The Iraq War In March, 2003, President George W. Bush ordered an unprovoked invasion and occupation of Iraq. Approximately, 150,000 troops were deployed. Later these troop numbers were reduced to about 130,000. In late 2006, the president announced a “surge” of more troops. Currently, 160,000 of our country’s brave fighting men and women are in Iraq. At the time of the invasion, Mr. Bush said the reasons for his decision were that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack against the United States. He supposedly possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD’S) that he would use against the USA. Mr. Bush said that Saddam had an ongoing relationship with Al Qaeda. As subsequent events showed, these assertions were false. The truth is, in the first week President Bush was in office his administration began discussing attacking Iraq. This was reported by the then Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill. Bush’s theory was that if the US could overthrow Saddam Hussein’s government and create a thriving democracy in Iraq, freedom and democracy would soon spread to other countries in the Middle East thereby stabilizing the entire region as well as securing our supply of oil. The attack against Iraq was ordered by George W. Bush who surrounded himself with neo-cons. They believed that the first President Bush had not finished the job in the Gulf War of 1991. They were determined to overthrow Saddam Hussein and show the world that U.S. power could be exercised anywhere in the world. George W. Bush went along with the “neo-cons” because he was inexperienced, ill-informed, and he naively believed in the righteousness of democracy. President Bush has tried to sell this war to the American people with a series of empty slogans and rationalizations. To justify the invasion he said, “We don’t want the smoking gun (WMD’S) to become a mushroom cloud.” On launching the invasion: “Saddam will be hit with Shock and Awe.” Two months after the invasion on the deck of the aircraft carrier The Abraham Lincoln with a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished,” Bush said, “Military operations in Iraq are over, and the United States has prevailed.” Just prior to the invasion, Vice-President Cheney said, “U.S. troops will be greeted as liberators.” And soon after the occupation he said “the insurgency was in its last throes.” As time dragged on with the rise of Iraqi insurgents the President continued: “We’ve got to fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” This meaningless slogan was used effectively in the 2004 Presidential campaign. Another nonsensical slogan was, “We’ll stand down when the Iraqis stand up.” As of this writing, July, 2007, 3,657 young Americans have been killed in the war. Twenty six thousand have been wounded with 10,000 so severely injured they cannot return to active duty. A conservative estimate is that 70,000 Iraqis have died in this war, and over 2 million of them have been displaced from their homes. Literally hundreds of thousands of Iraqi professionals – doctors, lawyers and others have fled their country.
Journalists, commentators and former military officers have said this military victory in Iraq is not possible. However, the president and Vice President insist that our troops continue fighting in a civil war in Iraq. Apparently, like President Nixon before him, Mr. Bush is worried about losing face. He contends that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, even though the CIA said in July, 2007 that Al Qaeda has strengthened itself considerably since we invaded Iraq. Al Qaeda is using our invasion and occupation as a great recruiting tool. Terrorists have found safe haven in Pakistan and northwest Afghanistan where they give aid to the insurgents in Iraq.
We have spent $453 billion on this war; money that we have borrowed from China and Japan, money that is not being spent on health care, education or technology. Oil production, Iraq’s greatest resource, is lower than it was before the war. Gasoline is being rationed to the people. In addition, people have minimal electricity, clean water and safe streets. Tragically, Iraq is in the midst of a civil war with American troops caught in the middle. The Iraqi religious sects (Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds) are fighting among themselves for power as they have been for the past 1400 years. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein gave the Shiites, who constitute 60% of the population of Iraq, a golden opportunity to control their country. This is the first time since Saddam’s rule that they dominate their enemies. What incentive do they have to share power when 160,000 American troops are there propping up their government? A critically important question is how does our country extricate itself from this civil war in Iraq? Many knowledgeable foreign policy experts believe a plan for withdrawal should be implemented, and the mission should be changed to fighting terrorists and training the Iraqi armed forces to carry the burden of defending their country. In addition, a forceful diplomatic effort must be made to persuade Iran and Syria, as well as other Middle Eastern countries, to help stabilize Iraq. An alternative that appears to have promise is the Biden Plan. Senator Biden has proposed that Iraq be divided into three autonomous regions – the Kurds in the north, the Shiites in the south, and the Sunnis in the west, with a federal government providing some of the services as they are needed. As General Patraeus has pointed out, the Iraq war will not be won militarily. It must be ended through a political settlement. Efforts to secure this political settlement are long overdue. Ed Fire edfireoh@sbcglobal.net