The Argus :: It's time to close book on Iraq debacle
March 20, 2006
By Pete Stark
THREE years ago, the United States invaded Iraq and began a tragic chapter in our nation's history. Since the president set out on his misguided adventure, 2,310 American soldiers and over 40,000 Iraqi civilians have died.
On the war's third anniversary, Americans should reflect on the tale of how we got into this mess — and why we must immediately get out.
Chapter one is titled "Crying Wolf." In the months before the war, the Bush administration lied about the supposed Iraqi threat, deliberately hyping unreliable intelligence. Vice President Cheneyclaimed, "Saddam has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." President Bush asserted, "Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Neither was true.
Chapter two is titled "Mission Accomplished." After six bloody weeks, the president promised that the worst of the war was behind them. Yet, since then, more than 2,000 Americans have died in combat.
Chapter three is titled "Open Arms." During the year that followed, many Iraqi citizens rebelled against American occupation. Rather than welcome the United States with open arms, as Republicans argued was inevitable, many Iraqis attacked American soldiers.
Chapter four is titled "Turning the Corner." In the summer of 2004, the president claimed while campaigning for re-election that the United States was "turning the corner" in Iraq. But November of that year was the deadliest month on record, with 141 U.S. soldiers killed.
Chapter five is titled "Last Throes." Six months later, Cheney argued the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes." But in July of 2005, Gen. John Abizad testified in a congressional hearing that the insurgency was growing stronger, not weaker. At the same time, a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites started to simmer below the surface.
Chapter six is titled "Hands-Off." In the spring of 2006, the president is promising to turn over most of Iraq to newly trained Iraqi troops. But his goal of having the Iraqis control "more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006" seems unlikely, given a February 2006 Department of Defense report that found that not a single Iraqi unit is fully independent and able to operate without U.S. assistance.
What will the final chapter be titled? "The Iraqi Civil War?" "Billions Down the Drain?" Or "More Dead Americans?" Rather than throw good money after bad, America should pull out of Iraq before one more American or Iraqi dies an unnecessary death.
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