Never forget. Or do we? Eighteen years ago, March 20, 2003, the United States began its second war against Iraq in a little over a decade. It is difficult to fully comprehend what led up to that point, or all that followed. We don’t talk much about Iraq now, beset by new crises that rightfully demand our attention.
I for one listened to those people who were saying that there was no evidence that Iraq had the capacity for nuclear weapons. Chemical weapons, yes, because they had used them on their own people. I didn't trust Bush because he was really just after Sadaam Hussein. He wasn't interested in anything but taking him from power. I despaired when the invasion was announced because I knew in my gut that our armed forces were being sent into harms way based on a lie. Yet again. When I voiced my concerns, I was told by someone that I had to support the troops, with the idea being that being against the war was being against the troops. What does that even mean, "support the troops"? From my viewpoint, I was supporting the troops. I am very clear on the fact that once the oath is taken, members of the military go where they are told and do what they are told. I did not want to see them come to harm over what I believed was a war based on yet another falsehood. Do I blame the troops? Hell, no! I blame the politicians who don't seem to value the lives of our soldiers, who use them as pawns in political games. I am not a pacifist. I believe there is a purpose for our military. But I don't believe in what Congress did by passively accepting the need for war every time a President gets an itchy trigger finger. Our military is being misused.
And for God's sake, we need to get our military out of Afghanistan!!! It's not even mentioned anymore! People have forgotten we are even over there! Our military is being held hostage by the very people we trained in guerrilla tactics when the Russians invaded. Do I want to see Afghanistan regress to the way it was before? Absolutely not! But the Afghanis need to make those changes because if they are imposed from outside, they won't last. And let's be clear here. There was a huge deposit of valuable minerals found in Afghanistan. I'm sure there are companies from countries all over the world just itching to get in there and mine them, taking the profits out of the country. If I were the Afghanis I would nationalize them like Brazil did theirs and make sure a large percentage of the profits benefit their own people. In Brazil they kept 51% or more and allowed foreign companies to buy in up to 49%. This was not done by socialists. This was done by the military dictatorship in the 70's. It was a smart move on their part.
My question is, are we still over there to protect "our" interest in those mineral deposits? We may or may not be, but it's worth asking.
Always considered Bush one of our worst presidents for his tragic blunder. Didn't he admit as much in recent years? I would like to know more about who supplied Colin Powell with false information and why.
Dan, I don't know if you are being too hard on yourself and your colleagues or not, I honestly don't. But as I am certain you have considered the environment we were all in after 09/11/2001, when it was virtually prohibited to disagree with the powers that were, and yada, yada. In fact the only person, the only one person who had the balls to buck this "decree", was Gary Trudeau and he did so consistently, brilliantly, and continually through Doonesbury, hm? Now back to the desert, I firmly believe that our "fearless leaders, aka gorgie porgie pudding pie and his aptly named side-kick Dick", (my pet names for these two), set out to make a lot of money especially during the second "war", please see www.dickcheneywatch.org. for just a small taste of what they stole from our government and it's people, the figures are in the billions, and this is just a peek into what went on, in spite of all of the death, horror, aftermath, carnage, etc. This upsets me, why in the hell was, has this story that is true and documented not followed up upon by the press? This is the real story and to me the seeming fall of the GOP party into.. well where they are now? This story is not too old and it must be told.
I think Cheney was the devil on Bush’s shoulder whispering in his ear. There are profits to be made from war& Cheney was primed to be a recipient of that.
One could write for a long time on this topic and expand it to include Vietnam which is another war that never had to happen if approaches had been different in 1945 and if politicians had a more educated, nuanced view of communism and the world. But that is another issue.
Iraq was, and remains, a huge mistake. Poorly planned, poorly managed, and totally mishandled afterwards. I would include Afghanistan as soon as troops and equipment were redirected to Iraq. I don't think that the US has ever established clear strategic goals for either war. We are there because we are there.
In all of the time that we have been in Afghanistan, has there been a government that was not corrupt, that looked out for all of the people, that was not reliant on the US to remain in power, that had a competent armed forces to oppose the Taliban, that whatever? NO! Then what is our purpose and why are we relying on Special Forces and mercenaries to do the bulk of the fighting?
Iraq we just need to leave. It's not salvageable. We turned on one of our best allies, the Kurds, by not supporting them. As Dan noted, we've made Iran stronger in the region which is probably why President Biden is reluctant to hold Saudi Arabia to account. He needs a buffer to Iran.
I respect all of the troops because they do go and they do their jobs even when exploited by politicians or mishandled by their commanders. We, the is you and I, are throwing them away for little purpose and don't even pay attention. Might I add that we are not fighting for freedom or to spread democracy. That's a crock! We fight for political and economic reasons: period.
This is an important essay and I am glad you gave the topic your time and thought. As a young mom dealing with my own problems at the time, I was one of those citizens guilty of not paying enough attention, not understanding the complexities, feeling overwhelmed by the notion of another war in Iraq and just simply wanting to believe those in charge knew what they were doing. A silver lining of the past five years is that I've been shaken awake to see the fragility of democracy and now as an older person I know those in charge can be the most amoral, self-serving, power grabbing and short-sighted opportunists lacking in both knowledge and wisdom and must always be monitored and held accountable.
I never forget Iraq not because I knew anyone who served but because I didn't believe that they were in any way responsible for the attack on our soil or that they had WMD's. I just didn't believe Bush or his advisors.
I have never held in contempt the soldiers who have fought in any war and feel we don't, as a nation, do enough for them after they come home. I will always remember. What we did do was open that country up to Isis a fate worse than Hussain. With that war we destabilized a whole region and not in my opinion for the better. A mess that was made by less than truthful politicians. Enough said.
I appreciate this update. A young friend enlisted and served in Iraq as a medic. She suffers fro PTSD and it is simply heartbreaking. She has a service dog and a job that allows her to be outside a lot without a lot of people around. She married a fellow veteran who understands what she is going through. So many kids enlist not realizing what they are in for. War is war, no matter what its size and the lasting effects on our veterans not to mention the civilians can't be underestimated.
You say that Iran was the winner. I disagree, our military industry has been the only winning side I believe. When Bush and Cheney were promoting and gearing up I joined a group of Women in Black, in my tiny local community, we stood one hour every week in protest. There were then many groups around the country. We were thirty plus then. Now, I most often stand alone. It is by most, a forgotten conflict.
My son was notified in April of 2004 that his National Guard unit was scheduled to be deployed in the fall. On Memorial Day I watched the celebration in Washington DC. I was overcome with fear and sorrow that so many soldiers were coming home so grievously wounded and devastated to realize that my son was three times more likely to come home severely wounded and disabled for life than dead. Thankfully he was not physically wounded (nor were any soldiers in his unit), but his mental health is a different story. The real tragedy of war has to include the aftermath.
My view of Iraq is just as unpopular as my view of Vietnam was: our country had no business invading either place. In Vietnam, we were plagued by arrogance. In Iraq, we were plagued by both arrogance and greed. I still wonder how incredibly well Cheney did with his connections to Halliburton.
We live in a very solidly RED area of Oakland County, Michigan. I tended to wear my heart on my vehicles in the form of political signs. My kids begged me NOT to put anything on my truck, even as I worked on a "Support the Troops, Not the War" sign. I caved to the kids, but never changed my opinion of the invasion of Iraq by G.W.
As usual Dan, very astute and poignant observations. I still remember how many of us, in the media and not, were simply aghast at the mad rush for war with Iraq in 2003. While many would have signed up to put a bullet in Saddam Hussein then, the cost to those in our armed forces, our international standing and our own American privacy protection and freedoms was far too high a price to pay, as the later reports of false WMD claims proved.
The 2003 Iraq War indoctrinated a new generation of soldiers and citizens who came to believe in US superiority over Islamic terrorism. These themes became the scaffolding for far-right social media influencers who painted Democrats as “the enemies.” The Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol was an outcome of this mindset as the “Patriots” on the right responded to a despotic President’s rallying cry.
Another thought added to my previous post - the damage from these "blunders" radiates like the pandemic but slower. Damage to many lives not just the participants in the war, but their families and friends lost to alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide, lasts for decades.... We had the honor of having the Wall replica visit our town, and wore the shirts that my nephew sent us from his division in Iraq. I stopped to make a donation to a vet's cause and he asked about my shirt - who and where - and I thanked him for his service, to which he replied "Thank you for your service." I walked away and went back a few minutes later, expressing my gratitude to him - no one had ever in all these decades acknowledged my support and sacrifice as a sister an aunt and a daughter to these fine men. So hats off, hand over heart and thank you to all "support staff."
I for one listened to those people who were saying that there was no evidence that Iraq had the capacity for nuclear weapons. Chemical weapons, yes, because they had used them on their own people. I didn't trust Bush because he was really just after Sadaam Hussein. He wasn't interested in anything but taking him from power. I despaired when the invasion was announced because I knew in my gut that our armed forces were being sent into harms way based on a lie. Yet again. When I voiced my concerns, I was told by someone that I had to support the troops, with the idea being that being against the war was being against the troops. What does that even mean, "support the troops"? From my viewpoint, I was supporting the troops. I am very clear on the fact that once the oath is taken, members of the military go where they are told and do what they are told. I did not want to see them come to harm over what I believed was a war based on yet another falsehood. Do I blame the troops? Hell, no! I blame the politicians who don't seem to value the lives of our soldiers, who use them as pawns in political games. I am not a pacifist. I believe there is a purpose for our military. But I don't believe in what Congress did by passively accepting the need for war every time a President gets an itchy trigger finger. Our military is being misused.
And for God's sake, we need to get our military out of Afghanistan!!! It's not even mentioned anymore! People have forgotten we are even over there! Our military is being held hostage by the very people we trained in guerrilla tactics when the Russians invaded. Do I want to see Afghanistan regress to the way it was before? Absolutely not! But the Afghanis need to make those changes because if they are imposed from outside, they won't last. And let's be clear here. There was a huge deposit of valuable minerals found in Afghanistan. I'm sure there are companies from countries all over the world just itching to get in there and mine them, taking the profits out of the country. If I were the Afghanis I would nationalize them like Brazil did theirs and make sure a large percentage of the profits benefit their own people. In Brazil they kept 51% or more and allowed foreign companies to buy in up to 49%. This was not done by socialists. This was done by the military dictatorship in the 70's. It was a smart move on their part.
My question is, are we still over there to protect "our" interest in those mineral deposits? We may or may not be, but it's worth asking.
Always considered Bush one of our worst presidents for his tragic blunder. Didn't he admit as much in recent years? I would like to know more about who supplied Colin Powell with false information and why.
Dan, I don't know if you are being too hard on yourself and your colleagues or not, I honestly don't. But as I am certain you have considered the environment we were all in after 09/11/2001, when it was virtually prohibited to disagree with the powers that were, and yada, yada. In fact the only person, the only one person who had the balls to buck this "decree", was Gary Trudeau and he did so consistently, brilliantly, and continually through Doonesbury, hm? Now back to the desert, I firmly believe that our "fearless leaders, aka gorgie porgie pudding pie and his aptly named side-kick Dick", (my pet names for these two), set out to make a lot of money especially during the second "war", please see www.dickcheneywatch.org. for just a small taste of what they stole from our government and it's people, the figures are in the billions, and this is just a peek into what went on, in spite of all of the death, horror, aftermath, carnage, etc. This upsets me, why in the hell was, has this story that is true and documented not followed up upon by the press? This is the real story and to me the seeming fall of the GOP party into.. well where they are now? This story is not too old and it must be told.
I think Cheney was the devil on Bush’s shoulder whispering in his ear. There are profits to be made from war& Cheney was primed to be a recipient of that.
One could write for a long time on this topic and expand it to include Vietnam which is another war that never had to happen if approaches had been different in 1945 and if politicians had a more educated, nuanced view of communism and the world. But that is another issue.
Iraq was, and remains, a huge mistake. Poorly planned, poorly managed, and totally mishandled afterwards. I would include Afghanistan as soon as troops and equipment were redirected to Iraq. I don't think that the US has ever established clear strategic goals for either war. We are there because we are there.
In all of the time that we have been in Afghanistan, has there been a government that was not corrupt, that looked out for all of the people, that was not reliant on the US to remain in power, that had a competent armed forces to oppose the Taliban, that whatever? NO! Then what is our purpose and why are we relying on Special Forces and mercenaries to do the bulk of the fighting?
Iraq we just need to leave. It's not salvageable. We turned on one of our best allies, the Kurds, by not supporting them. As Dan noted, we've made Iran stronger in the region which is probably why President Biden is reluctant to hold Saudi Arabia to account. He needs a buffer to Iran.
I respect all of the troops because they do go and they do their jobs even when exploited by politicians or mishandled by their commanders. We, the is you and I, are throwing them away for little purpose and don't even pay attention. Might I add that we are not fighting for freedom or to spread democracy. That's a crock! We fight for political and economic reasons: period.
A fearsome and excellent article - only after reading it did I realize how desperately it needed to be written.
Thank you Dan.
This is an important essay and I am glad you gave the topic your time and thought. As a young mom dealing with my own problems at the time, I was one of those citizens guilty of not paying enough attention, not understanding the complexities, feeling overwhelmed by the notion of another war in Iraq and just simply wanting to believe those in charge knew what they were doing. A silver lining of the past five years is that I've been shaken awake to see the fragility of democracy and now as an older person I know those in charge can be the most amoral, self-serving, power grabbing and short-sighted opportunists lacking in both knowledge and wisdom and must always be monitored and held accountable.
I never forget Iraq not because I knew anyone who served but because I didn't believe that they were in any way responsible for the attack on our soil or that they had WMD's. I just didn't believe Bush or his advisors.
I have never held in contempt the soldiers who have fought in any war and feel we don't, as a nation, do enough for them after they come home. I will always remember. What we did do was open that country up to Isis a fate worse than Hussain. With that war we destabilized a whole region and not in my opinion for the better. A mess that was made by less than truthful politicians. Enough said.
I’m already a subscriber, have been since February, 2021.
I appreciate this update. A young friend enlisted and served in Iraq as a medic. She suffers fro PTSD and it is simply heartbreaking. She has a service dog and a job that allows her to be outside a lot without a lot of people around. She married a fellow veteran who understands what she is going through. So many kids enlist not realizing what they are in for. War is war, no matter what its size and the lasting effects on our veterans not to mention the civilians can't be underestimated.
You say that Iran was the winner. I disagree, our military industry has been the only winning side I believe. When Bush and Cheney were promoting and gearing up I joined a group of Women in Black, in my tiny local community, we stood one hour every week in protest. There were then many groups around the country. We were thirty plus then. Now, I most often stand alone. It is by most, a forgotten conflict.
My son was notified in April of 2004 that his National Guard unit was scheduled to be deployed in the fall. On Memorial Day I watched the celebration in Washington DC. I was overcome with fear and sorrow that so many soldiers were coming home so grievously wounded and devastated to realize that my son was three times more likely to come home severely wounded and disabled for life than dead. Thankfully he was not physically wounded (nor were any soldiers in his unit), but his mental health is a different story. The real tragedy of war has to include the aftermath.
My view of Iraq is just as unpopular as my view of Vietnam was: our country had no business invading either place. In Vietnam, we were plagued by arrogance. In Iraq, we were plagued by both arrogance and greed. I still wonder how incredibly well Cheney did with his connections to Halliburton.
We live in a very solidly RED area of Oakland County, Michigan. I tended to wear my heart on my vehicles in the form of political signs. My kids begged me NOT to put anything on my truck, even as I worked on a "Support the Troops, Not the War" sign. I caved to the kids, but never changed my opinion of the invasion of Iraq by G.W.
As usual Dan, very astute and poignant observations. I still remember how many of us, in the media and not, were simply aghast at the mad rush for war with Iraq in 2003. While many would have signed up to put a bullet in Saddam Hussein then, the cost to those in our armed forces, our international standing and our own American privacy protection and freedoms was far too high a price to pay, as the later reports of false WMD claims proved.
The 2003 Iraq War indoctrinated a new generation of soldiers and citizens who came to believe in US superiority over Islamic terrorism. These themes became the scaffolding for far-right social media influencers who painted Democrats as “the enemies.” The Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol was an outcome of this mindset as the “Patriots” on the right responded to a despotic President’s rallying cry.
Another thought added to my previous post - the damage from these "blunders" radiates like the pandemic but slower. Damage to many lives not just the participants in the war, but their families and friends lost to alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide, lasts for decades.... We had the honor of having the Wall replica visit our town, and wore the shirts that my nephew sent us from his division in Iraq. I stopped to make a donation to a vet's cause and he asked about my shirt - who and where - and I thanked him for his service, to which he replied "Thank you for your service." I walked away and went back a few minutes later, expressing my gratitude to him - no one had ever in all these decades acknowledged my support and sacrifice as a sister an aunt and a daughter to these fine men. So hats off, hand over heart and thank you to all "support staff."