Taking a walk to see troops’ success

Sometimes a good walk is all you need to appreciate things.  On a recent trip to Iraq, I really wanted to get a better sense of security conditions on the ground.  So, I went to a little town in Dora — a province south of Baghdad — and went for a walk.  It was amazing.

Shops were open and doing a brisk business.  Fresh paint gleamed from the curbs and some of the city walls.  People were out and about.   The city was alive again.

Security was undeniably better than it had been a mere month before.  But no one, the mayor told me, was taking anything for granted.  It was still very fragile, too much so for us to walk without extra security personnel.  Clearly, there were no “easy streets” in this neighborhood.  

And yet, I could see and feel the hope so many Iraqi’s harbored for a better life and future.  

Now, we give a lot of credit to our senior leadership in Iraq for making the surge a success, and rightfully so.  There’s no denying that our new focus on counterinsurgency tactics have made an enormous difference.  Neither can we discount the effects of the Sunni Awakening, or of the courage of the “Sons of Iraq,” who now number some 91,000 men.  Quite frankly, we can’t even ignore the effect that Moqtada al-Sadr’s ceasefire has played in improved security.  

But the real credit belongs to the real strength behind the surge — our troops.  

They’re the ones who made it happen.  They’re the ones out there every day, toiling, training, sweating, fighting and yes, even dying to create that better future. They are the ones trying to turn mean streets into easy ones.

I see it everywhere I go.

In Afghanistan, new roads and markets facilitated by our Provincial Reconstruction Teams are tying people together for the first time in ways they couldn’t have imagined, while new schools there serve to fire up those imaginations.

In fact, six times as many Afghan children are in school today than there were in 2001, including some two million girls.

Access to fresh drinking water and basic health services has grown from eight percent to seventy-eight percent of the population.

Life expectancy is up.  Infant deaths are way down.  Some 89,000 young lives have been saved.

We have a long way to go in Afghanistan, clearly.  The Taliban still threatens a fragile sense of security, and the border region between that nation and Pakistan still teems with terrorists and criminal elements.

This war we fight against violent extremism is certainly not over.  And it’s certainly not any easier.

But when I meet with Afghan leaders and Afghan parents today, I see the same hope I saw in Iraq — hope made possible by their own efforts and by the determination of American men and women.

From the shores of Africa, across the skies of the Pacific, to the Arabian Gulf and many other places, our brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilian employees are right there, providing security and hope.

As Marine Capt. John Sand recently put it, “There’s a lot more to it than guns and tanks.  There’s a lot of humanitarian assistance.  There’s a lot of nation building.”   

Sand served as an artillery battery commander in Iraq. His battery provided a regimental combat team with artillery fire in support of operations in and around Fallujah.  They conducted more than 500 combat patrols. “Things got better while we were there,” he said of his deployment that ended last fall.  “When we initially showed up, we were shooting quite a bit.  By the time we were leaving, we might go a week or more without ever pulling the lanyard on a howitzer.  If we’re not shooting as much, to me that’s a sign that things are better there.”

Thing are better there, because he and his Marines were there to see to it.  Because their families were at home backing them up.  And because their country was solidly behind them.

I used to get asked all the time by deployed men and women if Americans still support them.  It was typically the first thing on their minds.  Nowadays, it doesn’t come up as much.  Most of them seem to know their fellow citizens care.  

It goes well beyond the ribbons and the posters.  All over this country — in all sorts of ways — people are rolling up their sleeves and doing great things for the men and women who serve.

I’m very grateful for that support.  The troops are grateful for it.

But we need to continue connecting to that sea of goodwill, especially as our returning warriors and their families tackle new challenges associated with the stress of long deployments, the pain of combat injuries, or even the uncertainty of new careers in the civilian sector.

We need to wrap our arms around them and never let go, especially those bearing the seen and unseen scars of war. We need to make sure they get the care they need, the time they deserve and the respect they’ve earned … for life.

We owe them nothing less and probably a whole lot more.

So, on this Memorial Day weekend, maybe we should all go on a little walk … to the nearest cemetery, to a hospital, to a local military base, or even to a homeless shelter.  

Someone there has served.  Someone there has sacrificed.  

Someone there has walked some pretty mean streets.  And we ought to all say thanks.

Adm. Mullen is the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.  For more information on how you can support the troops, log onto the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” site at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil .