A Letter to the Republic for Which We Stand - Part II

Click here to read Part I

I don’t use the blog to do this very often, but I feel like venting today. Bear with me as I step up on to the soap box.

To American Citizens -

So you listen to talk radio, or your nephew is deployed in Iraq, or you are a conscientious objector. You’re a republican, a democrat, or you voted for the Green Party. You invest in Google and day trade as a hobby. You’re a veteran. You’re in high school. Regardless of whom you may be, you cannot escape the news these days unless you live in a home with no TV, radio, or internet – or you simply live in a cave. But this is a different kind of news coverage for a new type of warfare. The media is embedded, so anything you do in the combat zone could end up on CNN within hours. Also, the enemy has taken on a new kind of incarnation- he doesn’t dare attack us directly in battle. He doesn’t line up in the desert and march or drive to our base for a fight. He simply sets up bombs, or shoots rocket propelled grenades or mortars, and runs away like a coward. For example, the recent suicide attack we had during an Iraqi Police recruiting drive was on the national news within two hours. Someone no doubt paid this man’s family and told him he would be rewarded somehow for blowing himself to pieces and taking as many with him as he could. The person who paid him is a terrorist and a coward. The man who blew himself up is a fool.

This is a situation where a network of people openly attacked the United States of America, declaring war not only upon the military superpower of the world (not very smart), but symbolically threatening all free countries. We did not declare war. The terrorists did. We reacted to an unprovoked attack, not unlike Pearl Harbor. But we are more humane than they are. We don’t cut off their heads. We don’t drag their bodies through the streets. Every time a soldier is in a firefight, a detailed investigation is conducted to learn exactly what occurred, and whether the soldier made any mistakes. Yes, war is ugly, but our cause is just, as are we. This is the part of war the enemy doesn’t respect. He will kill our doctors if he can, so that there is no one to treat the wounded. I've read literature that insurgent groups published in our area, and they actually target our medics, our ambulances, and anyone who helps us. They don't just hate us, they hate anyone who is not lke them. Yet there are 8 million muslims in North America. We don't just clear out these bad guys and leave the locals to the wolves. We help them rebuild.

If you do not believe that, first of all, Saddam's regime was inexorably linked with the Taliban and Al Qaeda (responsible for 9/11), second, that if we did not address the problem at its heart, more attacks would have occurred in the U.S., and thirdly, that the America we all know and love is in jeapordy when these types of attacks occur, then your mental path and mine, my friend, simply part company right there. If you don't think Saddam Hussein and his Iraq were at or near the heart of the world’s terrorism problem, and if you think Saddam should have been allowed to continue to kill his own people, and laugh in the face of the United Nations, violating no less than 19 UN conventions and harboring terrorists and funding them, then again we disagree. I can’t think of a better place we could have begun this global fight on terrorism, this massive effort to create a new global standard and reaction, this unified front regarding terrorist acts.

Look, these are trying times, and it’s hard to understand this war unless you’re fighting in it. Even then it can be difficult sometimes. The media simply does not do our work justice. They usually tell you what makes for a good story, but that is not necessarily indicative of most of the great work we're actually doing. If you went out on some missions with us, left the safety of the base and drove or flew in darkness across this mysterious landscape, you would see the things we see. You might understand why, no matter how or when this war comes to an end, we are not simply doing some politician’s dirty work, but that we are human beings interacting with other human beings who never had the freedoms we usually take for granted. We are given orders to follow. But those are two-dimensional plans on a piece of paper. The execution of those orders and the sensibilities we bring to each mission are what give them character. Yes, we are far from home. But we are still Americans. We bring that indelible American attitude to all that we do. We still relish those species of freedom and excess, for right or wrong, that we have back home. Food? It's everywhere in our country. Entertainment? We're the world leader. Opportunity? We have the patent. Right now we simply aren’t enjoying lifestyle we were raised in but we are still fighting to keep it alive. And we have our own problems back home too. We have poverty and violence and homelessness and high taxes and a national deficit. But a dictator who murders and oppresses his people and harbors terrorists? No.

If you were here you would see firsthand the positive effects we’ve had on this country. And you would understand that the only way to honor our fallen soldiers, and fallen American citizens, is to complete the mission we came here to do, and ensure the people of Iraq have a chance at the freedoms we enjoy each and every day. If not, an insidious force made up of murderers who kill and maim in the name of their God will continue to threaten free peoples wherever they may live. If you were here you would see the local citizens lining up to join the Iraqi police force. In six days we had over 1500 men show up to take the aptitude tests. Those that are accepted will go to the Police Academy and return to their own streets as officers of the law. These are the markings of a country that wants to grab hold of its own destiny, the actions of citizens who want to shed complacency and embrace life without dictatorship and oppression.  Thousands of heads are bent silently over journals every day as we soldiers record our lives and feelings and experiences. We think deeply about what we're doing. we try to do our best. This has meaning for us. This is the way we spend our days right now, thinking of home, fighting for our children's freedom, and for your's, but confronted daily by a hateful enemy who is willing to fly a plane into a building filled with innocent people in the middle of one of our busiest cities, decapitate reporters, and kill innocent people in Iraq repeatedly. If we were heartless murderers, deliberatlely killing innocent people, then I would expect someone to come over to the U.s. and try to kick our collective asses too.

We're here now. It's too late to turn back, so as far as I’m concerned I’m not going to waste time questioning the past. I’m going to support the Commander in Chief, as I swore to do, and the decisions he and his advisors made. I have a right to my own opinion, but as citizen and soldier, now is not the time for me to act on my own opinions in this matter. I've sacrificed that for the greater good. This is a war, and our country has told us that they need us. So we came. Let's focus our energies on supporting the troops, because if we were currently in a conflict that everyone did approve of, it would still be the same troops. It would be us whether it was Iraq, Afghanistan, New Orleans, Kosovo, or in your neighborhood. We will go wherever America sends us. Give this twenty or thirty years, then look back and decide what you think of the current war in Iraq. Only then will we be able to see the effects we had, both good and bad, right and wrong, with the luxury of historical hindsight.

Imagine the proverbial bully on the playground. But this one is especially hateful. He is not strong or brave, but he punches the other kids, even cuts them with his pocketknife. They do not deserve his wrath, but the bully believes they do. His parents brought him up to believe he should hurt those who are not like him. There is a big, strong kid on the playground who does not enjoy hurting people. He is friends with the smaller kids who are being hurt. Wouldn’t you expect him to step in? If he didn’t, people would whisper “He should have done something” after one of the kids that got hurt died. He had the strength and the ability to stop the bully, and he had a genuine concern for the people that the bully was harming. Further, if he wouldn’t have done something, soon the bully would be controlling the whole school, hurting whomever he pleased. I believe people the world community at large will be forever grateful to the America we know and to all coalition forces for what we have done, and continue to do.

Perhaps I'm completely wrong. that's certainly possible. What do I know? I'm just living in my little microcosm, trying to do my part and get home safely to my children. We'll see. I'll buy you a beer and we'll talk about it when I'm back on American soil.

It’s not always easy to keep up a positive attitude out here in the midst of an 18 month deployment. You are at battle with your own mindset, even as you fight the enemy. Morale is an individual thing that we each have to work through. I think it’s mostly made up of our own family issues, the direct leadership we work with every day, and our support from back home. Yes, we see all of the political debates going on right now, but we don’t worry about that kind of thing when we’re on a mission. That’s small talk for the gym or the chow hall. As long as we have support from our family, and good leadership on the ground, we are okay. We’ll debate all the politics you want when we get home. But now is not the time. Now is the time for focused action, perpetual optimism, and relentless determination. It’s a dangerous place, this Al Anbar Province, and we’re busy taking care of each other out here so you can live in relative safety back home.

We are not complaining. We’re proud to represent you. Believe me, we can’t wait to get back and sit next to you on that big cozy couch and yes, watch war coverage on the news. Or better yet, read the real stories through military blogs. I’d like to think that Americans do the best they can to show their sons and daughters at war how much they care. And we do our best to show you how important you are to us  through our tireless efforts - our blood and sweat and tears.

Thank you very much, American citizens,  for your continued support, and for indulging me if you’ve read this far.

And keep in mind that these are merely the rantings of one soldier in a vast military coalition, one soul in the choreography of time, one voice in millions, a diatribe among diatribes. My opinions are not intended to represent those of any other person or organization.

*sound of Lieutenant K stepping off the soap box…*

"The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - We must step up the stairs." - Vance Havner

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