There is still hope here
I’d like to share a story about something that happened to me a couple months ago.
I was staying with a unit up north in the Irbil province. We were driving in the mountains in SUV’s and one of our interpreter said he would like to take us to his village to show us where he grew up.
So we drove for nearly an hour down gravel roads through the mountains and we came to a stop on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, You can literally see nothing but grass on both sides of the road. We thought that maybe the driver had to pee or something, so we got out and were stretching our legs and he pointed out towards the grass. He said, “This is my village. It was bombed by Saddam almost 20 years ago. Half of the people here were killed, the rest were forced to move to the city.” That was it, we got back into the SUV and left. There was nothing where he pointed, not the bombed remains of buildings, not a tree or house in sight. The village was completely destroyed.
You don’t have to ask this guy why he is helping the Coalition forces.
But what about the rest of the Iraqis who are working with us everyday? We employ many interpreters and local contractors to help us accomplish our mission here. Every one you talk to has a different story of a relative that was killed by Saddam, family that was imprisoned and never heard from again, rape, torture. Everyone who cooperates with us does so knowing that they are making themselves a target for the new batch of terrorists who will kill anyone they know who helps the US. Our interpreters are threatened daily, they live in fear, many of them are killed, but they still continue to help us.
I think that speaks for what they believe we are trying to help them do. There are people here who are willing to risk their lives for freedom and democracy. The ING and the Iraqi police are not the only ones who are working to further this cause in Iraq. There are ordinary people who are risking their lives every day.
That’s probably the most encouraging thing going on here right now.
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