A FIRSTHAND PERSPECTIVE ON IRAQ

Lately there has been much debate about US involvement in Iraq. I spent a little over nine months in Iraq, traveling the central and northern areas working on power reconstruction or providing security for other contractors. My work provided close contact with local Iraquis - on the job and in their villages as their guest. I am not a political analyst, and I don't have insight into the rationale behind the complex decisions that drive our foreign policy, but I have real-life experiences about what we should be doing in Iraq.

One time the convoy I was riding in was attacked by a suicide bomber. Other Americans in my group were killed. I saw numerous underground bunkers and facilities built by Saddam Hussein. I spent weeks at a village that Hussein literally destroyed to build a power plant. Like most contractors, I often carried an assault rifle and wore ballistic vests, but the thing that most impressed me about Iraq were the children: full of fun, frolic, love, and desire to be loved and innocence.

While it would have been inappropriate to discuss the turmoil in the Middle East with the children, we didn't need to. All that was necessary was to look into their eyes. They possess a depth of inquisitiveness as they studied these imposing foreigners who seemed to know best what Iraq needed. I wondered what thoughts were churning in their young minds. What future-changing concepts were being formed by these brief contacts with the strangers they had been so warned about?

In EVERY case and without exception, I saw the same thing in the eyes and on the faces of ever child I met. They all had HOPE; they all beamed with optimism; and they all wanted to be friends. No on had taght them to hate...yet. If they were under the age of 10, they probably hadn't even shot an assault rifle.

One day while walking in the International Zone, I passed the hospital staffed by American military doctors who treat local Iraquis. Outside sat an Iraqi woman holding a newborn baby and dressed all in black. That most likely meant she was a widow. I doubted this woman had much in the way of a future, other than to be cared for by her husband's family in exchange for toiling around the home.

Iraqi women never allowed me to take their pictures. But I decided to ask this woman, which she refused. Then I asked to take a picture of her baby, and she said that would be fine.

I took three photos, and in each picture she held the baby a little higher, smiling a bit more. She was able to show off her baby and smile for the picture because she knew, no matter how bleak her future, her baby had a future in the new Iraq. And that future was, in large part, thanks to the Americans in her country.

Another event brought this innocent, hopeful exuberance of youth into sharper focus. Some colleagues and I were invited guests to a wedding in a small village where attendance was dangerous and armed men were used to protect our route to the village. When we arrived, out of respect we left our gear in the trucks. The kids literally swarmed us. They just wanted to get our attention and feel loved.

But a strange thing happened. Whenever the crowd of kids grew to more than 10, a surly middle-aged man in Iraqi dress would wade into the crowd of kids and strike them violently on the heads and backs and speak sternly. I'm not sure what he was saying, but the message was obvious. We were bad, to be hated, to be avoided, and the penalty for violating those covenants was pain from a swift smack.

As the night wore on, we were told the man scolding the children was the brother of a local resident and he was a terrorist operating out of Mosul. He tolerated our presence as invited guests, but it was clear he was intent on changing the minds of the children. He wanted them to hate us, to distrust us and to fear us. Seeing the innocence of youth spoiled hurt me deeply and galvanized my opinion about the future of Iraq.

Children are the future of Iraq.

From that point of view, there are thousands of reasons Americans should be in Iraq. I am solidly convinced of one thing: fighting the forces that attempt to manipulate the minds of children is imperative. Teaching children to kill, to carry assault rifles and to wear suicide bomb belts is unthinkable. If Americans leave Iraq, the power of violence will train these children. As long as there are cold-hearted manipulators striking children and trying to make them hate and kill, I would like to see us remain in Iraq. Like America, Iraq's future depends on its children. We should not forsake them.

Why has the MSM spiked stories like this again and again.

As long as there are cold-hearted manipulators striking children and trying to make them hate and kill, I would like to see us remain in Iraq. Like America, Iraq's future depends on its children. We should not forsake them.

Children are the future, without changing the negative influences on the Arab children, this is going to be a never ending war!

Thanks for posting this.

The only way we are going to beat the Libs and the MSM bastards is if WE spread this type of writing. They sure as Hell will not!

CHRIS SPIDLE:

"I am not a political analyst, and I don't have insight into the rationale behind the complex decisions that drive our foreign policy, but I have real-life experiences about what we should be doing in Iraq."

Chris, by sharing your experiences with Americans you're developing collective insight. You're changing the dynamics by which political analysts analyze. This is how our system was designed to function. Thank you for writing this. Please keep writing! PL - Thanks for posting!

Because they want us to lose?

"The only way we are going to beat the Libs and the MSM bastards is if WE spread this type of writing. They sure as Hell will not!"

True! Our media never shows or tells us anything good from Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, you'd think Afghanistan fell off the face of the earth until a soldier gets killed. Then they are only too happy to let us know that Afghanistan still exists.

My daughter must do a "current events" report on a news article every two weeks. Instead of finding her the local paper (I don't pay for that drivel) I am printing this for her to do her report on!!!

bttt