Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who has been engaged in actively opposing United States and coalition forces in Iraq, issued a statement Friday calling on his supporters to continue to fight against American troops.  The statement was read by a Sadr supporter during Friday prayers in Baghdad.  Sadr himself has been in hiding since the United Stated began a security crackdown on sectarian violence in Baghdad last month.  It is believed al-Sadr may be controlling his militia from Iran.  The US led security sweep has been successful in reducing the number of execution style killings and rocket attacks in the streets of Baghdad.  And while al-Sadr is reported to have initially called for his militia to exercise restraint during the security crackdown, the cleric’s message has since changed.   

Al-Sadr’s statement came only a day after an attack on Rahim al-Darraj, the mayor of Sadr city, which left the mayor wounded and two of his bodyguards dead.  Al-Darraj had been acting as a negotiator between US forces and the militia to pull militia fighters off the streets.  He was also working on convincing American forces to bring construction projects into Sadr city to provide jobs for the large number of unemployed men in the city who have joined al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.  The hope is that by employing the disenfranchised men, they will be willing to lay down their arms and leave the militia.  But as long as al-Sadr continues to demand his supporters to actively resist American efforts, the possibility of rebuilding Sadr City is in jeopardy. 

Al-Sadr’s continued fight against the presence of United States and coalition forces in Iraq should be seen as a foreshadowing of what will come if we pull out of Iraq before the country is stable.  Al-Sadr is a radical leader more committed to furthering his own power than to the welfare of the Iraqi people.   His supporters would rather attack and kill men who have campaigned for an end to violence and an increase in jobs than work with US troops.  Any form of cooperation between Iraqi and American forces is protested by al-Sadr.  He will not be satisfied with anything less than complete power.  His fanaticism and his obvious apathy for the welfare of the Iraqi people makes al-Sadr is a prime example of why we cannot leave Iraq before the Iraqis are adequately equipped to defend themselves from would-be warlords and power hungry fanatics.   

I don’t think there’s any way you can predict how someone will react to the news that their husband or son or friend has been killed in Iraq.  When you send someone you love off to war, you say goodbye with the knowledge that they may never come home again.  You hope and pray that they will be safe, but you never really know.   When that knock on the door comes and you suddenly find yourself a widow or the mother of a son who will never come home again, life changes forever. 

One family of a Marine killed in Iraq has taken that sorrow and turned it into something positive.  Lance Corporeal Chance Phelps was a Marine with 3^rd Battalion, 11^th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, California.  When his unit was ambushed in the Anbar province of Iraq on April 9, 2004, Chance manned a machine gun and returned enemy fire.  Though his unit fought its way out of the ambush, Chance was killed in the firefight.   He was 19 years old. 

After his death, Chance’s family put together a group of friends to run the 2004 Marine Corps Marathon in Chance’s honor.  They asked for sponsors to donate $1 for every mile they ran.  With the money they raised they started the Chance R. Phelps Foundation.  The foundation’s first act was to purchase much needed binoculars for military members serving in Iraq.  The group continues to participate in events around the world to raise money to donate to charities that improve the quality of life for those who serve in the military, especially those currently serving in or who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

On February 12, 2007 Chance’s mother and sister began the Walk for Chance, a more than 1,500 mile walk from Twentynine Palms, California to Chance’s hometown and his final resting place of Dubois, Wyoming.  Their goal is to raise $1 million for the Fisher House and the Semper Fi fund.  They are expected to arrive in Dubois on Memorial Day weekend.   

There is no way to know how anyone will react to the news that all military families dread.  But the strength of Chance’s family and their continuing dedication to those who serve is a truly inspiring example of those qualities that the Marine Corps holds dear:  honor, courage and commitment.  It is an incredible way to honor a fallen hero. 

You can read about their walk and the work of the Chance Phelps Foundation on their website:  run4chance.com. 

As the number of US deaths in Iraq grows, the media has focused its attention on the totality of casualties.  We hear very night that over 3,100 men and women have given their lives on the battlefields of Iraq.  And while we need to remember that freedom comes with a price and it’s important that we know what this war is costing, a number isn’t enough.  Each of those 3,100 men and women has a name, a family and they deserve to be honored individually as well as collectively. 

The men and women serving in Iraq know firsthand the pain of losing a comrade in arms during war.  They have seen their friends, their fellow soldiers killed.  They have had to say goodbye to those they served with and fought with.  For the men and women who have served in Iraq, deaths are not measured by a number used on the nightly news, but by the number of memorials they have attended. 

When a service member is killed his or her body is sent home for the funereal and burial honors.  When we think of those who have die din Iraq we may most often think of a traditional military funereal.  A flag draped casket, a twenty-one gun salute, presenting a flag to the family.  But there is also another memorial for those who have given their lives.  The men and women of the unit who have lost one of their own also need to be able to say goodbye.  Memorials in the field are just as important and just as moving as those back home.   

There are a number of traditions involved in war time memorials.  The deceased weapon is inverted and stuck in the ground.  His helmet is set atop the butt of the weapon, his dog tags hand down.  Often his boots are placed on the ground beside the weapon.  At a formal memorial the chaplain will speak and offer prayers.  A record of the life of the fallen service member will be read, who he was, where he was from, where he served, the honors he received, how he died.  The friends of the fallen will have a chance to stand up and tell the others about their friend.  They share stories, some funny, some sad about a man or woman who has made the ultimate sacrifice.  Each member of the unit will pass by the memorial, touch the helmet or dog tags, and say their own goodbyes.   Then they pick up their weapons and return to the fight.  The true cost of freedom is measured not by statistics, but by each individual name etched in stone.

In an effort to boost our military strength in Iraq and deal a decisive blow to the insurgency, President Bush authorized a substantial build up of troops in Iraq.  His original request was for an additional 21,500 troops to be sent to Iraq by the end of June.  Since February 14^th, the US military has increased its activity in Baghdad and the surrounding areas helping to sharply decrease terrorist activity.  The significant boost in the number of troops in Iraq has no doubt had a positive impact on these security missions and it is likely that General Petraeus, the top US military commander in Iraq, will request that the current build up be sustained into next year.  However, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have dragged on, it is becoming more difficult for the Pentagon to find fresh troops for these deployments. 

Many units are now facing their second and sometimes even their third combat deployments.  This has defense officials scrambling to find troops who are available and adequately trained for deployment.  Units currently deployed to Iraq face the possibility of being extended for up to three months and stateside units scheduled for deployments may be sent earlier than expected in order to maintain the increased level of troop strength. 

Defense officials have tried to set deployment schedules that would allow service members to be home for a full twelve months before redeploying, but that schedule may be impossible to maintain in the face of a sustained military build up.   This has very real consequences for our service members and their families.   The men and women facing repeated deployments to combat areas run the risk of battle fatigue and exhaustion.   

And though it is much less talked about, repeated deployments also take a very real toll on the families of the troops sent back to Iraq and Afghanistan.   Families experience the worry and fear of knowing a loved one is in harm’s way.   Repeated deployments put stress on military marriages and demand a special kind of sacrifice from those left behind.   

The Pentagon and defense officials must walk a fine line between giving our military the force it needs to win in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also give our individual service members the time they need to recover from previous combat deployments.  If they ask too much from our troops and their families, we will start seeing our experienced service members leaving the military.

The Democrats won control of Congress based largely on an end the war platform.  Now that they are in charge, they are being forced to define their strategy to get the US out of Iraq.  Thus far their proposals have been ridiculous at best and dangerous to our troops still serving in Iraq at worst. 

First we heard about the plan to cut funding for the war.  The theory behind the bill was that without money, the President would be forced to withdraw from Iraq immediately.  When the backlash hit that cutting funding would endanger our troops by withholding needed supplies, the Democrats insisted that they would never cut funding to our service members.  They only wanted to stop funding the war.  Such a distinction is not possible.  Our troops are the war effort and any cut in funding takes money away from the troops.   

Our troops would fight, and have fought, without armor plated vehicles to protect them from IEDs.  They have fought without sufficient supplies of kevlar vests.  Many soldiers and Marines have purchased their own vests or asked family members to find them and send them to Iraq.   Cut funding for weapons, ammunition, even gasoline and you will leave our troops vulnerable.   

The next proposal by Democrats to get the United States out of Iraq has been to set a “date certain,” to quote House Speaker Pelosi, for a total withdrawal of our troops.   Again this bill would do more harm than good.  By setting a date for our withdrawal regardless of the stability of the Iraqi government at the time is the legislative equivalent of sending the insurgents a gold plated invitation to civil war.  The insurgents will only have to destabilize the government enough to prevent the Iraqi leaders from meeting the progress benchmarks set by the Democrats in Congress to force a US withdrawal, or simply stockpile their weapons and wait until the date set for our withdrawal.  Either way, the bill serves only to set the Iraqi government, and our mission in Iraq, up for failure. 

Instead of trying to curry public favor by presenting ineffective plans to get the United States out of Iraq, the Democrats would be better off working with the President and the military commanders in Iraq to ensure victory.  When our military has the resources and support necessary to ensure victory, they will be able to complete their mission and leave Iraq with a stable and democratic government.  And shouldn’t that be the goal shared by the White House and Congress?

Days in the Iraqi desert can seem endless.  Sand as far as the eye can see, relentless winds that keep clothes, vehicles and food constantly covered in dirt and grime, and as summer approaches it brings the promise of a vicious heat that never lets up.   While some of the larger US bases in Iraq have Pizza Hut and Subway and even ice cream parlors, the Marines stationed along the Syrian border and at other distant locations who are charged with quelling insurgent activity can go for days, even weeks without a shower or a hot meal.  These guys are still going out on patrol.  Many of them engage the enemy on a daily basis.  The sounds of gunfire and mortar blasts are never far away.   Other bases may have internet cafes and dry cleaners, but not here.  Here the Marines have learned how to improvise with their MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat).   Some guys can even make pudding with the cocoa powder.   Occasionally, these men can venture into Camp Victory or another large base and stock up on soda, cigars and junk food, but those trips may be few and far between.  So they make do with what they have and hope for a care package from home. Care packages are more than just a reminder that someone loves them and is thinking of them.  They bring a little bit of home to these desolate parts of Iraq.  Video games, books and iPods can make those long, boring days go by faster…provided the sender remembers to include batteries!  Magazines are read and re-read and passed around.  DVD’s are popped into computers and screened for everyone.  Guys can watch an entire season of 24 or CSI in one night and then start the whole thing over again the next day.  Baby wipes might be the closest thing they get to a shower and fresh socks mean they might not have to wash out their old ones until tomorrow.  Powdered lemonade means they can camouflage the taste of their purified water and spices and Tabasco sauce will dress up another serving of vacuum packed lasagna. 

The stories of neglect that are emerging from Walter Reed Hospital have opened a firestorm of debate, recrimination and promises of change.  All of that is good and long overdue, but the bottom line is that our government is failing those who have served and sacrificed for this country.  Men and women who have been wounded fighting for this country are being abandoned by the very system that should be caring for them.  Our wounded soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen and National Guardsmen are being wounded again by the disgraceful treatment they are receiving by VA hospitals around the country. In the weeks since the Walter Reed scandal hit the papers, stories of moldy barracks, broken wheelchairs, lack of access to doctors and indifferent politicians have flooded newspapers, websites, blogs and email chains.  Vets from the Vietnam conflict are adding their voices to the scores of vets from Iraq and Afghanistan who have been let down by the VA healthcare system.  Generals have been relieved of command, congressmen and women have expressed outrage and the pubic has demanded something be done.  But, once these first flames of scandal die down, will any significant changes actually take place?  Will our government and the politicians live up to their outrage and take the steps necessary to fix this broken military healthcare system?  Or will they simply move on to the next big issue and hope the wounded will go back to suffering in silence?  The poor treatment of our wounded soldiers is just another example of the way we have so often taken advantage of the men and women who volunteer to serve this country.   We expect them to serve, we expect young men and women to dedicate their lives to defending our nations, we expect them to fight when asked, then we expect them to just get on with their lives and not remind us of the wars they have fought.  That is a great disservice to the people who volunteered to put their lives in danger and who paid the price for our freedom and it must change.  Our troops need support not just when they’re in combat, but when they come home too.  Perhaps for those of us safe at home, the war ends once we turn off the evening news, but it doesn’t end there for those who marched in the jungles of Vietnam or patrolled the streets of Baghdad.  When you carry scars, the war never ends.

As the media continues to report on roadside bombings and suicide attacks in Iraq, perhaps it’s time that we step back and look more closely at the motivation behind these attacks.  Some will no doubt be quick to say that the continued attacks are due to our presence in Iraq and that if we left the country the killing would stop.  That is a naïve opinion and I disagree. 

Are there attacks that are aimed specifically at American service members?  Absolutely.  It cannot be denied that our troops are in danger everyday in Iraq and that there are terrorists who want us out.  However, an American presence in Iraq is not the only impetus for the continued violence.  To fully understand the dissention in that country, must look at its most basic division, the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. 

Earlier this week, suicide bombers killed over 120 Shiite pilgrims lined up at a checkpoint.  The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, grandson on the Prophet Mohammed and a central figure on the Shiite interpretation of Islam.  The attacks were blamed on Sunni insurgents. 

For decades Shiite Muslims were oppressed under the rule of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni government.  Now the new Iraqi government is dominated by a Shiite majority and many Sunnis fear the possible repercussions of being an out of power minority.  This underlying conflict between two divergent branches of Islam only adds fuel to the fire of conflict in Iraq. While many will say that these religious differences are only superficial and could not be the cause of such an increase in violence, I believe that the Sunni-Shiite division is fast becoming a battle cry for insurgents. 

It would be much more difficult for terrorist groups to recruit suicide bombers and insurgency fighters if their only selling point was to overthrown the government and let someone else take over.  There has to be a greater motivation to convince a person to kill himself and potentially hundreds of other people.  That is where the power of religion has come to play a part in the Iraq War.   When a young man can be convinced that his death will serve a purpose and that he will receive a reward for his actions no matter how deplorable they may be, a suicide bomber can be born.  This would be much more difficult if this same young man was told his death was really only serving to destabilize a country and prevent its growth as an American ally.

As the war in Iraq continues, our military is fighting a different kind of war.  The battle has changed form the wide desert expanse of Iraq and the streets of Baghdad to the hearts of the Iraqi people.  The fighting has changed from tanks and artillery meant to destroy the Republican Guard and topple Saddam Hussein to a war of goodwill.  This doesn’t mean that our service members are out of danger.  Insurgents and terrorists are still trying to undermine our mission in Iraq, but now we are fighting back by winning over the Iraqi people. 

For months, we have been hearing that the Iraqi people need to take responsibility for the future of their country.  No one wants to see the United States playing policemen in Iraq indefinitely.   It is going to take a new kind of warfare to make that happen.  The military is working now on developing social ties with the Iraqi leaders and people.  Our military is actively working on rebuilding the devastated country and helping the people to recover, not just from the aftermath of war, but from decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein.   

The United States is handing out money to local tribes to help the people rebuild.  They are paying social visits to local leaders and actively helping local communities.  All of these goodwill missions are designed to win the Iraqi people over to the American side.   Maybe it isn’t the kind of mission the members of our military trained for in boot camp, but this may prove to be the most decisive tactic in the war.  If we can show the Iraqi people the good that can come of a secure and democratic society, then maybe we can inspire them to take charge of their own destiny.   

The threat we face now is what will happen to Iraq when we leave.  Our troops won’t stay forever, but we can’t leave Iraq in a state of chaos and uncertainty.   Pulling out before a stable government is in place and the country is secure will only leave Iraq open to civil war and the rise of warlords, fundamentalists and terrorists.   Convincing the Iraqi people to become actively involved in the future of their country is the only way a lasting peace can be achieved. 

American troops are still patrolling the streets of hotspots like Ramadi and Hit in the Anbar province.  Military leaders report that the Iraqi people are happy to see American troops on patrol, that they are relieved to see us keeping them safe from the insurgents and that many of the local people don’t want us to leave.  But we can’t stay forever.  It’s time for the Iraqi people to step up and fight for their future.