.839 --> 08:27.783 And they say no , we're not afraid 08:27.783 --> 08:29.783 because freedom isn't free . And uh 08:29.783 --> 08:31.783 somebody like us , the soldiers are 08:31.783 --> 08:33.950 talking now , they say we have enjoyed 08:33.950 --> 08:36.117 Freedom . We know what freedom is , we 08:36.117 --> 08:38.172 know what it means to be able to say 08:38.172 --> 08:37.470 what you want to say and do what you 08:37.470 --> 08:39.581 want to do and to be able to make the 08:39.581 --> 08:41.803 choices you want to make . And it means 08:41.803 --> 08:43.914 so much to us that we want the Iraqis 08:43.914 --> 08:46.160 to know what freedom is ? And so here 08:46.160 --> 08:48.970 are soldiers , 18 , 19 and 20 years old . 08:48.970 --> 08:51.240 And I say to myself , I hope that my 08:51.240 --> 08:53.720 sons and my daughters grew up To be 08:53.720 --> 08:55.831 just like them . It's just amazing to 08:55.831 --> 08:58.710 see these young men um and women who 08:58.710 --> 09:00.932 love liberty so much that they want the 09:00.932 --> 09:02.932 Iraqis to have it as well . I don't 09:02.932 --> 09:05.099 think I was that mature . Um as far as 09:05.099 --> 09:07.266 it relates to freedom and liberty when 09:07.266 --> 09:09.850 I was 18 and 19 years old as people in 09:09.850 --> 09:12.072 this area . And one final kind of tough 09:12.072 --> 09:14.220 questions , people in this area , uh 09:14.230 --> 09:16.174 those families who might have lost 09:16.174 --> 09:18.286 loved ones , what what would you tell 09:18.286 --> 09:20.508 them as far as um what we're doing over 09:20.508 --> 09:22.660 there as far as the elections and and 09:22.670 --> 09:25.460 uh the progress that that you see in 09:25.460 --> 09:28.560 Iraq . Well , I'll tell you , 09:28.940 --> 09:32.930 I'm humbled to know many of 09:32.940 --> 09:34.884 the soldiers that have given their 09:34.884 --> 09:38.280 lives over here in Iraq . And I I just 09:38.290 --> 09:40.290 think about how much their families 09:40.290 --> 09:42.234 must love liberty . How much their 09:42.234 --> 09:44.810 families must love freedom uh to be 09:44.810 --> 09:47.140 willing to offer their sons and their 09:47.140 --> 09:49.660 daughters to the cause of freedom . And 09:49.670 --> 09:52.010 what what a valiant and noble cause it 09:52.010 --> 09:53.788 is to be here in Iraq and to be 09:53.788 --> 09:55.954 anywhere in the world , helping people 09:55.954 --> 09:58.240 to be free . Um I was pulling guard 09:58.240 --> 10:01.440 duty a couple of weeks ago and out came 10:01.440 --> 10:03.496 this little boy and this little girl 10:03.496 --> 10:05.718 and they were waiting to me and there I 10:05.718 --> 10:07.829 was on the on the tower pulling guard 10:07.829 --> 10:10.051 duty . And uh of course I had my M16 in 10:10.051 --> 10:12.218 hand and there they were waiting to me 10:12.218 --> 10:14.273 and I waved back to them and you can 10:14.273 --> 10:16.218 almost see in their eyes they were 10:16.218 --> 10:18.218 thanking coalition forces for being 10:18.218 --> 10:20.600 here to help the Iraqi security forces 10:20.610 --> 10:23.240 um become the future security and 10:23.240 --> 10:26.240 stabilizing force in Iraq . So what I 10:26.240 --> 10:28.296 say to those families is thank you , 10:28.296 --> 10:30.351 thank you for giving your noble sons 10:30.351 --> 10:32.296 and your daughters to the cause of 10:32.296 --> 10:34.240 freedom , anywhere anywhere in the 10:34.240 --> 10:36.296 world . I appreciate your time . Was 10:36.296 --> 10:38.407 there anything else you'd like to say 10:38.407 --> 10:42.000 or ask ? I would like to say 10:42.010 --> 10:44.310 uh that it's difficult to be over here 10:44.310 --> 10:46.366 for a year , but it's worth it to be 10:46.366 --> 10:48.366 over here for a year . So I will be 10:48.366 --> 10:50.421 over here for a year as well . But I 10:50.421 --> 10:52.588 want to say to my wife and my Children 10:52.588 --> 10:54.810 how much I love them and how grateful I 10:54.810 --> 10:54.500 am that they're willing to sacrifice 10:54.500 --> 10:56.500 and give up their husband and their 10:56.500 --> 10:58.360 father for a year for complete 10:58.360 --> 11:00.304 strangers so that they could enjoy 11:00.304 --> 11:03.190 liberty and freedom as well . Thank you 11:03.190 --> 11:05.301 for taking time to talk to us here at 11:05.301 --> 11:07.900 komo for in Seattle . Thanks George . 11:07.900 --> 11:09.190 It was good talking with you .