| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Michael Yon: Seven Rules and One Oath |
| 2007-07-21 |
| Today marks D+30 since the start of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. The initial goal of Arrowhead Ripper was to clear Baqubah of al Qaeda, and then attempt to “jump start” the city back into civic life, which had all but ceased while the terrorists were in control. Though relatively minor clearing operations are still underway, there is little combat in the city. Today Colonel Steve Townsend, the American commander of the 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, presided over a meeting with Iraqi Army officers and former insurgent leaders. The insurgent leaders who seem to be sincerely working toward peace are now collectively referred to as “the Baqubah Guardians.” I was allowed to attend the meeting, but was—understandably—not permitted to photograph or videotape the proceedings. Colonel Townsend clarified the purpose of the meeting; it was not to formalize relations or to establish a chain of command, but to work out ways of cooperating to bring better days to Baqubah. Colonel Townsend’s staff had prepared a slideshow that started off with a draft of “7 Rules.” The final version of the 7 Rules were open to discussion and suggestions from those in attendance. The rules were followed by an Oath, also still in draft. First Colonel Townsend reviewed the 7 Rules, presented here verbatim from the slides: 1) Protect your community from AQI, JAM and other terrorist militia. Then came the Oath, also presented here verbatim from the slides: 1) I will support and defend the Constitution of Iraq. After the proposal for the 7 Rules and the Oath were presented, the most interesting—fascinating, really—part of the meeting unfolded. . . . Go read it all. The interaction between the ex-insurgents over the "rules" is fascinating. I'll leave you with a couple of Mr. Yon's closing points (italic emphasis added): . . . the easiest of all parts of the Oath was point Six—I will not support sectarian agendas. Every Iraqi in the room immediately was aboard on this one, and they even seemed enthusiastic about it. I’ve saved an unmentioned point for last. The Iraqi flag appeared on some of the slides. But the graphic showed an Iraqi flag without the traditional words “God is Great.” This was clearly a potential flash point. In fact, one of the Iraqi interpreters nearly recused himself from the conversation. LT David Wallach, whose native tongue is Arabic, told me after the meeting that Saddam had put “God is Great” on the flags so that Iraqis would stop grinding the flags into the dirt with their feet. He said that Iraqis would never trample on anything that had those words written on it. But other than the interpreter’s sudden jitters, I detected no overt emotion among the Iraqis. In fact, they were all calm, professional, and very polite. An Iraqi Colonel was generous enough to offer that he believed it to be just a mistake that “God is Great” was left off the flag that was used on the slides. But the Iraqis all agreed that nobody was going to sign anything that displayed an Iraqi flag without the phrase “God is Great.” This might seem ominous to us. “Allah u Akbar!” are, after all, words that we have become accustomed to hearing when someone is doing something bad, like burning an American flag, or blowing up Americans. But these issues are more like the intense legal and media battles over the words “In God We Trust” on the money in our pockets, or the ongoing furor in some sectors over the phrase “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible . . . ” in the Pledge of Allegiance. (Not to mention the dust storms kicked up by the Pledge itself.) Seeing “God is Great” written on the Iraqi flag might provoke some to protest “Why did we come here just to stand up a country who would write such things on their flag?” But I sat there in that meeting, which was completely civil and professional, and I thought about another flag, the one flying over South Carolina. Some people call that flag “heritage,” while others call it “hateful,” “painful” and “demeaning.” And today in that meeting, I thought about the descendants of slaves who are now top military commanders in the American Army, and in that moment I knew that Iraq could make it. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #2 I knew that Iraq could make it. Of course they can - if the world will help them. Now at the moment when it is becoming clear that we can help the Iraqis to have a functioning government - the liberals are desperate to have it fail - Lliberals. who have invested their sense of self-worth into being against whatever those disdainfully ordinary conservatives are for - now consider it chic to be on board with the idea of another Saigon, just to prove they were right! Bush lied and people died. I believe that this issue is going to drive a silver stake into the heart of the Democratic party. I really believe that liberals, not of the Kos/Soros deranged ilk, will look in the mirror, think about what they are condoning and say, "NO". |
| Posted by: AT 2007-07-21 17:00 |
| #1 Poor foolish Iraqis don't know the War is Lost. Dingy Harry said so. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-07-21 07:38 |