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We have not eradicated violent crime in America, but - as I pointed out in my first column - the homicide rate in this country has declined to levels not seen since the nineteen-sixties, and it continues to drop steadily. Non-lethal violence has been declining at a similar rate.
Pundits speak extensively of the apathy of American citizens, and of our lack of concern for our fellow humans. But, according to the annual Bureau of Labor Statistics report on Volunteering in the United States, about 64.5 million Americans (28.8 percent of the adult population) did volunteer work this year. That works out to around one-fourth of the men in this country, and about one-third of the women.
The report measures only civilian non-institutional volunteers. It doesn't even mention the thousands of military personnel who volunteer their time, money, and skills on a regular basis. It says nothing about Operation Shoe Fly, a large-scale program created by American Soldiers to bring shoes to children in Afghanistan, or Operation Give, a similar program organized by an Army National Guardsman to bring toys, school supplies, and hygiene supplies to children in Iraq. These are not isolated instances, by the way. There are more like them, a lot more. Spend an hour on the search engine of your choice, and you'll see what I mean.
When was the last time you saw a newspaper article highlighting the humanitarian efforts of our Soldiers in Iraq? When was the last time you saw cable news footage of American service members playing baseball with Iraqi children? Or working to rebuild Iraqi schools? Where were the news cameras when Army Captain Justin Thomas was collecting donated radios and musical instruments for the Kurdish villages of Byara and Khormal? His efforts may seem trivial to the average person, but music had been repressed in the region for years. Its return brought joy and hope to a harshly oppressed people.
Where were the flocks of reporters when a badly wounded Soldier, Lt. Col. Kenneth Lee, of the Wisconsin National Guard announced his intentions to return to Iraq when his injuries were healed? The critics had no real interest in Lee's story, because he wasn't properly ashamed of himself for being an American and a Soldier. Quite the opposite, Lt. Col. Lee was proud of his service, and eager to return to duty. But proud Soldiers don't interest the naysayers, nor do proud Americans. We're supposed to be properly ashamed, remember? We're supposed to bury our faces in our hands and bewail our inability to produce instant and perfect success. And we are most definitely not supposed to climb back on the horse that threw us and take him out for another trot around the pasture.
As much as it pains me to say so, I have to admit that it's possible that our military personnel will fail in their attempt to bring freedom to Iraq. But, I believe they will succeed, I hope that they will succeed, and I pray for it with every fiber of my being. I will do everything in my power to support and assist their gallant efforts. But I cannot know the outcome in advance.
If you're looking for an airtight prediction, I can recommend several experts who will gladly offer you the benefit of their wisdom. As most of them have never been to the Middle East, or seen the inside of a military uniform, they are not constrained by the doubts that plague me. Although my hindsight is consistently excellent, I have no special talent for seeing into the future. But I know what our Soldiers and Sailors and Marines and Airmen are trying to do. They are trying to bring peace, stability, and freedom to a country that has known only the cruelty of oppression.
Are our efforts in Iraq perfect? No. Will the conflict in Iraq be resolved without blood or without cost? Of course not. Instantaneous and flawless success only happens in cartoons and fairy tales. Real life is hard work, and all worthwhile undertakings require sacrifice and perseverance. In the words of William Feather, "Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing."
Americans don't wait for perfection. We roll up our sleeves and get to work, knowing that our efforts will not be without error. But we also know that we are a better nation today than we were yesterday. We are working to make tomorrow better still. We know that we will not always succeed, but that won't stop us from trying to better ourselves and our country. And that makes me proud.
