A controversy is raging in the news surrounding the photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. The debate is reigniting the fervor of some Americans who believe the United States has no business in Iraq whatsoever. The pictures are just throwing dry wood onto the fire for them. It's giving them even more reason not to support our soldiers.

I got an e-mail the other day from one of the soldiers in Iraq. He was deployed there last year and has been seeing firsthand what is going on. In his e-mail, he talked about how much the country has improved just in the time he has been there. According to him, 90 percent of the country has running clean water for the first time in over 30 years and 63 percent of children attend school, where they are now receiving accurate history lessons, unlike the schooling under Saddam's regime. More improvements are taking place as well. Virtually the entire country has electricity, people aren't afraid to go outside, girls are attending school, and women are holding jobs. To top it all, city councils were established and meet twice a week, and many are registering to vote in the first-ever presidential election.

While I think there were other ways of solving the conflict in Iraq rather than taking so many innocent lives, I can't deny that what the U.S. has done has helped improve the country. Just two years ago, none of this seemed possible. Under the previous regime, Saddam ruled everything. To say the soldiers are only harming Iraq and have no business being there is implying the country was better off under Saddam Hussein, when the people had no rights and were forced to do whatever the dictator demanded.

Instead of being unsupportive of our soldiers in Iraq, we should step back and look at the picture as a whole. The soldiers have been through more than most of us can even imagine, and they are doing it just to uphold the values and ideals of our country by following the orders they are given. By serving their country, they are standing up for what all of us believe is right. So many of us know someone who is fighting in Iraq. Would we ever dare to stand up to them and say we think that what they are doing is wrong? I could not even begin to imagine the look on that person's face.

By fighting, soldiers are risking their lives to support what they believe in. With the situation at hand, this takes a lot of courage. Show support instead of pessimism, and stand up for all of the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq.