They came to see us.

I had a chance to do escot duty yesterday.  Low threat security for some VIP's.  Jim McMahon, Dave Price of "The Early Show," Kerri Turner (Lt Harriet Sims on JAG), and Kevin Butler - Chacago Bears Kicker.  They had a great time meeting and greating the troops.  My impression was that they were the ones who felt honored to meet those VIP's who are serving this great nation.  They were awed by us.

Kerri got a chance to see her doctor who is here at al Asad.  Not for professional reasons. She knows him from LA before he was deployed to here with a Sea Bee unit.  He was in line with his Sea Bee "body guards" to see her. 

 

Unfortunately, there was not time to stop at the hospital because the plane arrived late but they got out of here on time. 

 

The nurses from "The Cheaters of Death" were also here in full force.  Kerri wondered if there were any females here and found out firsthand who these women are.   Everyone of these women a true professional.  Makes me proud to know them as well as work with them. 

Changing Hearts and Minds

On 9 OCT 06, I walked into the mess Hall and had just got my tray filled and was getting ready to sit down to eat when I heard, "This is the command post, all medical personal report to the base hospital, this is not a drill."  I set down my tray on the table and headed for the door.  On the way out I ran into my DOC.  He is a Navy Doctor to whom I consult for my patients.  He was washing his hands on the way in and did not hear the announcement. 

 

Once I arrived at the hospital they had a hallway full of people waiting to help.  I figured I would be twiddling my fingers for sure.  Not so.  We received 27 patients and others were rerouted to TQ for treatment.  Seems the Iraqis were having a funeral for one of their own in Hit, when a mortar round struck in the middle of their formation.   

 

I got teamed with the Psychiatrist in a room with 5 patients.  We worked them up for the surgeon, admission, or treat and release.  One went to surgery, two were admitted and two were treated and released.  Everything went smooth.  Rapid trauma assessments, IV's started, and treatments were done.  Most of these guys had not eaten since 1 AM the day prior because of fasting for Ramadan.  That was good if they had to go to surgery. 

 

One of the guys, an Iraqi interpreter, said they had not eaten since 1 AM and it was about 9 PM when he told me this.  I ask why and he said because of Ramadan.  I knew they fasted during daylight but forgot it was now.  I said, "You will have to pardon us Christians for not knowing."  What he said indicated to me that he was my friend and had the right idea for what needs to be done, "Same God."  It is working.  

 

What we did spoke volumes to those guys.  They knew we cared.  It has been said, "no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."   That is the approach that we need to take in Iraq and is the Special Forces way of winning the hearts and minds of the people. 

 

The regular army and marines have no concept of this.  It is not their fault, they just want to go “kick ass."  That is the conventional way of war.  This is now an unconventional war and the approach must be different. 

 

I finally left at 2330 hours and went to eat.  Walking into the mess hall I remarked, "Isn’t this where we started?"  

 

Does it make you feel alive to know that you changed their lives because someone else wanted to change their lives?  Hell, yes.  

 

Two days later my friend Jerry was killed just outside Camp Speicher in an ambush. 

Why the culture of Iraq needs to change

 

I think the Arabic word Inshallah is the evidence of a culturally based but religious induced "learned helplessness."  Do you remember the concept from psychology? The dogs in Seligman's experiments would not get away of the shock after being exposed to it long enough without an escape.  Eventhough they were shown how to get away from it they just let it happen.   In Islam, "if Allah allows" is the shibboleth of being a Muslim (he who submits to the will of Allah).  The true Muslim has no actual power to escape God's will/wrath because he has relinguished his will to that of Allah's to be a good Muslim. 

 

Let us be clear that submission to the will of God is not a new religious concept; consider the fist of the Ten Commandments given to Moses:

  

    Exodus 20: 1-11

 1 And God spake all these words, saying,  2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;  6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.  7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.  8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:  11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This is not the first example of submitting to God's will from the first five books of the Bible; actually the account of the 10 Commandments is in the second book, Exodus.  The concept is first seen in Genesis 3: 1- 24, with Adam not submitting to the will/command of God (Koran 2:34-38).   Years later, we see the example of the flood, which is the result of man's failure to submit to God.  Likewise, there is the example from the tower of Babel; they did not follow God's command to "fill the earth" (Gen. 9-1).  Then we see Abraham's willingness to leave Ur (Gen. 12:1-4) and years later to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen. 22:1 - 18), an act which is the pinnacle of that submission to God's will.  (Christianity has a different take on this event.)  In fact, the Jews assign a special name for this place, Yahweh yireh, The Lord Will Provide, (Gen. 22:14.)  From the Koran, Abraham's example is found in the second Chapter.  Notice these passages from that second chapter are about being a Muslim:

    2.112: Yes! whoever submits himself entirely to Allah and he is the doer of good (to others) he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for him nor shall he grieve...

    2.124: And when his Lord tried Ibrahim with certain words, he fulfilled them. He said: Surely I will make you an Imam of men. Ibrahim said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He...

    2.128: Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful....

     2.131: When his Lord said to him, Be a Muslim, he said: I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds. 132: And the same did Ibrahim enjoin on his sons and (so did) Yaqoub. O my sons! surely Allah has chosen for you (this) faith, therefore die not unless you are Muslims. 133: Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Yaqoub, when he said to his sons: What will you serve after me? They said: We will serve your God and the God of your fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq, one God only, and to Him do we submit.  134: This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. 135: And they say: Be Jews or Christians, you will be on the right course. Say: Nay! (we follow) the religion of Ibrahim, the Hanif, and he was not one of the polytheists.  136: Say: We believe in Allah and (in) that which had been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Yaqoub and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to Musa and Isa, and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their Lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit.

 

Read in context, these passages conflict with the Biblical account and demonstrates the rift between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  As you read the Koran, the non Muslims are constantly portrayed as not human. 

 

Notice that Ishmael (Ismail) is mentioned 12 times in the Koran, Isaac (Ishaq ) ismentioned 17 times, and Abraham has a chapter (14) named for him and "the Imam of Men" - the perfect example in everything - is mentioned 70 times in the entire text of the Koran.  By the way, Jesus (Isa son of Maruim) is mentioned 27 times. 

 

Submission is one of the underlying concepts of all three religions.  The bottom line for me is that the religion of Islam is fatalistic in its belief system.  Free will is not from God in Islam but is the evidence of Satan's influence.  That is why we are the "Great Satan."  We have and exercise our free will. 

 

One of the Ugandans here with me in Iraq said, "The Muslims say this is the Promised Land; look around, I don't think God really loves them."   It is hard to disagree with that here in Iraq. 

 

Joseph J. Ogershok, Jr.

“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway” John Wayne