Turning the Page: American Combat Mission Ends; A New Dawn Begins

It's time to Break It Down!

Operation Iraqi Freedom ended at 5:00 P.M. EDT, yesterday. President Obama called it “turning the page.” As the directed combat portion of the American mission in Iraq ended, a new phase, Operation New Dawn begins today.

For Americans, the cost of this war has been staggering. Over a million American troops have served in the Iraq War, of which, more that 4,400 lost their lives, over 32,000 of them were injured, upwards of a trillion dollars has been spent, and the conflict has lasted 7 ½ years, and counting. Why still counting? Because even though the majority of our troops have been drawn down, from a peak of 170,000, to a number not to exceed 50,000 (currently about 49,500) will remain in Iraq to train and consult with the Iraqi Army and security forces until at least next July.

Yet, when cast in a more expansive light, the affects of the war effort on American soldiers and their families have not been calculated fully. One must consider the still mounting costs to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury, to provide physical therapy and rehabilitation, to conduct counseling, and to acquire medication. By some estimates, the costs of addressing similar conditions in soldiers returning from the Korean War did not peak until more than 50 years after the end of the war.

Of course, this battle is being fought in Iraq. So as sobering as the preceding numbers are, a number that must be added to the already staggering panoply is 100,000; that is the tally of Iraqi civilians killed in the war since the United States launched the initiative, March 20, 2003. Yes, war is hell; believe that! Always has been; always will be.

When it comes to Iraq, President Obama was a reluctant warrior; a fact his political opponents are not about to let him forget that now. You may recall, that as a member of the U.S. Senate, Mr. Obama opposed the war, and the Troop Surge, that would eventually be viewed as the magic bullet, or at least the deciding factor in turning the tide on America’s efforts.

Conservatives have lamented, loudly and often, President Obama’s decision not to publicly laud former President George W. Bush for zealously pushing the Surge. In talking-head-moments after the President’s speech, the hue and cry reached nearly crescendo level. Undoubtedly, Mr. Obama and his team are left to wonder whether this outcry is a function of short-term memory loss, or just another in the litany of ploys designed to deflect his decisions, and minimize his accomplishments. OK, in reality, they do not have to wonder.

On one hand, it is true that after roughly four years of an already protracted war initiative, the Bush White House proposed and executed a Surge that was so successful, it not only established superior American tactics for the Iraq War, it apparently also serves as a prototype for the war in Afghanistan. At first blush, that does sound laudable.

Alternately, when a wide angle lens is applied to the historical events that preceded the war, the record reflects that President Bush introduced the now infamous Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) gambit in order to sell the war. Most historians and politicians concede this level of weaponry simply never existed; moreover, a majority of analysts surmise, in turn, that without that lever, The Iraq War may never have been launched.

That would have reduced the conflict greatly, sharply curbed the casualties and deaths, and eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in spending. It may also have enabled Americans to focus on speeding up the timetable to devise and implement a more effective and efficient strategy to “Disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al-Qaeda, and to prevent them from re-establishing a foothold in Afghanistan in the future.”

President Obama, in his typically understated and restrained style, was respectful enough to avoid incorporating those record-clarifying facts into his Oval Office remarks last night. His most direct reference, a deftly nuanced one-liner, “A war to disarm a state became a fight against an insurgency,” likely went largely unnoticed.

Undoubtedly, he marveled at the seemingly limitless capacity of his critics to shift, at will, into SMM (Selective Memory Mode). Never-the-less, despite the stonewalling that President Obama must expect by now (because it goes on unabated), he called President Bush to commemorate the official end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, in his speech, he referred to the former President as a patriot, and noted that, “no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”

Turning the page was cornerstone of the President’s remarks last night. However, he also made a case for intensifying American efforts in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and sharpening our collective focus to beat back economic doldrums here at home. The principal point about the drawdown of American forces in Iraq is that country must begin taking responsibility for its own safety and national security. Effectuating the troop withdrawal may be equated with geopolitical tough love.

In deed, if that is the case, Afghanis may do well to take note, because President Obama has put the Afghan government on notice that he intends to initiate a similar troop drawdown in Afghanistan starting in August of 2011. Not surprisingly, critics abound in relation to that point as well. The United States initiated war (Operation Enduring Freedom) with Afghanistan, October 7, 2001, in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks. If the President is able to honor his commitment to wind down this conflict, or the American combat role in it, by the end of 2011, it would be after an entire decade. In characterizing our exit from Iraq, the President noted we have honored our responsibility. After a more than a decade, it is likely he will be ready to cast our commitment to Afghanistan in the same light.

Make no mistake, overseeing, and ultimately downsizing two wars that ran simultaneously in the Middle East is, as Vice President Biden said of Congress passing Health Care legislation, a BFD. On many levels, unless you know more than most about Sunnis, Kurds, Shiites, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda, fathoming the nuanced dimensions of either, and certainly both of these wars will require more than a primer. I submit that for President Obama, Congress, and most Americans, the biggest deal going on within these shores is regaining control of and revitalizing the moribund economy that has plagued us for the better part of the past two years.

Over 2/3 of Americans want our troops brought home from Iraq; a similar number are opposed to increasing our presence in Afghanistan, but 100% of Americans want the the economy to be transformed into a robust economic engine sufficient to fuel business development and expansion, and to elevate job creation a level necessary to put America back to work. The tacit reality is, the Obama Administration could accomplish every other objective it holds dear, and let us be clear, it has not, and the political climate would still be somewhere between rocky and downright hostile.

At this point, trenchant unemployment and tepid job growth are Mr. Obama’s greatest challenges. So while I am pleased to be “Turning the Page, happy that the American Combat Mission has Ended, and simply delighted to Begin a New Dawn,” what I really want to know is what the President is going to do to turn our faltering economy into a turbo-charged dynamo. At that point, Mr. Biden need not say anything. I will exclaim, “That is a BFD!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkBDh8STp5U

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/31/obama.oval.office.address/index.html?hpt=T1

http://www.thespec.com/news/article/252748--obama-leaving-iraq-no-time-for-victory-lap

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/08/gates-gets-emotional-speaking-of-fallen-in-iraq.html


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20015259-503544.html?tag=cbsContent;cbsCarousel

http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2010/08/31/obama-ends-iraq-war-where-it-began-the-oval-office/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/09/01/a_rallying_call_for_battles_ahead/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-baghdad-scene-20100901,0,1147525.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/opinion/01friedman.html

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/u-s-has-new-603033.htm

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/World+Today+Iraq+ready+stand+alone+says+prime+minister/3465056/story.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20015262-503544.html