Good Friends to Have

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends"

Jesus told this to his disciples, this found in the Gospel according to John chapter 15 verse 13.

It is interesting to me that this verse springs to mind when I learn of a man who almost certainly is a Muslim serving in the Iraqi Civil Defense Force (ICDC) risks his life to save that of a U.S. Marine, who almost certainly is a Christian. Here is the story, from the Navy Times:

When gunfire struck one Marine in his lower left leg, ICDC Pvts. Kather Nazar Abbas and Imad Abid Zeid Jassim rushed to his aid and dragged him to safety. Both soldiers continued firing at the enemy gunmen while a Navy corpsman treated the wounded Marine, who was not identified.

There is nothing quite like the bond of men at arms facing a common foe. Over the preceding weeks, these young, inexperienced soldiers of Iraq's fledgling toted a rifle throughout the rough streets of Kharma, a town near the stricken city of Fallujah. They watched as Marines did their thing day in and day out. They probably took fire, and watched as U.S. Marines improvised, adapted and overcame.

On May 30th, these Iraqis with their American mentors were fired upon by insurgents who hope to rob Iraq at her first, best chance to escape the dystopia that has clouded the Arab world.

The saw an insurgent's bullet cripple their friend.

I'll never meet any of these guys, these Privates of the ICDC, but I wish I could. When they darted out to drag that unnamed Marine under cover, and then rushed the bandits who cut him down, they filled me with hope for their nation. They are made of just the stuff Iraq needs, and as our little brother democrats, they deserve to be hailed far and wide as young heroes.

It is easy to be a friend of America when the State Department is pumping your pocket full of American taxpayer dollars. It's easy to be a friend of America when your sweet, sweet pronouncements of good will are made inside an air conditioned office protected by robust security. It's easy to be a friend of America when your allies know that you say one thing in English to Fox News, and quite another in Arabic on Al Jazeera.

It's hard to be a friend to America when murderous thugs fill the air with bullets, and your nose with the smell of rockets. It's hard to be a friend to America when one of our sons has been brought down and is in need of rescue.

Together, the Marines are nearly invincible, but individually, they obviously are not. We may not need the help of armies, but there in Kharma, America in the form of an American needed help, and Privates Abbas and Jassim chose to be our friend when it was very, very hard.

Tim McNabb