After reading Melik Kaylan's revelations, in the Wall Street Journal and in Forbes magazine, about the real story at Babylon during the U.S. military action there, I immediately ordered a copy of Chaplain Emilio Marrero's A Quiet Reality. My recollection of the news reports during that time was still strong because of my own military background and my disbelief that these reports could be true. Now, many years later, someone directly involved has shown the intestinal fortitude to stand up and say they were not true and indeed that they may have been purposely distorted.
Chaplain Marrero creates for his readers something more than a mere description of events. He paints, with great realism, a portrait of humanity trying not only to survive in the most hostile of environments, and challenging times, but to maintain its dignity and honor. Refreshingly, he lays out the truth about the American military presence at Babylon without any underlying agenda. One sentence near the end struck me as really saying it all. "It is ironic that in this modern age of mass media and global outreach the very message that we had hoped to demonstrate to the world through our actions, that we acted responsibly and cared enough of Iraq's treasures to preserve it, the very opposite has happened and our message has been lost and in some cases intentionally buried."
While professional journalists and archaeologists blatantly lied about the American military presence at Babylon, and in some cases continue to do so, Chaplain Marrero lays out the quiet reality in a most convincing way and gives us pause to consider the motivation behind self-serving attempts by others to deceive. The press, spurred and duped by archaeological zealots who cared less for the truth than their ideological program of mass propaganda, jumped on the back of a fire-breathing dragon and accused the U.S. military of everything from insensitivity to rampant vandalism. Chaplain Marrero, who was not only there, but actually ran the operation within the perimeter of the ancient site, has come forward and told the whole story in considerable detail. The truth should humble and embarrass the archeological community, but frankly I think that would be expecting the impossible. Kudos to U.S. Navy Captain Emilio Marrero, Jr. for putting himself in the inevitable firing line by stepping up and telling the truth.
