By Buffalo, NY
Brian Maltbie – What more could there possibly be to say about Iraq? Not much. Perhaps it would be best to focus on the important things that have already been said. We went into Iraq because of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Or at least, we were told that was why we were going. Granted, we all thought Iraq had chemical and biological weapons, after all, we gave that material to them. But, few people take notice of chemical and biological agents. Everyone is frightened when you say "nuclear" (particularly if you can't pronounce it correctly). Condoleezza Rice was on "Meet The Press" six months ago and said that, if left unchecked, Iraq would have been capable of creating nuclear weapons in TEN years. Ten years? This is an "imminent" threat? Not attacking this immediately could make our first warning of terrorists a "mushroom cloud"?
Compare the language coming out of the White House regarding Iran with what they said before the war about Iraq. Bush Administration officials are quick to point out how far away Iran still is from a nuclear weapon, although they are already generating fissionable uranium, have missile technology, and have been revealed as one of the nations who have acquired nuclear weapon technology from Pakistan. The same officials never mention that Iraq did not have any uranium to begin with, had been forbidden missile development via sanctions, and was not one of the nations implicated as acquiring nuclear technology from Pakistan. That's 3 for 3 for Iran, and 0 for 3 for Iraq for those of you keeping score at home.
Note that none of what I just said has anything to do with intelligence failures. By even our worst case scenario intelligence, there was NO imminent nuclear threat in Iraq. Repeat: There was no imminent nuclear threat in Iraq. Of course, the White House was never dumb enough to directly say there was an imminent nuclear threat. They just mentioned mushroom clouds, the need for action, and Iraq and let the people of this country terrify themselves, much as they convinced the majority of us that Iraq had something to do with 9/11 without directly saying it.
It is quite obvious from all the information that we have now that the White House wanted to invade Iraq. Eventually, the truth of why they did began to peek through the shadows. We were told we will bring democracy to Iraq, and the whole Middle East will feel the effect. This "domino effect" -- Hey, wait a minute -- this is starting to sound familiar. We have to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist nation or else it will spread. Apparently, I'm the only one who remembers Vietnam did become a communist nation, and now communism has all but vanished from the globe.
So, we quickly rushed in and took over Baghdad. We didn't secure the weapons depots. We didn't provide the Iraqi people with security against criminals. But, we did secure the oil infrastructure. Well, that's certainly a great way to make friends and influence people. Demonstrate to them how much more you think their oil is worth than they are. Disband their military without enough troops of your own to prevent chaos and lawlessness.
And, thus the insurgency took hold. Go figure. Faced with a vastly superior military power, the enemy retreated and reverted to guerilla tactics. Gee, that's never happened before. Except maybe our Revolutionary War, Vietnam, and every other major conflict in military history that involves one clearly superior force and an enemy not burdened with moronic leadership.
Being "greeted as liberators" is not a plan. "Staying the course" is not a plan. They are useless rhetoric. Telling us the insurgency is in its "last throes" is wishful thinking. So to summarize the history of this war, we didn't have to go, our leaders didn't give our troops sufficient resources to get the job done when we went anyway, and we are over 2,000 Americans and over $200 billion poorer as a result.
Listener-Commentator Brian Maltbie is a mechanical engineer in Buffalo.
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