To the American Public and Mr. William Arkin:

Dear America and Mr. William Arkin,

With all due respect, here is the problem with the currency of popular Iraq analysis and the back bone of my criticism of Mr. Arkin:

The American public, in general, does not understand warfare because they have not studied it. The logical conclusion for us (the military) is that the opinion of the public mean little more than those of the Monday morning armchair quarterback.

I have been in the Marine Corps for 14 years. I began as a recruit at MCRD Parris Island and am now a Captain of marines. I have more responsibility that 95% of Americans will ever be required to shoulder. I am a graduate of more military schools than I have room to list; they include the Expeditionary Warfare School, the College Command and Staff and a Masters in National Security Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. I am also a combat veteran.

So what?

Here's the bottom line, I have spent nearly my entire adult life studying warfare, conflict and foreign policy. I don't point this out to sound "elitist," I only point this out to explain that my job requires me to be a professional warfighter.  Mr. Arkin, along with the majority of Americans that continue to contemplate this war, haven't spent the requisite time to become an expert on the conduct of warfare.  Most Americans, began really digging into those issues after 9/11. Those who have served or have studied prior to 9/11, (including Mr. Arkin, many in this Administration and Congress) have WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War as their frame of reference and foundation for metrics.

The inherent problem for America is that the fight in Iraq and the larger GWOT is new; just as new as maneuver warfare in N. Africa in 1942-43. The point is - armchair quarterbacks and cold warriors cannot fully understand the complexity that this new battlespace offers after taking a few classes, reading some books and providing "reasoned" commentary. One can develop theories, but those theories are not fact, nor have they been adequately tested in the GWOT battlespace. Hence, theory does not equate expertise.

The experts are people like me; not because I am an egomaniacal elitist military guy, but because the marine, soldier, sailor, airmen and coasty are learning how to fight this war successfully, in the battlespace, on a daily basis. With all due respect to the American public - books, sound bites, newspapers and opinion pieces do not provide the lessons learned that our military gleans from the streets, alleyways and deserts of Afghanistan, Al Anbar, Baghdad and Diyala. Reading newspapers, surfing the net and watching cable news does not provide the rigor necessary to make sound judgments on foreign policy or grand strategy.

Please let us do our job. Please realize that we (the military), not the American public or Mr. Arkin, are the professionals and duty experts trained with your tax dollars and that we, being human, make mistakes. Those mistakes do not mean that we are incompetent - they merely mean that we are learning to do something that this nation's military has never done on a battlefield; we were only trained to execute the theoretical tactics, techniques and procedures devised by our Generals and Policy Makers.  This process is defined by the history of warfare and will always remain bounded by the reality of confict and humanity.  Unfortunately, the battlefield - being the most demanding and unforgiving environment on earth - provides hard lessons requiring the blood and lives of America’s sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

War is always hell and victory is always determined by the strength of a nations will.

Semper Fidelis.