Two Sides of the “Truth”

In a recent forum discussion on running out of oil and Big Oil, it dissolved into arguments about the “baby butchering” Americans and Iraq. One of the proofs given to me was our supposed use of depleted uranium weapons in Iraq. This “truth” apparently started at the end of the first Gulf war on the road between Kuwait and Iraq that was littered with Iraqi tanks and trucks.

A picture was taken of man holding a Geiger counter to a hole blasted in the side of an Iraqi tank. This was proof that the mean ol’ Americans had used DU weapons against the Iraqis running for home. This picture and the story was embraced by the American haters and is being passed around from  group to group.

Right now, all over the world, you can turn on the television or pick up a newspaper and immediately find someone criticizing the United States for its actions in the Middle East. I guess some people would rather talk forever.

Why am I here? Ironically enough, there is a simple bumper sticker that explains what I find so hard to put into words. It reads "Whose son is fighting in place of yours?" The reason that I am here is so others will never have to be. I volunteered to be here knowing that if the job was done right this time, then future generations would never have to continue what could have been ended in the Gulf War. I am more than willing to risk my life so I can do everything I can to prevent whatever family I may have in the future from ever having to make the same sacrifice, take the same risks, or face the same criticism.

No matter what political party one may lean toward, the need for some security and global stability is undeniable. I believe anybody who believes otherwise is naive and needs to see downtown Fallujah in person. It is my opinion that if drastic action was not taken when it was, then the wake of the September 11th attacks would have brought more of the same instead of the capture of Saddam Hussein.

As I write this I am sitting in a cabana a few miles east of downtown Fallujah. This network of cabanas the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment calls home used to be a vacation resort for Uday Hussein and other Iraqi royalty. The lake these shelters surround is filled with body parts from women Uday brought to this resort, raped, then fed to his lions. All of the negotiations in the world could never bring the Husseins and their terrorist allies to justice. United States Marines don't negotiate.

The liberal media and their sympathetic bystanders would have a much harder time if we had a perfect record. The simple truth is that in an environment where you can't tell the enemy from a businessman or roadside debris from a bomb, collateral damage is unavoidable. For some, this is reason enough to say we don't belong here. Right, and maybe we should take more cops off the streets so there would be less traffic.

To anyone opposed to the war on terror, or America's policing role in the Middle East, I challenge you to go on a patrol with any platoon in 1st Bn, 6th Marines. Walk down the streets of Fallujah and see the look in an Iraqi child's eyes as he waves and cheers you by. Shake the hand of an Iraqi man thanking you for his family's freedom. I know I belong here because I see what they don't show on CNN. What they don't print in the newspapers. I see what President Bush is trying to tell the world, if they would only be quiet long enough to listen. Take a walk in our boots, but make sure you give them back. We're not finished here yet.

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04 Jul 2005:
To All:

I tried to e-mailed something that I had been working on in the last week or so. I was trying to send it before today, July, 4th. However, I was engaged in other matters. Nevertheless I dedicated some time to finish what I wanted to say to so many of you that have supported me and all of us serving in this Theater of Operation. I hope I don't bore you with the following. If I don't make sense on some things, it is probably because I was thinking a thousand things and I wanted to write them so fast. So, please bear with me.

As we celebrate the 229th anniversary of our great nation's independence, I wanted to thank the people that are behind me. I know that the given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that all Americans (and those that live in our country) enjoy nowadays were borne of the courage and determination of the sons and daughters of the American Revolution. Time after time our great country has been put to the test. We have overcome adversity not because we sat around and waited to see what would happen next. We have become the great country that we are today because so many brave men and women have taken that one step that puts them in harm's way. From our country's infant days to our present, time after time we have proven that we will defend an protect our beloved constitution. I prayed to God for those that came and went before me to defend the red, white and blue. I have had two very important moments in my life besides family moments: The day that I sworn in to join the United States Marine Corps on 12 January 1995 and the day that I sworn the Oath of Allegiance to the United States becoming an American Citizen: "that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...". I am a man but in both occasions tears of pride were in my eyes. I even get goose bumps to this day when I listen to the National Anthem or any patriotic songs. It is the US Constitution that is the very backbone of all Americans. No matter what political party we belong to. No matter whether or not we agree with policies that our government creates and enforces. No matter if one thinks whether or nor we should be fighting in Iraq or anywhere else. At the end of the day we come back to the very beginning of Our Constitution or better known as Preamble: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." That's why if you read in between the lines we can see that we won't just defend our country when it gets attacked as it was on September 11th, 2001. Sometimes we have to take it to foreign soils to protect what our country stands for.

I could go on and on about all the things that I would like to write about but I have to close with the paragraph that closes our Declaration Of Independence: "We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do." Please reflect on that. We, the great great great great grand kids of the American Revolution and those of us that chose to be Americans and are now serving in this far land salute you and thank you for everything you do for us in our beloved country. As you dine or wine this day, take a moment to reflect on those that given their lives for us. They wanted to serve their beloved country just like we are doing now.

Today after I came back to base camp, I was greeted by a couple of Iraqi interpreters. They told me in their broken English "Happy Independence Day". I was so choked up with pride and I replied back "Happy Independence Day to you too, my friends". They gave me a big smile and went on their way. We are making a big difference here. The news don't show all the progress we make every day but little by little we are winning the Peoples' hearts.

I am so proud to serve in the United States Marine Corps. I am so proud to be an American. I am so lucky to have you all supporting what I and all my military brothers and sisters are doing. Thanks for supporting our efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts.

Just like the Marine Corps Commandand wrote on his Independence Day Message: Let's embrace the last line of the Declaration "and mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Thank you, God Bless and Semper Fidelis

Marvin