Over the past few years we as Americans have learned a lot more than we ever wanted to about al Qaeda. From the Reagan years through the present we have learned more and more about the capability and morals of these people and their organization. The attacks on US soil on September 11th, while horrible struck a very different nerve in me than what is being uncovered today in Iraq. My response then was very simply:
1.) Is my family safe? How do I make them safe?
2.) Am I safe (I was working on the top floors, of a sky scraper at the time)? How do I make sure that both I and my team members are safe?
3.) Where are my employees (we all travel and have projects around the globe)? Are they all accounted for? As a company we lost several both in the WTC, and on Flight 93.
4.) Am I eligible for reenlistment? Where do I sign up? What can I do to strike back? Needless to say, being in my late forties, overweight, and out of shape there younger generations that are carrying on the traditions of my corps.
In the press reports of 2007, we often hear that our combat teams have discovered an AQI torture house, or found a weapons cache. We often hear or read that AQI is taking over villages and implementing their own form of government, and sharia law. These reports, are generally just words, they don’t covey the reality of the situation, or the impact that being there would have on you.
In one short essay, Michael Yon corrects all of that. This is an important post that hammers home the reality of Iraq today, and presents a vision of the future for Iraqis if we disengage from this conflict prematurely. This dispatch has an emotional and visceral impact, much like the news of 9/11 did. This hits in a different way though, and helps to put the GWOT in perspective. Please go read his current dispatch, here.