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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 01 September 2008 |
Abraham followed the road along the Euphrates river north as God commanded him.
The road followed course of the great river and its lush green farming villages. The road Abraham travelled passed through villages and cities whose names have changed or been lost to the ages.
One of those is the ancient city of Anbar.
Persians, Romans and Arabs all fought battles over this ancient city.
The Roman leader Gordian died at Anbar.
The Arab General Khalid wrested the city from the Persians.
Centuries later, U.S. Marines and Soldiers fought house to house in the same city. We know it now as Fallujah.
Scarsely two years ago, Al Anbar province was thought to be lost. But just yesterday, control of the province was handed over to the Iraqi government.
I know many men--American and Iraqi-- who have given blood, life and limb so that this day may come.
Ali lost a leg and an arm. Yacos, Christopher, Dallas and McClung still have bits of shrapnel in them. Watkins gave his life in a dusty field.
I have cried too many times watching young Marines and Soldiers be loaded onto helicopters bound for the surgical hospitals in Baghdad and Balaad.
Many others like Schlau, Nawrocki and Huber gave their youth to the desert, growing from teenagers to men in Mesopotamia.
The Paratroopers of Blackfoot Company survived what was almost a five-month siege at their tiny outpost north of Kharmah. The sieges of Outpost Omar being the last gasps of Al Qaida in the region.
For even as Omar was set upon with barrages of enemy fire, to the South, the tribes of Anbar were joining with the coalition .
The handing over of Anbar Province to the Iraqis was not a mere administrative procedure. It was a declaration that a victory has been achieved.
This victory will not be splashed across the headlines above the fold. It will be buried under a hurricane, a Vice Presidential nominee and the Republican Convention.
But it is a victory worthy of the ages as the coalition and Iraqi citizens defeated one of the greatest evils of our time.
It is a victory for every Soldier and Marine who stepped foot outside the wire in Anbar Province and every Iraqi who took up arms against the Takfiri and Al Qaida.
Like Abraham, Gordian and the others of history who tread the banks of the Euphrates river--they have made their mark.
Two years ago Anbar was thought to be lost, then it Awoke. Now Anbar stands on its own.
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