The ceremony that officially ended the war in Iraq occurred yesterday at a military base in Iraq. However, on what terms did we "end" our war and in what state did we leave Iraq? The main reason the war in Iraq was ended was to fulfill a promise made by President Obama that he would have all American troops out of that country by the end of 2011. A great promise, politically uplifting for his re-election campaign, but was the current state of Iraq taken into account when that promise was made or when it was carried out? I am sure that it was given some thought, but regardless of what strides the Iraqi military made or the current state of the Iraqi government, it really didn't matter what state we left Iraq in as long as we left Iraq. In that, I have a problem. We entered the country on false pretenses, ripped apart their country, and struggled to rebuild it as we saw fit. The only good to come out of our war in Iraq was the removal of Saddam Hussein, a vicious, self-centered dictator. Aside from that, the war was completely useless and most would argue, a grave mistake made by the U.S. government. So what do we do? Attempt to rebuild a government torn apart, find "terrorists" and prosecute them, attempt to train a military, and then when we have gotten part of the way there, abandon them to their own devices. In my mind, we have no right to leave Iraq in the state that it is currently in. Is it better than it was? Perhaps, depending on your point of view. But is it as good as it can be? No, and it is our duty to help rebuild that country as we were the ones to rip it apart at the seams.
It never really works out that well when one country invades another under any circumstances. The invaded country suffers greatly and when all is said and done, takes years and years to return to a semblance of normalcy. What we did in Iraq was do a half assed job. We definitely invaded and ripped the country apart. The we started to help rebuild it. But rebuilding a country; its economy, its infrastructure, its government, takes a very long time and we were obviously not prepared to go the distance. The United States is extremely short sighted when it comes to military engagements. While I am not a big fan of military engagements to begin with, especially ones begun under false pretenses, these engagements or wars are never as simple as they are portrayed to be. The United States concerns itself mostly with its own soldiers and after that looks to how it can stabilize and rebuild. But how can a military help to rebuild a country when they are trained to kill and bring chaos to a country? Nation building is never a priority on any military agenda that the United States puts forth. They may say it is part of it, but if it was, we wouldn't be withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year. If nation building were truly a part of any military agenda, then we would still be actively working with the Iraqi's to build their country back up. But it goes beyond the military. The United States should be prepared to send people, other than the military, to help rebuild any country they invade, but sadly that is never a part of any agreement.
What the United States needs to do is re-assess how it goes about engaging the military in other countries, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other future endeavor. If the United States is to go to war, then they need to be fully prepared to deal with all the ramifications of their actions. They are currently not prepared or willing to go to the lengths necessary to truly re-shape a country. It takes a strong president to stand in the face of opposition and maintain a position that may not be favorable, even if it is for the best. Unfortunately, its been years since we have had a president strong enough to stand behind his convictions or to stand behind what is right even if it diminishes his popularity. It shouldn't matter if troops make it home by Christmas or not, they signed up for the job knowing full well that they would spend a long time away from home. It is not poor them. What about the Iraqi's who will most likely face years of violence as they struggle to rebuild their country? Do we care if they are connected with all their families? No, we don't give that much thought at all. But enough about Iraq, no matter what I say here, the troops are leaving and we can only hope we stayed long enough to ensure stability towards a strong future. That is what the United States leaves behind, hope. Hope doesn't do much good, however, if the prospects for hope are bleak as they are in Iraq. Maybe one day the United States will figure out how to truly rebuild a country, or better yet, maybe the United States will one day figure out they shouldn't rush to military action as quickly as they do. (Linked here are three other op-ed pieces I found on the ending of the war in Iraq, Article 1, Article 2, Article 3.)
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