From the moment that I left Iraq onFebruary 28, 2004, and unloaded my weapons at the Kuwaiti border, I havestruggled to communicate what I learned there and how the experience of beingthere has changed my life. For this reason I have hesitated to speak my mind,but I made a promise when I was in Iraq and I want to come forward now andspeak what I believe.
I believe in the Iraqi people. I didnot believe in them when I arrived in Iraq but I believed in them when I left.I had few occasions to meet the sullen and suspicious Sunnis of Ramadi. I spentmost of my time among the majority Shia in towns like Hilla, Diwaniyah, Najaf,Karbala, and Kut. The more that I came into contact with these people the moreI was impressed with their industriousness, piety, courtesy, and sense offamily. The most enduring memory for me is not of an Iraqi with his fist heldhigh in anger, but of an Iraqi family, the mother in full-length abaya carryinga baby and the father, walking ahead in a white dishdasha, and holding a smallchild.
I cannot forget the Iraqi woman whocame forward despite great personal danger to lead the women’s rights center that we created inKarbala. I shared with her a picture of my family that I carried in my helmet.She gave me a postcard of Karbala to give to my daughter. I think of this womanoften, and I do not even know her name. When I think of the sacrifices that Imade, and the sacrifices that my family made, I believe that they were made forthis woman.
I believe in the Iraqi people. Ibelieve in the message of the Iraqi woman that I saw in the streets of Hillah.She looked at me, an American soldier wearing a helmet and body armor, andcarrying a loaded weapon, andwasn’tafraid. If she had been, she would not have lifted her baby’s arm to wave at me.
Many times when I was in Iraq I wasthanked, often by grown men in tears, for helping to remove the terror and thehorror that had beset these men’slives for over 30 years. And I promised them, each one, that this time we wouldsee the job through, that after awakening them from their nightmare we wouldlead them to the democracy that they deserve. When I made that promise, Ibelieved what I said. And I continue to believe it today.
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About Author: MichaelJ. Whitehead - Tallahassee, Florida
Iraq War veteran Michael J. Whiteheadshares some of the lessons he learned on the battlefield in Iraq, about thestrength of the Iraqi people, and the importance of leaving the country inbetter shape than he found it.
Michael J. Whitehead served in theArmy and Army Reserves for 30 years. He has written a novel about his Iraq Warexperiences titled “The Lion of Babylon.” Now an emergency manager for thestate of Florida, Whitehead has helped direct relief efforts for 18 hurricanes.
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