Every week, the media are briefed on ongoing military developments and operations throughout Iraq. This week, Major General Bill Caldwell (my new boss), talked about Operation Chapultepec, among other subjects.
On Operation Chapultepec — next slide, please — the significance of this operation was this was truly one of the first real led — Iraq-planned and -conducted missions that was conducted. On May 24th, approximately (500 ?) Iraqi soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, supported by coalition army and air forces and over a hundred Iraqi police forces, were led by Babil province chief General Case (sp), who conducted this raid, in response to reports of kidnappings and increased sectarian violence in the area. And out of that, as you can see, they had a very successful operation and found in fact both a weapons cache, and it also resulted in the deaths of several known terrorists down in that location.
The ongoing training and increasing “solo” ability of the ISF is important for Iraq’s future, and for the coalition. No one, most of all the grunts who do the dirty work, wants the coalition to stay in Iraq any longer than necessary. Certainly a U.S. presence will be necessary in Iraq in the years and probably even decades to come. At least, it will be if the goal is to see Iraq ruled by an elected government instead of the strongmen and puppet rulers who have been in charge for generations.
For republicanism (I refuse to say democracy) and ideas about what it means to be free to take root, the Iraqis have to be able to quell the insurgency themselves, from within. All the coalition can do is train, teach and assist where needed. That is what is happening, even if the process is painful and expensive.
As important in the long term as military assistance is humanitarian assistance. Saddam invested very little in infrastructure during his rule. Most of the electrical systems in Baghdad that I have seen are at least 30-40 years old. Buildings catch fire all the time because of faulty wiring. But the coalition is working to provide water, electricity, education and medical care to as many Iraqis as is possible, in as short a time as possible.
In addition to that, of course, is the whole point with electricity, water and electricity being two of the basic services that the people of Iraq keep telling their leadership that they wanted to have fixed. And this one here is a substation that will provide electric support to almost 50,000 Iraqi residents down in the Massad (sp) Dhi Qar province. And that’s just coming on line, too, this week.
Many of you who are against this war seem not to have a basic understanding of the alternative. What you are wishing on Iraqis is a lifetime without electricity, without clean drinking water. By campaigning against our involvement in Iraq, you are essentially voting for men who could care less about education, access to modern medical care and basic human decency.
Your ranting and raving is fuel for the insurgency and motivates them to keep attacking infrastructure projects, Iraqi police stations and government officials. Musab al-Zarqawi has no interest in rebuilding anything. He has no desire to see new companies invest in Iraq. He has no plans to make Iraq a center for biotech research. If he wins, young Iraqis will not dream of becoming brave firemen, fearless astronauts, world-class athletes, pioneering surgeons or brilliant mathematicians. How many fundamentalist Islamic adherents have you heard of whose contributions for the benefit of humanity are known and respected around the world? I can’t think of any.
For Iraq to have a chance to emerge from the Dark Ages, it needs to be able to offer the vast majority of Iraqis basic necessities and an environment where free speech and the free exchange of ideas are possible. That is what I am fighting for. Human dignity and human freedom are worth sacrifice.