Amid too much public posturing over difficult times in Iraq, it's a relief to hear from someone with experience and perspective. Cholene Espinoza, former combat USAF captain and now radio correspondent, including embedded experience with the USMC in Iraq, has some thoughts on what happened at Abu Ghraib, what's going on in Iraq in general, and what needs to change. She's realistic.
Her concluding thoughts:
The only positive sides to this are that our nation is not burying this in secret investigations (thanks to Congress). Also, we should remember that yes, US soldiers did this, but it was also a US soldier who gave these pictures to his/her commander and to the press. This distinguishes us from the former Iraqi regime.Posted by Alan at May 11, 2004 09:08 PMOne last note, when I was sitting on the border of Iraq with the Marines waiting to invade, I turned to the 19 and 22 year old I was with and said, “The future of our country is in your hands.” They asked, “Why do you say that?” I replied, “Because your judgment and your conduct in this war and after the war will dictate in the end whether this war was just or not in the minds of the world.” There was a long silence after I said that. Today I feel like these men were sold short with too much mission, too few people and too little training.
Via Blackfive