The Iraq War, An Inconvenient Un-Truth

The Iraq war is the most ineffective, miscalculated action ever undertaken by the United States of America. It was planned and begun by self-serving politicians and allowed to continue by equally self-serving but weaker politicians; both groups sharing equally in its commission and its continuance. Several hundred thousand people have died or been severely injured since its inception. Much of the world has recognized the war for what it is and has judged and condemned America for its actions. The region, already a powder keg, is on the brink of escalating into World War III. A man of questionable ability at best and complete incompetence at worst is in charge in America. He is served and supported by like minded advisors in his administration that towed the official line much like the officers and leaders of Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Congress, weakened by fear of loosing political stature on the one hand and complete and total lack of leadership and cowardice on the other, pays lip service to this travesty but does nothing to end it or alter the way it is handled. The war has become too valuable in a political chess game to see which side can get to checkmate and win the 2008 Presidential election. The political parties have placed their own concerns and well being over that of the country, the military personnel of our own and other countries and the people of Iraq.

We the people are divided, but not evenly. On any given day, a majority of around sixty percent voice opposition, thirty percent support and ten percent say they are undecided. For the most part, those opposed to the war, including myself, have done little to forcefully express our dissatisfaction at the same level of protests that were undertaken to oppose the Viet Nam war. It has been pointed out that the reason for this apparent apathy is the absence of a military draft. The troops on active duty and those who were re-activated back to active duty, along with the Guard Units based state side who were called up to fight in Iraq are the only Americans at risk. Military recruitment is very low; insufficient to meet the demand for fresh troops. Because there is no risk of being pressed into service and fight in this war, we citizens protest in a whisper when we should take to the streets and voice strong opposition that would be heard by Congress and eventually the White House.

There has been previously retired and recently retired military leaders, too many to ignore, who have denounced this war as unnecessary, un-winnable (unless we commit a hundred thousand new troops that we don't have, greatly increase the fighting and accept more casualties), and unwise. Other nations that refused to join with us in the beginning are now denouncing us for continuing it. What more will it take to wake us up to the fact that America is guilty of committing an unthinkable and unsupportable atrocity, tricked into the deed with false information, partial truths and manufactured evidence by the President and his administration? How much further will we travel down this road before we say enough?

Our only way out is to understand what we have done, begin vigorous diplomatic negotiations with Iraq’s immediate neighbors, along with Israel, the remaining Arab states and the United Nations, re-establish and train the Iraq army and help the Iraqi peoples to form a coalition government of their own choosing; one that best meets their needs. The civil war that resulted when we toppled Saddam and removed the control over civil unrest that he heavy-handedly enforced, is tearing the country apart, allowing Iran and Syria undue influence with the Iraqi insurgents in an attempt to rid the country of American forces. The Surge only achieves results in the towns or provinces where the American coalition forces are reinforced. The remaining locations throughout Iraq experience the same level of violence and genocide perpetrated by one or another of the Muslim sects that are fighting not only the Americans but each other. Also, the fact that the killing has subsided in some provinces is due in large part to the significant amount of Iraqi refugees who have fled into the neighboring countries and to the fact that in these provinces, the genocide is complete with the weaker Muslim sect being killed off or forced to flee.

We had no right to topple their government, even though it was run by a madman and was detrimental to the people of Iraq and to peace in the region. Saddam's overthrow should have been something initiated by the people of Iraq and the region, who may or may not have asked for our help. If help had been requested, we could have responded with much of the region on our side and things would have been vastly different today. We ignored the warnings of the CIA, British and German intelligence personnel that correctly predicted the outcome of our invasion, and now we are paying a terrible price in lives and in the cost of the war on our economy.America has been changed by this war and by the fear that was planted on 9/11/2001. A fear that allowed the Bush Administration the means to dupe the American people into believing we were fighting terrorists over in Iraq where they were and not over here where they could attack again. Whatever Saddam Hussein was, he was not responsible for or supportive of the attack on the Twin Towers, and there were no Al Qaeda terrorists or training facilities in Iraq. If we were going into the region to fight terrorists, we should have gone into Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran or Syria where strongholds of Al Qaeda were present and gaining strength. It should now be painfully apparent that we attacked Iraq to establish a permanent presence in another oil rich country in order to affect oil prices and supply. This was wrong, heavy handed, immoral and should be rectified.

I am sending a similar letter as this to my two congressmen and congresswoman. Please take time to write a letter to your Senators and Representative and let them know your feelings on this matter. I am strongly opposed to the Iraq war. You may not be and that’s your opinion. However, I am asking that you consider these points; one. the reasons given for going to war were untrue and unfounded; two, that hundreds of people are dying everyday because of a war that was begun on lies and deception and that is understaffed, under supplied and under question; three, as a result of over reacting and over reaching to combat terrorism, the Constitution has been violated and American’s Civil Liberties are severely threatened; four, the enormous monetary cost of the war is causing severe economic damage and angst that will last for a decade or more.

Let’s begin to untangle ourselves from this quagmire and begin to restore peace to the region and to our country. While I strongly spoke out against starting the Iraq war, I do not feel that we should immediately extract our troops from Iraq and let the chips fall where they may. In the first place, the logistics of such an action and allow for the safe removal of troops would take many months. Instead I agree on only one facet of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy and that is that our government consider keeping troop size at the levels that existed before the surge, begin the diplomacy quickly and in earnest, and attempt to establish more stability in the region with the help of those who have a vested interest in that stability. This will still require the presence of most of our troops but I feel that the resistance by Iraqi militias and the supplying of those militias with bombs and weapons by Iran and Syria will decrease dramatically when they realize we are trying to do the best for the peoples of the region. A true and lasting peace will do much more to benefit this area than continuing the war. We have a mandate to do this from our troops, the American people, the people of Iraq and the other countries in the region and the world. We created this mess and we are responsible for cleaning it up.

Frank Rich OP-ED Article on Iraq 9-16-07

I look forward to Frank Rich’s OP-ED “Blog” every Sunday morning. He wraps the truth in a very palatable package that is easy, but often disconcerting, to swallow; especially when the article is concerned with George Bush and his war in Iraq. Mr. Rich’s opinion flies in the face of the latest catch phrase emanating from the Bush jack boot speech writers and “catchy phrase” originators who fill the airwaves with propaganda the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Chairman Mao died in 1976. I never thought I’d say this, but I feel strongly that Mr. Bush has gotten away with the things he has because of a pervasive apathy of the American people brought on in large part by the absence of a military draft.

During the Viet Nam conflict, the streets were often filled with demonstrators against the war because the draft was randomly selecting and placing men on active duty who were soon sent to Viet Nam where hell was holding court here on earth. People of all social/economic classes were in danger of being next to go and no one liked that. Today, people give lip service but stop short of taking a more active stand against the war. They have nothing to fear from being pressed into service to fight in Iraq. The military has become a voluntary organization that is quickly and decisively loosing its volunteers.

While our volunteer system is beginning to fail us, it would be adequate if the Iraq war, or any war, was perceived as being necessary to protect America from harm or to take a stand against terrorism in another country to prevent terrorists from coming to our shores. Americans now know that the reasons given for attacking Iraq were bogus. All the information coming at us from the White House and/or the Pentagon has fallen apart under its own weight and has been shown to be less than truthful. If our American youth believed that the Iraq war was a noble, necessary war, they would volunteer in sufficient numbers to keep our military functioning adequately. However, most now feel that the war is not worth fighting and possibly dying for or loosing a limb, and who can blame them?

Now that the unthinkable has happened and our military has become embroiled in the civil war in Iraq, how do we walk away from the mess we created and throw Iraq and most probably the entire region into a war that could easily become World War III? It makes one wonder if General Petraeus was regurgitating the Bush line or if he understood the real gravity of the situation. The same goes for Ryan Crocker.

Are we willing to live our lives without oil; or, at best, with the current oil import levels being drastically reduced? Remember the hell that was the mid seventies when OPEC reduced output and plunged our daily routine into havoc? Try doubling that reduction and see what happens. Our economy is not as healthy as the Bushkies would have us believe. It would most likely collapse under the weight of such a serious embargo.

The only way out of this mess is to stay in Iraq for decades to come and assume the role of peace keepers to keep the conflict within Iraq’s borders and also to work with the varied Muslim sects to lay down their differences and form a centralized government of Iraqis. To do that, the government will need to reinstate the military draft and increase the number of personnel on active duty.

If blame is to be assigned, it should be done so, equally, between the Bush Administration, Congress, and the American people because of our crippling apathy and inaction. While the future looks grim having to stay in Iraq, it could be markedly worse if we withdraw and let the chips fall where they may.