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Foster shares insights from his trip to Iraq
The highlight of Foster's trip to Iraq was when a young Iraqi man gave him a "thumbs up" and said "America---good!"
The young Iraqi man's "America---good" comment reminded me of my travels through Europe at age 21 when everyone embraced me as an American because we had rescued them from Hitler.
The people of Iraq and specifically those in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, which is 20 percent of the population, are eternally grateful for being freed from the horrors of Saddam.
This young Iraqi survived Saddam's 1983 Anfal Campaign. Saddam's troops surrounded his village with a trip wire linked to explosives and all males aged seven to 70 were removed, never to be seen again. Over 4,000 villages were ravaged and 182,000 Iraqi Kurds killed.
At the same meeting in the mayor's office of a village near Erbil, another young man, equally grateful, described surviving the Halabja village gas attack which killed five thousand and injured over ten thousand.
It is so heartwarming to sense the gratitude of these people who truly love America for standing up to oppression and brutality. They told us that new born males are even being named after George Bush and Dick Cheney!
We flew into Erbil, Iraq's fourth largest city, which boasts continuous habitation for 7,000 years! Its airport possesses the highest safety rating adjudicated by the international organization evaluating airport safety. Over sixty flights a week arrive there.
Not a single U.S. soldier was lost in combat in this region and no serious terrorist attacks have occurred for over two years.
The Kurdistan region truly represents the "poster child" for what President Bush intended when he reacted to Saddam's snubbing of U.N. mandates.
I met with the Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of External Affairs, Internal Affairs, Finance, Speaker of the Parliament, the Vice President, Chief of Staff of the President, the dynamic 44 year old Prime Minister and the President himself. They expressed their gratitude to our country and to our President. Dr. Mike Evans made these top level visits possible by including me in the invitation the President extended to him as a result of Mike’s filming for a powerful documentary detailing the threat to the Kurds, the Israeli’s and to America. It can be viewed at www.beyondiraq.com.
During extended meetings, dinners and lunches, they impressed upon me the importance they attach to the protection afforded by American troop presence in Iraq as they live what they call “a very dangerous neighborhood." Iran, Syria, Turkey. The Kurds are disappointed that the travel advisory on all of Iraq prevents many American investors and other visitors to come to their region. Raytheon would like to install advanced radar in the Erbil airport. Legal advice prevents Raytheon from doing so due to insurance issues caused by the State Department's travel advisory. Oddly enough another branch of our government, the Commerce Department, trumpets the Kurdistan Region as an area ripe for investment. New apartment buildings and other construction greet the eye after economic hindrance from not only the U.N. embargo but also the embargo from Saddam himself.
When I tell about the stability, progress and love for America I personally witnessed in this region of Iraq, many people express bewilderment as to why the media has not told us.
The more benign answer might be because for the same reason the media does not herald the thousands of safe landings at the local airport nor provide footage of forests that are not burning.
The conspiracy theorists might suggest it’s because the media hates President Bush. You decide.
The leaders with whom we met with were quite firm about being identified as Muslims, but they were even more firm about rejecting the radical Islamist agenda----merging church and state, as an example. When an Institute for the Study of Sharia Law opened, the Prime Minister summarily shut it down.
They've increased the penalties for honor killings and jailed killers of Muslims who convert to another religion. They not only abhor the coercion, intimidation and violence of the Jihadists but want all to understand they are targets of these folks. As a result political activity is discouraged in mosques.
The Speaker of the Parliament expressed with pride that women comprise twenty six percent of the Parliament. What would happen to these women if U.S. troops leave? Everyone we met was very nervous about the debate raging in Congress.
When one contemplates the parallel of the holocaust they endured, the tensions from surrounding neighbors, and their love for America one cannot help but draw the parallel between the Kurds and Israelis.
The Kurds are disappointed they do not receive the 17 percent of oil revenues targeted for them. Oil revenues go first to a New York bank and then are sent back to the central government in Baghdad, which takes out its expenses, so the actual amount is closer to 8% that the Kurdistan region receives. Plus the percentage is computed on lower outdated oil prices. They also feel short changed by $1.8 billion from the U.N. managed Oil for Food Program. They crave infrastructure.
Currently Iraqis in this part of the country experience only two hours of electricity a day. The President told me they are very willing to send their troops south to pacify Tikrit, Mosul, and Kirkuk if they got the green light from the U.S. and if the U.S. placed a base in the north to discourage the Turks or Iranians from any invasion ideas. So what prevents our U.S. policy from fortifying the Kurds, prospering their economy, removing the travel advisory, making sure they get their proper share of Iraq's oil revenues so that we create another bulwark against forces negative to our long term interest, such as the role Israel plays?
Apparently the rationale is that in bolstering the Kurdistan region we encourage its independence and greater autonomy, which makes our Turkish allies nervous because of the nearly 14 million Kurds that live in southern Turkey who might aspire to become part of a greater Kurdistan.
The new constitution has a provision, Article 140, to relocate people back to their homes reversing Saddam Hussein's policy of "Arabizing" the oil rich Kirkuk region. As Arab citizens return to their homes and Kurdish citizens return to theirs in Kirkuk, the population shifts would imply that the plebiscite to be held before year end would mean Kirkuk could be adjoined to the Kurdistan region, again distressing the Turks who consider it somewhat of a protectorate due to the large number of Turkmen who live there even though it is significantly south of the Turkish-Iraqi border.
After personally witnessing all the earmarks of true victory in northern Iraq it is distressing to learn from Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid that "the war is lost". To whom did we lose it and, therefore, who was the victor? If the victor was Al Qaeda and the Sunni and Shiite extremists killing each other, what is the implication to the security for our grandchildren if these forces committed to the demise of liberal democracy now control oil rich Iraq? With the absence of the military pressure now on them, will Al Qaeda types have the ability to spread their ideology to the other secular peaceful Muslims who do not have the same religious motivations in the area, not only the Kurds but Egypt, Jordan and other "secular" states? Will it unleash their energies to bring their terror tactics to the U.S.?
I ask myself, are my grandchildren more secure with a strong Kurdistan and Israel? And why would we stand in the way of Kurdistan Regional Government leaders expanding the zone of security and relative peacefulness farther south? It seems like the status of Turkey being a good ally could be in jeopardy regardless of what we do because of the increasing drift towards Islamic fundamentalism there. I learned that two generals resigned from the military to join the more fundamentalist movement and suspicions are that in four to five years the Turkish military will no longer be able to fulfill their 1923 promise made to Ataturk to keep church and state separate.
As I experienced the gratitude of the Iraqis living in Kurdistan for President Bush's initiative and think of the brutality they now have been freed from, I scratch my head as to why people are against the fight against evil that used to be so much a part of our nation's idealism. I remember the days when both Republicans and Democrats embraced the “rightness” of fostering the American attributes of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to make economic choices around the world. It was a non-partisan vision.
How did Harry Truman morph into Harry Reid?
Demanding the fledgling Iraqi government to subdue the Sunni/Shia violence is similar to backing the New Hampshire University football team against the NFL’s New York Jets and then at half time when they are down 42-0, going into the locker room to tell the New Hampshire lads they better start winning in the second half----and by the way we are going to take away your helmets and shoulder pads in the second half. Please forward this report to your entire email list and ask each of your contacts to inquire of their congressman whether or not they have viewed the documentary, Obsession, obtainable at www.obsessionthemovie.com. It will put into context my observations. CNN’s Glenn Beck deems it a movie every American should view. Please report back to me if your Representative/Senator has viewed it. It’s important.
God Bless, (:>) Foster
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Gen. Petraus himself also can not affirm that the USA is any safer due to our occupation of Iraq. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjpD46yLPvc
By occupying Iraq we are fostering Muslim terrorism against the USA and our borders remain open.
It's also important to note that at least $9 billion of US "aid" money is missing. See http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/10/iraq_billions200710?printable=true¤tPage=all
The only honest candidate is Ron Paul. www.RonPaul2008.com