An American veteran of the Iraq war who was among those soldiers tasked with "bringing baskets of money…and handing it out" to compensate Iraqis affected by the fighting has responded to Donald Trump's suggestion those Americans stole money.
At a Tuesday night rally in North Carolina, Trump wondered aloud who were the soldiers in Iraq who delivered American cash to help rebuild war-damaged Iraqi infrastructure and property. "I think they're living very well right now, wherever they may be."
Journalist Corbin Reiff, who was deployed to Iraq for a year between 2009 and 2010 as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, wrote on Twitter Wednesday that his job in Iraq was to "assess damage to Iraqi citizen's property, and person and compensate them monetarily." Reiff went on what he called a "rant" to respond to Trump's claim that those who held his job were grifting money as a matter of course.
Read that rant below:
Just a small warning, I’m about to go on a bit of a rant.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I rarely discuss politics on this platform, but yesterday, the Republican nominee for President said something that compels me to speak out.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I spent five years, from 2006-2011 as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
When I deployed to Iraq in 2009 I was made Non Commissioned Officer in Charge of Foreign Claims for the entirety of Western Baghdad.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
That’s an area that covers roughly 5 million people. I was 21 years old and will admit, very much in over my head.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
My job for a whole year was to assess damage to Iraqi citizen’s property, and person and compensate them monetarily.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
So if a helicopter dropped a flare and burned a kid, or an MRAP ran into a generator or someone's goat while on patrol...
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Or we killed someone in the line of fire, it was my job to make it right.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Affected citizens would make the drive from as far as Lebanon on a weekly basis to see if their claims had been adjudicated.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
The job was tough, almost impossible, but it was the just thing to do and helped build a bridge of trust between us and the citizenry.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I basically spent a year of my life in an aluminum trailer, away from my friends and family enduring mortar attacks nearly every night.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
There was always more to do, and the stack of files and faces never dwindled. I got half a day off every two weeks.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I had to look widows and orphans in the eye as tears ran down their cheeks telling me through an interpreter their heartbreaking stories.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Every mission out into the city carried with it tremendous risk, but we had a job to do, and forcibly put that out of our minds.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
In the course of my job, I was entrusted with a lot of taxpayer money, all in American cash.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
As a result, we instantly became a high value target for insurgents who wanted to relieve us of said cash at one of our weekly gatherings.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Yesterday, @realDonaldTrump, a man who never served in any capacity said this about me and my brethren that served in Iraq.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
“How about bringing baskets of money — millions and millions of dollars — and handing it out?”
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
"I want to know who were the soldiers that had that job, because I think they’re living very well right now.” https://t.co/DFZU5VEKhN
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
I am living well right now - some student loan debt aside - but not because I pocketed the hard-earned taxpayer money that I was entrusted.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
In my time overseas, the procedures that were put in place to prevent that from happening were frustratingly thorough.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
The idea that Trump would call out the integrity of those who answered the call of service and deployed to a war zone is repellant.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
For this reason, and many more, he’s proven that he’s someone with neither the temperament, nor the character, to be Commander in Chief.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Don’t believe him when he says he’s for Veterans. It's lip service entirely.
— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 15, 2016
Trump's campaign has argued that the candidate was not referring to American soldiers but rather Iraqi soldiers. But in an email to THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Reiff said it wasn't his experience that members of the Iraqi military handled the disbursement of American money.
"We used civilian Iraqi contractors to interpret for us in the course of our duties, but I didn't interact much with the Iraqi Military during my deployment, and they never handled any of the cash that we paid out," Reiff said.
