Wake Up America, We Are at War

Some of the most interesting experiences I have had during my travels to and from the war in Iraq involved the necessary fuel stops in other nations along the route that would take me to Kuwait, the jumping off point for military forces and equipment rotating into the Iraq Theater of Operations. Both political climate and public sentiment played crucial roles in determining the type of reception that American soldiers received upon landing, and I was struck by the differences among nations that were considered American "allies."

To illustrate, allow me to provide a few examples. In Rome, Italy, we were not allowed to leave the plane during our stop. We remained parked on the tarmac and airport personnel brought out portable stairs so that smokers could descend to the bottom for a cigarette break. I stepped outside just so that I could enjoy a breath of fresh air, having been trapped inside our plane for the past 15 hours. We were told by some airline workers that we were restricted to the plane because of the Italian public's opposition to the war, a notion I found somewhat strange considering the Italians had a respectable number of troops serving in Iraq and then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was a staunch supporter of President Bush and the war.

Prestwick, Scotland offered a situation that was a little better, but not much. Upon our arrival in Prestwick, we were informed that we could in fact disembark from the airplane, but would be restricted to an outlying hanger area away from the main terminal. So we walked down the steps and across the aircraft parking ramp to a building far removed from the places normal air travelers frequent. To make up for the lack of food and beverage establishments that I and my soldiers would most certainly have patronized, airport officials set up a makeshift snack bar with crackers, cookies, sodas and coffee that we could purchase, with American dollars of course.