Today is the 6th anniversary of the preemptive invasion of Iraq…A special salute to the 4,259 American troops that have fallen, and the 31,000 or more that have been injured. We must not forget that an estimated 1.3 million Iraqis have died in this period of time.
The media is hardly covering this war anymore; they mention an occasional car bombing here and there. The lack of coverage sends a false illusion, many are led to believe we have won that war.Sure, the violence is down but we still have 138,000 combat troops there, and although the “surge” quelled the violence, the political reconciliation has not really begun. The oil revenues have not been equally distributed, The Shia is now the unrepresented minority, and the Kurds are not in any hurry to become part of a central government.
The Iraqi government did pass a “Status of Forces Agreement” requiring that all of our troops leave Iraq by August 31, 2010. I can see the possibility of that agreement being restructured, since President Obama intends to leave anywhere from 35,000-50,000 non-combat troops for the unforeseeable future or 2011..:). Besides don’t we have ExxonMobile, BP, and Chevron to protect?
The United States started this fiasco with the so-called “Coalition for the Immediate Disarmament of Iraq “along with 31 willing countries. Today that coalition is down to 4: The United States, United Kingdom (leaving soon), Australia (out for the most part), and Romania.
Things are looking up in Iraq, thanks to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ,who is more at ease to make the necessarily calls for an orderly withdraw, without pressure from the White House.Mr. Gates took steps to improve troop moral by phasing out “stop-loss”, eliminating the “War on terror” slogan and reversing the 18 year ban on news coverage of the return of the dead at Dover Air Force base. He is leaving that decision to the families involved, where it rightfully belongs.
Domestically, Iraq is starting to bounce back from pre-invasion days, for the better in some ways, but I do not ever endorse the “ends justify the means “outcome.
I found these few examples:
1. Pre-war 12.9 million had potable water; today 21.2 million have potable nationally.
2. Pre-war Sewage: 6.2 million were served, today 11.3 million are served
3. Pre-war landlines: 833,000 had landlines, today 14.7 million have landlines
4. Pre-war cell phones: 80,000 had cell phone service; today 14.7 million have cell phone service.
5. Pre-war electricity: they produced 3958 megawatts or 4-8 hours’ worth a day, today it is 5410 megawatts up to 15 hours a day
This is the new counterinsurgency message from General Petraeus: Protect the civilians, keep the utilities going, pick up the sewage, and the civilians will come forward to form a new government. It’s all about winning the hearts and minds…..We cannot democratize the world with the United States Armed Forces.
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VictoriaNorthDakota
March 21, 2009 at 11:32 a.m.I guess a short blog will lead some to think I meant the “Surge” was the solo event that quelled the violence…I am aware of the” Anbar Awakening” and the admirable work by our troops prior to the “Surge “,but my intention was to briefly acknowledge the anniversary of the Iraq Evasion (not the surge), not to forget those combat troops that are still over there, and the domestic accomplishments that are often over looked. I also forgot to salute those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their family and friends. …I hope this brief amendment to my blog will suffice.
Nettie
March 21, 2009 at 11:15 a.m.I did not write the blog in the first person I did forget to acknowledge those that served in Iraq, and to honor those that re-enlisted, thanks for pointing that out.
Good article but to call the surge the solo event that quelled most of the violence is short sighted. Your article mentioned the 6th year of the war. The "surge" started in 06. I am sure that other vets who were working thier tails off in 03, 04 and 05 might say they did thier part to styme the insurgency. I was over in 04 down south near Basrah and between the Brits and the US Army they kept the battle from taking over the entire country. Everytime a Mahdi army political center would open in a village our boys watched, waited and the second it went from political to active participants they were on top of it and kept it from creating a new front or insurgent foothold. Thank you for posting such posative figures but plesae for anyone else reading this remember that GI's were fighting hard before the surge. Anyone else remember Faluja round 2?
March 21, 2009 at 8:11 a.m.Have you been there? Sounds like you haven't, but at least you put some decent stats on your blog. Too bad you didn't include the rate of re-enlistment in theater for the U.S. Army...
March 21, 2009 at 7:58 a.m.