The new Iraq War. We
are inclined to elect presidents that promise us peace and prosperity. It is impossible to foresee if they can
deliver on their campaign promises. Their plans and projections are often unattainable. I wonder if we are attracted to a
candidate that can lie better than their opponent?
I am a
veteran of the Vietnam War or “Johnson’s War.” The Vietnam War was a political debacle, conducted by an
administration thinking only of their political future. I think we are repeating such a dilemma
again. Iraq was the Nemesis of
President GW Bush in 2003. He insisted
Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and the Iraqi people
would rise up and support a regime change.
One element of proposing the conflict in Iraq declared Iraq was central
and detrimental to peace in the Middle East.
After many years of war, four thousand deaths and thirty-two thousand
casualties later our military secured Iraq.
For
everyone anti Iraq War, it was all in vane.
They thought it was a war of stupidity and the consequences of our
losses were borne by GW Bush politically.
Many could not wait to end that war.
In 2008, the candidate that promised Iraqi withdrawal was Obama. As proposed, President Obama withdrew our
forces from Iraq in 2010. There was
controversy at the time if this was a wise decision. Not heeding the warnings of terrorism and failing to leave U.S.
security forces in place was a mistake.
By determining the Iraq war successful and final it helped the Obama
re-election in 2012.
Terrorists
known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) have decimated the Iraqi
peace. As predicted, the vacuum left by
U.S. withdrawal allowed militant terrorist to move into Iraq. ISIS is murdering the Christians and Kurds
of Northern Iraq. It has been in the
news several times in the last two years but apparently only civilians were
paying attention or cared. Of the over
one hundred intelligence briefings by our national intelligence our Commander
in Chief missed meetings sixty percent of the time. That probably accounts for
his lapse in judgment? Recently, many
major cities in Iraq fell to terrorist at an alarming rate that could not be
ignored. This is the same Iraq that
many felt was not deserving of U.S. intervention in 2003. ISIS murdering Kurds and Christians, the
same as Saddam did previously. The
former alleged WMDs are not an issue this time, it was speculated they were
moved to Syria in 2003. Similar, if not
the same WMDs were found in Syria after being used by President Assad of Syria
in his continuing war against ISIS in 2013.
After condemnation by the U.S. and United Nations Assad stopped WMD use
and agreed to their destruction. Their origin was never determined. Ironically, and without justification, Assad
was using WMDs on the same people we are bombing now, ISIS.
We bomb
ISIS daily and have implored much of the free world to assist us. We have over two thousand military personnel
in Iraq apparently wearing slippers? It
is reported there are “No Boots on the Ground.” The national media is responding to lies about a “Time line of
terror” in the region. We are not admitting the folly of removing all troops
from Iraq in 2010. But, we are leaving
ten thousand troops behind when we leave Afghanistan this year. It would mean that we have second thoughts
about occupational security after having sacrificed so much for a country’s
stability.
In all
probability the Iraq War will escalate.
A solution not gained without an occupying ground force. I have sympathy for the Iraqi natives that
undergo the chaos, the terror of ISIS and our bombing. I have even more sympathy for our Americans
that have to remedy a situation that should not have been. There is something about bleeding to death
for political ineptness that is plainly unjust.
Peter Risatti
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