Soldiers Must Wait for Their Iraqi Wives
I can understand the security concerns surrounding Americans consorting with Iraqis. Still, human beings being what we are, if you put people of the opposite sex together for any length of time, things are going to happen. In this case, two Florida National Guardsmen disobeyed the direct orders of their commanding officer and married Iraqi physicians. Didn't someone write a song about this ("If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right")?
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Two National Guard soldiers who married Iraqi women against their commander's wishes will have to wait at least eight months to return home with their brides, according to a lawyer for one of the soldiers.
The women's visas will take at least that long to process by mail because the State Department is not issuing visas in Iraq, said Richard Alvoid, an attorney hired by Sgt. Sean Blackwell's family.
Blackwell, 27, and Cpl. Brett Dagen, 37, were Christians who converted to Islam so they could be married under Iraqi law. Their commanders took the unusual step of ordering the men not to marry.
The soldiers, members of the 3rd Battalion of the Florida Guard's 124th Infantry, are expected to remain in Iraq at least until February. The men had wanted to send their wives, both physicians, to the United States sooner because of threats from anti-American Iraqis....
Alvoid said he has received word from the Judge Advocate General's Office that charges have not been filed but the soldiers were under investigation.
Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, spokesman for the Florida National Guard in St. Augustine, said earlier this month that the soldiers' battalion commander had been worried the marriages might distract his troops from their mission and compromise their safety.
The American pacification effort in Iraq hasn't exactly showcased the Bush Administration's PR skills, and this episode certainly isn't going to improve matters. Yes, there are some legitimate security concerns in play here, but does forbidding soldiers to marry come off as anything but small-minded and mean-spirited? From where I sit, it is both of those.
Look, people fall in love, and you can't always control that. If you are truly interested in the morale and safety of the troops under your command, wouldn't it make more sense to counsel the soldiers on the risks involved and then do whatever you can to facilitate the process?
If you're going to continue to try and recruit people to join the armed forces, you're not going to be helping your cause if recruits are concerned about you denying them one of the things that defines their humanity. Wake up and smell the cat litter....
