I confess. The more I try to understand what is happening in the Middle East, the more I wish I never started digging. It makes my head, heart and soul ache.

I'll be the first to admit that I am something of an idealist. I'm far from perfect, but I try to aim high in everything I do; even when you don't succeed it seems to make for better caliber mistakes... that, and you don't ever really lose sight of what you are trying to accomplish in the first place.

Making your ideals work in reality requires a certain amount of faith; I referred to it above when I talked about not losing sight of what you are trying to accomplish.

...but where is that line in the sand where faith becomes naivety?

I had a hard time discerning that line this evening as I dug through the dusty corners of the internet seeking full disclosure about a story I had recently read concerning liberal activists donating money to Fallujah.

My virtual reconnaissance led me to as good a starting place as any to begin this debriefing... Lance Corporal Jesus A. Suarez del Solar.

LCPL del Solar was killed on March 27, 2003, one of the first casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

From the Camp Pendleton Scout:

Mexico native posthumously awarded citizenship
Lance Cpl. Matthew S. Richards, News Editor

CAMP PENDLETON -A native of Mexico who migrated with his family to the U.S. for the chance to become an "Aztec Warrior" Marine was remembered today at Camp Pendleton's Marine Memorial Chapel by over 100 mourners.

Jesus A. Suarez del Solar. 20. an infantry rifleman assigned to D Company. 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. 1st Marine Division. was killed in action March 30 in Iraq while fulfilling his dream to be a warrior.

"He was proud to be a Marine, but he wanted to be remembered as an Aztec Warrior Marine." Fernando Suarez del Solar, his father. "Upon graduating bootcamp he went to Tijuana and bought a small shrine of an Aztec warrior and said 'father this is me.."'

Suarez del Solar entered the Marine Corps in July of 2001. That was his dream, according to his father.

"The only reason we came over was because of him. It started at the age of 10. He had everything he wanted down there except the option of being a Marine." said his father.

In a mostly silent crowd. a small child's wails gave voice to the soft tears that streaked the faces of many mourners. Suarez del Solar made an impact on his fellow Marines as well.

"Even though he was young, he had what I called an old soul." said Sgt. Troy D. Dearson, Suarez del Solals platoon sergeant with D Co., 1st LAR. "He was very mature for his age."

At the conclusion of the eulogies, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services presented Suarez del Solals wife with a certificate authenticating his citizenship.

Suarez del Solar was not the first to receive such an honor, since President George W. Bush announced that anyone who serves in the military one day past Sept. 11, 2001 may be awarded his or her citizenship through an accelerated process.

(reprinted in its entirety only because it seems to be no longer accessible)

Since his son's death, Fernando Suarez del Solar has become a prominent touring spokesperson and activist for groups like Global Exchange and Code Pink. Because of this, most of the blogs and online newspapers that I found while seeking information on this story were clearly partisan; some even came with advice on how to effectively protest the war in Iraq.

As I recount this tale (which does end in Fallujah, I assure you) I will of course select the bits and pieces that strike me as the most likely and believable.

"In late March, two Marine officers arrived at the Suarez home. Their son had died on the battlefield of a gunshot wound to the head, the officers told the Suarezes. Later, a newspaper reporter called to say Jesus had been killed by "friendly fire." A television reporter called with a third story."

-- Santa Cruz Sentinel

"Suarez said ABC officials contacted him, told him they had information regarding his son's death and paid for his flight to Iraq, where they would tell him what happened to his son. ABC correspondent Bob Woodruff, who was embedded with Suarez's son's unit, had video footage of Jesus in Iraq a week before he died. In a video shown at the presentation, Woodruff revealed from his notes that his son died from a U.S. artillery shell."

-- Western Front Online

I have not found that particular description, "told him that they had information regarding his son's death and paid for his flight to Iraq, where they would tell him what happened to his son" anywhere else, but I certainly don't like the way it was phrased. It does seem that this "video presentation" by Bob Woodruff of ABC has been shown a number of times in a number of locations. I don't like the manipulative overtones I see here.

"Bob Woodruff was with Jesus when the boy died. He says Jesus was killed a day after a military unit sprinkled cluster bombs in an area the Marines were to patrol..." "...The military unit laying the bombs didn't mention their work to the Marines. Jesus, acting as Scout, trampled one of these bombs. He was badly, but not mortally, injured although he was bleeding heavily from a head wound. Several attempts were made to call in a medievac helicopter but the Marines' radio malfunctioned. The helicopter arrived two hours after the explosion and Jesus died in the helicopter on his way to medical care."

-- Mothers Speak

I'm not sure that Bob Woodruff was actually with LCPL de Solar when he died, or if the Cluster Bombs were added to the story later. As you saw above, the Western Front article has him citing an artillery shell.

Here is another:

A USA Today study has found that the U.S. dropped or fired nearly 11,000 cluster bombs or cluster weapons on Iraq during the invasion and Britain dropped 2,000 more. It is unknown how many Iraqis died from cluster bombs. One estimate puts the total at 370. And the attacks left behind thousands of unexploded bomblets. At least eight U.S. soldiers and an unknown number of Iraqis have been killed by unexploded bomblets.

USA Today reports that one of the soldiers killed may have been Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar. He died March 27 after stepping on some type of unexploded ordnance while on reconnaissance patrol outside Baghdad. He was 20 years old. A Marine investigation concluded that the "origin of the ordnance is unknown and really impossible to determine."

But the dead Marine's father, Fernando Suarez del Solar has a different account. He says he was contacted by one of his son's friends, who said the Army dropped cluster weapons on March 26 and not all of the submunitions exploded. He is now seeking an official explanation for his son's death.

-- Democracy Now

What exactly is a Cluster Bomb, and why would we have been using them just outside of Bagdhad at that time?

"Cluster bombs were developed in order to improve the efficiency of aerial attacks, particularly against "soft" targets like personnel. Single bombs are less useful for this purpose because they cover a smaller area (known as a "footprint" in military parlance), and their effectiveness is dependent on the accuracy of the bomb's drop. A cluster bomb functions like a shotgun, covering a wider area with a spread of miniature bombs.

Cluster bomb technology was first used by Germany against the United Kingdom in the Second World War, and developed independently by America and Russia. Cluster bombs are now standard air-dropped munitions for most nations, in a wide variety of types.

Artillery shells that employ similar principles have existed for decades. They are typically referred to as ICM (Improved Conventional Munitions) shells. The US military slang terms for them are "firecracker" or "popcorn" shells, for the many small explosions they cause in the target area."

"Some recent weapons of this type include the U.S. CBU-97, employed in Serbia in 1999 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Munitions specifically intended for anti-tank use may be set to self-destruct if they reach the ground without locating a target, theoretically reducing the risk of collateral damage to civilians and non-military targets."

-- Wikipedia

It appears to me, at least, that this could have been a likely scenario - especially if we were trying to ensure that the area in question was clear of armor or vehicles. Perhaps the Artillery Shell and Cluster Bomb comments all refer to the ICM shells referenced above.

I don't, however, react with the same kind of suspicion that Mr. Suarez del Solar does now, especially after visiting Iraq with Global Exchange and Code Pink.

"At the hospitals he saw youngsters dying from the lack of medicine and learned that a number of others had been killed picking up unexploded cluster bombs or when trying to hand them in to U.S. soldiers."

"The bombs look like tennis balls or beer cans, Suarez explains. And when the children try to give them to U.S. soldiers, they are shot on the spot -- military orders."

"They say Saddam had illegal weapons. Jesus died because of an illegal weapon. Cluster bombs are illegal under the Geneva Conventions."

"The Americans dropped about 20,000 cluster bombs. Only 20 percent exploded. My son didn't die in the front lines from enemy fire; he died because of the military's negligence."

-- Interpress Service News Agency

Looking into these accusations, I found the following comments issuing a persuasive rebuttal.

"Now as to the previous poster, he states that 'Only 20 percent (of cluster munitions) exploded.' I've researched it, and the military says 95% (minimum) reliability, the ICRC reports a 75% reliability in Kuwait and Kosovo. Strike one.

He then states that 'Cluster bombs are illegal under the Geneva Conventions.' No, under the Geneva Conventions they are prohibited if they cause incidental loss of civilian life or civilian injury that is excessive in relation to the anticipated direct military advantage of the attack. That's a judgment call, not a hard and fast rule of war. Strike two.

He finally states that 'when the children try to give them (unexploded ordnance) to U.S. soldiers, they are shot on the spot -- military orders.' Right. Soldiers are ordered to shoot children. No need for a strike three required if he expects us to swallow that bilge."

-- Kevin Baker commenting on Eject! Eject! Eject!

The only comment that I can add is that the area outside of the city where LCPL del Solar died was not a populated civilian area. I think that the Geneva Convention argument is pretty well closed, and I think that they were after straggler armor/vehicles from the day before.

His numbers are really off as well. Where is he getting a lot of his information from?

"He became an anti-war activist after his 20-year-old son died on March 27 when he stepped on an unexploded U.S. cluster bomblet south of Baghdad.

Suarez del Solar's efforts caught the attention of Medea Benjamin, director of the San Francisco group Global Exchange. Over the past two months, they've linked other parents and family members willing to travel to Iraq."

-- Veterans for Peace

There are other strong indications that Mr. Suarez del Solar has been swayed by the opinions of his new friends in the anti-war movement.

"Jesus Suarez Del Solar wanted to fight in Iraq to prevent an attack on the United States.

'He always told us that he would rather go over there so that those people don't come here and hurt us,' said his wife, Sayne Suarez."

-- Associated Press

That sounds like most of the military people that I know.

"When my son left on February 5, 2003, to go to Iraq, he said, 'I don't believe in this war, but I'm a Marine and I'm going to go do my job. I'm going to try to help the children there have a better life.'"

-- LA City Beat

That doesn't sound like anyone I know in the military at all, but it does sound like the MSM did here at home and just like his father does now. Perhaps my circles are limited, but most of the people I knew in the military had long felt that Iraq was a job left undone. The sanctions that were supposed to be temporary had lasted over a decade, and they weren't working. In fact, the sanctions had killed more innocent civilians than were lost in the war. We were eager to finish it.

"The military is supposed to respect life and serve the American Constitution. This war doesn't respect life or serve the Constitution. It serves only the people in power.

Hispanics have borne a high casualty burden in the war. What does race mean in this war, both fighting in it and against it?

The system abuses Hispanic young people. It recruits inside high schools in the communities with a large Hispanic population. You never see recruiting at Beverly Hills High School. The military says anybody who joins does so voluntarily. But the economic situation around these boys pushes them into joining the military."

-- LA City Beat

Now we have moved beyond what was originally a grieving father's difficulty in dealing with what he saw was the unjust death of his son... and has graduated to parroting the spoon-fed lines of the liberal left. What respect I did have for Mr Solar's grief is beginning to wane.

For the record, the public high school that I attended (Coral Gables Senior High) was an affluent one. We had a Lacrosse team, a Water Polo Team and Jazzercise classes. There were Porsches and BMW's in the student parking lot. James Michener taught a creative writing class there when I was a senior.

...and it was only through the steadfast persistence of the local Navy Recruiting office that I joined the military just before the Gulf War. I had never even considered the military as an option; just like Jesus, it sounded like a good deal.

Mr Suarez del Solar, I'd wager there are recruiters even in Beverly Hills. I'd also wager that what you call "an abusive system" is what most people in the military "being abused" would call an excellent opportunity.

Your own son thought so, a citizen of Mexico here on a green card with little wealth and dreams of becoming a DEA agent.

He was a Hero.

"Basic facts of Fernando Suarez del Solar: He immigrated his family to the United States 9 years ago when son Jesus was 14 years old from Tijuana (not as rumored for the sole purpose of Jesus joining the U.S. Marines). At 18, Jesus voluntarily joined the Marines. The Marines say he was a good Marine. He died in the Iraq invasion a Mexican citizen because father Fernando never secured citizenship for himself or his family..."

"...There is nothing in his background that demonstrates any knowledge of American foreign policy, or of the continuous war for freedom waged by Americans since 1776, or any American history. There is no proof he could even find Iraq on an unmarked map before his son was killed. There is no proof he vociferously objected to his son's enlistment in the Marines. Until his son became famous by death in Iraq, there is no proof Fernando ever made a public utterance on any socio-economic or political subject other than leaving Mexico for America.

There is plenty of proof, however, that Fernando has some media presence. On behalf of others he represents a point of view to the public with many adherents but little power. In fact, the hugely successful Iraq election cut much of the ground out from anti-Iraq war activists, as did President George W. Bush's reelection.

Despite these blows, Fernando finds reporters willing to publish his 'quest for peace' activities. There are no published words of his praising the Iraq people for standing up to terrorists and trooping to the polls to freely elect their own government (an experience Fernando has never had, not having ever voted in a free Mexican election). He offers no condemnatory words towards Muslim car-bombing terrorists who kill innocent women and children in Iraq. Such words would be counter to his 'handlers'' desire to vilify the Iraq war.

He mouths the words he is told to say. He says America has killed more people in Iraq than the recent tsunami did. He is told to ay these things, despite their not being true. He says them and he receives financial succor from these fanatics. They finance him because he is the father of an American Marine who died in the first few days of the war, not because he is brilliant or a fine orator.

There can be no mistake about it, Fernando Suarez del Solar is being used and manipulated - willingly-because he is an unsophisticated Mexican immigrant without a firm educational base. He won't stop it or stop taking the money.

I, like Fernando, grieve for his son, Jesus. And, I support 'Green Carder' Fernando's exercise of free speech which he never experienced before. However, he must recognize that his opinion is not his own, it comes from others, others who dishonor his son's life and death."

-- By CalNews.com's Raoul Lowery Contreras

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO

More discussions on the war in Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the efforts of Global Exchange and Code Pink to bring aid and comfort to the people of Fallujah.

Posted by Michael at February 27, 2005 12:12 AM