Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2009

Situation in Iraq is different

It seems to me that the situation in Iraq has changed for the better. That’s been relatively clear for some time now.

I’m not saying the war is over because it isn’t. American soldiers are still being killed and wounded. Nonetheless, the situation is different.

This was brought home to me by a newspaper column from the Lawton Constitution that a friend forwarded to me. The Oklahoma newspaper covers Fort Sill, the longtime location of the Field Artillery School. Fort Sill now hosts the Fires Center of Excellence with the Field Artillery and Air Defense Schools, which are both located on the installation.

Fort Sill also is the home of several fires brigades. One of the battalions based at Fort Sill just returned from Iraq.

This battalion’s standard equipment is the Multiple Launched Rocket System; however, the Army did not need much of the system’s support in Iraq, so the battalion deployed as guards under military police command and control. This was the third deployment for the battalion commander who said the country had changed dramatically with Iraqis doing more to run and secure their country now than in his previous two deployments. We see more reports of that every day.

American troops often act as backup for Iraqi Army units on patrol, rather than leading those efforts. We still have soldiers training Iraqis on how to be a professional army, but we aren’t leading the combat operations at the level of a year ago. There will still be plenty of bad days because the loss of every soldier causes a bad day.

The loss of a soldier is a tragedy for the soldier’s family and friends. Nonetheless, the overall U.S. casualty rate is down. Thankfully, our military service members have performed magnificently even when some of our national leaders claimed they had failed and the war was lost. Our military personnel had better sense than to believe that.

A good book to read about this change is Michael Yon’s “Moment of Truth in Iraq.” Yon is known for his candor. His previous Special Forces service provides him a somewhat unique perspective on military operations compared to many people who cover the war.

In the book he talks about how grim the situation was a couple of years ago and how young American men and women refused to quit.

If everything you have read was about the bad things, take a moment and read about the good. Yon discusses the failures. However, he also highlights how the situation changed and the role of our young Americans who made that change possible.

My main point is that the situation in Iraq is better. Less news time seems dominated by the war. That’s a good indicator that the situation has improved.

We still need to support our soldiers and their families because the war continues. Less violence does not mean no violence. We cannot let the reduction in casualties cause us to act like we have forgotten. That would be a travesty.

Nonetheless, we can take heart in the courage and endurance of our men and women in uniform. They are in the process of accomplishing something many Americans thought was not possible — an Iraq governed and secured by Iraqis.

John M. House is a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland, Ga. His e-mail is housearmylife@aol.com.