Recently, in a post about GWB’s statements about revisionist historians, I made a statement about the war in Iraq:
You know, I have pondered the numerous threads that have erupted on these boards that relate to the war. Many of them are phrased in a past tense, as if the war is over. I realize that Bush has declared victory, but I don’t recognize the victory when 50 flag covered U.S. coffins have been pulled out of the “non-war” zone in the past 45 days. At this rate, we will lose 400 men and women a year in this “non-war”. It will take only 90 more days to lose more men and women than we lost in the invasion. I also have noticed the rates of guerilla attacks increasing in the past few weeks.
Bush declared victory, but we have suffered about 33% as many casualties as we did during the invasion. In addition, we have failed to capture Saddam Hussein and recover any weapons of mass destruction. We have also, apparently, not suppressed the Saddam loyalists who are killing our troops every week.
Has anyone ever pondered that the sudden collapse of Iraqi resistance around Baghdad (remember, it took us half of the invasion time to secure some of the smaller southern cities in Iraq) was actually a tactic employed by Saddam? Our troops were driving into the downtown district pretty much unopposed. Also, the territories most loyal to Saddam folded relatively quickly. IMHO, this means that they intentionally went underground, with their weapons (WMD if they do exist), to fight a guerilla war.
I hope this is not the case, but I suspect it is. How long will it take before the fear and anger start gripping our troops? History has shown that when troops have a devoted purpose and are making progress, they have much higher morale. However, when they have to sit by and let militias take pot shots, they get quickly disgruntled and the likelihood of tragedies increases (i.e. Vietnam). This includes the accidental shooting of non-combatants (something that is a reality in a guerilla war) that will do little but raise support for anti-american forces.
Now, lets say we don’t practice these co-called revisionist philosophies that Mr. bush espouses. And, let’s assume that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat. Now, he is still not captured AND those weapons have not been recovered. Does anyone here actually believe that the Iraqi military posed a threat to the U.S.? I doubt it. All we have accomplished so far, is to dismantle the official Iraqi military that did not have the capability to project power anywhere outside the immediate region.
In reality, the threat was allegedly posed by an evil dictator (who still exists), who allegedly had weapons of mass destrcution (which if we believe the tripe, he still has) and was going to give them to terrorists (which he still could).
Thus, we have accomplished nothing related to our primary objective- Minimizing danger to America. Therefore, the war is far from over. I personally find it disgusting that while U.S. troops are dying, Bush is moving on to his next political step and pushing the “great” economy on the road to re-election.
I am submitting for debate to the dopers, Is this war really over?
The following story is not a factual statement, since it has not been verified, but today, at work, my husband told me that one of his employees was talking about her husband. She said, during a phone conversation with him (he is stationed in Iraq and is usually staffing a checkpoint), two large explosions erupted in the background. He left the phone and called back an hour later. She said that he had just witnessed two U.S. soldiers dying and 13 wounded. According to her statements, attacks against U.S. troops are occuring everyday. She says (and she is a Bush loyalist) that there are more casualties than what is being officially reported. She told him about how she worries every night because the other women she knows, who have had wounded husbands, have had to wait 10-12 days before being notified. We have “officially” lost 50 men and women since May 1st. I heard one more today, so that make 51. Also, we have allegedly, according to NPR, just fired into a crowd of rock throwing dissidents (please note my statements in the above captured post about creating anger).
Thus, my statement in the other thread seems more poignant now. No one addressed it in that thread, so I must bring it up again.
Is this war truly over? If it is, and we believe Bush when he declares victory, why are we still losing so many soldiers? This woman told my husband that her Husband’s combat unit is down to 67% after compassionate discharges, casualties and KIA’s.
What is happening here? We are losing men and women and Bush is on his re-election trail about the economy. I cannot understand this. Why is he not in the ready room dealing with a war? Why have we declared victory?
What do you dopers think is going to happen in the future? If we pull out prematurely, we will lose the stability of the country. If we stay, we will lose troops. Why is nobody talking about this? This war is still going on and we are squabbling about WMD’s and the justification for the war in the first place. I have seen no protests about the current situation. Does this mean that the American people believe this is over?
If they do, they have just disrespected the men and women who are dying everyday over in Iraq.
I reiterate my previous post:
Finish the damn job Mr. Bush and bring our boys (and girls) back home.
