15 March 2006
Night Flower—
I’m sorry I didn’t visit tonight. There was a mission on the other side of town and the Lieutenant insisted I go. I promise to make it up to you. We got some care packages today—would you prefer a Connect Four board game or a stuffed koala?
Just kidding. I’ll bring you both.
Have you calmed down? You dream of America, but staying here is best. We can have the life you see in the movies, here in Iraq, in Ashuriyah. The America you imagine no longer exists, if it ever did. You need to know that your father lives in more luxury than anyone from my hometown. Until I came to Iraq, until I met your father, I had never been in a house as large as yours. Or known a man who owned five Mercedes. Or seen a marble fountain, like the eagle in your driveway. Be careful what you ask for, Night Flower, that’s all I’m saying.
We will visit, of course. I will show you the monuments in New York and Washington, and take you to the California beaches. But Ashuriyah will be home. Our children will know the meaning of family, and be part of the new Iraq.
I know you’re laughing now. Yes, a new Iraq. They call me the “money man” for a reason. I can—and will—make your father the most important sheik in the province, much more important than just being in charge of Sahwa. We will build roads. We will build schools. We will build power stations and plants. We’re already planning the largest hospital in the country, bigger than anything in Baghdad, something that will make Ashuriyah one of the most important places in the Middle East.
If you still don’t understand, talk to your father. He knows. He believes.
Forty soldiers sleep around me now in the outpost, their minds far away, on everything that is typical. They are here to survive and endure, not to change. All they care about is getting home alive. I used to blame them for this, but that was unfair. I will get them home alive. But I won’t be going with them. I’m staying here. For you. For us.
I met your brother yesterday. I’ll tell you about it next time I visit.
Give your father my best. Good night, Night Flower, tomorrow awaits. Allah is One, the heart is one, and the heart only belongs to the One,
E.