Looking Back, You’ve Been Had, Soldier.
By James T. Moore (03/12/07)
Don't get me wrong. All of us in America are behind you guys 100%. In fact, I'll tell you flat out, you're doing a great job against nasty odds. However, and I hate to say this, you guys have been shafted. And by your own government at that. After 9/11, if you were a soldier in the regular armed forces, you thought, oh oh, this is it. It looks like we might see some action pretty soon.
You were right.
If you were in the National Guard, doing an occasional weekend drill, you probably figured, gee, I didn’t plan on this when I got into the Guard. I wonder if the regular army boys will take care of it, or if the Guard, which means me, will be called up.
You were also right.
Moreover, both of you guys figured that if you got shipped over to Iraq---never mind that it was the wrong enemy-- to avenge the attack on the World Trade Center, you would clean their clock in a hurry, get back to your loved ones, and resume your state-side duty.
Fat chance. Because what neither of you guys realized at the time was that once the government got you into Iraq, the cows would come home faster than you would..
You guys were conned, because what you went to Iraq for isn’t why you’re in Iraq at all. You got rid of Saddam Hussein all right, but those AWOL weapons of mass destruction never materialized. And the government’s con job didn’t end there. You guys were duped again when this administration led you to believe that once we avenged 9/11 you would be getting out of that hellhole and be heading for home.
Sorry. Since the firing of Rumsfeld and a few of his generals, there’s been a change of plans: the U.S. armchair brigade says that you guys will be needed in Iraq for the foreseeable future. Well, it’s going on five years now and they haven’t yet worked out the terms of your “continued presence.”
Now, you thought the Iraqis would be glad to see you and your buddies leave. Not true. The Pentagon says that once the Iraqis take control of their country (after we get through demolishing it, that is) the Iraqis may want U.S. troops to stay a while longer. And there goes your ticket home.
“But,” says one U.S. strategist, “if the Iraqis want us to leave, we would certainly be obligated to leave, under international law.”
How international law got into the act at this time is uncertain. It definitely didn’t come up when we decided to ignore the sovereignty of a nation and attacked Iraq, and are now taking aim at Iran and other members of the “evil axis.”
There seem to be some confusion here. (Surprise!) Some U.S. officials felt that once an election was held, we would leave. Other officials feel that if political control was turned over to a NON-elected Iraqi body, it would welcome a continued U.S. presence. And regarding that “continued presence”, here is where that ambiguous word “coalition” again rears its ugly head.
Larry Di Rita, ousted Rumsfeld’s chief spokesman, once opined, “I think the coalition (that’s you, soldier) has a lot to offer with respect to continued security in Iraq. People in Iraq understand that and want the coalition (that’s you again, soldier) to continue to be involved in security in some way.”
Di Rita never did define what your security role would be once the occupation ended, but you can bet your dog tags that U.S. troops will be in combat as long as the insurgency is active. How about that? From weekend warrior, to combat infantryman, to guerilla fighter. That’s what I call versatility. No wonder they want you to stay.
Gen. Richard Myers--remember him?--- once said he could not estimate with confidence how long U.S. troops will be needed in Iraq. Not surprising. As I recall, Gen. Myers had never been able to estimate anything of consequence with confidence. Maybe “meritorious obscurity” is how he got his four stars.
Suffice to say, soldier, for “planning” purposes (whatever that means) the Army assumed it would have to keep 100,000 troops in Iraq for at least two years. That’s two years going on five.
Meanwhile, as the Bushites work toward the goal of restoring Iraq’s sovereignty (which we violated) and its infrastructure (which we destroyed), U.S. troops are dying at the rate of, who knows how many, a day. That’s worse than tragic, it’s obscene.
But hey, soldier, with a couple hundred thousand of you guys still fighting a war that’s been “officially” over for nearly a year, only a few deaths per day practically guarantees you’ll get home safely. So there’s no harm in staying a while longer.
And you will. Take it from the ass-sitters at the Pentagon.
James T. Moore
http://jamestmoore.us/
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