Interview with a Soldier: An American Soldier Answers Questions About Iraq

Recently I was able to corner my husband and get him to actually grant me an interview. My husband spent an 11 month tour in Iraq and I had some questions that I wanted to ask him that seem to be heavy on the minds of many people.

Should We Be In Iraq? Why?
Yes. I can’t and won’t comment on the right or wrong of going in to begin with but I can comment on what I have seen and been through. There are people there who are willing to kill Americans just for the sake of killing an American. It’s a badge of honor to them. There are also a large number of people who are grateful that we are there. There are many here at home that speak of the innocent civilians and talk as if we are killing them; we are not. 

There are civilians who want peace in their country and they want democracy in their country. Democracy is new to them but they are embracing the fact that it is something that is being offered to them. They have lived their entire lives being terrified of a monster and feared ever saying anything. Now they see a chance to live their lives as they choose. Everyone deserves the chance to live in freedom.

Big Question: Are We Winning?
It depends on how you define winning. In my opinion every time someone here in America walks out their front door without fear of being attacked by a terrorist we are winning. What people do not understand here is that if we weren’t fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan we would be fighting them here on our own ground. Either way, we will be fighting them until they are all gone.

Do you have any good memories of Iraq?
Yes. The day I stepped on a plane to come home. Actually, it wasn’t all bad but I can’t say any of it was what one would call good. I was with a good group of soldiers and we got the job done, but there wasn’t a day that any of us didn’t think of where we would rather be.