Anyone who believes the Iraq War can EVER have a positive outcome has bought the Bush/McCain proverbial bridge for sale. Ideally, the only goal can be to get out of Iraq with reasonable speed and undo the damage done by George W. Bush and his crew of foreign policy "experts."
Iraq can never be won because it never should have been a battleground. The real military struggle was in Afghanistan, but a full effort was withheld due to the coming Iraq War. Now the Taliban and al Qaeda are re-forming there.
Iraq can never be won because the original mission was about weapons of mass destruction that never existed. Evidence and words of wisdom were ignored or dismissed because rigid minds were hell-bent on a war built upon false pretense.
Iraq can never be won because a potential real enemy, Iran, has actually been strengthened significantly as a direct result of the Iraq War. The other true enemy, al Qaeda, which never existed within Iraq or in any association with that country, now has a strong presence there in direct relation to our military involvement. Even if al Qaeda were completely wiped out in Iraq, all that would be accomplished would be getting back to Point A there with regards to terrorism. There would be no gain.
Iraq can never be won because it has led indirectly to instability in Pakistan, Gaza, Israel-Palestine negotiations, the Turkish border region, and the U.S. economy via a growing deficit and debt, and $100+ a barrel oil.
Iraq can never be won because eventually we will have to leave, and then civil war between Sunni, Shia and Kurd will begin to bubble with increased energy.
Iraq can never be won with a surge. Military success is limited and fleeting; we cannot surge indefinitely. Political reconciliation has been insignificant. The truth behind decreased violence, which is already reversing in some respects? Al-Sadr's temporary cease fire, Sunni fighting al Qaeda, which began well in advance of the surge, and ethnically cleansed neighborhoods.
Iraq can never be won due to the lost prestige the U.S. has suffered from. The damage to our reputation and world position is overwhelming. Considering that virtually the entire world supported us on September 12, 2001, we have wasted away quite a bit of opportunity.
But, the number one reason Iraq can never be won?
Little Things Lost
Child holds a ball in a field
Nobody else is revealed
Now sits a glove all alone
Daddy is not coming home
Lover can cry every night
Somehow this bed isn’t right
Reach for a body to hold
Half of the sheets are still cold
Wedding band serves to remind
Look to a window resigned
No one will walk through that door
Casualty’s toll of a war
“Dada,” a little girl cries
Unanswered questions of “whys”
Dreams of these lives are the cost
So many little things lost
Copyright SGW 2008
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10 comments:
deep emotions in this very moving piece ... I especially like the last line ... calling them little things makes it so much more powerful and stronger ... excellent
Thanks for your poem/prayer.
This just in...
The U.S. death toll in the war in Iraq rises to at least 4,000 after the U.S. military reports four U.S. soldiers killed by a bomb in Baghdad.
Thank you for the wonderful poem.
i cannot imagine that we learned nothing from viet nam... i cannot imagine that the next time we allow ourselves to be dragged into a war that is not ours,,, we will have learned nothing from iraq...
for such intelligent beings... we can be extremely dense....
this was a very thought provoking write from begining to end.. thank you..
Some of our current leaders ... Bush, Cheney, Rice, McCain, Lieberman ... won't learn. They refuse. Let's hope the American people as a whole have learned enough to not allow these types to govern any longer. Too many have died for something that should not have been.
A powerful piece that reminds us of so much lost. The most tragic thing is that it didn't have to happen.
Love the poem and it is very true. I only have to think of my friend Andy that was killed in January and his wife not having him around anymore.
As far as Iraq, I agree that we cannot and will never win in a classical sense and I do think that the best option is to get us out as quickly as possible. I just think we have to do more putting things back together before we completely leave. Maybe use a smaller force of specialists in infrastructure and a smaller security force that is quick and lethal if needed.
Thank you, Scott, and I agree. I do not believe a President Obama or Clinton will pull out too quickly either. Reality is reality. The Bush team made the greatest mistake in our nation's history, but the reality is we will be forced to do more.
The surge is a failure, and recent news shows that. What a good U.S. policy would involve is slow, but consistent drawdowns, pressure on the Iraqis to make deals, negotiations with Iran and Syria in a quiet form that does not call for bluster, a small force in place to fight al Qaeda, and a strong U.S./U.N./NATO involvement in engineering and building.
I think you and I see things in like fashion.
When I hear of more deaths in Iraq, this is what I think of--the families who are shattered forever after. And the soldiers, too, who are crippled, blinded, and so on. For what? To stoke one man's ego? It's obscene.
I like your poem. When large events are distilled into the particular, as you have done here, it shows the damage much more clearly.
It is obscene, but it is also a crime.
The idea for the poem came from Springsteen's "Your Missing."
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