RALEIGH -- George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright and Nobel laureate wrote, "Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous." I recently returned from Baghdad after my final trip serving as director for an ob/gyn course for our colleagues in Iraq. Sponsored by USAID and Iraq's Ministry of Health, my colleagues from the United States and the United Kingdom have now been graciously hosted by our friends during seven trips, from Erbil to Baghdad to Basra.
I suspect in the big scheme of things our accomplishments have been pretty humble. I would like to think that we are a small part of what President Barack Obama talked about when he said at Camp Lejeune of the United States and Iraq, "Ours is a bond forged by ... countless friendships among our people."
Our vision was to teach our colleagues in Iraq the latest in medical care that had been kept from them under Saddam Hussein's regime, with the hope we could all find a way to move forward together. This month we conducted the first medical course held entirely outside of the Green Zone, traveling freely to and operating at the University of Baghdad.
As we worked alongside the Iraqi doctors and listened to them advocate for their patients and express their desire for more courses and telemedicine from the U.S. and the U.K, for more equipment to perform procedures we have taught them and for more money from their government for everything, I thought, yep, this is pretty much what democracy looks like. Their ob/gyn society has now applied for acceptance to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, which requires demonstration of representation from the entire country.
What have we learned? First, people are a lot more alike than they are different. I operate on Americans, Iraqis, Republicans, Democrats, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Carolina, State and, yes, even Duke fans. Second, people everywhere appreciate it when you volunteer to help them. I agree with Obama that evil does exist, because I have seen the results of genocide in Erbil, but I believe it helps if we think somebody out there truly cares.
This is where we stand in Iraq: Our military forces, which I thank every day for their service, are needed in Afghanistan. Sure, we have nurtured self-governance and the Iraqis have done the hard work of growing it, but they are still not self-sufficient yet. Some scholars' reading of history is that we disengaged too quickly from Afghanistan and quit paying attention after the Soviets withdrew and again after we forced the Taliban out in 2001.
I went to Versailles on my way back to the U.S., and I am reminded that the Treaty of Peace signed there in 1919 didn't really end one war, it laid the foundation for the next one.
I hope we learn from our experiences and continue to deliver humanitarian aid to Iraq and genuinely care what happens to the Iraqis. If we haven't learned that lesson, I am afraid that William Faulkner's words will haunt us, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
Randall W. Williams, M.D., a Raleigh ob/gyn, has helped doctors in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
