Local vets not surprised by turn of fortune in Iraq

In March 2003, Tony Stevens was living in a fighting hole in Nasiriyah, Iraq, working to clear the way for Americans to take over Baghdad. For months he and his fellow Marines — most of them experiencing their first taste of war — fought off Iraqi soldiers in some of the bloodiest battles since Vietnam. In one day, 19 of Stevens’ brothers-in-arms were killed. By the time they left later that summer, Stevens said the young Marines could see a difference in the country. He returned again the next year and the next after that and said Americans seemed to be making real progress beating off the insurgency that gained momentum in the wake of Hussein’s removal. Today, now 35, retired from the military and working as a civilian on Eglin Air Force Base, Stevens is dismayed, but not surprised to hear many of the areas where he fought less than a decade ago have been taken over in a wave of sectarian violence and that the U.S. is sending troops back in to protect the embassy in Bagdad. “We knew this was going to happen,” he said. “There’s no stability in the region.” For Stevens, the decision to pull out all troops from Iraq in 2011 was a mistake. He said some Americans should have stayed behind to continue to bolster the Iraqi Army and prevent sectarian violence from spreading. “Look at the wars of the past. When we fought Germany, we didn’t just leave. We left troops there to stabilize it,” he said. “When we left Korea we left troops and we’ve still got them there. The same with Japan.” He believes pulling out all troops from Iraq was more of a political move — the war had become very unpopular back home — than a strategic one. On Tuesday, nearly three years after the last troops left Iraq, 300 armed American forces were being positioned in and around the country to help secure U.S. assets against the growing violence. Officials reported the president was also considering an array of options, including air strikes or deploying a contingent of special forces to support the Iraqi Army. Seeing Iraq’s government toppled in major cities across the country also did not surprise Army veteran Peter Bogart of DeFuniak Springs. The 66-year-old served in Vietnam and was also part of the initial invasion into Iraq in 2003, giving him a unique perspective. “In my opinion this is the second time the U.S. has done this,” he said. He was there when the U.S. pulled all troops out of Vietnam and watched as two years later the country fell to the Viet Cong. “When you try to bolster an area with a corrupt government, no matter what you do, when you leave they are going to go back to their old ways,” he said. He agreed with the decision to send in troops to protect the embassy, but stopped short of saying the U.S. should deploy ground forces again. “That could just lead to even more deaths,” he said. “Ultimately the Iraqi government is going to have to stand up and say this is worth fighting for, that they can’t afford to lose their country.” Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.