Monday, June 9, 2008

Marine officer's view of Iraq

By John Eidson

A woman who once taught kindergarten with my wife is married to a retired nuclear sub commander and graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy.

Their son, Jeff, is a Marine officer in Iraq. His job is training Iraqi soldiers and accompanying them on missions to deal with the remaining al Qaeda cells and other extremists.

In recent conversations with his parents, Jeff has expressed extreme pride in the terrific job the American military is doing in helping the Iraqis learn how to defend their country.

He reports that the Iraqi Army is making major strides, that violence is down significantly, that political reconciliation is occurring, and that the lives of the Iraqi people are returning to normal in many of what once were seething hotbeds of death and violence.

His mother said his main frustration is the same as that of other soldiers and Marines who risk their lives every day to bring peace and stability to Iraq: how the traditional media has virtually ignored the war ever since a flood of good news began occurring this time a year ago.

His perspective as a combat officer in the thick of things: the war in Iraq is being won.


John Eidson is a white conservative who takes great pleasure in black success.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Anyone who expected anything except good news to be coming out of Iraq, is pretty naive. The military brass receives extensive training on spinning good yarn, and if you listen carefully, you can determine what they don't want to tell you. For example, they always begin by thanking you for the interview, and then tell you what a great job the soldiers are doing, and expressing their disbelief that we have such great soldiers in the military. You should immediately ask them how many AWOL's and desertions they have from their unit since they were alerted for deployment. They know, but will sputter and say they don't have those figures, but they will get back with you, which is not the truth. Then ask start asking specific questions, like how much money is being spent, which Iraqi units are the worst, and if the men are looking forward to going home. They will tap dance around these questions, then try to come up with examples of what they call "success." Then you should ask about roadside bombings, assassinations, sabotage, and workers who refuse to come to work, because they think it isn't safe. After reeling from these questions, they will then try to thank the families for their support, and state how badly the soldiers want to stay unitl the job is finished. It is a carefully scripted interview or press release, designed for them to control the information that is released, and give the continuous impresssion that everything is just fine.