Just in from a Labor Day outing and saw the following story:
U.S. Troops Engage in Combat in Baghdad
I have not seen a diary on this, apologize if it has been diaried, but here's a few thoughts below the fold.
In my military science classes, they taught me ole von Clausewitz, who said "war is the continuation of politics by other means". Some translate this as "war is an extension of diplomacy by other means". The other significant line from von Clausewitz parallels George Santayana "those who do not learn the lessons on use of the military will continue to fail to use it properly".
The "war in Iraq" has not been a war since we toppled Saddam's regime. We have not been engaged in politics or diplomacy with those we are fighting, hence using war as a means to effect the ultimate political and diplomatic goals was bound to fail. We have not fought a defined enemy. (Al Queda? Baath party separatists? or one of the other 99 identified terrorist groups that have commited an act of violence in Iraq over the past 7 years?) We have not fought for a defined mission (weapons of mass destruction, no wait, Saddam's army was a threat, no wait, freedom for the Iraqi people? no wait, oil, no wait, democracy?).
We still have 50,000 policemen in Iraq who will continue to be dragged into "combat" operations, i.e. continue to be drawn into police actions to put down terrorists. All the while, the Iraqi government can't even decide who their leader is. Corruption, billions unaccounted for, building projects falling apart, the country is a mess.
Yet, according to President Obama:
So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended
This completes a transition to Iraqi responsibility for their own security
Going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission: advising and assisting Iraq's Security Forces; supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our civilians
Pigs will fly, the cow will jump over the moon and the dish will run away with the spoon.
Okay, that last one was me. We continue to pour billions into Iraq, and put the lives of 50,000 troops at risk every day. But the President can't even tell us this simple truth. And as we continue to pour more troops into Afghanistan in a similar useless military endeavor, we will rue this missed opportunity and endless "war" will be our foreign policy for decades to come.