Veterans here watching Iraq handover with interest

By DAVE FOPAY and ROB STROUD, Staff Writers
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As U.S. troops handed over security in Baghdad and other cities to Iraqi forces Tuesday, local veterans of Iraq watched the news reports with a mixture of optimism and wariness.     

Charleston native Mark Fleming served in Iraq three different times and said he’s encouraged by the current climate there. Attacks seem to have decreased and Iraqis are more cooperative, and the country has its oil reserves and other natural resources to help, he said.

“They have the ability to be a productive country if they can move forward with one voice,” Fleming said.

He served in Iraq as a combat engineer with the Marine Corps during the initial deployment in 2003 and returned twice more; he now works in Arlington, Va.

Fleming said he saw an “evolution” of the Iraqi people’s reaction to U.S. troops being in their country. At the start, they were grateful for what they saw as a liberation but for his second tour in 2004, “the environment was completely different” and conditions for soldiers were more dangerous, he related.

Fleming is one of hundreds of area troops who have served in Iraq over the past six-plus years. About 10 local military men and women gave their lives serving in Iraq.

Iraqis need to focus now on rebuilding their infrastructure and government, and while a transitional force might help, Fleming said he thinks it’s OK for U.S. forces to start to leave.

“At some point, you have to turn things over to the Iraqis and let them do things on their own,” Fleming said. “We’ve been there long enough.”

Mattoon resident and former Illinois National Guard member Nathan Ogle agreed with that to some extent but was more cautious. He said it might be best to wait “until it’s no longer a question” of whether it’s safe for U.S. forces to withdraw.

“I just hope it’s not too soon,” Ogle said. “I’d hate to see us go back in.”

Ogle served in the infantry and was in Iraq in 2005-06. He agreed with Fleming that Iraq has the potential for self government, as they got “a little taste of peace and quiet” and said as much while he was there.

“They want it over but under the right circumstances,” Ogle said.

Sgt. Jason Drake of Charleston, who served in the same deployment as Ogle, said he has been paying more attention to troop activations for Afghanistan because he is still serving in the National Guard but has been keeping up with news on Iraq.

“Things appear to be getting safer in Iraq and it’s getting to the point we can pull out and do so safely and let the Iraqi people police and govern themselves,” Drake said. “I am just hoping they are ready to take over and do things they really need to do so we don’t have to go back.”

Drake said he is hoping a lot has changed in Iraq since he served there because at the time a lot of work still needed to be done before Iraqi forces could provide for their country’s security. The soldier said he is wary about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the cities and hopes it is being done based on conditions on the ground.

Still, Drake said the only way to find out if Iraqi forces are ready is to start slowly removing U.S forces from that country.

Three years have passed since Drake served in Iraq, and he said he is not surprised that U.S. forces are still there. He said they have been carrying out the daunting task over the years of removing Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship from power, weeding out terrorist cells, and helping establish a new Iraqi government.

“These things don’t just work themselves out overnight,” Drake said.

Contact Dave Fopay at [email protected] or 238-6858. Contact Rob Stroud at [email protected] or 238-6861.