What Is Goin’ On?

I wish I could say that this interview had some relation to Veterans’ Day which is coming up Monday, but I am afraid I did not remember this. Nevertheless, the interview is a timely reminder of the sacrifice our soldiers and their families make every day the service separates them from their home.

Dr. Wayne Mosely is an orthopedic surgeon who practices medicine here in Vidalia. Or at least, he did. His practice has been interupted somewhat in the last few years due to his 4 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He just returned a few weeks ago from his 4th tour. He must like the place because he then returned to Iraq as a civilian to attend a medical conference on amputees.

At the beginning of the interview I asked Dr. Mosely to confirm or deny recent rumors that he might offer himself as a Republican candidate for Congress from the 12th District, opposing John Barrow in ‘08. His response: he has not made a decision.Although the Army is in critical need of orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Mosely operated a hospital in his last tour of duty. I did not realize it but the U.S. takes care of the Iraqi civilians and Iraqi military just like they do American soldiers. In fact, most of the patients, over 90% are Iraqis.

The Iraq people are just plain scared on a daily basis because of the ever present danger. He is complementary of the recent efforts of the Iraqi military and is not sure the media is giving them the credit they deserve.He also said that brain injuries in Iraq will be the new “agent orange” of this war. He recommends the purple heart for soldiers who may not have an obvious injury but who have had their brains rattled by the shock of an IED.

Dr. Mosely had some interesting things to say about the Kurds. He said that some 20,000 people have moved from the South of Iraq to Kurdish territory in the North because of the perception that the Kurds know how to govern. He also said the Kurds were the largest ethnic group in the world without a homeland, even larger than the Palestinians.

He also told me that there is a town in Northern Iraq that is building, building, building. And it has an airport with the longest runway in the world. Why so long? Because they want to be a potential landing site for the Space Shuttle, if and when Iraq becomes stable.

He also talks about the hundreds and thousands of Iraqis who are amputees, both from the ravages of Saddam and from this war. He and others are trying to help the people in the local towns and cities deal with these special needs. He spoke of one young girl that he helped get fitted for a prosthesis and told me that one of the problems is that there are no addresses in Iraq. No addresses! No Post Office. No mail delivery. He can’t just mail her supplies. He has to know someone who know someone.

The things that struck me most were Dr. Mosely’s comments about the Iraqi people. He has treated a lot of them and has come to know their families. They want many of the same things we want, but have been brutalized by Saddam. He indicates that every family in Iraq lost someone to Saddam’s reign of terror. They want their country to be successful and peaceful. But, they have no faith in their national government. They sincerely want a free and democratic society and if they could get rid of about 50,000 people who want the situation to remain violent, they could probably succeed in putting it all together.

After the interview was over, Dr. Mosely also told me something interesting. During one of his trips to Iraq when he was traveling on a non-military plane, he had occassion to sit beside an Arab in full regalia. When the flight attendant asked what he wanted to drink, he resisted the desire to order alcohol out of deference to his neighbor. When the flight attendant asked the Arab what he wanted, the order went out unhesitatingly for “Johnny Walker Black Label.” The Arab turned out to be pretty high up in the military establishment of one of the Arab states. In their subsequent discussion, the Arab advised that he and others in similar positions in the region had consulted with U.S. representatives on numerous occasions before the Iraq war and had advised them on various aspects of the post-war management of Iraq. In the end, all the advice the Arabs offered, the U.S. rejected. Imagine that. One of those recommendations: Come prepared to stay a long time as an occupying force and do not rush to create an independent, democratic, self-sufficient government because it won’t happen.

Regardless of what any of us might think about the war, anyone in uniform deserves our respect and support. Remember a veteran Monday! Actually, remember a veteran everyday.