Monday Thoughts

The Iraq war turns five this week. It was March 19, 2003 when US forces, albeit called the coalition of the willing later to make it appear it wasn't just US and British forces but some 15-plus other nation which amounted, with the British, to about 10% of the total forces. It was our war. And I'm sure there are now and will be more assessments about the runup to the war, the war and the post-war situation and circumstances. We all now know a lot from the many books out already and will be repeated in the books to come.

The war wasn't about WMD's, including biological, chemical and possibly nuclear weapons, the threat of attack from missiles and other delivery devices, the link between Al Qaeda and Saddham Hussein, and the connection with 9/11. We all know now none of this was ever true, and at best momentary illusions presented by George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of the Administration to sell the invasion as protecting America and Americans.

The war was about a personal issue by a handful of conservative republicans to push a geoolitical agenda of establishing a permanent US presence in the Middle East, and to do that Saddham Hussein had to be overthrown and a pro-US government installed. How many times has the US government done that? We also know it was about oil, to have a US control over one of the world's largest oil reserves for US energy corporations with US military protection.

The war didn't have a post-war protection, occupation and rebuilding plan, except giving billions of dollars of taxpayers' money to Halliburtion in no-bid contracts to "rebuild" Iraq, except it was aimed at the oil industry and selected infrastructure related to the oil fields and industry. Everything else was less important, wasn't in the plan, or was the problem of the Iraqi people.

The war wasn't about the Iraqi people. George and company had decided from Iraqi ex-patriots that our invasion and occupation would be welcomed with open arms and peace and stability for bringing a new democratic republic would be a "piece of cake." George and company were totally blinded by their own arrogance and ignorance. They never stepped outside their own view to see how unrealistic it was, and to think how it would literally explode in their face.

The war was totally misrepresented and mismanaged from the first day of the occupation. And they never learned the basic lesson, that a military victory is for war, a civilian victory is for post-war. And even citing WWII George never saw why his policy and plan in Iraq wasn't the same. Our President was so filled with his own view of things, it bordered on a fantasy of his own making. And his cohorts were there to ensure him he was right.

It's the old story about the emperor and his clothes.

And now we know Iraq is another Korea where we're there with 3-4 permanent bases and an embassy and a significant number of troops for a long time. We can't leave and we're not welcome. And the next President will be faced with finding an answer to the disaster George will leave as his legacy. Iraq is his Bismark, the massive battle(ship) he thought would rewrite history, and it has, except it is a failure.

Why? Because after five years we still haven't learned it's not about us or the US, it's about the country, the nation and especially the people of Iraq. We have never learned that one fact and reality. We invaded their country, overthrew their leader, albeit a bad one, destroyed their land, devasted their infrastructure, dismantled their government, created a home for terrorists, incited long silent religious rivaleries and hatreds, caused millions to emigrate or be displaced, and so on.

We have little good to show for the five years, and blown hundreds of billions of dollars in the process, much of which is unaccounted. We've delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in arms and ammuntion to the Iraqi government, and much of that unaccounted. We've promised so much and have delivered so little. And all the successes to date won't change the facts and reality the many failues far outnumber the few successes.

If this had happened to any state in the US, we would be outraged and demand action to restore the safety, security, property, homes, lives, health, education, infrastructure and everything else back to better than it was. We would demand people be held accountable and justice for the people. So, why aren't we doing that now? Because it's Iraq? Because we don't think it's worth it? Because we still think it's all about terrorists and 9/11?

In the last five years there what have we really learned? Why are we still fighting a war that's is over and isn't about terrorists anymore? No? Yes, because now we seem now to want to make this war an issue of American pride. We've decided we can and will win no matter the cost, to our integrity, international reputation, public coffers, or whatever.

We want to justify the death of over 3,000 soldiers and the injury of tens of thousands. So why didn't we then and haven't done to date the same with Vietnam? Or Korea? Because we faced the reality and changed. So, how long will it take us for Iraq to learn and change? Or in five years will we be repeating the same story and believing the same lies about ourselves?

Remember the "Mission Accomplished" banner George had hung behind him on the carrier when he announced that "hostilities are over"? So, when will that really happen?