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Iraq`s Wild West-----It took the U.S. Calvary barely 50 years to win America`s West. But in the badlands of western Iraq, taming a barren wasteland of sand, smugglers, treachery at every turn, may take closer to 500.

READY to RIDE, PARDNER? Written by an imbeded Reporter in Iraq, Mr. Adam Piore! Excerpt from the Maxim magazine.

September 2003

It`s May 2003, a bright morning in Western Iraq. A dust cloud looms on the horizon; from a distance it looks like one of the frequent sand storms that scour the Iraqi desert. But as it draws near, sheep farmers in white robes shield their eyes-----it`s an armada of Apache attack helicopters roaring over the barren wastes and abandoned silt trenches.

Beneth the choppers, an armored horde of 20 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles barrel across the desert, churning up a brown wall of dust. The U.S.Calyery has never been known for quiet entrances.

In nearby town of AL Qaim, locals stand on the roofs of their mud-brick homes and watch, their arms draped over the skinny shoulders of their children, as the Americans approach. They crane their necks as F-18s appear on the horizon, unleashing a barrage of orange flares. The armored column is at their doorsteps in minutes, clanking through the cement arch that serves as the town`s main gate.

Lt. Col.Bill Dolan-----a bald, hard-charging calvaryman reminescent of Apocalypse Now`s colonel Kilgore----directs his armored vehicle straight through the center of town to the police station, where he pulls up, flipe the hatch, and emerges, a pistol strapped to his thigh. Things could hardly have gone better; he has just taken AL Qaim without a shot.

But taking the town is one thing; taming it will be quite another .Dolan`s real mission, bringing "peace and security" toAL Qaim, is just beginning....and may never be achievable. AL Qaim, as Dolan is about to discover, is Iraq`s own twisted version of the Wild West, an ungovernable border town where the biggest gun is, in the end, just one more gun.

A NOTE FROM  Johnie Lee.  I just want to wet your whistle of a real life story from Iraq. There is more to come of this story so log on next week for more of the Iraq`s Wild West. It even gets better as we follow the U.S. Calvery. I was visiting the local Army recruiting station in Midland and  Staff Sergeant Mark R. Leavens said,  "Would you like to read about my Company in Iraq,"and I jumped at the chance. If it was good enough for me I thought it was good enough for you`all. So hang on to your hats, .Till next week,  Cya .Johnie Lee Qualls, Webmaster.