[snip] -- whom I'll call by his tribal name, al-Dulaimi -- helped me navigate the thickets of local culture and politics when I served in Iraq during the first year of the war. -- Dulaimi told me that he'd watched the Democratic presidential debates while waiting for his flight out west.
"They all talked about leaving Iraq," he said of the candidates. "They're just saying that to get votes, aren't they? They would never do that, would they?"His plaintive question gave me pause. Of course, Dulaimi wouldn't understand American politics, or the way some Americans would view this war. After all, he had known American soldiers who were selfless and dedicated. The Americans he knew, the ones he had risked his life (and the lives of his family members) to support, would never "cut and run."
--
When I turned to answer Dulaimi's question about the heart of America, I didn't duck the obvious. Yes, we could pull out of Iraq. As bizarre as it sounds to anyone who has given a piece of themselves to this effort, retreat is possible. However, it is unnecessary.
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I wait to hear a presidential candidate address what is really needed to succeed in Iraq. As Dulaimi has so quickly learned, we are all waiting for our leaders to address the obstacles to the road ahead.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Nate+Slate%3a+My+Iraqi+adviser+cannot+understand+why+we+discuss+leaving+Iraq&articleId=20745474-7322-4072-92e3-683b2062fb7b
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