Retired colonel urges U.S. to finish job
By LAURA CHILDRESS

As many Americans across the country demand the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Emmett DuBose, a retired Colonel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noted the importance of finishing the job during a visit to the Little Elm Lion's Club Tuesday.

"A lot of wars have been lost by those unwilling to do the last 5 percent," DuBose said.

"We've paid a huge down payment, and we need to see this thing through.” DuBose, a former administrator of the Restore Iraqi Oil program with the Army and deputy commander of the Corps' Southwest district, was dispatched to Iraq in 2003, where he spent a year helping with the reconstruction efforts there.

DuBose noted that the efforts in Iraq are broad in scope and not limited to military endeavors.

"It's not just a bunch of infantrymen going in and rooting out bad guys," he said. "That's only about one-fourth of the effort. The rest is focused on helping the people of Iraq.” Although many think the war is about a greedy U.S.

wanting to seize control of Iraqi oil, DuBose said the battle over oil was going on long before America entered the scene and while control of that oil is important in stabilizing the region, it's not the main focus of American efforts.

"It's not about oil," he said. "It's not about going over there and killing people. It's about trying to establish a foundation for democracy so that a country can support itself.” With the country's infrastructure in shambles following the embargo and decades of neglect by Iraqi leaders, DuBose said those working to rebuild the country are literally starting from scratch.

"The tragedy is if Saddam Hussein had taken the wealth and reinvested it into infrastructure, rather than building palaces for himself, the nation could have been great," he said.

With the majority of funding for the reconstruction of Iraq coming from the country itself, and revenues generated from its oil production, DuBose said the scope of projects is extensive.

As of July, DuBose noted, 3,463 of the 4,335 planned projects have been completed, at a cost of $5.15 billion, with an additional 582 ongoing. Projects range from strengthening and stabilizing the electrical transmission grid to increasing oil production to water and wastewater treatment to transportation and communication to hospital renovations to border forts to fire stations to schools.

DuBose added that those serving in Iraq, whether they're in the military working in schools when they're not training, contractors trying to revive the Iraq economy or the Corps of Engineers, the majority of whom are civilians, working on civil service projects, are to be commended.

"God bless those who've risked their lives for the people over there," he said. "They deserve our absolute respect.” DuBose added that while efforts in Iraq may be taking longer than most Americans like, he said it's worth it.

"We all knew upfront that it was going to be a long, drawn-out affair," he said, but for the men and women willingly putting their lives on the line, the choice is plain.

"I would go back. I felt like I was making a difference in a real way.” While the debate rages over what the acceptable cost is, DuBose said, other forces --forces developed in a culture long used to waiting out the opposition in their struggle for survival --are betting that the U.S. won't stick it out.

"There are people out there betting that we're not willing to pay the cost," he said.

Once U.S. troops entered Iraq in the Gulf War, DuBose said America made a commitment to help the people of Iraq.

"We did go in and take action, and, as a result, the coalition accepted a responsibility to see this thing through," he said. "I feel we have a moral obligation to the people in Iraq.

"It's done when it's done."