The War is Over and We Won
From the pages of Waterburyspectator http://waterburyspectator.blogspot.com
As in all wars the Iraq war has been a rough ride. While the invasion and ousting of the Saddam Hussein government was not difficult, the aftermath came close to making the campaign a failure.
The war can be divided into two phases, the first that of toppling the government and the second the installation of stability. The first phase of the war was executed successfully. Once Saddam Hussein was removed from power this should have been the end of what it is that is traditionally called war. Everything that transpired afterwards ought to have been nothing more then an installment of order and a democratic society. It was the second phase of the conflict that disaster struck. The US did not anticipate the magnitude of the insurgency and when news story after news story of bombings and body counts started climbing so did the second guessing of the Bush administration and dissent.
The dissenters could be split into two factions. The first being the group who did not want to invade in the first place. In this group there are those who would be against the war on strategic grounds or simple pacifism. The other group of dissenters are political opportunists. In this group the war became a vehicle of attacking the Bush presidency for political reasons. If truth is the first casualty of war it is apparent in the protagonists of a conflict also, in this case, the political adversaries of the war. During the second phase there was a drumbeat of charges of lying and incompetence. That Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction or that he had nothing to do with 9/11 became a rallying cry to foster dissent. This group would have us believe that if a Democrat were in office they would make the same arguments. This is a canard. This is apparent due to their own rhetoric. They would have us believe that president Bush was the first to mention weapons of mass destruction when he was not. It was also the position of the Clinton
administration as well as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and foreign intelligence agencies. More important was the use of wmd’s as a means of genocide. If wmd’s were not found by the time of invasion it did not matter. Hussein could have stayed in power and while there could have accumulated a fresh stockpile with the intent on using them for another round of genocide or in another conflict with it’s neighbors and if not Saddam then certainly his sadistic sons who would have eventually taken power.
As for culpability in 9/11 Hussein had no direct involvement, no one ever made the case that he was. However it was the policy of the Iraqi government to harbor terrorist and export terrorism abroad. Whether or not he was culpable the fact that he was a terrorist enabling nation made Iraq a rouge and dangerous presence especially post 9/11.
The political dissenters while ignoring past arguments of nefarious behavior of Iraqi made by their own side in the past are now denying the successful strategy of the surge and the growing stability of the Iraqi nation now. Nothing could assuage the dissenters other then the installment of a Democratic president. If the current policy is unchanged in the event of a Democratic administration and stability continues, look for this crowd to take all the credit.
At no time from now till January 2009 will our involvement in Iraq be labeled as anything but war. The fact is the war is over and we won, not only the in the first phase but also in the second. The Iraqi government is democratically elected with a governing body of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. There does not exist any enemy combatant with anything resembling an army or insurgency. The only true battle that is left to be fought is one of perception. It is a battle that will be lost in the short run pace the political success of the Democrats in congressional seats and their current lead in the run towards the white house. When the dust settles the world will have over 30 million middle-east citizens living in Democracy in regions unthinkable less then a decade ago while America has been safe of
terrorism. The Republican party is inept in regards to winning the current debate on Iraq. It will be left to History to have the final say.
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