Iraq in
retrospect 8/8/2013
A recent essay in Political Science Quarterly [1] caught
my eye and, having read it, I can say with some degree of certainty that no one
in Washington, DC has a clue as to what went wrong with our actions in Iraq. I
recall that, after a little “shock & awe” had rained down from the sky, the
word out of Washington was that this certainly was not going to be another Viet
Nam. We were told by the Beltway intelligentsia that Regime change was a good
thing, and, once we had rebuilt Iraq in our image, the world would be a safer
place. I find it mildly surprising that these words were uttered from some of
the very mouths that told us we were winning in Southeast Asia fifty years
hence.
How soon we forget that the
identical theories and practices used in Viet Nam were also used in Iraq right
from the beginning. Both conflicts centered on Nation States lead by
questionable characters. Both lacked a Congressional Act of a
Declaration of War and saw the Executive Branch flex its muscle; changing the
rules by which this Country is constitutionally supposed to go to war. Both
conflicts had their own unique style of a “surge”. Both conflicts dealt with
secular tribes at all levels. You can nit-pick at some of the details. Yes,
most of the logistics were a little different, given modern day warfare. Yes,
the soldiers who fought the battles were trained and equipped a little
differently, again given to modernization. And, yes again, Communism is just a
little different from radical Islam. Yet, none of that takes away from the fact
that the American public was sold down the river one more time. Why do we
insist on drinking the Kool-Aide every time some politician thinks it would be
good for the Military/Industrial Complex to throw a little armed conflict into
the mix? Based on history, yes, we are just that stupid.
What were the
leaders saying during these times of armed conflict?
John F. Kennedy, 1961
“Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend…to assure the
survival and success of liberty”. [2]
“Kennedy received conflicting
advice with regards to Vietnam. Charles DeGaulle warned Kennedy that Vietnam
and warfare in Vietnam would trap America in a “bottomless military and
political swamp”. [2]
1000 US military advisers should be sent to
South Vietnam to help train the South
Vietnamese Army.” [2]
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
These decisions and the one funding the South Vietnam’s Army were not
made public because they broke the agreements made at the 1954 Geneva
Agreement. [3] What happened in
“Camelot”, stayed in “Camelot”. Yes,
everybody’s darling of a President lied to us, too. Shocked? Don’t be. George
W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfeld all lied about “weapons of mass
destruction” in Iraq. There seems to be a historical pattern when the U.S.
Government decides it has all the answers to other people’s problems, and
unilaterally decides a shooting war is the most effective way to deal with the
situation.
Other timely quotes
from the notable players
Ho Chi Minh to the
French
“You can kill ten
of my men for every one I kill of yours,
but even at those odds, you will lose
and I will win.” [3]
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“You have a row of
dominoes set up;
you knock over the
first one, and what
will happen to the
last one is that it
will go over very
quickly.” [4]
John F. Kennedy
“Now we have a problem in making our
power credible, and Vietnam is the
place.” [5]
“Our purpose in Vietnam is
to prevent the success of aggression. It is not conquest, it is not empire, it
is not foreign bases, it is not domination. It is, simply put, just to prevent
the forceful conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam.” [6]
********************************************************************************
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
“We are not intimidated by the size of the armies, or the type of hardware the US has brought.” [11]
George W. Bush
“Iraq is no diversion. It is a place where
civilization is
taking a decisive stand against
chaos and terror, we must not waver.” [12]
George W. Bush
“The tyrant has fallen, and
Iraq is free.” [12]
George W. Bush
“Mission
Accomplished” [13]
George W. Bush
“I
sent American troops to Iraq to make its
people free, not to make them American.
Iraqis will write their own history and find
their own way.” [14]
 |
| And, while Rome burned............. |
Richard M. Nixon
“I'm not going to
be the first American
President to lose
a war.” [7]
Henry Kissinger
“We believe that peace
is at hand.” [8]
“We didn't lose Vietnam. We quit Vietnam.” [9]
Donald Rumsfeld
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we
don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know
we don't know.” [15]
Richard Bruce
"Dick" Cheney
“What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to
do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the same
course of action.” [16]
to come as an American hero." [17]
Barak Obama
“Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We
did. I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11.
We have. We've blunted the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our
longest war will be over. A new tower rises above the New York skyline, al
Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead.” [18]
( to be continued…….)
How much did
Vietnam cost?
19 years:
The
answer to this depends on how you do the accounting, or who you ask. There are as
many estimates as there are “people who know”.
What
items do you included in the "cost" of any War? And do adjust for
inflation to compare apples to apples? Our Nation spent 828 billion (1975
dollars) on all military operations during the Vietnam War, which is $5
trillion (2008 dollars).
Viet Nam casualties: [19]
58,286 KIA or non-combat deaths
303,644 WIA
1,645 MIA
725-837 POW
30% of wounded service
members died of their wounds
How much did Iraq cost?
7 years:
There are Analysts and “talking heads” who put the cost of
the War at $80 billion. They go on to quote a figure of $10 billion per year to
hold the place together. The
true cost of the Iraq war: is probably more in the range of$3 trillion to $3.5
trillion.
4,452 KIA
and non-combat deaths
31,928 WIA
1 MIA
8 POW’s
The enemy:
In both cases, the enemy masterfully engaged in “guerrilla”
warfare with the use of “booby traps” and “hit & run” as effective tactics
against superior forces.
The outcomes:
In both cases, a negotiated cease
fire preceded the withdrawal of American Forces. In both cases, the U.S.
Government was humiliated and vowed never to wage a similar war.
While researching quotes
and figures, I ran across this article by Major Garrett, “How We Could
Do More For Our Vets” [21] [22]. I wasn’t aware of his concern of, and writing on, Veterans issues,
so this article definitely caught my attention. I have included three excerpts
from his essay that I feel capture the essence of what the American public
needs to know about the men and women who fight their wars.
“According to the Census
Bureau, there are 2.5 million 9/11-era veterans. Their rate of
service-connected disability is 26.7 percent—far higher than the 20.2 percent
rate for the 7.5 million Vietnam-era veterans. The reality is most veterans of
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, despite being deployed multiple times, have
returned and will return alive. In the Korean War, 2 percent of combat veterans
died. In Vietnam, it was 1.7 percent. In Iraq and Afghanistan, it is currently
0.3 percent. This is the result of professional training, precise mission
execution, and breath-taking advances in battlefield medicine.” [21][22]
“Combat veterans need better service, and they need it now. Their
lives wither while they wait for the bureaucracy to process payments for that
which they lost on the battlefield. Annual increases in appropriations won't do
the trick. Combined annual spending on veterans' care is now more than $140
billion. That figure is up 41 percent from 2009—and we're still way, way behind. Combat veterans
deserve better.” [21][22]
“I propose paying those costs up front. Now. With debt. Debt
that's inexpensive and that can render real and permanent benefits to those who
deserve it most. We can sort out the details of who qualifies and for how much.
That is easy compared with summoning the political will now to acknowledge the
costs, admit the politics of paying them will only become more precarious in
the years ahead, and biting the debt bullet now. The debt that is owed is real.
We can and should repay it—starting now.” [21][22]
I am dumb-founded by the fact
that politicians in this modern era can fool all the people all the time when
it comes to sending our young men and women off to fight and die on foreign
shores. It probably shouldn't surprise me. After all, less than 1% of the
Nation’s population sees fit to don the uniforms of our Armed Services. This is
certainly not the 1% that the “occupy” movement speaks of. This is the 1% who,
when they return to civilian life after their stint in the Military, can’t find
a job, can’t pay the rent, can’t put food on the table for their Families, get
thwarted at every turn by a Veterans Administration who is supposed to help.
And, God forbid if they own a house. The bankers don’t seem to care that it is
illegal to foreclose on a Service Member in most instances. It’s not their
family, or their kids, being tossed out in the street.
The citizenry of America are the
only ones who can change this dilemma into a positive force for peace. Perhaps,
our Society does have to reach rock bottom for us to act in any meaningful way.
There will always be disagreements between people, tribes, sects, states, and
countries. And, the dialogue may get heated from time to time. That’s alright.
We can survive that. Possibly, someday, we will come to realize that hurling
words at each other is a lot less harmful than hurling bullets.
Bullets tend
to have a finite quality about them.
All images are from "Google" images.
