It was an interesting week. The Iraqis voted in a nationwide election, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called 9/11 a “big lie” and the death of a beloved relative along with the sight of U.S. veterans returning to Iwo Jima for a 65th reunion caused me to stop and reminisce about the achievements of the Greatest Generation.
The election in Iraq is the second in the post Saddam era. The first was in 2005. More than 6,200 candidates are vying for 325 seats. Those following my blog know that I’ve been reporting on the Intelligence community’s annual assessment and its take on national security related events. Concerning Iraq, the report points out in spite of terrorist and insurgent group’s attempts to reignite sectarian violence, levels of violence are the lowest since 2003. The report states it doesn’t think the groups will succeed in their efforts because of three reasons:
First, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) financial problems, “difficulty recruiting new members, and continued Sunni rejection of the group will limit AQI’s capacity to undermine the Government of Iraq.”
“Second, the Iraqi Government and society have shown great resilience in the face of AQI attacks. Despite high-profile bombings of government buildings in 2009, we did not see any indications of impending communal conflict – such as retaliatory violence, the reappearance of neighborhood militias, or hardened sectarian rhetoric – that followed mass-casualty bombings in 2006.” The report says the third reason is because the Iraqi security forces have maintained security in urban areas and is continuing to improve.
The continued improvement is dependent on Iraq managing Arab-Kurd “tensions”, integrating the Sunnis back into government and how effective the security forces continue to be. According to the report another thing to be on the look out for is Iran which is apparently continuing to train and equip “select Iraqi Shia militant groups to maintain pressure on U.S. Forces.”
The election results are expected to come out Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. If sectarian violence increases, it’s possible it could affect the timing of the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Early press reports indicate at least 38 people were killed by insurgent violence during the voting process. In spite of this, early reports are indicating the insurgents failed to prevent people from voting.
Now on to Iran and the 9/11 was a “big lie” statement. Iranian state TV reported President Ahmadinejad went on to call the attacks “a complicated intelligence scenario and act.” Admittedly I’m a bit emotional on the subject but I say tell that to the families of the men and woman who died in the attack or those first responders on the scene, many of whom also lost their lives. I happened to be in Washington DC on 9/11 and was supposed to be at a planned meeting in the location in the Pentagon where the aircraft hit. Totally out of character for me, events caused me to be late for the meeting…hence I’m still here.
When I hear statements like this along with claims that the holocaust never happened from Iran’s President, I wonder if he really believes what he’s saying or he’s just being inflammatory. If it’s the former, it doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy about the possibility of successfully and peaceably dealing with Iran as long as he’s around. I suspect he’s just trying to get a rise out of the U.S. government with that statement as part of his strategy. I think a weakness in U.S. strategy is our inability to understand the mind set and point of view of potential adversaries particularly when dealing with nations whose culture differs greatly from ours.
When making that argument during one of my talks, I use myself as an example. I point to whatever outfit I’m wearing and ask the audience if they find the way I’m dressed sexually provocative? I dress like many other middle aged American woman wearing loose fitting clothes designed to hide my midriff bulge and cellulite. When the audience acknowledges, my outfit is not sexy, I go on to mention in some parts of the world because my head, hands, and part of my legs are visible I’m indeed dressed in a sexually provocative manner.
This is no speculation on my part; I’ve lived in some of these countries and had to take to wearing a fake wedding ring to cut down on the male attention. I couldn’t walk down the street, even wearing the baggiest clothes in my wardrobe, without large groups of very attractive men trying to ask me out. I resisted the overwhelming attention mostly because I had a very high profile job and didn’t want to cause a scandal. I dealt with the situation by not leaving my living quarters unless I was going to work. If we don’t even understand, why men in some parts of the world found middle aged me and my outfits “hot”…well let’s just say we have a ways to go in understanding their world view. By the way, now that I’m retired from government service and no longer have to worry about embarrassing the government, maybe it’s time for me to go back for a vacation…..
I gain some consolation that a nation’s actions speak louder than words. It will be interesting to see what Iran’s actual national security actions and policies are in the coming weeks and months as we deal with the ongoing crisis over nuclear weapons.
Last week my father’s older brother and family patriarch, Richard “Sam” Bryant passed away at the age of 83. A World War II veteran, Uncle Sam was a true force of nature. For years he owned a very successful construction business. He was a master brick layer and worked till the age of 72 when his back finally gave out after years of hard work. His men called him names like “The Rock” and “The Beast”. An incredibly charming “Chick Magnet” all of his life he had a long successful marriage with his third wife Blondine, while maintaining great relations with wives one and two, Elaine and Shirley. He is survived by 8 children, 15 Grandchildren and 7 Great Grandchildren.
Last week was also the 65th reunion for veterans of the battle for Iwo Jima. Just a handful of veterans most in their 80s or 90s as well as U.S. and Japanese dignitaries attended ceremonies on the island. My eyes filled with tears as I watched news reports covering the events. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific war claiming the lives of 6,821 Americans and 21,570 Japanese. One particular press report was the most poignant for me. It quoted a 76 year old Japanese Doctor who attended the ceremony. He was a student during the war but came in memory of a friend who was a kamikaze pilot. The report quoted him as saying: “We must not allow this tragedy to be forgotten. It’s a very emotional moment…We must not forget that this is where peace was born.”
We are the children, grand children and great grand children of that Generation journalist Tom Brokaw called The Greatest. They successfully dealt with the depression, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement and just when they should have been allowed to settle gracefully into middle age, hippie children and grand children. Looking simply at what they endured during World War II can boggle the mind. It was horrific. Over 50 million people killed and 30 million refugees. Veterans of that conflict are leaving us at the rate of 1000 per day.
Like most of the WWII veterans I’ve encountered, Uncle Sam didn’t talk much about the war. After he returned from the war, he just went about the business of making the best life possible for his family. He along with the rest of his generation had faced the possible destruction of life as we knew it and won. They persevered when things looked the darkest. I’m reminded of the Thomas Paine quote: Tyranny, like hell is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph.”
Rest in peace Uncle Sam and those of the Greatest Generation, like my father Jimmy, who have gone before you. Well done!
