I’m a liberal. I’m a veteran. And I’m tired of listening to my friends caterwauling that we need to cut and run from Iraq, often without considering what the brave men and women at the front have to say.
My brother is fighting today in Iraq; his e-mails from half a world away speak with first-hand knowledge and real accountability.
First Sgt. John McFarlane, is serving as an American adviser to the Iraqi Army in Taji. He’s a good husband, father and grandfather. In many ways, we see the world very differently. But in the important things – freedom and the belief in the dignity of every person – we look at the world through the same eyes. His story gives me hope.
Whatever one thinks about how we got into this war, there is no getting out without a practical plan that keeps American soldiers safe and leaves Iraqi soldiers with a fighting chance.
That’s why I am sharing some of John’s e-mails from Iraq, with his permission.
John shows us the human side of progress in Iraq, the direct personal connections, and the simple fact that people everywhere want freedom, security and a future.
One story I can’t get out of my mind is the deep emotional bond forged between John and his Iraqi troops as they discovered a mass grave:
“I had the great displeasure to do the locating and recovery of a mass execution site. That is the very ugly side of here. But this time the cameras weren’t showing Arabs celebrating and they weren’t there to see 20-year-old jundi Iraqi privates cry. The cameras were not there to record more than 20 Muslims stand by respectfully by as a Catholic, Protestant and a Muslim all prayed for the fallen. I learned a father’s hug doesn’t need to be translated. It was a hard day.”
It was another hard day for John and his Iraqi recruits. So should the litany of one hard day after another cause America to walk away?
It was a hard day, too, when John wrote this e-mail:
“The war is now very personal and I’ll explain what I mean. Our Iraqi commander’s little brother was murdered and dumped on his parents’ doorstep.”
It is personal, and it’s personal for me when I think about leaving before the Iraq is stabilized. Run away and leave the Iraqi people with a vacuum for the Saddamist terror to resume? Withdraw without a professional army and police force to protect Iraqi civilians?
I don’t take my signals from President George W. Bush. I take them from First Sgt. John McFarlane. And he tells me through real-life examples how our military is making progress.
Consider the restoration of the freedom to worship, and the simple, profound connection of men of differing faiths caught up in a common battle:
“Last night we worshipped and celebrated the Muslim holy day of Ashura with hundreds of Shiite. The historical significance of this was that under Saddam this was basically a suppressed celebration, but especially forbidden in the Sunni-dominated army.
“It was amazing because now these men have the freedom to worship publicly. What was even more astounding was that the Shiite were supported by the Sunnis, Kurds and our one Chaldean Christian. By our media you may have thought we are on the brink of civil war because of the religious tensions; not so, at least here. We Americans were encouraged to participate and we were welcomed. So much for that ‘kill all the Christians thing.’ And we had a wonderful time. I don’t know how many times I was told ‘schookran’ (thank you).”
Some will say that one united religious celebration in one corner of Iraq does not a victory make.
But I think that sends a powerful message. Thinking of my brother – an American Christian – marking a Muslim holy day with hundreds of Iraqis who, without us, would have faced imprisonment or death for merely living their faith, seems like a victory to me.
As a Vietnam-era veteran myself, I’m the last guy to understate the devastating costs of war, for Americans and Iraqis and their families.
But John, who has seen more death and devastation than one person should in a lifetime, tells me that the daily toll of dead and wounded is just part of the story.
“We lost three jundi [Iraqi privates] yesterday,” he wrote to me earlier this year. “One of them had 8 kids. If these men I serve with are any indicator of the future of Iraq, then this is going to be a great country.”
Rodger McFarlane is an author, activist and executive director of the Gill Foundation.
