Opinion Journal - From the Wall Street Journal
The third anniversary of U.S. military action to liberate Iraq has brought with it a relentless stream of media and political pessimism that is unwarranted by the facts and threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophesy if it goes unchallenged.
Yes, sectarian tensions are running high and the politicians of Iraq’s newly elected parliament are taking a long time forming a government. But the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra several weeks back has not provoked the spiral into “civil war” that so many keep predicting. U.S. casualties are down over the past month, in part because Iraqi security forces are performing better all the time.
More fundamentally, the coalition remains solidly allied with the majority of Iraqis who want neither Saddam’s Hussein’s return nor the country’s descent into a Taliban-like hellhole. There is no widespread agitation for U.S. troops to depart, and if anything the Iraqi fear is that we’ll leave too soon.
Yet there’s no denying the polls showing that most Americans are increasingly weary of the daily news of car bombs and Iraqi squabbling and are wishing it would all just go away. Their pessimism is fed by elites who should know better but can’t restrain their domestic political calculations long enough to consider the damage that would accompany U.S. failure. A conventional military defeat is inconceivable in Iraq, but a premature U.S. withdrawal is becoming all too possible.
This is an interesting article in that it explains the realities of the conflict in Iraq. While coalition deaths have declined dramatically and the Iraqi government will have a broad, diverse, coalition government in place in less than a month, the press continues to pour bad news into America.
The truth is, the United States Armed Forces were never created to keep a peace between factions of the Muslim religion, nor were they created to occupy countries years at a time. The U.S. Armed Forces were created to fight and win wars; that’s the bottom line. In other words, the title of this article is misleading, because we have won the conflict and ultimately, the war. However, peacekeeping is definately something entirely different.
Peacekeeping is never something a country has to do in a post-war period. However, it is to the advantage of countries to provide security and access to healthcare, shelter, and clothing to those affected by the conflict. As we’ve seen in history, the United States has helped those who needed help in rebuilding their countries after war. For example, the Marshall Plan, enacted in the 1940’s helped to rebuild war-torn Europe. After the United States bombed Japan and ended WW2, the U.S. military helped to establish a democratic government in Japan. Both Japan and Germany are now strong allies of the United States, not to mention economic powers the world over.
It is to our advantage to continue peacekeeping in Iraq, though it will take time for our military to adapt to changes in insurgent tactics and political situations on the ground. It will also take time to train a new Iraqi military, whose soldiers may not be used to disciplined conduct like the U.S. military routinely teaches new recruits. However, the reality is that our troops may still be in the region for decades. Germany, England, Japan, Korea - these countries have housed U.S. troops, some as long as 60 years. We may have to face the facts, Iraq may soon be added to the list.