COOS BAY — Many Americans believe the war in Iraq is a war without end. U.S. Air Force Col. Dean Clemons, who spent a year in the war-torn country, says he as seen evidence to the contrary.

His proof?

A photo of four little girls: one Shia, one Sunni, one Kurdish, one Christian. The four stood together as part of greeting party at an airport awaiting the arrival of an Iraqi leader. Clemons said they symbolize the unity of a country’s people.

They are all Iraqis and they were standing together in peace.

Violence between the separate groups in Iraq persists, but the idea that peace and unity could be symbolized in such a way is phenomenal leap forward for the country, said Clemons, who spent his time in Iraq as the advisor to Iraqi Defense Minister, Abdul Qadir Muhammad Jasim.

 “To me it’s remarkable,” Clemons said.

A 1978 Marshfield High School graduate, Clemons talked about his experiences in Iraq at a Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary meeting Tuesday. He returned to the United States on Oct. 11 after spending 11 months on Iraqi soil. On leave between service in Iraq and being stationed a world away in Hawaii, Clemons soon will be the director of communications for the Air Force’s Pacific region.

Clemons did not tell his audience Iraq is safe. Every time a dust storm kicks up, a rocket attack is likely. Those attacks are terrifying, he said.

The war continues, but in his opinion, there is progress.

Since he has been back in the U.S., he said he has noticed a lack of knowledge of what is happening in Iraq. The violence is settling down, he said.

The skirmishes between the different groups have fallen off 80 to 85 percent.

Clemons said the Iraqi military won a huge battle in May for both the nation’s security and finding its place in its own defense. In the Battle of the Knights in Basrah, the Iraqi military pushed out its enemies. In doing so, the country’s military leaders gained confidence that they eventually could manage without assistance. Iraq’s standing army now has 600,000 members.

“These guys are pros,” Clemons said.

Leaders talk about a future without foreign military presence in the country. Though the topic still is under debate, the official stance is that Iraq wants to handle it affairs on its own, Clemons said.

The government is seeking more oversight in what happens within its borders, including deciding which nation’s law should be applied if a crime is committed.

Iraq wants more jurisdiction, no matter what country a suspected lawbreaker calls home.

Clemons also noticed other changes, simple things, such as how people introduce themselves. He said in the past an Iraqi would say which sect he belongs to after giving his name. Clemons started to notice that changed.

“When people introduce themselves, they say ‘I’m an Iraqi,’” he said.

Clemons said the significance of that is lost on people who are not involved in the war.

“I think there is almost a dearth of understanding of what is going on,” he said.

Americans have other issues on their minds. Clemons said Americans seem to have an idea that the war is winding down and it seems better controlled, but they aren’t taking notice of much more. The U.S. election was especially telling, as the nation shifted its focus away from the war to other national issues.

“People are kind of weary of it,” he said.

Clemons said Americans’ perception of the war and how leaders respond to it still could affect the outcome.

“As long as we don’t act without the nation’s interest in mind, we are going to be fine,” he  said.