We Will Win Because We Have Men Like This

How did this make it into the mainstream media?

As pressure builds on the Bush administration to give the war its final push, Gunner Walker is a stalwart. This 51-year-old marine, on his third tour in Iraq, is the face of members of the US military who say the job can still be done, despite the odds.

Walker, a wiry intellectual with glasses and a chirpy exuberance, joined the Corps at age 17, straight from high school in Rittman, Ohio. Now, he directs training for the Iraqi security forces at a US base in Anbar Province, driven by a personal quest to help transform the Middle East. A serious guy, he says the US war in Iraq will have a "revolutionary" impact on the region.

"It's how to inculcate within these people the idea that you can win this fight," he says, referring as much to the Iraqi soldiers he trains as the American public that he knows still needs convincing. "It's about vision." Here in Habbaniyah, a former British air base distinguished by its Western-style barracks and palm tree-lined roads, Walker leads a group of about 50 trainers and interpreters, which grew from about 15 American instructors that he handpicked to come here and, quite literally, teach Iraqi soldiers and policemen how to shoot straight.

Somebody needs to take this reporter aside and set him straight on the importance of sticking with the narrative.