TRAVELOGUE TO IRAQ – ENTRY NUMBER 8

Hey all,

Iraq voted today. In Fallujah, Iraqi police and Iraqi Army maintained security. A year ago the two forces refused to work together, now they worked hand and hand throughout the city. We spent most of the day in the Fallujah Chief of Police’s office. Though we couldn’t make it out to a polling stations because of restrictions on the movement of US personnel in order to avoid the appearance of US interference in the election process, there was still a celebratory feeling throughout the city.

General Kelly, the Marine general in charge of all US and coalition forces in Iraq’s western provinces, stopped in the police chief’s office along with a number of senior Iraqi army officers. We spoke over lunch and he emphatically stated that as of 1730 (5:30pm) today, when the polls closed, that we won. His Sergeant Major asked me why I was smiling in disbelief and I said that I had heard the same thing from another Marine General in January of 2005.

Emphatic statements aside, I am always amazed at the candor of senior Marine Officers. Over a noisy lunch (I’m worried if we were able to capture the moment because of all the sounds), General Kelly spoke about the changes that have occurred and the mistakes we’ve made over the years. He was out here in 2004 as the deputy Division commander the same time I was. He believes we created the insurgency in 2003 and 2004, especially with the first invasion into Fallujah. After the Blackwater contractors were killed in 2004, Marine commanders protested the CPA and Administration’s plans to attack in the city. However, Marines follow orders. General Kelly believed that was the moment that we lost the trust and confidence of most of the population. At that point, he said, we became an occupying force in the eyes of the population.

As our conversation meandered, we began to talk about the work Marines are doing and have done in Al Anbar. General Kelly is getting ready to head home after a year in Iraq. He spoke about Agricultural projects, economic and political successes, and the relationships he has developed with security officials, tribal leaders, and other Iraqis. It is amazing to see how close Marines have become with Iraqis. Many police officers and Iraqi army soldiers wear Marine camouflage pattern uniforms they buy out in town with their own salaries. I remarked to the General that I have two police lieutenant lapel rank insignia I took off of a dead insurgent in 2004, now Fallujah police lieutenants eat Kabob and drink Chai with Marines and want to be Marines.

General Kelly has two sons in the Marine Corps, one fought in the second Battle of Fallujah a few blocks from me.

The election results will be officially announced on Februaru 23^rd, it will be interesting to see how things play out.

Yesterday, before the election we went to visit the Mayor of Fallujah. He was sitting on a couch in the parking lot outside his office surrounded by armed police officers and soldiers. I wanted to find out if he would be willing to try and help the little girl with cancer we’d met the night before. He is a young guy and has chose not to run in today’s election. We showed each other pictures of our families on our phones and he really liked my sister. I told him that she would be more than happy to move to Fallujah and marry him, but he would have to treat her as his first wife. I thought it would be easier for her to move to Iraq than for him to move to the States, he is the Mayor after all. Toward the end of our conversation, I brought up Fatima’s case and he said that he would stop by that day to see what he could do.

In the evening we went on what could very well be the last Marine foot mobile patrol in Fallujah. At least it will be one of the last. Considering the performance of Iraqi security forces leading up the elections, there is little need for the Marines to actively provide security.

We passed by the infamous Blackwater bridge, where the contractors were hung in 2004, and down the city’s western edge along the banks of the Euphrates. We stopped in Fatima’s house, the little girl with cancer, and spoke to her mother and family. They said that the Mayor stopped by as promised, but that he said he was going to come back after afternoon prayer and never did. I am going to see him again on Wednesday, he has a gift he wants me to bring to my sister, and will ask him if there is anything we can do.

Speaking to Fatima’s mother, however, I felt completely helpless and wondered if we were giving her mother a cruel and false sense of hope. They need $30,000 to pay for her treatment, but that was months ago and there is a good chance that the cancer has already spread to her daughter’s brain. Her mother has brought her to doctor after doctor after doctor. They tell her there is little they can do or that she needs to go to Jordan for treatment. She showed us a picture of her daughter taken 6 months ago before the cancer, she was beautiful, bright and lively. When we left, I spoke with the platoon commander about arranging for the Battalion Surgeon to pay her a visit, but with increasing restrictions on the movement of US and coalition forces, it may be difficult to get him out to see her. Even if he did, there is probably little he can do.

So much hope and despair.

Once again, thanks for continuing to read these updates and your comments and emails.

Best,

Zach

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