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 The election in Iraq has passed. It, along with the reduction in American causalities suggest that in spite there being no weapons of mass destruction and the Abu Ghraib catastrophe, represents a positive outcome.
In other words, in retrospect invading and occupying a sovereign nation was the right thing to do. This conclusion justifies the worst foreign policy blunder in American history. Turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary election was an impressive 62 percent, higher than last year's provincial ballot, despite attempts by Sunni insurgents to disrupt the vote with violent attacks that resulted in 39 deaths. The 62 percent voter turnout, exceeded expectations, clearly demonstrating that many Iraqis would not be deterred by the violence on the ground. Does this outcome validate the death of more than 4300 American soldiers, 318 from other countries, untold numbers of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, at a cost that now exceeds $700 billion of mostly borrowed money? The Iraq invasion and occupation may very well be remembered as a profoundly contemporary American enterprise in that the gravity of the mistakes will only be reflected upon for a season. The certainly by which proponents of invading Iraq be they members of Congress or pundits is dwarfed only the magnitude of the misjudgments is but a distant memory. How quickly we forget “Slam-dunk” became quagmire and “We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators” became burning effigies and suicide bombers, or the numerous times President Bush referred to Saddam Hussein and 9/11 in the same breath before the conflict became the revelation of the Downing Street memo after the invasion commenced? But our focus as a nation is currently on other matters, namely the economy. Many of those who supported the scant evidence offered by the previous administration, vowing not to question and criticizing those who did, now find themselves in tenuous economic circumstances so there is no time to examine the lessons learned. And President Obama has been no help in this area. Last year, the Jim Lehrer asked the president whether Iraq was worth the American lives lost and wounded, as well as the Iraqis who have been killed?
The president responded:
“Well, you know, I don't want to look backwards. As you know, I opposed this war, I did not think it was the right decision, but I don't want to in any way diminish the enormous sacrifices that have been made by our men and women in uniform.” The president’s response, though consistent with the statements he made on the campaign trail, ultimately serves as a popular codependent when American desperately requires the tough love of truth in order to move forward. Iraq has the distinction of the being the most expensive military effort in which the country can’t agree on the reasons for the action. How can a war effort that that is fiscally irresponsible and grossly inaccurate in its preliminary suppositions be allowed to escape official scrutiny from its own government? While the few die-hard proponents of the invasion and occupation praise the steps that Iraq has superficially taken toward democracy, there is paradoxically something very undemocratic about America’s participation in that endeavor. Are we content that the 62 percent voter turnout and the removal of former dictator Saddam Hussein are satisfactory to conclude, “Mission Accomplished”? Is the well still so poisoned with the “I support the troops” mantra that any revelation of political malfeasance risks desecrating the memory of those who paid the ultimate cost? The juvenile response to these observations is to offer that I’m part of the “blame America first” contingent or something else along that puerile genre. But great nations approach their high and low moments with equal courage, not for the purposes of blame but rather to aid its posterity from potentially making similar infractions. Tragically, we appear to be trapped by the truth, as was the newspaper editor in the closing scene from the movie, “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance.” He decided not to run the real story, burning the notes that his reporter took, justifying his actions by saying, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend?” On Iraq, it seems America doesn’t yet know what the legend is, so I guess we’ll just keep making it up as we go along.
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