My son is a medic soldier in Al Anbar. He and I have an ongoing private facebook dialogue about life, peace, war and world events. These conversations include his current neighborhood.
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Hello Dad,
Well, I don't have much time on the computer, so I'll try give you some good thinking food...
XXXXX is like... well, it's not like any place in the U.S. that I've ever been too. It's basically an enormous ghetto. But it's not the huge differences that throw you off (the language or the environment) as much as the thousands of tiny differences that make it so surreal.
Do you remember Pinocchio? I'm thinking about the end, when he goes to that chaotic carnival. Pinocchio goes with a group of brats who see the world as a place with no rules. Well, they find that place at the carnival; they do whatever the want with no regard for consequences. Eventually, the carnival is nothing more than ruins.
The feeling I got watching that part of the movie as a kid is the closest feeling I can relate to initially living here.
I have a couple thoughts on what you said. First, I disagree with your prediction on the US military's long term occupation of Iraq. As much as the US military hates leaving, well... anywhere, the reason this operation has failed is because we've simply run out of time. If we stayed for another 5 or 10 years, I have no doubt that Iraq would make twice as much progress as we've made in the past 4 years. Once Iraq was stable, we would still not leave... we would reduce our numbers and set up bases. We would stay forever because that's what we've done to every other country we've beaten, and that's what we planned on doing to this country.
But we've already lost. We haven't lost militarily; our military has done quite well. We've lost because the majority of Americans (nearly all of them) are against the war and wish to leave Iraq. We can't win without the support of our own people! And Americans are sick of this war!
Leaders want the support of the majority. The majority elects the leaders they want.
What popular leaders are still saying we should be in Iraq?
Aw, crap. I'm out of time. ...to be continued.
Tell everyone I love them and I miss them.
Mike
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Big Mike,
Those are terrific insights.
Couple more thoughts and I'll probably get more specific in a letter. First, these are my opinions and I may be wrong - I know on some of the things I believe I am dead wrong - I'm just not sure which thoughts are off-base… And there's the rub young Grasshopper - Ecclesiastes says "
Don't say when something will happen; because you don't even know what will happen." So, I confess in advance I’m "
guilty" in my speculating below.
Observations and thoughts...
- The war in Iraq just ended - It's over. Saddam is dead and AQI is ruined.
- It's a massive police action now - that sometimes will look like a war.
- America may want to be done, but we own that tar baby now - too late.
- We're in Iraq whether we like it or not - Leave and the REAL war starts
- What America thinks doesn't matter much. Events are driving us now.
- On Iraq - IMO, the election will change essentially nothing - NOTHING.
- Being too certain about war and politics in our time is foolish....All is gray.
- Sometimes, to my chagrin, I’m more than a little foolish.
That's it...
Global power is a bitch.
Your Ol' Man who knows too little,
Dad.
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Three Soldier Dad...Chuck
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