Just Another Day in Iraq
A story out of the European bureau of Stars & Stripes newspaper depicts the immense task this administration has placed upon our military and highlights the bigotry fueling the civil war in Iraq. It also conveys how sectarian violence undermines the efforts of U.S. troops to rebuild that country. Our worn out troops understand this, and they also understand that it's time for the people of Iraqi to stand up and start carrying their own water.
“We’re dependent on making this work,” said [Staff Sgt. Ty Curry], a 23-year-old medic from Charlotte, N.C., now on his third tour in Iraq. “If this doesn’t work, then everything we’ve done over here is in vain. These people deserve a chance to live their lives just like anyone else.”
Curry was part of Military Transition Team Alamo, accompanied by the Iraqi security forces, that delivered 18 ambulances and a truckload of medical supplies (provided by family support groups here and U.S. forces) to Baqouba General Hospital, "the largest and most important treatment facility in Iraq’s volatile Diyala province."
As soon as the Iraqi commander was introduced to the hospital's administrator, an argument broke out between the two Iraqis. The administrator said "he couldn’t trust the security forces since they ransacked his house several months earlier."
And the commander said "he had no reason to trust the doctor either, since his Humvee had been struck by the bomb that morning while en route to the hospital."
“Hey! Hey!” [Alamo team chief Maj. Jim Bowie] shouted. “Will you hate him forever? Will he hate you forever? If that’s the case, then nothing is ever going to get done for Baqouba General Hospital.”“You want us to be brothers?” [the hospital administrator] shouted. “With these people, we can never be brothers. These people don’t know how to behave. They have no ethics. The solution is to pick soldiers who are better qualified.”
(Alamo? Jim Bowie? I'm not making this up. And the irony of that legendary battle isn't lost to me either.)
However, the real irony of Iraq was pointed out by one the U.S. soldiers observing this exchange between the two Iraqis:
“It’s fun when you sit through one of those,” he said. “You bring this guy 18 ambulances and a truckload of supplies, and he wants to complain about how his house was searched.”
And Maj. Bowie nailed it:
“...you try and prod them in the right direction, toward a solution … It’s just another day in Iraq.”
I can almost hear Robin Williams shouting over the PA: "Goooooood moooooorrrrrning Iraq!"
Sad, poignant, perfect... Great work, Kiddo.
May 31, 2007 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
WHY OH WHY do I STILL get dumbstruck at these stories????
We keep hearing how desperate they all are for medical supplies. We give them the damn supplies. And they just want to fight.
WHERE OH WHERE did I put my Excedrin????
May 31, 2007 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Having taught Middle Easterners for years, I have a bit of insight into the various cultures that comprise this volatile region. In general, a higher value is placed on defending one's personal pride and territory than on what might benefit the greater population. Rhetoric is explosive and accusatory, but often it's case of "all show and no go" and shouting matches mask other motives. We Westeners just don't understand Middle Easterners well nor they, us, which is why I believe that our emphasis should be in diplomacy and education and not in endless war. Did you read today that Bush is talking about a "protacted presense in Iraq"? Does that tell us something about the administration's ambitions in the Middle East?
Thanks, Debra, for providing thought-provoking articles!
June 1, 2007 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree that the emphasis should be (and should have BEEN) on diplomacy and education instead of war -- on both sides of the ocean. But as long as this war is more about securing oil than in seeking understanding or enlightenment, there isn't much chance of that happening now. There has been, and continues to be, too much violence.
Daily, the people of Iraq are tallying up new deaths to avenge, a cultural mindset that will take several generations of education to reverse.
It was very apparent from the get-go, when our soldiers toppled Baghdad, that helping the Iraqi people was NOT this administration's objective. There was only a handful of Arabic speakers working for the coalition forces and the troops were assigned to guard the oil ministry and oil fields, allowing mobs to plunder museums, shops, banks and public buildings unrestrained.
Lawlessness was allowed to grow unchecked; and that's what we still have in Iraq today, creating a volatile environment where displays of "explosive" rhetoric too often turn into actual explosions.
The Iraqi people must either give up the rhetoric or give up the violence. As long as they persist in engaging in both and we're seen as "occupiers," there will be no peace in that region. And I don't believe America's military industrial complex should be the ones to teach them. We have to get out so they can either learn that lesson on their own, the hard way, or get some other nation to help that already understands their culture and for whom they already hold enough respect upon which to build the trust necessary to create security and stability.
We do NOT fit that job description.
Congress believes that sending more troops to Iraq to die will bring valor to those who have already fallen. How stupid is that?
A few months ago, I had a repairman in my home who was recently from Iraq. He said the U.S. lost the war within three months of Saddam's fall. Not only is Bush ignoring the American people, his advisors, and his conscience (if he even has one), he's also ignoring the Iraqi people.
Bush has broken our military and our treasure and now he is trying to prolong this war until he leaves so someone else can fix his mess; and that's what he has done his entire life.
We lost the Iraq war four years ago ... and the Bush administration, along with his flock of chickenhawks, REFUSE TO FACE IT, because they would have to admit that the loss of so many lives and our children's future prosperity was THEIR FAULT.
Welcome, mtscribe1! I look forward to seeing your comments.
Debra Morgan Pardee
"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." -- George Bernard Shaw
June 1, 2007 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink