Troops' Morale High, Price Says
The headlines don't tell the full story of what's going on in Iraq, according to The Early Show weatherman and features reporter Dave Price.
For the past week, Price has gone from Kuwait to Iraq's Sunni Triangle to Baghdad with a show for U.S. troops.
"We've entertained about 20,000 soldiers, including performances from Charlie Daniels, in some of the most remote locations throughout Iraq," Price
One GI told Price: "I know that we are helping rebuild a nation hat was once under a dictatorship."
Price says soldiers tell him: " 'It took the United States hundreds of years to get democracy up and running and operating smoothly, and you really need to expect that it's going to take a significant amount of time for it to happen here.'
"They've also said they don't work in the pentagon. They're not part of the politics of this whole event. They're here to do a job. And what they're trying to do is actually transition from warrior to peace maker and ambassador.
"They said one of the hardest things to actually communicate to people at home is the ability that these groups have had to build trust among the Iraqis and the Iraqi police, and that's hard to put in a headline, and it's hard to put on video. But they've done a fine job."
Price did a similar tour about a year ago for the troops in Afghanistan and says the conditions in Iraq are significantly better than they were in Afghanistan.
"And, as anyone who's been on their second or third tour will say, things have really begun to improve," he says. "There's really very little in the line of delineation from folks who have come on board as fulltime soldiers to those who are in with the Reserves or (National) Guard units. Things are really operating much more smoothly here, and it's a much more comfortable place to be.
"Yes, there's still pockets of violence. Our base was shelled when we were in the Sunni triangle and off performing. But I think most soldiers would say, now the hard work has begun. Now it is time to settle in."