AN AIRMAN WRITES

His mother is a reporter...and he's not happy with her colleagues.

"You aren't reading about the positive things we see every day. They aren't telling you about the Iraqis who talk to us and tell us how much better their country is now that Saddam is gone. Or how they bring us little treats and try to get us to eat their food...

"They bring their kids over here to talk to us and play ball. One of my guys wrote home and had his parents send baseballs and bats and we're teaching the kids how to play baseball...

"One woman told me her daughter is going to school. This is the first time she's been able to go. The woman said she never went because Saddam didn't believe in educating women. The girl (she's about 8) wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

"There's a school not far from us that has about 10 girls (all ages) and 40 boys (all ages). One of the teachers told me that nobody comes to class late and nobody skips classes and everybody does their homework.

"A lot of things have changed since the Gulf War... Nobody here trusted us then - it was hard to get anyone to talk to you unless they were prisoners. People talk to us now all the time. You can walk down a street and people come up and talk. If you wear your uniform when you go shopping, just about everybody in the store comes up to you and wants to talk about America. They might not all figure that we're their best friends, but they want to talk.

"Please tell people not to believe everything they're hearing and reading. Things are getting better and we're doing the right thing by being here.

"Love to everybody,

"Rusty"