One of the arguments against the war we often hear is that the war is taking to long. The American people are tired of hearing about the war, casualties, bombings and the instability of post-Saddam Iraq. The sense is that we should have crossed into Iraq, deposed Saddam, established the democracy, repaired the infrastructure and been home by dinner. We don’t seem to have the patience or the tolerance for loss of American lives to continue to endure years of war in Iraq.
This sense of impatience with the war is one of the reasons why the public is turning against the war and why Democrats in Congress feel emboldened enough to demand an end date to our presence in Iraq. The problem with this “let’s move on” attitude is that it will lead to the failure of our mission in Iraq. Demanding an end to a war that we have grown tired of watching is the quickest way to ensure defeat. The only benchmark for our withdrawal from Iraq should be victory.
This battle coverage fatigue afflicting the American public coupled with a natural reluctance to witness casualties has hampered the war effort from the beginning. It is impossible to escape the fact that some of the military decisions made regarding the prosecution of the war were influenced to a certain degree by the unblinking eye of the media. We went into Iraq with a small, but highly trained force of troops and successfully deposed a dictator. However, we did not follow up with the sizable force needed to hold the country. We did not go in with an overwhelming and irresistible force. No one wanted us to be the country that literally wiped Iraq off the map in order to rebuild it. Instead we tried to fight a clean war. We tried to be the nice military and play by rules that made the war fit for prime time television. This plan has clearly backfired.
The media and segments of the American public have grown tired of a war that they feel has gone on too long. But instead of being willing to give our military the support they need to finish the mission, they are instead calling for a retreat. Call it a withdrawal, call is a turnover of responsibility, but if we pull out of Iraq before we have finished the mission, it is a retreat. But this retreat won’t be sounded because of he enemy, but because of an American public that is unwilling to give our military the added force they need to win.
Frequent Thoughts
Wow, I completely understand your thoughts as outlined in your blog. I think in general the American public has tired of the Iraqi war but not because they are tired of hearing about it or seeing it on television. (although I guess some might be) I guess I’m wishing for an end to the war because of all the men and women’s lives we are sacrificing for a people who are so at war between themselves that they can’t see or aren’t willing to accept help to create peace for their own country and countrymen. Hindsight is 20/20 and we could say all day long “if we knew then what we know now”, but we can’t. We can now only trust in our military leaders to create a plan that will succeed going forward. I really don’t want us to pull out now but I would like to see a lot more progress in a lot shorter time period than we’ve seen in the past. And I certainly wouldn’t want to have their job in trying to develop the plan that’s going to succeed. I know I’m not there and I don’t see the reaction of the Iraqi people (God Bless Them) and if they are glad we’re there or not. I wish I knew. Unfortunately we don’t hear too much about that on the news. The Media is Terrible. I’m kinda rambling here but keep in mind a retreat is just that, a retreat. It doesn’t mean we quit our mission completely. Can’t we help their people from a different angle? I don’t know. It is all so frustrating to me. Well keep safe and thank you for keeping “OUR” country free.