Major David G. Bellon is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. Maj. Bellon is a Marine Corp reservist whose unit was activated to relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne. The 82nd was given the unenviable task of pacifying the Sunni Triangle, that area from Baghdad to Tikrit to Ramadi. Maj. Bellon has plenty of reasons to stay home. He has a successful law practice in southern California, a wife, and two children. But he returned to Iraq because, in his own words, “it is the right thing to do. We made promises to the Iraqi people that we must keep.”

In a letter to his Marines, Major General J. N. Mattis explained what they should expect, and what their mission was. He wrote, “The enemy will try to manipulate you into hating all Iraqis. Do not allow the enemy that victory. With strong discipline, solid faith, unwavering alertness, and undiminished chivalry to the innocent, we will carry out this mission. Remember, I have added, ‘First, do no harm’ to our passwords of ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.’ Keep your honor clean as we gain information about the enemy from the Iraqi people. Then, armed with that information and working in conjunction with fledgling Iraqi Security Forces, we will move precisely against the enemy elements and crush them without harming the innocent.”

Maj. Bellon writes his Dad regularly. In his letters, we get a glimpse of the conflict not described by the media. In a letter dated April 14, 2004, Bellon writes, “The real story here that the media is ignoring is how brutal the enemy has been on the Fallujans and other locals who have chosen not to fight. I cannot tell you how many reports I have gotten about insurgents threatening civilians at gunpoint telling them that they will be killed if they try to leave the city or do not let the enemy use their land/homes for attacking us. The enemy takes over houses at gunpoint and tries to draw fire hoping that we will kill innocents so they can exploit it.”

He continues, “I could go on and on about the treachery of our enemy here, smuggling weapons in humanitarian rations under Red Crescent banners, moving arms and ammunition via ambulances, bombing civilian vehicles in order to alienate the people from the coalition....However, the worst are reports that these foreign fighters have snipers in the city that engage the women and children as they try to escape the fighting. It sounds too horrific to be true but nothing is off the table to this enemy. Daily, they fire unguided rockets into the city and then get on the mosque loud speakers to blame the US. On, and on and on....”

I wonder if the reporters and writers back home understand how they undermine the efforts of these soldiers and Marines. Do they even care? Their reportage isn’t going unnoticed. Maj. Bellon told his father, “I sincerely doubt that the Marines have passed by a mosque/minaret where they have not taken fire. We return fire and it is the lead story. The hypocrisy and lies are exasperating. Almost as exasperating as some of our own media's seeming eagerness to believe it or at least report it as fact. I can hardly bear to read CNN as it just disappoints me to know when the heroism and suffering of the Marines in that town has been twisted for political agendas.”

The picture painted for us at home by the networks and major market newspapers may be bleak, and our forces are sometimes portrayed as callous and trigger happy. But Maj. Bellon describes a different picture. “Many people have died during this offensive and during the moments when the adrenaline/anger dies down, it is clear that we have an obligation as human beings to spare as many lives as possible. We also have an obligation to encourage the Iraqis to take some responsibility and ownership of their own destiny.”

These do not sound like the words of a man whose sole goal is to kill Arabs, as some critics have stated.

To the contrary, this is a man who along with his fellow Marines, is risking his life to help the Iraqi people help themselves. The Major also believes that a democratic Iraq means a safer America. “There has been so much bantering,” he writes, “over the past two years about whether or not we should be involved in Iraq as ‘it has nothing to do with Terror.’ Nonsense. Terrorism is what is going on right now, today in Iraq. Al Qaeda and other extremist/terrorist organizations are active in Iraq making it their primary battleground.”

I agree with you, Major Bellon. Thanks for your selfless service, and thanks for sharing your letters home.
Major David G. Bellon’s letters can be found at http://www.thegreenside.com

(Mike North writes a regular op-ed column for six newspapers in the southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama region. He is a professional land surveyor with True Line Company, Land Surveyors. He is a former Walker County School Board member and a student of history and political science. He can be reached at
Mike@myhumbleopinion.net
His columns are at
Mike North Columns )