Michael’s voice is one I give some authority to, since he has spent more time than most on the ground, among the troops actually doing the fighting and policing and rebuilding.
One of the biggest problems with the Iraq War is that politics has frequently triumphed over truth. For instance, we went into Iraq with shoddy intelligence (at best), no reconstruction plan, and perhaps half as many troops as were required. We refused to admit that an insurgency was growing, until the country collapsed into anarchy and civil war. Now the truth is that Iraq is showing real progress on many fronts: Al Qaeda is being defeated and violence is down and continuing to decrease. As a result, the militias have lost their reason for existence and are getting beaten back or co-opted. Shia, Sunni and Kurds are coming together — although with various stresses — under the national government. If progress continues at this rate, it is very possible that before 2008 is out, we can finally say “the war has ended.” Yes, likely there still will be some American casualties, but if the violence continues to drop and the Iraqi government consolidates its gains, we will be able, in good conscience, to begin bringing more of our people home. I will be paying very close attention to the words of Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, who is replacing General Petraeus as the overall commander in Iraq.
I served in the war from 2005-2006, as you know if you’ve read this blog for any length of time. I am also a libertarian. Therefore I have mixed feelings about this war. While I believe troops must stay until Iraq is stable, there are still many questions that need to be answered. Primary among them - were there really WMDs when we invaded. If so, where did they end up? I have always thought Syria was the answer. Of course, seeds of doubt have been planted as to whether Saddam actually had any WMDs after the 90s. I know from personal verification that small quantities were found.
While we rebuild the country we broke and try to make it better in the process, we need to examine the mistakes made leading up to the war. We need to continue to ask ourselves if the motivations for invading were just or just concocted. War is an ugly and terrible thing that should never be entered cavalierly.
We’ve mortgaged so much for the war in Iraq. We need to demand some accountability both in the short and long term. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get the levels of accountability I expect - anymore than Congress will suddenly start diligently working together to actually improve the “land of the free and home of the brave.” Iraq is stabilizing, and that is good.
What would have been better is if we had a plan when we went in. We could have avoided appointing arrogant officials like L. Paul Bremer. The Bush administration has done an abysmal job of representing itself in the public arena. Yet some voices still claim that Saddam had the weapons and the intent that would justify our invasion of Iraq. The voices are ignored or dismissed.
Iraq is still a question mark on the world map. History (and the politicians who write it) have not yet cast final judgment. I will be watching and waiting. Where do we go from here?
