Brutally Honest: Dispatches from Baghdad - a soldier's view on Iraq

Brutally Honest: Dispatches from Baghdad - a soldier's view on IraqDispatches from Baghdad - a soldier's view on Iraq

Hope filled words from a Brit in Iraq:

Lieutenant General Graeme Lamb CMG DSO OBE is the Deputy Commanding General for the Multi-National Force-Iraq. He is also the UK’s Senior Military Officer in the country. Based in Baghdad, he frequently operates around the country. Here he gives his thoughts and an honest appraisal of Iraq's unfolding story:

"This is my fourth deployment. So I have, if nothing else, a reasonable (albeit soldier’s) perspective on Iraq and its people. I have, as you would expect, in these four tours got around a great deal and in the process I have drunk more tea (it’s very good, but not at all English) and broken more bread than I would care to recall.

But I have enjoyed an honest engagement with Iraqis from all persuasions whose hospitality is humbling, and on each occasion that I return to this country have seen progress being made that rarely gets reported.

...

In July, a poll by the nonprofit International Republican Institute found that 94% of Iraqis said they support a “unity” government. Nearly 80% opposed Iraq being segregated by religion or ethnicity, and even in Baghdad where sectarian violence is heightened, 76% opposed ethnic separation.

Similarly, according to a September WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, 97% of Iraqis said they “strongly disapprove” of attacks against Iraqi civilians, and 96% of Iraqis disapproved of attacks on Iraqi security forces.

These are the voices of that huge, so often forgotten, and silent majority of Iraqis who deserve a better life. They are good people who struggle and fall, but pick themselves up every day and continue to move on. These are people who deserve a chance. Their hopes and their dreams are, I believe as they do, worth fighting for. And it is this that this coalition does every day.

...

Iraq will not be completely free of violence - no country ever is. But as the Iraqis begin to learn to trust their security forces and actively work to rid the country of extremists, violence can be reduced to acceptable levels. Iraqis are making progress, and the Coalition Force remains steadfast in its support of Iraq through its transition to a more unified, secure, and prosperous country.

Can this still fail to meet our expectations? Of course it can. I personally do not believe that it will, and I am inclined to believe that greatness will eventually return to a country long overdue its sovereignty. But it would be a shame to fail simply because we all grew tired of trying."

The whole thing's worthy so go now and read it all and thank Instapundit for the find.