From a soldier in IRAQ

A Captain, currently serving in Iraq, sent this letter to a friend who asked about the situation there. It was read Thursday, October 13, 2005, on the AFR Today's Issues program.

So good to hear from you. When you asked me about what I believe about the war as a soldier and a Christian, a thousand thoughts that came to mind. I wrote down some of them thought below:

When we came to Iraq, the people here lived under the rule of a tyrant. Today they're working towards a free, democratic state. I work with Iraqi people over here every day that will tell you Saddam Hussein was a murderer, a rapist, basically evil. His sons were the same, probably worse. I visited what used to be a resort town on the edge of one the large lakes here in Iraq. Saddam's sons had a house there that overlooked the beach and swimming area. The locals told us they (Saddam's sons) would sit in their rooms with binoculars, scanning the area for attractive young women. When they saw one they wanted, they'd send their men down to the water to pick them up and bring them back to their house where they would be raped and then released. I've visited the palaces Saddam built located right next to people who live in mud huts with no roof, no shoes on their feet, no plumbing, no electricity, and on and on... I've met and work with Iraqi men whose brothers, fathers, cousins were killed by Saddam's secret police after they were tortured. I've yet to meet an Iraqi man that will tell you that they're not better off without Saddam and that they appreciate what the U.S. is doing for them and their families. Saddam was for Saddam and the Iraqi people suffered because of it. It's hard to explain in words what I've seen and experienced.

We are bringing hope to a country that was without hope. We're building schools, roads, sewer systems, establishing town and city councils, teaching a democratic process where people can express their opinions without fear of reprisal...where they can have a say in the future of their country, where they as individuals, despite their status, can vote for the things they believe. They're not so different than you or I. They have similar hopes and dreams. They want peace in their land, they want to live in safety, they want to see their children happy, able to attend schools, able to receive medical attention when/if they need it, they want to be allowed to worship in their own manner. They are in general a very courteous and hospitable people, quick to say thank you for your help.

The News Media. I have no faith in the news media back home. They always point out the negative, never talking about the positives. Why aren't they filming the town meetings showing democracy at work? Why aren't they looking at the life support projects that are under way here? Did you know that the country of Iraq now has more electrical power for its people than prior to the war, why don't you see that in the news? It was a major subject when it was negative, now that it's positive, you don't here about it. I find myself ashamed as an American of the political bickering in our congress and among our people at the expense of those who suffer. The media basically fuels strife and division. It points out and focuses the differences in public opinion, rather than unifying our country and creating a united solution. It's a side show. The men and women on the ground over here are doing their part. I wish the people back home could walk around in our shoes for about 6 months. They'd get the picture. Unfortunately that won't happen and so the Hollywood personalities, the congressmen and senators who have never done more than drop in for a photo shoot or stay in a Hotel here for a couple of days, get media time in which they provide us with their opinions on the situation. When we drive down the road the Iraqi children run towards our vehicles waving their hands, why? Because they know that American soldiers aren't shooting bullets at them, but bringing food, shoes, clothes, candy, medical supplies, soccer balls, water, the things they need and the same things they know their own children would want. Are U.S. servicemen and women dying over here, yes. Do you here 99% of them complaining about it...no. They understand better than any the sacrifice being made, but they volunteered for the job and they're doing it. They're bringing freedom to this country. There's a speech that I read at least once a month to remind me of what we're doing here. Take a read on it:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

In case you haven't recognized it, it was written by Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address. We as Americans above all other nations on the earth ought to understand what's going on this country. Our soldiers die here so that a new nation, based upon freedom, a government by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. And by the way, Iraqi Army soldiers and policemen die every day too. They're giving their lives to see this thing through. What about their blood, their families, their hopes and dreams? Who remembers and is a voice for their cause? How do you think it makes them feel to hear Americans saying that we don't belong in this fight? If all the American people know about this war is what they read in a paper of watch on TV, then they're extremely misinformed. If they don't understand where our own country came from and how difficult it was for us in the beginning, then shame on them for their laziness in not finding out. This isn't a football game; it's not a pie eating contest or Miss America Pageant. It's a struggle for a way of life, for freedom for a people. Why should we care, because we're Americans and should know what this fight is really about.

I've stood on the ground in Babylon where Daniel stood. I've seen the Euphrates, where Adam, Abraham, Noah, Ezekiel, walked. When I look up at the stars at night I remember them. I pray for the people of Iraq. I pray for their freedom, for the safety of their families, for their soldiers, for victory and peace in this land. My love is greater than hate; my faith is stronger than fear, my hopes higher than despair. I will do my part both as a soldier and a Christian to help this country to receive the same liberties and freedoms we have at home. Some would say that we're fighting to help an Islamic country, that they don't believe in Jesus, so why should we help them. If you believe that we are the body of Christ, that he manifests his love to the world through us, that our words and our deeds are seeds and reflections of his love, then you must also understand that I and many other here are planting seeds. I do not despair at the poverty in this pace or what the news media has to say, instead each day I do what I can, from where I am to see that his love is manifested in this earth. I may not be able to feed a thousand children, but I can feed one, I may not be able to provide shoes for every child here, but I can provide them for two or three, I might not be able to fix all of it, but I'm going to do my part to fix some of it. Some people just never get it. The mountains are too high, the storms to large, they never stop fearing, engaged in daily discussions, their mouths speaking fear and their feet planted in place. It makes me just want to yell "Get up and do something; start moving forward". If more people quit arguing about it and started helping the Iraqi people, this war would be over a lot sooner.

So that's about it. I could go on and on about what I've seen and what I believe. It's not my job to fix the world, but it is my job to minister the love of the Father to it. If I have to carry a weapon to bring freedom to this country, to defend the rights of the Iraqi people, then so be it. I thank God for the opportunity to kick in and do my part. I'm an adopted child of God, with a purpose in life. His eyes are upon me and I never walk alone.