That Ship has sailed; What’s next?
By Staff Writer: Theresa Chaze
The war in Iraq is on everyone’s minds. Should we have gone or shouldn’t we? Did Bush lie or didn’t he? With a mastery of dialogue, both sides are throwing verbal rocks at the other; each side accusing and blaming the other for the problems in the country and for the mixed results over seas. Debate and sharing of ideas is wonderful and necessary, however it is a waste of energy and time until it is married to action. Unless someone has a time machine to return us back before the invasion of Iraq, that ship has sailed and it’s time to move on. Now is the time to find alternative actions to bring about more positive results both in the United States and in Iraq.
Bush’s approval ratings have dropped to the lowest they have ever been. A majority of people no longer believe in him or the conflict he is responsible for. More people each day feel that they were miss lead not only about the reasons for invading, but about many of details of the conflict. As the death toll rises without an end in sight, more people are demanding a solid exit strategy. They are no longer willing to sit in the dark and have faith in a man, who so obviously doesn’t have a plan for the future.
On the other side, if we were to leave Iraq now, it would be a bigger mistake than it was going in. The region has been destabilized enough that it would be open to religious and political coos, which would bring even more terrorism to the world. From the beginning, the Iraq War was compared to Vietnam; the only similarity is that they are both guerrilla wars. What they refuse to see is that this conflict is more like Korea. It will take decades to make the region stable enough for the US soldiers to completely leave. In the Bible, Moses took the chosen people into the desert for forty years. He wasn’t lost, but was creating a two generation separation between the slavery minded people conditioned to being domineered to the independent individuals who walked into the promised land. By keeping them moving, he was able to teach them from generation to generation what is was like to have free choice and to take responsibility for those decisions. That is what it will take in Iraq. They will have to be shown how to release the old methods of dealing with the world, while still being able to keep their culture and religion intact. The question is–can a man who is so fixated in keeping his own religion primary in his country be capable of teaching others how to be open enough to see new ways?
The best that we can possibly hope for is to batten down the hatches and stick it out until the region stabilizes. This won’t take months or years, but decades. During this time, we need to provide our troops with the best possible equipment and support. Use of thin-skin vehicles should be immediate be discontinued. Instead only heavily armor vehicles, whether they be the Bradleys, up-armored Humvees, or other vehicles which have been modified by the armor kits, should be used Anything short of the best is unnecessarily putting the military personal at risk and is responsible for the high death toll. The best weapons both on the ground and in the air should be provided for the whole arena. Thinly protected vehicles, which were designed to transport troops between ships and shore, should never be used in country.
The second line of action should be to reinforce the positive of the Iraq culture and economy. By giving them constructive goals and helping them reach them, the Iraqi will find their own path. A thriving economy and expectation of a future will lead few people to become involved in terrorist activities. The old saying–when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, applies to this situation. Being able to care for their families, building a home, and being economically secure will go a long way in preventing the creation of new terrorists, thereby cutting off the supply of new recruits to the terrorist organizations. Generally speaking, when a person has enough to eat, safe shelter, can watch their children grow into healthy adults, and worship freely, they are not likely to risk all their blessings by attacking others. By creating a stable, secure base in Iraq, where the resources benefit the natives and their culture is respected, the extremist will no longer have a platform to speak from or an audience which will listen.
In the United States, the reasons for invading Iraq changed as quickly as they were shown to be false. The weapons of mass destruction were disproved. Yes, Saddam Hussian was a cruel dictator, but he wasn’t the only one; by attacking Iraq for that reason, doesn’t that set the US to take aim at all the despots? The third reason was that he supported terrorism. There are several other countries who also put their resources and people into terrorist activities; shall they all be next? While the debate continued, Bush sent in troops. People on both sides died. But there was never an exit plan discussed. Did Bush think he could bomb them into submission? Drop a few bombs, shoot a few people, and the terrorists would just roll over and submit the technically mightier US. Baghdad fell, but in spite of what Bush said on the aircraft carrier, the war is not over. Far from it. The Iraq people are strong and independent; they will not meekly accept the dominance of another country. Many have tried; the United States is just the latest in the long list of invaders who eventually gave up and left. So how will it be different this time? What will the US do that the others didn’t?
Maybe instead of trying to beat them down and force them into a US manufactured cookie mold, they worked off a positive–by respecting and honoring the Iraq culture, while building economic and religious security. Iraq has a large supply of oil; by using it to build schools, businesses, and a strong social structure with a unified government with the ability to support its roads, military, and economic base, the region will stabilize. By building instead of destroying, the out-come will be radically different from all the other times the country was invaded and the loss of life will not be in vain.