Those serving understand…

Instapundit links to a great op-ed piece in today’s WaPo, written by Maj. Ben Connable, USMC, who will soon be returning to Iraq.

Depending on which poll you believe, about 60 percent of Americans think it’s time to pull out of Iraq.

How is it, then, that 64 percent of U.S. military officers think we will succeed if we are allowed to continue our work? Why is there such a dramatic divergence between American public opinion and the upbeat assessment of the men and women doing the fighting?
…
Skeptics can be excused for discounting glowing reports on Iraq from the upper echelons of power. But it is not a simple thing to ignore genuine optimism from mid-grade, junior and noncommissioned officers who have spent much of the past three years in Iraq.

I’d like to just interject here: my best pal’s pediatrician returned from Iraq serving, and she says she wishes she did not have to return, would not have returned were it not for her own children – “we’re doing incredible work there, and we need to keep at it – we’re helping,” is what she has told my friend, “and the Iraqi people are wonderful people who constantly say ‘thank you.'”

My dermatologist’s son is in Fallujah, has been for six months, and he just re-upped. While the reporters in the hotels and the reporters in NY skyscrapers and Democrats (excepting Joe Lieberman) tell you this thing is a disaster, the soldiers in Iraq are re-enlisting in record numbers, and new recruiting keep coming. Why? Because for people who are not blinded by ideology, or deranged by Bush-hatred – they are seeing the vision, and they understand how near we are to victory, and they comprehend that a Democratic Iraq will inspire a Democratic Middle East – something no one ever dared dream about, before, something no one tried to establish in the last 35 violent and terrible years, and they want to be a part of it. Despite all of the naysaying, the non-stop defeatism and the propaganda against the war by our own elected officials and our own press, they see it.

Iraqis do, too. Both in Iraq and elsewhere. The left is on the wrong side of history, here. Their shrivelled hearts cannot think beyond politics and the taking down of this president or his staff.

Back to Maj. Connable:

We quietly hope that common sense will return to the dialogue on Iraq. Although we hate leaving our families behind, many of us would rather go back to Iraq a hundred times than abandon the Iraqi people.

A fellow Marine and close friend epitomizes this sentiment. Sean has served two tours in Iraq as a reserve officer. During his last tour, he was informed of the birth of his baby girl by e-mail, learned his father was dying of cancer, and was wounded in the same blast of an improvised explosive that killed his first sergeant on a dirt road in the middle of the western desert. Sean loves his family and his job, but he has made it clear that he would rather go back to Iraq than see us withdraw.

Everyone in uniform does not share this sentiment. Thirty-six percent of military officers are less confident in the mission. But these officers will continue to work as hard as the rest of us toward success because they, too, are professionals. With men and women such as this, the United States has an excellent chance of success in Iraq. We can fail only if the false imagery of quagmire takes hold and our national political will is broken. In that event, both the Iraqi people and the American troops will pay a long-term price for our shortsighted delusion.

Forthright and telling it. Thanks, Major.