A Picture to Remember and What It Means

Michael Yon captured this extraordinary picture:

Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome.

His description says it all:

A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from “Chosen” Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope.

The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.” Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers. (Videotape to follow.)

Take note that Yon is making the picture available free to everyone as he knows that this is the surest sign yet of unity and success in Iraq.

The saddest thing I see in this picture (a picture of unbelieveable hope and accomplishment) is that the main stream media will choose to use photos from stringers that show only the bad throughout Iraq and not run one of this caliber. Here is a picture that will cost them nothing to buy and should be on the front page of every major paper in the country. Alas, the harm it would potentially cause to the anti-war effort would be incalculable, ergo it will never see a printing press except for maybe the NY Sun or Washington Times.

If you need any more proof that there is indeed a reconciliation happeneing in Iraq, you need look no farther than this exquisite picture and what it really means. The fact that the US military was invited speaks volumes of their collective efforts. They've been portaryed by the domestic media as savages and by a former presidential candidate as idiots but they are representing us. The Army, Navy Air Force and Marines are Christians, Jews, Wiccans, Muslims and atheists working together to help rebuild a once-great nation amid carnage and chaos. They are the ones the average Iraqi sees on a daily basis and they are the ones that have won the hearts and minds of a shattered people. Because of them, we see Muslims helping Christians install a cross on a church where one nation to the southwest, churches are forbidden.

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