Sajani Tails

Tuesday 20th May 2003

We left very early in the morning. It was just becoming daylight when we passed into the Iraqi border. The living conditions were poor. True, it is a desert here, so it'd be difficult if not impossible to simply up and build a condo every few miles, but it was obvious people are living literally in ruins.

There’re old adobe walls jutting up from the sand here and there, not always even forming four walls and at times you can tell (from laundry or signs of recent modification), people actually live there. I thought of the last twelve years of sanctions and thought to myself, “Did we do this?”

Shortly after we crossed the border, we started seeing destroyed tanks and troop carriers, all Iraqi. They were completely burned up, and none had left their defensive positions. I know a little bit about their armament versus our weaponry. They died in those positions, or abandoned them. It was more than likely not a noble fight, certainly not a fair one. Again the thought came to me, “Did we do this?”

As further tribute to the poverty of the area, we see children, obviously not in school, standing by the side of the road, holding out their hands and rubbing their stomachs. They are hungry, and want food; food that might have been traded for oil, if their government would have not abused the program; food that would have fed them. They are hungry, and yet I ask myself, “Did we do this?”

Governments are like people, in that sometimes they make wrong choices. Could we have made a mistake in coming here? In enforcing sanctions? In destroying a government? But perhaps our government’s choices were more the result of another government’s poor choices.

As it gets lighter out, I realize there are more and more people along the side of the road—of all ages. Many of them wave, not asking for food, just wanting to see us. They must have walked a ways to even get to the road. Some hold up the sign of victory, or peace, I’m not sure which. The younger they are the more likely they are to do something.

But they are all there, and whether vocal or not, moving or not, they are all obviously there for the same reason. They are there to show their support. I’m not talking about thousands crowding the roads between Kuwait and Baghdad. It’s not that many, but I think it's enough. Did we do this?

Yes we did.

We continued a pattern that's existed for centuries. American blood, it seems, must always be the price of freedom in the world. Iraq is added to the list of countries that owe their freedom to the United States of America in general, and American soldiers specifically. I’m not sure why it’s become that way, but it has.

The reason we went to war here will be debated for centuries to come, I’m sure. Whether we find what we set out to find or not, people will debate if it was the real intent or just the story given to hide ulterior motives that I will not degrade this entry by discussing . I don’t think those people on the side of the road care why we came, and after seeing them, I don’t either. Like them now, I’m just glad we came. They are free. Their future is unsure, peace may be fleeting for them. I don’t know.

But for now, they are free.

Was it too great a price? Was it fought for the right reasons? Did we do more harm than good? Will their poverty continue despite their new-found freedom? I don’t know. All I do know is that Providence has a way of doing great things, even if the reasons are wrong.

Whatever reason we are here for, whether that reason was right or wrong. Providence, and American blood, has set a people free. I will not question that anymore, and neither will those standing and waving on the side of the road to Baghdad.