The Road To Baghdad

I've been a stranger here for awhile. I apoligize for that, and I apologize to De'on for having to maintain this blog by herself. I've been back in Kuwait for a few days, trying to arrange transportation to Baghdad. My visa to Iraq was approved while I was in Turkey, so I immediately returned here.

The U.S. elections have a long reach. The people who do business in Iraq are pretty much staying put in safer places until the elections are over. The insurgents stepped up their murderous acts and plots to undermine an Iraqi democracy during October with the hope of influencing the elections. Their hope is to make the Americans more weary of this war. Because of that increased violence, the contractors and other businessmen have put their activities on a temporary hold until the carnage subsides. Not good news for me.

I had hoped to tag along with one of the convoys going to Iraq. I can do so, but it might be a couple of weeks away. My last resort is to talk to the military officials and ask if I can ride with one of their convoys. I understand they used to allow it, but they've recently cut back on civilian passengers considerably. Just my luck.

I wish Americans could feel the mood here. The whole Middle East is concerned about Iraq's future. The abandonment of a democracy in Iraq would affect the entire region and the rest of the world. If the Islamic extremists are successful in establishing their dictatorship here, then the Christian and Jewish world is at peril. Yes, the rest of the Middle East would suffer, too, but the United States, Europe and Israel would face a danger not seen since 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and plunged the world into war.

Let's be candid. The Islamic extremists are not our friends, and there is no appeasing them. They want to destroy us. How many times do they have to say it before we believe them? Iran is enriching uranium, and its leaders are committed to destroying Israel and the United States. I want to stand on every street corner in the United States and belt it out: "My fellow Americans. These people are serious about this, and we had better get serious about it, too."

I love my country for many reasons. I love it because we are a compassionate country that believes we should share our wealth and resources with others. I love it because we work to correct our flaws, usually on the front pages of the newspapers so the world can see our dysfunction. We fought a war that ended human bondage and cost hundreds of thousands in American lives. As a southerner, I have a different opinion of that war than my northern friends, but I'm proud to live in a country that survived a movement that threatened the unity of the states.

I love it because of a tired black woman who, one day, said "no" when ordered to give up her bus seat to a white person. I love it because of American POWs who never succumbed to the unimaginable torture they endured as their captors tried to make them denounce their country. Yes, I love John McCain.

I love the United States because at the end of a horrific world war, we didn't seek revenge against Germany and Japan. Instead we invested in their future and helped them recover from the evil acts of their leaders. We didn't remain as conquerors as the Soviet Union did in Eastern Europe. We helped establish democracies for the people who, just a short time before, were our enemies.

I could list a million reasons why I love my country. I could write a lengthy, and probably maudlin, essay about why the American flag moves my heart with a desire to protect it. I know other people love their countries, too. I know they would give their lives to defend their homelands. But there's something about the rambuctious Americans with their constant quarreling and material excesses. We're teenagers compared to the sedate Europeans. We have the energy of testosterone-filled youth who can't get enough of life, and our older cousins across the Atlantic raise their eyebrows at our outbursts. We're a young country, but we're a bold one.

I wish Americans could see how a fundamentalist government restricts movement and speech in the Middle East. Want to buy a beer in Kuwait? Forget it. Not gonna happen unless you know someone dealing in the black market. You want the freedom to articulate your religious preferences? You won't find that here. Not in a country where the mosques call everyone to prayer several times a day, announcing it over speakers so the whole city can hear it. The list of restrictions goes on. Freedom in the Middle East is hobbled by the religious leaders.

Well, I didn't mean to run on, and this probably won't make any sense. I'm just a little homesick right now, I guess. And I haven't been here that long. I can't imagine how the military feels. I hope to be in Baghdad next week. Wish me luck.

I want to leave with you something that John McCain wrote in his book, "Faith of My Fathers." While he was a prisoner in Hanoi, he was held, at one point, in a cell with other POWs. He had been confined alone for a couple of yerars, so he was elated to be in the company of other Americans. One of the other POWs was a young man from Alabama. He had fashioned a crude American flag out of scraps, but when the captors found it, they beat him and tortured him terribly. The other men heard it all. McCain wrote that they threw this young American back into the cell, bloodied and damaged, and they helped him to a sleeping spot. During the night, McCain saw that young Southern boy crawl away from that spot to a corner where he began to assemble another American flag. People, that's why I love my country.