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LETTER: Not the time to cut and run
As the fourth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom is upon us, I am forced to relive the time that I spent in Fallujah. My mind races with a rush of memories with brutal intensity, from the camaraderie and powerful devotion of duty among the Marines, to the loss of my friends, both American and Iraqi.
The relationship that I had with the Marines and the Iraqis is indescribable. As I write this, my heart is banging with a desire to return to my brothers. We had so much to do and not enough time to do it. It’s a common yearning for most of us who were there. We want it to go well and we want it to be right.
As a highlight to my deployment, I observed the courage, integrity and determination of so many Iraqis in their quest to help make their piece of Iraq a secure place to live. I am confident that they will not abandon their mission. It will just take time! They have lived under the proverbial rock of tyranny for the past 60 years, so it will just take time to make things right as they see it.
We, on the other hand, are a nation known for our want of instant gratification. We are the NOW generation. The majority of Iraqi citizens are beginning to live in their country as they have never lived before. They have more food, water and electricity than they have ever had in the history of their country. In November 2006, the Coalition Forces gave Fallujah back to the citizens. It’s theirs to govern, and theirs to maintain its security and safety. The new Iraqi government has also done a decent job focusing on their infrastructure and decentralizing their government.
Of course, there are significant problems. We used the 2005 free elections of their referendum and for their parliament as a thermometer to measure their given freedom, thinking that they would instantly respond to the first taste of freedom. Meaningless, I say! Freedom and democracy must be earned just as we have earned it here in the United States. Democracy and freedom can’t be measured based just on two days of going to a voting booth. They have not come to terms with what is needed to gain momentum and compete in this complex world. However, because their issues are so complex, many will not be corrected without the United States to be their crutch. Consistently, the Iraqi leadership with whom I worked would say to me, “We want you to leave but just not yet.”
Imagine the state of our country, and of our future generations after us, if we were to cut and run from this war. We must look at this war as our ultimate challenge to survival. The elusive posture of the maniacal Islamic radicals is to destroy our western civilization as we know it today. It is their long-term plan and their goal to see us retreat. In pursuit of this goal, they will kick us in the shins until we will eventually bleed to death. They are very patient.
Today’s citizenry may not see it, but there will be a time when, generations from now, their wrath will be felt if we do not continue to hammer home the fact that we will not quit. I applaud the president for his foresight and his vision of what could be. Let us not look at this war short term. Instead, we must accept the fact that we are in this for the long haul, whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere. We are not just trying to keep a small country afloat to serve as democratic competition in the Middle East, but we are working to ensure the safety and security of our country, and the entire free world, for that matter.
James Haldeman
Lt. Col. U.S. Marine Corps
(retired)
West Kingston
Via e-mail
Lieutenant Colonel Haldeman is the former commander of civil military operations and served in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005.
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