One Utah

October 24th, 2007 by Richard Warnick Richard Warnick

Jane Stillwater: ‘The war is over if you want it’

Unbelievably intrepid blogger Jane Stillwater is with the Marines at FOB Hit (pronounced “HEAT”), Al Anbar Province, Iraq. You can read the full account of her trip to Iraq on Jane Stillwater’s Web Log. Here are some excerpts:

Jane Stillwater

10/20

“Ms. Stillwater, you will be riding in the Seven-Ton,” said the platoon gunner as our convoy started to line up for the two-mile drive into the city of Hit, population 200,000. “A year ago you couldn’t even drive down the street here without getting shot at. But now you can go to the market and even walk around without being in any danger.” Hey, I’m in a Seven-Ton. I’m good to go.

Still and all, as safe as the streets may be, having the governor come to town is a good opportunity to show off some brute force — sort of like on Veterans Day. Give the folks a show. And what a show it is! We gots the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Police Force and a whole bunch of Marines parading down the main street. We’re impressive. We’re awesome! You should see me in my flak helmet and vest. I’m awesome too. But really. Hit is now supposed to be a quiet town — like after Gary Cooper became sheriff in “High Noon”. The school marms are safe.

…Anbar province has its good points and its bad points. Bad points? Many parts of Anbar are desolate and barren as hell. A lot of the children I’ve seen here look undernourished. Poverty is apparent in the rural villages. The Marines I am staying with in the FOB live in fairly primative conditions and there’s no pumpkin pie at their dining facility. Heck, they don’t even HAVE a DFac. And the internet connections at FOB Hit suck eggs.

And the good points here? Ah, the Marines. They are a well-trained, tight-knit group who write really funny stuff on the walls of the latrines and drive really cool muscle cars with awesome names like “Strykers”. And the Iraqis themselves tend to be kind, hospitable and generous to a fault and would give you the shirt off their backs if you act justly and fairly with them. And the people of Anbar are trying really, really hard to make omelets out of the broken eggs handed to them by Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney.

…Yes, I am aware that assassinations and car-bombs make more vivid headlines back in America and that “if it bleeds, it leads” sells more newspapers (and blogs), but still…. Peace is good news too. The people of Anbar are tired of being terrorized and being afraid of their own shadow all the time. And now they are willing to come forward and stand up for peace. And if they can do it in the middle of danger-ridden and war-torn Iraq, then we can do it in America too. It’s time for us Americans to stop cowering every time we hear of a Code Orange alert and also start standing up for peace.

Guys, you have NO idea how safe and protected and pampered you are back home in America. Most of you would last about three days at FOB Hit — if that. So. Man up, America and start fighting for PEACE too.

10/21

From what I can tell, the war in Iraq is pretty much over. Or it CAN be over if we want it. All that American soldiers have to do over here is to play the good-guy card just a little bit longer…if they can just do that, can hang in there a little bit longer while the “insurgents” continue to shoot themselves in the foot….

10/23

Are there still insurgents in Al Anbar? Yes. Is the area totally secured? No. But when I went to a hearing held by the governor the other day to find out what the concerns of the citizens of Hit were, the people were talking about getting schools repaired, getting water treatment plants up and running, getting sewage pipes laid, getting more access to the courts. Security, the end-all and be-all of the last governor’s hearing, was now way down on the list.

Why is that? Because the Marines in Al Anbar are doing a great job. Period. Their mission here is to help the Iraqis become self-sufficient and then step back. And that is just what they are doing.