by jack Lee
Congressman Tom McClintock-R (shown left) is to many Californians’ the epitome of what it means to be a patriotic conservative. Now that he’s in Congress his popularity is spreading across the nation. Most of the people on the right side of the fence passionately agree with what he has to say. There’s a lot of talk about McClintock running for president in 2012; he’s that popular…now here’s what he has to say about Iraq:
It was a mistake. He tells us that when George Bush unleashed the military might of the United States on Iraq he broke a long standing precedent. That precedent said the United States never goes to war against another country unless we’ve been attacked or we are defending an ally. This isn’t just our nation’s moral line in the sand, it is the litmus test that most all nations in the western world are compelled to respect either by international law or by treaty. We didn’t do that, we broke our own self imposed rule and it was why our coalition of the willing was limited to fraction of what we had in Gulf I. McClintock added (police actions excluded) that if we do go to war again, it should be a declared war and then we unleash an all out campaign and we fight to the bitter end with total victory.
Despite all the many valid reasons we can raise about the Iraqi’s defiance of UN sanctions, obstructing inspectors, taking pot shots at high flying surveillance aircraft and rumors of WMD’s which proved to be just that – rumors … President Bush can still be accused of lowering the bar for this nation’s collective character when he ordered us to wage war on Iraq and of course remove a ruthless dictator. And as it turns out that ruthless dictator was doing all those aggressive and defiant things half-hearted and only to maintain his respect and control in a way only the Arab world understands. It was a dangerous gamble that we didn’t understand and he lost.
Seven years and a trillion and half dollars later another President has claimed the war is now over. We won, let’s go home, game over. And he pulled out 75,000 soldiers and left 50,000 behind as “trainers”. Unfortunately, our opposition in Iraq didn’t get the message, they’re still fighting, still bombing and still shooting at us, only it’s against fewer Americans with fewer resources. Almost to the day that American forces drew down violence erupted across Iraq and it was one of the most bloodiest week’s they’ve seen in the last two years.
What have we gained from all this, McClintock asks? We’ve lost over 4000 lives in the peacekeeping effort which has been a long, expensive and deadly learning experience. We discovered initially we were about as capable of doing that mission as the Iraqi army was in facing off against us on the battlefield. Our gross incompetence was exposed repeatedly and it cost lives for difficult lessons paid for in blood. It’s estimated that somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 Iraqi were killed during peacekeeping, and as for President George W. Bush…well, he appeared to the world as a man without a plan. Bush proudly and defiantly proclaimed we would be there for however long it takes and as it turns out that would (predictably) be to the very next presidential election.
Iraqi’s who hated Saddam Hussein are now saying at least their was stability under his rule, with America’s puppet regime they can’t even keep the power on for more than a few hours a day. Corruption is as prolific as Hussein’s regime was barbaric, but at least the home generator business is booming in Baghdad.
If there is anyone outside President Maliki’s regime who actually likes and respects it, we have yet to find them. As one Iraqi recently said, “You can impose democracy, but you can not impose cooperation.” And there it is, the factions within Iraq at each others throats. The last Iraq election is six months old and they have yet to even form a coalition government. This division serves to breed contempt and turmoil among the general the population and this is a great recruiting tool for militant forces that see a complete and total victory over the opposition as the only way out.
President Obama’s speech about Iraq’s destiny is in their own hands now, implying that we’ve done a wonderful job of setting them up for greatness. In reality, we made a mess of things and we, albeit indirectly, imposed a puppet government on them that is unlikely to last. Now we’re backing out as fast as we can claiming victory and patting ourselves on the back. Obama is wishing them all much luck and they’re sure going to need it…as civil war seems inevitable. I only hope the last of troops are long gone before it starts.
Sources: http://www.calitics.com/diary/11433/rohrabacher-mcclintock-admit-iraq-war-was-a-mistake
http://www.kste.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=armandgettypodcast.xml (Look for the McClintock interview)
http://www.topix.com/us-house/tom-mcclintockhttp://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/an-open-letter-to-the-gop-candidates-running-for-the-1st-congressional-district/Content?oid=1968366
McClintock is a little wrong and a little right. He is wrong about whether the US should have attacked Iraq even though the US had not been attacked, because we were attacked, right there in Iraq. After the first Gulf war ended in a cease fire, Saddam broke the cease-fire agreement, when his troops and missles shot at our airplanes flying along the DMZ. Under the War Powers clause, which very few people have read all the way through, any attack on any US military forces anywhere in the world is, by definition, an attack on the US itself. So Bush had every right to counterattack. The initial attack went perfectly. We demolished Saddam’s military and weapons in about two weeks flat, with virtually no loss of American lives.
Where Bush went wrong, and where McClintok is correct, is that we should have quit then, not tried to change the whole country and install a democracy in a land where it was not wanted or respected. Of course, Bush went further wrong by continuing the fight on a limited basis with all kinds of rules of engagement and a foolish attempt to avoid civilian casualties. Obama continued that foolish policy and continues it now in Afghanistan.
I realize my position on Iraq is not shared by many of my fellow patriots who make very valid and painful points about the mistakes and the costs.
As far as some of the other claims:
According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations. (By comparison) the projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion. Add to that health care projections (2 billion over 10 years) and cap and trade projections (depends on what the states also do) and you have a lot of tax dollars spent with very little, or sub par, returns on the money.
Also coming from the position that leaving the ME will end the cost of battling against extremist tyrants and bombers is hard to swallow. I guess we Americans are just not used to having to sacrifice; we don’t like it, understandably.
The following is one view of what is happening in Northern Iraq that could be an indication of what is possible:
Progress in Northern Iraq
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/09/01/an_example_of_progress_in_northern_iraq_99153.html
That is an excellent observation and it should serve to remind us to be careful who we are electing. The real cost of democracy is not found on a balance sheet, it’s at the ballot box.
Soaps, I know I would have felt a lot better about it if we had not tried to be an occupation force with all the idiotic rules of engagement and confusion.