Post #117

Subject: “The war in Iraq has been won”

But THE OCCUPATION continues….

Well, I am disappointed. I had an e-pal send me an article that said, basically, the surge is working, “[t]he war in Iraq has been won,” and “we’re making progress” – to use the phrase my e-pal used. I am disappointed that my e-pal could not anticipate my responses and offer his own responses to my responses.

I realize that few peeps, if any, will stumble upon this blog and read the other Posts to get a feel for where I stand – that is why I often refer to earlier Posts. Yes, there is a reason for referring to earlier Posts BEYOND being lazy! :p

To summarize, the article was full of “smiley-face” conclusions based on little or no evidence and ignoring evidence to the contrary. Can ya say “cherry-pick?” :p

For example, the article says “[t]he Kurds have not broken away.” How do ya explain Turkish troops crossing the border? Aren’t those troops fighting Kurds who want a Kurdistan that will include a portion of Turkey?

The article also says “[v]iolence is falling fast.” Only 27 Americans killed last month. See my Post #89. :p

And “[a]l Qaida has been crippled.” Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Al-Qaeda in Iraq? Al-Qaeda in Europe??? Well, who? Who are these bad men that we have crippled?

Could it possibly be that the terrorists we have crushed were not there BEFORE we invaded? As Ron Paul said in my Post #116, “We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars” How can anybody claim that defeating a problem that we created, at that price, was justifiable? And we are still vulnerable…. * sigh *

However, the ultimate “smiley-face” conclusion – “The war in Iraq has been won” – is correct. Isn’t it time to “Party like it’s 1969!” – my Post #26? :p

Our military has won the war. Success in Iraq has been ours. There were at least two chances to declare a “victory” that would have satisfied most people’s original reasons for supporting this mess. One, “victory” was achieved when our tanks rolled through the streets of Baghdad and our troops were not attacked with WMD. Two, “victory” was achieved when we found Saddam. At either point, had our troops come home, we would have begun adding George W. Bush to Mt. Rushmore.

That article also claimed “we went to war to free Iraq from a tyrant who had used weapons of mass destruction, and would not guarantee he would not do so again.” Um, I thought we went to war because the threat to us was imminent – fear the mushroom cloud, ya know! :p

If ya read Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, the account of General ‘Spider’ Marks and his inability to get a straight answer as to what to look for in the way of WMD makes clear that Washington did not really buy the WMD argument itself. It’s hard to believe that we were not lied into war.

Our civilian leadership has lost the peace. Military success has been squandered. Bush is making the mistake of defining “victory” as “a democracy that’s an ally in the War on Terror.” Unfortunately, Bush does not seem to realize that a democracy will not necessarily be an ally in the War on Terror – can ya say Lebanon? -- or that an ally in the War on Terror will not necessarily be a democracy – can ya say Saudi Arabia?

The trouble is, THE OCCUPATION continues….

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, September 11, 2007)

SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: So the question we must answer is not whether we are winning or losing in Iraq but whether Iraq is helping or hurting our efforts to defeat al Qaeda. That is the lesson of 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Good Lord, people. This is getting so old. Let’s get out Iraq… now – let’s end THE OCCUPATION.. Rest our troops for other, more important battles in the War on Terror – stop squandering blood and treasure. Let’s go ahead and face the consequences of “losing” a war that we shouldn’t have started in the first place. Yes, it is past time for us to accept the consequences of the defeat Bush has inflicted upon us because those consequences get worse with each passing day. The Iraq War has been and remains a drain on and a diversion from the War on Terror and making us less secure as we continue to bleed, making the War on Terror – that is, the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan – longer and harder. The Iraq War itself is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, our real enemy – we are losing the ability to respond militarily to other threats.