We are 150 kilometers North of Baghdad flying North by Northwest at 140 Knots at an altitude of only fifty feet. I am chalk two in a flight of two Army Blackhawk Helicopters. The landscape here is so completely different from the Baghdad area in so many ways. The fields below us are cultivated by hand not by machine. The tilled rows are therefore uneven but are pleasing to look at. The distant horizon to the East and the West is interrupted by jagged purple mountains. A broken layer of Altocumulus clouds high above are diffusing the early morning sunlight into beams of light illuminating portions of the distant mountains. I find myself gazing at the shadow of the lead aircraft as it appears to be dancing beneath his aircraft like it were a yo-yo on a string as the rolling hills climb up and down beneath us. The landscape is a colorful patchwork quilt of green, yellow and white. There are numerous wheat fields as far as the eyes can see. Rows of cotton fields that are a lush color of green with white polka dotted cotton blooms. There are even fields of corn growing as tall and green as any I have seen back home. Interspersed are literally thousands of sheep. The watchful eyes of a Shepard were guarding each herd. One Shepard in particular remains impressed upon my mind. We were coming up a gentle rise through the rolling terrain when I saw a mass of white and gray sheep running wildly from the sounds of the approaching helicopters. I thought to myself how strange it was to see these creatures in a time of fear running not away from one another but towards each other into a tight circle…circling the wagons I snickered. Then I saw him. He was on a high bluff overlooking the sheep and directly in our line of flight. He was dressed in the typical Arab garb only not wearing a kaffiyeh (headress). His Tunic was almost an out of place bright white with light blue trim. In his right hand he held a staff that was nearly two feet taller than himself. As we began to pass him out my door I could see our eyes seemed to meet each other’s. I raised my hand into the breeze and waved to my uncommon friend. He returned the greeting by raising his staff and partially waving with his free hand. Then, as if the clouds parted on cue, a ray of sunshine basked the Shepard and his herd in a soft morning glow. It was as if someone was putting an exclamation mark on my thoughts. As I pondered the peacefully simple life of the Shepard I thought about the significance of my location being ancient Mesopotamia and the birthplace of our religion. It was as if I had traveled back in time witnessing events that have apparently been replayed for generation upon generation. There were buildings and irrigation trenches that stretched on for miles that by all appearances been in place for centuries. In fact, the more I looked, everything looked as though it had been left untouched and seemingly unspoiled for centuries of our so called progress. These people are the Kurds. They are predominately Assyrian Christians by faith. They were outcasts and persecuted by the former Saddam Regime. Flying over a small outcropping of huts of mud and wood I notice a few children running, jumping and waving as we race by. A woman catches my eye as I see her raising her infant baby towards us as we pass. At first I wasn’t sure what to think. Then, it happened again and again as we passed over more Kurdish settlements. I have no way to know for sure what their intent was. Thinking back to the history of the Kurds with the former Saddam Regime I can’t help but think they are expressing their feelings of gratitude and appreciation. For not more than a few minutes flight further North U.S. forces have discovered another mass grave. A mass grave not filled with soldiers or men dying for their country or cause. It was instead filled by men, women and children. Everyone suffered the same cause of death…including children. A single gun shot to the head. Back home I know many have heard heated debates about whether our President lied to the American people about the Weapons of Mass Destruction. I know that many Americans feel that our presence in this country is unwarranted simply because we have yet to discover the missing weapons. With what I have seen with my own eyes, we have succeeded, we toppled a Regime the likes of Hitler. The Kurds were being erased from existence simply for their religious differences. I know we are here doing the right thing. Not just the right thing for the safety and security of our families back home but for the people of Iraq as well. I just hope that we do not over stay our welcome but we accomplish our mission here completely…to leave Iraq a better country, with a better future and a better place for all their children.
