Another view on Iraq

I received an incredible email from a friend of mine serving with the Marines in Iraq. He was writing about a speech by Gen. Michael W. Hagee who was the Marine Corps Commandant over the marine who was videotaped shooting that Iraqi in the Mosque a couple months ago. General Hagee was giving his opinion on putting journalists with the troops. He is a supporter of it and belives it is the right thing to do. “However,” Hagee adds, “I don’t think (the coverage) is very well balanced.”

Here is a quote from my friends email:

The national media, he said, has been
slow to report on things that have been handled correctly. He recalled a
sergeant, a squad leader, leading his unit through a city of 200,000
people, when they came upon a funeral. Mourners were carrying the body on
their shoulders, and firing guns into the air. The sergeant ordered his
soldiers to point their guns at the ground and place their helmets over
their hearts in a show of respect. “Let me tell you, that took guts,”
Hagee said. “I arrived in An Najaf two weeks later, and they were still
talking about it. We did more to cement relations in An Najaf with that
one incident than anything else we have done.” It can be difficult to
allow a young girl to run up to your armored vehicle when you’ve had a
friend killed by an explosive device delivered the same way, but, Hagee
said, “Today’s Marine will not shoot, and I’m quite proud of that.”

My friend, George Moleni from Tonga, goes on to talk about how alot of the Iraqis are as tired of the insurgance as the soldiers are so they are helping more. I appreciate the insights that George gives me. His emails are usually quite detailed and informative. If any of you would like to send a line to George, feel free to leave a comment and I will forward it to him.