Iraq. Part of the War on Terror or Just Bush's War?
You can look back throughout history and see when the tough and unpopular decisions were (or weren't) made and how history saw those leaders. There were several in the 1900's alone, and the latest example that comes to mind is Reagan. He saw
Russia for what they were, evil and hungry for conquest. What did he do? Spent them into the ground. Granted, you can argue it was Nixon's idea, but Reagan did it. What if Neville Chamberlain had not given away Poland to Hitler? What if FDR had kept us out of WWII (Remember, it took Japan bombing Pearl Harbor for us to declare war on Germany, and at the time it was not a popular decision, as many citizens wanted to stay out of the war)? What if Truman had not dropped the bomb? What if Carter beat Reagan in 80? What if we never went to Vietnam? Would there still be hippies? What if Truman kept MacArthur and let him take the whole Korean peninsula? Hopefully anyone reading this already knows the answers to those questions. But the question for today is "What if we had not gone to Iraq?"
I for one think the move was brilliant and that history will reward Bush greatly for his courage and vision. Why you say? Simple. He moved the battlefield from NYC to Bagdad. It's that simple. Instead of fighting more terrorism on our soil, the terrorists (who were going to attack us no matter what, because they are evil, and therefore need to be defeated) are pouring into Iraq. Is it a hard fight? Yes. Will it take a long time to win? Yes. Will more American soldiers die over there if they do not come home today? Yes. Will establishing a Democracy in the middle east help turn around a part of the world stuck in ancient traditions and divided by interpretations of their own allegedly holy book? I think so. I think winning in Iraq will determine the fate of the middle east. Hope vs. despair Freedom vs. violence. I know it all sounds so cliché, but it’s undeniably true that throughout the course of human history when freedom takes hold, freedom wins. "But your son/daughter is not over there. You are not over there, so it’s easy for you to say, “Stay the course." I know. I cannot change that. My kids are under 10. But I also believe the war on terror will be a long one, and when my kids are 18, we will still be fighting it. Changing a worldview that says "its OK to tie a bomb around my waist, run into a market, and kill innocent people in so I can be rewarded with 21 palaces and 21 virgins in heaven" is quite a challenge. If my kids choose to serve the US military in that cause, I will be just as supportive as if they do not. OK, I know, Afghanistan. "That's where we were attacked from". "We still don't have Osama". I get it. What you don't get it is from a standpoint of strategic importance, Afghanistan is dwarfed by Iraq. No, not only because of oil (although I admit that is a small part), but because of location, resources, infrastructure, etc. Iraq makes Afghanistan look like 1st century Scotland. It’s not advanced at all, there are no large airbases, etc. Iraq however is right there between Iran and Syria, it has some ocean border, it has large airports, infrastructure, etc. I also think a big part of us being there is for Iran. Everything is in place to strike them on a moments notice, and if you have read my previous posts, I think this is inventible. Once again, we will be forced to act alone when the U.N. fails to enforce its own resolutions.
In the end, although it will take years (we are still in Japan and Germany, hello), Iraq will be a successful democracy, and the bottom line is that prospect scares countries like Iran, Syria, etc. to death. It scared Russia, who took over lots of Europe, but freedom still won. Germany is a democracy, Japan is a democracy. Iraq can also be a democracy. And when it is, and people realize the impact it has on the region, Bush will be remembered as a genius.
