Iraq-A Postmortem Commentary.

by task

Possibly one of the worst military interventions that America participated in during the 20th century was Vietnam. Retrospectively it seems obvious that America should not have been there. What is not so apparent is that we should have not departed when we did and the way we did. On the other hand we certainly had ample reasons to engage Iraq. The price for predictable stability was high but, as Hillary Clinton might say, “What difference at this point does it make?” The point is that you cannot go back and redo the human and monetary costs. That price was already paid and there can be no refunds.

In both Vietnam and Iraq the vacuum created by the US absence produced humanitarian consequences similar to earthquakes and tsunamis that we never knew were coming but yet we aided in the aftermaths. And now we wonder we what we should do? Certainly in this present scenario we should have been aware of the implications since we had the advantage of the Vietnam hindsight.

Sometimes the use of a military force or the perception of force is the most compassionate solution of all. It is my contention that the people of Iraq, made of the same DNA as every other homo sapiens, want a civil society. They certainly voted for one with a voter turnout that far exceeded any US Presidential election despite voter suppression that had serious consequences. In fact what does that say about us?

Wherever Muslim extremism flourishes so will unimaginable misery also exist. The vast majority of Iraq’s population is defensive Shiite. They are not offensive Sunni radicals. What came out of Syria was a well-orchestrated radical Sunni advancement by a minority gathering unchecked steam. Absolutely nothing was done to deter what was predictable. Barack Obama is only fond of using executive orders domestically. His remedy, for outrageous radical Muslim activity, whether it be in Iraq, which is fast becoming an Islamic caliphate littered with body parts, and Afghanistan, where the Taliban remain loitering and waiting until the US leaves so they can reestablish pre 911 activities, or kidnapped Nigerian Christian schoolgirls by ruthless Boko Harem Muslim killers– is hashtags.

What is happening in the Middle East does have tremendous international consequences. Ultimately the solutions will involve a strong military component. How much we pay in the future should have been offset by what we paid in the past and accomplished as a result. The Obama Administration camouflaged our withdrawal under the banner of compassion. What we have done is not compassionate. In fact it is cruel. What is more is that a modest contingency presence was insurance against the type of terror this region now must experience. This time it really is a man-made disaster because the Administration purposely obliterated our insurance policy.