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State lawmaker being deployed to Iraq

Posted January 03, 2008 10:00 pm

Bernard Schoenburg

State Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, is being deployed to Iraq as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

"We know that our unit has been mobilized," Watson said Thursday. "I will be heading out to California around the 17th or 20th of January."

Watson's unit is based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. After going there, he will be sent to Fallujah in Al-Anbar Province, where he will work on civil affairs. He said his job will be to help rebuild the area's social infrastructure via "the provincial government, municipal government and then tribal engagement."

He said tribes are the oldest sustainable institution of Iraqi society.

"One of the mistakes that we made when we went over initially was we didn't even take into account the tribal customs, the tribal traditions, as we tried to build a government," he said.

A noted recent move forward in the war was when sheiks from certain tribes in Al-Anbar bought into the counter-insurgency moves of Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander, he said.

"We've done a lot of what we can through the force of arms," Watson said. "What we're trying to do now is help them build their institutions so they can handle it themselves."

Because he is an elected official, Watson said, his deployment will be for 270 days - a limit established by the Defense Department.

Unlike World War II, Watson said, the Iraq war hasn't affected the everyday life of most U.S. citizens.

"We can live our whole lives without even being concerned that there's anything going on over there," he said.

Watson, a member of the Illinois House since 2001, served in Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for about seven months combined in 1990-91. He was in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve from 1985-91. He re-enlisted in the reserve in May as a staff sergeant, saying last summer he had "felt the call to again serve my country."

"I feel it's an obligation," he said Thursday. "Obviously, I've served before, and just because you take off the uniform doesn't mean you take that commitment off. I think it's time for more of us to help out, to help carry that water, to try to make that difference," he said. "It's a calling. I feel right about it."

Watson, 42, said several legislative colleagues, including some Democrats, have offered to watch out for the interests of his district in his absence. He is unopposed for another two-year term in the 97th House District.

Several lawmakers have said they will hold office hours in his district, he said. And he also hopes to keep in touch with his district as much as possible through whatever technology is available, such as e-mail or video hookups.

Watson said he isn't scared by the idea of going to Iraq, though he said different emotions set in at different stages of a deployment.

"The hardest part's saying goodbye to your family," said Watson, who is divorced and has three children.

Some constituents might be unhappy that he won't be able to vote during much of the legislative session this year, Watson said, but people could also look upon his leaving as part of a "shared sacrifice."

"Hopefully, this is a value they like in their legislator," he said.

Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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