"This gal could be a valuable asset in turning the tide of the left"
If you mean change the thinking of the left then with all due respect, you cannot change the thinking of the left. Leftist thinking is the one anti-American constant that will never change as long as leftists consume oxygen.
I offer to you that this gal was a leftist with certain views when she went ti Iraq and furthermore that her views are very likely to be much different now after what she has actually seen first hand.
Many leftists will refuse to accept things until one of their own tells them.
It matters not how or why they accept the reality, it only matters that they do. This gal could help that happen for many people that, to this point, refuse.