A Letter to the Candidates

From an open letter written by a soldier in Iraq to the presidential candidates:

I have been witness to Iraqi citizens who previously cowered behind mud walls come out into the light and demand their neighborhoods back. They've found the courage to stand in their streets and dare evil to return. They do so because they trust the American Soldier and that he/she has got their backs. I'm sure you are aware of just how hard it is to build trust, and then keep that trust once it's established. So I ask, what happens to that trust, to those Iraqi citizen neighborhood watch groups, to the Iraqi children once again attending school when we immediately withdraw our troops?

It may not be important to you, but I'd also like to know if you've considered how our men and women serving in uniform, our heroes, will handle letting down an entire people? We are here, boots on the ground, showing that the trust we've asked for is not misplaced. Should we be immediately withdrawn, our warriors will face having to live their lives with the knowledge that they've failed that trust. As Soldiers we take an oath and our word means everything to us. The thought of not living up to our word is both foreign and frightening.