Reflections on Iraq
Campus Progress commemorates the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion.
Monday March 19, 2007
The U.S. and allied war in Iraq began with a series of bombings four years ago on March 20, 2003. Since then, hundreds of thousands of troops have served in the war, and more than 3,200 American service members have died in the line of duty. The war reaches deep into the lives of American soldiers, their families, and others who are connected to Iraq, as well as Iraqi civilians, at least 60,000 of whom have died since the American invasion.
Campus Progress gathered some impressions from people directly affected by the war. The following testimonials are from just four of the millions of people affected by the war. Today, Campus Progress honors the courage, hardship, and sacrifice of people involved in the conflict, regardless of whether they supported or opposed it four years ago, and no matter what course of action they would advocate for the United States and Iraq in 2007 and beyond. Contributions have been edited for length.
From Joe Donahue, former Marine and father of a Marine, Virginia
 Joe Donahue’s sonMy son is a Marine. He’s always wanted to be a Marine, probably because I was one and I have siblings that were career Army and Navy, and my father was career Army. He was an honor student and a three-time Junior Olympics champ in Karate during his middle school and high school years. He could have gone anywhere to college but he accepted an NROTC scholarship (Marine option) to Virginia Tech. When we invaded Iraq he quit school and enlisted. He heard his country calling. My nightmares began the day I realized we all had been lied to. He knew it too. Last July he deployed to Iraq.
To live day by day wondering if your boy is all right and feeling everything tighten in your body every time someone on the news says ‘‘Two marines were killed yesterday in Anbar province’‘ is maddening, especially when the majority of Americans are going on with their daily lives. You don’t joke and laugh at much, it’s your own private hell only shared with others who have kids in harm’s way. Holidays don’t mean much. ‘‘Peace on Earth, good will toward men’‘? Jesus (if you believe in that) weeps with us.
I sometimes wish that things would get more out of control so we would have to implement the draft again and some of the people who talk big about this catastrophe could share in the fear for their children like his mother, his sister, my family, his friends, his wife who is in the Air Force, and I do. I’m sure just the mention of the draft put a fear through you, didn’t it? Now imagine getting a satellite phone call from your son at 2 a.m. from Haditha, telling you in whispered tones that they just lost two men in an ambush and a roadside bomb, and they had to pick up the pieces of them and put them in a bag. “I had a chance to use this phone and I’m just calling to say I love you,’‘ he says. Or getting letters that say, “This is madness, we can’t trust anyone, and we think the people who are supposed to be helping us are exposing us. I know now what you all must have felt in Vietnam.” Can I get an amen?
Joey came home intact in December with horrific stories and nothing good to say about it. Because he’s a smart kid and a leader, he was selected to go into a Special Operations unit where he is now awaiting deployment to Iraq again in July.
—Joe Donahue
From Alex Rossmiller, former intelligence officer, Defense Intelligence Agency, and now fellow at the National Security Network, Washington, D.C.
My flight to Iraq lifted off almost exactly on the two-year anniversary of the invasion. As we cruised, I thought back to the months and weeks leading up to what seemed like an avoidable—and yet inevitable—conflict in the most combustible region in the world. I grimly considered my disapproval of the war as we went airborne, the final separation between my life in D.C. and the coming six months in Baghdad. I was an intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency, essentially the spy arm of the Department of Defense. Despite my opposition to the Iraq war from the beginning, I wanted to help protect and defend the country. My enthusiasm slowly turned to disillusion, though, as I saw the cause of fighting terrorism overtaken by the need to deal with the growing disaster in Iraq. Ultimately, feeling compelled to support the troops in the field, I volunteered to deploy.
Working in Iraq I saw and experienced the focus and camaraderie of dedicated professionals—and the crushing weight of bureaucracy and political influence in the intelligence and military structures. Less than a year after returning from Iraq, conflicted about leaving a job I had wanted so badly but burdened by the things I had seen and done, I resigned from the DIA. I experienced the inner workings of the process, and knowing that a war is manipulated and mismanaged makes the results of such disgraces especially heartbreaking. Most people know that Iraq has been a debacle for U.S. foreign policy and national security. These conclusions are no longer in doubt, but hopefully those consequences can be repaired. Individuals, on the other hand, can’t be fixed by a new administration or more competent foreign policy. It affects everyone involved: you can’t be part of a process in which death and destruction are the goals without losing some of yourself.
—Alex Rossmiller
From Spencer Ackerman, freelance journalist currently in Iraq.
I’m writing this from the press center in Iraq’s Green Zone, where I’m waiting to catch a helicopter to Ramadi for an embed after finishing up a different embed in Baghdad. Over the last week I’ve interviewed senior Iraqi security officials who discuss their citizenry in terms better reserved for animals, and heard Iraqi translators for the U.S. military, faces masked and names hidden behind pseudonym, beg me to take them back to America with them. Despite the cynicism and fear from Iraqis in the crosshairs of the war, I’ve seen U.S. troops risk their lives for the persistent, unyielding belief that they can still do something—anything—to make Iraq a better place.
My heart is with the continuing good intentions of the Americans. But my head is with the bitterness of the Iraqis. I never expected when I supported the war in 2003 that Iraq would become the abyss that it is. When the war began, I decided I should devote my career to covering Iraq, in order to make sense out of the new era of American power that the war heralded and has now created. What I learned is what I should have known from the beginning, which would have allowed me to see what many war opponents already understood: Iraq is neither an abstraction nor a proving ground for political science experiments. It’s a real country, populated by real people, who suffer tremendously through a war and occupation that makes even less sense to them than it does to us. Understanding that has made me an angrier person; angry at the war, and angry about my own blindness about a war that won’t end.
—Spencer Ackerman
Alex Cornell du Houx, U.S. Marine Reserves, spoke with Campus Progress.
Alex Cornell du Houx joined the Marine Reserves out of high school and was deployed to Iraq last year. As a Bowdoin College student, Cornell du Houx was active in student government, where he helped pass a resolution opposing the occupation of Iraq in 2003. As the war continued, Cornell du Houx became involved with progressive campus groups. “There is no conflict with being a liberal and a Marine, because regardless of my personal beliefs, it is my duty and honor as a Marine to serve my country. In the larger picture, being engaged in the Marines, the College Democrats, and community service programs shares the same goal—to help serve our communities, so that everyone has the opportunity to live a safe and productive life.”
 Alex Cornell du HouxCornell du Houx said some people who opposed the war were nonetheless supportive of the troops. He received a care package from progressive organizations. “My squad enjoyed the food, but when they found out where it came from, their reaction was one of appreciation that the groups took the time to send the package, which changed their perspective of the groups.”
Having served a tour of duty in Fallujah, Cornell du Houx observed: “After being deployed I do not regret joining the Marines, because the people you meet, the perspective you gain, and the places you visit have taught me a great deal about the Middle East and America. However, it is disheartening to see little kids come up to you and ask for water rather than candy because of the basic lack of service the population faces every day.”
—Campus Progress
For more information on the current state of affairs in Iraq and proposals to draw the troops down, please see our crib sheets here and here.
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Comments
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Hey,
— Bob - Mar 22, 12:49 AM - #the stories from soldiers and other veterans are interesting, but how about getting some interviews/views of Iraqi civilians eh? Is that beyond the limits? I sincerely hope not. You can get some perspectives from blogs – you don’t have to fly to Iraq to hear from Iraqis.
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