Chris Chocola: “I do not know that we can appreciate their efforts and their competence. During one of the meals, again I always ask…”

“I do not know that we can appreciate their efforts and their competence. During one of the meals, again I always ask, what do you want me to share with people when I go back home? A young soldier who had been very quiet during the meal, he looked up and he said, what I want the people at home to know is that the Iraqis that are shooting at us and setting off bombs, those aren't the Iraqi people I know. The Iraqi people I know are very appreciative that we are here. They thank me every day. I go out in the marketplace, and I don't feel threatened. That's what I want the people at home to know, is that the Iraqi people very much appreciate our efforts. Then later, right after that meal, you will remember we went to a mass grave site. That was probably one of the most moving experiences that I had during the trip, where we visited this mass grave site where up to 15,000 people had been murdered, many of them buried alive.”