Hope springs eternal

Much to catch up on – too much for this post. Needless to say the past month has been a whirlwind. R&R was great, but not nearly as great to come back and find that my time in Iraq is over. Tomorrow I leave for home. I will try and fill in the blanks at a later time, hopefully with pictures. But for now, I leave this place.

When we moved from industrial Norfolk, Virginia to the wooded area of Southern Maryland, we were convinced the land, the area had an energy to it. Something hit you when you crossed the bridge and began winding your way through the farmlands and tobacco fields. Iraq has an energy too. Not a good one, but not a bad one. An ancient energy. It is the energy of birth and death – of the cycle of flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates. Call it what you will – yin and yang – but it characterizes the seasons of burning sands and bitter cold rains, the sandstorms and the seas of mud, and it characterizes the people.
The people of Iraq exist. They live and they die. This constant cycle of good and evil permeates all in this region of the world, from their world view to their daily lives. “Inshalla” – “If God wills it” characterizes much of their feelings. To the people of Iraq, the war, the turmoil and terror will come and go. They will continue to exist. Not that they accept this blindly, but because it is the way of the world here – it is also why America is loved, feared, hated, and envied.
Much of this land, and much of the world don’t and can never understand us. The energy I speak of back home is a force for good, it is the last of the whirlwind to leave Pandora’s box – Hope. People stream over our southern border filled with it. Those that are angered at our morality and envious of our success cannot comprehend it. And more than any nuclear weapon, mechanized army, or burgeoning economy can embody it, hope is our most powerful weapon.
In the long war, it will not be the American Army vanquishing the evil insurgency. It will not be the rebel uprising overthrowing the imperialist invaders. It will be the people of Iraq living and dying. They will eventually decide which flavor of ruler or leader to follow and how much terror and destruction they will allow before ending the conflict. We have seen this in Vietnam, and we have seen this in Nicaragua. South Vietnam did not have the spirit, nor the beliefs that the North did, and when we lost our will to fight, they drove us away. We have seen this in Nicaragua, where the best efforts of the Sandinistas to program the minds of their people, when it came time for them to step up and make a decision. The same will eventually happen here – it will only be a matter of time before the Iraqi public has had enough.
From my limited vantage point however, the infection has already taken hold. There is hope here. The blind hatred and rage that the insurgency has for us is naught but envy – envy at our success, envy at the fact that we didn’t collapse and leave, cutting our losses as so many other colonial powers did over the past 200 years, envy at the fact that there are still men and women in this armed force that will gladly drive outside the wire hunting them down, and providing the hope of a better life to those Iraqi citizens who wish to work and raise their family in peace. Yes, there are those in the press that say that the average Iraqi was better off under Saddam. From an economic, political and organizational sense that may be true – so long as you did not cross the paths of the Ba’ath party. But from the standpoint of daring to dream of a better and freer life, while things are far more complex and terrifying today, there is hope.
To those like myself, returning home, there is hope that what we have accomplished here was worthwhile and valuable, and we live with a realization that once back in the “real world” every breath we take is precious – we have risked our lives for the hope that we can make the world a better place. Those fighting against us are terrified of that concept. Their world is a bitter and cold place where not only does the meaning and purpose in their lives lie in another plane and level, but their lives become worthless without the express intervention of a higher power. It is terrifying to them because we can find meaning and happiness today – in the here and now. And it is infectious.
For all my brothers and sisters in arms, I wish you well and a safe return to Western shores. To those that left pieces of themselves, or their spirit in this land, I honor your sacrifice and pray that you find hope in the promise that every day brings new life and opportunity to make a difference – if not in your lives, then in the lives of those around you. To those fallen heroes that will not return, I offer my hope and prayers that your sacrifice will have been worthwhile. And to the Iraqi people, I offer my sincere hope that you too can believe in a better future. And if you do chose to allow “our infection” to spread, know that you will always have a brother in arms to the west.