Brandon Twp.- When Army Maj. Paul Alban was first deployed to Iraq, his wife, Aimee, believed it was good for the U.S. to be over there. Now, nearly a year later, she is doubtful about the progress being made.
She isn’t alone.
Last week, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced an amendment in the Senate to begin reducing the number of troops in Iraq within 120 days. The amendment would have further required that the transition to the new and limited missions of force protection, counterterrorism, and training of Iraqi Security Forces be completed by April 30, 2008.
On Wednesday, after an all-night Senate session, 52 senators voted in favor of cloture, but 60 votes were needed to end debate on the amendment and allow a vote on it. Instead, the debate will likely continue.
‘It doesn’t surprise me, because everything thrown out there to fix the problem has been vetoed,? says Alban. ‘I think Bush is going to do what he wants to do no matter what. I don’t think anyone can stop him.?
Aimee Alban expects her husband, a doctor, to be home for good in December. He recently was able to spend a two-week leave with his family, which includes the couple’s four children? Ryan, 8, Gavin, 6, Patrick, 4, and Gabriella, 11 months. The time together was wonderful, but Aimee noticed a difference in her husband, who cracks fewer jokes now.
‘In talking with Paul, it sounds like one step forward, five steps back over there,? she says. ‘Paul feels like he is doing a lot of good over there. He has saved a lot of lives… But people are so corrupt there, including the police and the government. It’s a huge battle. I don’t know if we can change that.?
This month, Dylan Dean and Billy Westfall ended their active duty as specialists in the Army. The friends and 2003 Brandon High School graduates were both deployed to Iraq for a year and returned to the U.S. last fall. Both are in favor of bringing the troops home, particularly after their friend and fellow BHS graduate, Joe Miracle, was killed July 5 while serving in Afghanistan.
‘I was good friends with Joe Miracle and it hit really close to home,? said Westfall. ‘It made me realize how bad it’s getting… My whole outlook has changed. We’ve been over there too long. It’s time to wrap things up. Some of the Iraqis don’t seem to want to help themselves. Why should we want to help them when they’re not doing anything to help themselves??
Dean agrees.
‘If a play doesn’t work the first three times you try it, you try something else, you don’t continue the same play that isn’t working,? he said. ‘Our politicians need to do their job and consider American citizens rather than the political aspect of the war. They need to think about the people that are losing sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters over there. They are debating while lives are being lost. They need to do something fast and they need to do it now.?
As a member of the House of Representatives, Mike Rogers (R-MI) was not eligible for the Senate vote, but gave The Citizen this statement:
‘We have several problems in Iraq ? an Iranian problem, an al Qaeda problem, and a sectarian violence problem… Immediate withdrawal is not a strategy and neither is ignoring the challenges. Our nation’s security rests on our ability to take partisan politics out of this debate and move forward together. We must agree on a strategy that brings our troops home without leaving an al Qaeda safe haven in Iraq.?
Aimee Alban says she doesn’t know what the answer is, but the troops definitely need to come home.
‘I have a friend whose husband is looking at his fourth deployment over there,? she said. ‘It’s great we’re helping the Iraqi families, but we really need to look at what we’re doing to American families.?