FROM IRAQ: Talking with CPL. MIKE

My young friend Mike just came back from Iraq for a few weeks well-deserved leave. I got to talk with him for an hour or so, which was a real pleasure. I remember regaling him with tales of my USMC adventures when we first met, several years ago. Then came 9/11. Being 39 at the time, I felt helpless regarding my first instinct, which was to meaningfully fight the terrorists. Mike, almost 20 years my junior, joined the USMC. I never had children, but this young man gave me a sense of pride that I never felt before, and could only describe as paternal. I reassured his father that he enlisted too late to be involved in the Afghanistan campaign. He has, however, ended up guarding our embassy in Iraq.

I got some impressions from our talk, and in general terms, he was skeptical about the Iraqis' ability to "fix up their own places." I take this to be a function of how close he is to the center of the US presence, where Iraqis may expect us to take up the role of the previous Baathist government, which did not encourage private upgrading of property, to say the least.

I'm sending Mike some interview questions that I hope to post. Obviously, I can't reveal anything that might compromise his operational security, but I want to get his impression on the ground, and put it out there. Remember, there are many levels of Iraqi society, and Mike is far removed from the political class, or the emerging "elites" in that country. The people he encounters are the bricks in the foundation of democracy that is hopefully being built over there.

Men like Mike are protecting us by persevering through the tough process going on in Iraq. Pres. Bush's policy has been carried on their backs, and it appears to be successsful on a regional scale. Their sacrifices may have saved a much larger toll of lives if the Middle East had festered longer with Saddam still in power. My prayers are with Mike, who is going back for another tour. I'm proud of him, and wish I could be there too. Watch for his interview in an upcoming post.

Comments

Rosemary Welch said…
God bless him! What a wonderful story. I know how you feel. I wanted to be there, too. I have a need to protect those I love, and America is way up there on my chart! Nice to read you, again. God bless you, and good night.
7:20 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Biden Record, and the Democrats Who Supported It, Pt. 4: How Biden Blew Up the Economy With Inflation

   The US economy is in chaos. This is not "spin," or "opinion," but a fact. Some people aren't feeling it as hard as others, because they were well-off before the inflation started. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come, and it will affect those "well-off" people, to a greater degree than it does currently, as the recession sets in. It also will present a crisis for government, as the interest rates for the chronic borrowing that sustains all of their largesse double, triple, or even quadruple. How did we get here, after what was shaping up as a robust recovery from the pandemic response inspired recession?    When Pres. Biden was elected, almost every policy that had been in place was reversed. We've looked at the disatrous results of this on the southern border , but what's happened to our economy has impacted many more Americans. It started out on day one, when Biden killed the KeystoneXL pipeline, followed by freezing new federal leases
Read more

HATE FROM THE MOUTHS OF CHILDREN: AUTUM (AUTUMN?) ASHANTE AND THE GAEDE TWINS

Image
AUTUM ASHANTE LAMB AND LYNX GAEDE I hate to have to write this, but it has to be written. Beautiful children's minds are being corrupted with racial hatred, and their parents are profiting from it. The Gaede twins have a pop band, and Miss Ashante is a poetic prodigy. The parents promote their children's careers. These young girls are the true victims of racism, because they are predestined to continue this cycle of hate. Autum Ashante (-or is it spelled Autumn Ashante ?) is a 7-year old child, home-schooled by her parents (according to the NY POST -free registration required- see below for more on this). I heard it reported on MSNBC that they are members of the Nation of Islam, but I can't confirm that elsewhere. This young lady gave a recital of her poem, "White Nationalism Put U in Bondage." Some excerpts: "Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse."..."They took the gold, the wisdom and all the storytellers. They took th
Read more

The Biden Debacle Part II

  In my previous post, I wrote about Pres. Biden's disastrous policy at the border, as well as it's impact on the spread of COVID. I also noted his false promise of bipartisanship, and embrace of the far left agenda. This post will deal with some of that agenda, including it's impact on the economy, law enforcement, race relations, education and the military. They're all interconnected in no small way, and Pres. Biden is making a mess of them all. With the left wing ascendant in his own party, he has found it easier to go along with them, rather than work with Republicans, even when they propose policies that a majority of Democrats support. The economy was recovering before Biden assumed office, and yet he continues to push a long wish list of leftist policies in the name of "recovery." The extension of unemployment benefits is a good example of how they can backfire. While he denies that the extra payments were keeping people from returning to work, the sta
Read more