The discovery of Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher’s body 18 years after his plane was shot down during the first Gulf War reflects a change in Iraqi attitude towards Americans, it seems.
An Iraqi citizen came forward with the information, with little or no financial incentive. He was a resident of Anbar, probably the most persistently violent region of Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
The guy has been mum for more than 6 years now. It has been almost 2 years since the surge began.
He might have had an incentive to come forward during the post-surge operations, when the Sunni leaders in the province were cooperating with the Americans. He might have even revealed this information during the insurgency, to curry favor with the Americans and make a buck. But no, he didn’t.
At this point, it seems that he doesn’t view the Americans as an enemy anymore. In Asian cultures, providing such important information for free, that is without any coercion, is considered to be an act of friendship, an act of reconciliation.
I hope that this reflects a broader change in Arab attitudes towards Americans. We can do a better job in the region with Arabs on our side.
