Thursday, September 11, 2003

It is a brand new day, a bright new morning, as the bright rays of the morning sunshine stream through my trailer window I feel there is hope for a new beginning for Iraq. I wake with a renewed optimism for what might be the future for these people. I go to my knees to offer up the gratitude of my heart for all that is transpiring around me as I personally witness the remaking of a nation, knowing we are not alone here. Humbly I ask for help in being able to do my small part in pushing this work forward, hoping I will be blessed with a glimpse of what the big – long term picture is for Iraq and the Middle East.

As usual, I was woken early by the sound of the date palm branches outside my trailer, scraping across the top of the trailer, dropping golden date nuggets on the roof, sounding as if we were being pelted by shrapnel from a near by explosion.

As I wait for my turn to use the shower in our 4-man trailer I am moved to write the memorable incidences of the night before. I can honestly say it was a night I will never forget, definitely on my top-ten-list of most special moments. Let me tell you why.

One of our sources we are working with brought his family of six up from their home in a small city called Hella south of Baghdad, for the sole purpose of having dinner with us, the two strategic debriefers. He and his family wanted to show their gratitude for all that we were doing to help him and to show their appreciation to the American soldiers who released them from the chains of their ruthless dictator.

Actually they originally came up last Sunday, but due to the demonstration outside our main gate they were forced to return without hooking up with us. Fortunately his mother-in-law lives in Baghdad providing them with a place to stay until we could get together, our rigorous schedule forcing us to push back the dinner until Wednesday.

At 6 pm, our appointed time, we made our way across the 14th of July bridge to meet them on the other side, outside of our green zone, waiting in front of the check point there. They were all, now 10 people, crammed into the cab of a small Nissan two-seater pickup, except for the oldest son who was sitting in the back with the food.

We motioned for them to follow us as we gained approval from the guards for them to enter. We took them over to the Rasheed hotel, my disco-dancing location, where we had arranged with the hotel management to have our dinner out by the pool. The Rasheed was Saddam's hotel, being the closest one to his government buildings, having been built by a Swiss company, I believe, to cater to Saddam's visitors.

The pool is large, surrounded by an immense open area, with plenty of white metal pool furniture for us to have our dinner on. The pool is a long straight rectangle, 3 feet deep at one end and 15 feet deep at the end where the diving platform is. There is a long bar serving a variety of cocktails, sodas and snacks. It was the perfect place for our gathering.

The seasonal heat wave having passed, now into September, the evenings are perfect with a slight gentle breeze providing us with a very comfortable environment for a dinner together. Date-palm trees, now swaying in the evening air, and many large shrubs hiding us from any outsiders, surround the pool area.

Our source's family was beautiful; him and his wife, their four children (two boys and two girls, ages 16, 14, 12, and 9), his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law and his wife's brother's wife with her 3 year old daughter. What a great looking bunch, beautiful kids, intelligent, well groomed, all nicely dressed, just outstanding people. All of them spoke enough English to introduce themselves and even understand some of what we were saying, which always helps, we brought all three of our interpreters just in case.

His wife had prepared the most wonderful feast for us to partake of; really out doing herself preparing so many traditional Iraqi dishes. My mouth began to water as the cover was taken off of each dish, displaying the culinary talents of the wife and mother-in-law, who obviously had spent hours preparing everything to the last detail. Some of the finest food I have ever tasted was laid out before us to the delight of everyone there, as we enjoyed each and every bite.

We enjoyed plate after plate as our source made his way around the table to insure that everyone was getting enough. He would continue to fill our plates with course after course in hopes that none of us would go away hungry. I ate way beyond my own limits, not being able to stop indulging in the tasty meal.

We continued to ask questions about his family, hoping to get to know them a little better. His oldest daughter spoke of going to college with hopes of even going to America to study. His son was just a typical young male teenager, thinking of sports and fun. His second daughter kept quiet but smiled at me and the others, appearing to be so curious about Americans and so happy to be eating dinner with us. The youngest boy sat on my lap anxious for us to take some pictures together.

We chatted through the meal enjoying each other's company, laughing and smiling at each other. The sound of the children laughing permeated the surroundings bringing joy to all those listening. I had almost forgotten what children sounded like, now yearning for my own granddaughter's smile and warm giggle of love.

At the end of a wonderful evening, as we walked them back to their car we commented on how nice this had been for our own emotional psyche, seeing a whole family interacting on a normal basis. This experience caused me to recommit my efforts on behalf of all the good solid family people in Iraq who were just hoping for a brighter future now in the absence of Saddam Hussein.

I knew at that moment for a certainty why I was here and what I was working for. My faith rejuvenated and my conviction firmed up, I am now more committed to our cause. There are many families just like this one, so much like any other family anywhere in the world, for we are all brothers and sisters in the same divine family, created in the image of our maker.

A few days earlier with the same source I found myself in a discussion regarding a number of attacks on US forces. We were speaking about how well the criminals and terrorists were organized, with resources of weapons and money.

I asked him how many people would he be able to bring together to fight for this just cause. I spoke with him of coming up with a plan for action to give the good people of Iraq a mission they could unite under, bringing together the numbers to fight against the evils infesting their land.

Being part of this struggle caused  me to reflect on the movie “Lord of the Ringâ€� , seeing this as the typical war of good and evil, not sure at this point who is winning, but assured that it was going to take a coordinated consolidated effort to be victorious.

At that moment the solution flashed through my head, as I knew we could not do this on our own. We can not be victorious with out the divine assistance of our Savior Jesus Christ, who‘s powers need to be invoked to fight against the evils of this land.  I have always felt this was going to be an essential part of the solution but it was further manifested to me at that moment, that the only power capable of bringing the right future to this and other good families was going to be Jesus Christ.

Pray for his help.

To update you on the generals, we are seeing some movement, things are starting to happen but we still have a few hurdles to get over. At least there is some noise and people appear to be doing something. We have everyone talking about it, hopefully that will bring about our desired result. I just don't get it. This is such a no brainer. Why can't someone just give the word to get these guys released and back to their homes? Come on!

Well the sun is now retreating beyond my view, leaving only its glow as it gradually dims bringing the darkness of another night.

I just want to wish my son Matthew a very Happy 16th Birthday last Sunday and also to Dana my daughter Happy 26th Birthday, the best to both of them.

A moment of silence for all those who lost their lives on this day, 9-11. We are all indebted to them for their loss and the loss to all their loved ones. God Bless America as we fight for the freedom of all mankind.

Good Day