The Iraq War is over. President Obama announced the end of the war at Fort Bragg yesterday. The official date of the end of the war is today, December 15. The colors have been cased. Secretary Panetta addressed Iraq and remaining troops. Iraq is a fully sovereign nation without military occupation.
The Iraq War is one of our longest wars. It started off as the shock and awe bombing of Baghdad and Americans were glued to their TVs, watching the spectacle. We watched our troops enter Iraq and begin their long trek across the desert. We honored our dead, those early victims of the war like Hopi warrior Lori Piestewa and captive Jessica Lynch who was rescued. We donned our Support the Troops attire and we saw anti-war icons like Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan on TV nightly. But something detached.
Us. We, the civilians, never really were a part of this war. Unless we were a military family, we didn’t participate. We didn’t sacrifice. We didn’t alter our every day lives. The war was 8 years, 8 months and 25 days long. We didn’t engage our souls or follow the troops. It was ‘their’ war, not ours.
So it is over. The players have all changed. Very few great ‘stars’ came out of this war. There were no Ikes, Pattons, ‘Chestys’ or Westmorelands. To my knowledge, former President Bush has not commented or spoken of the end of the war. I saw no headlines, no nurses being kissed in Times Square and no ticker tape parades.
How many lives were lost? Over 4,000? How many of our troops suffered life- altering injuries during that war? Over 30,000? How many mothers and fathers missed seeing their children grow up because of a war that refused to be over? How many kids felt the absence of a parent? Unless we were a military family, we didn’t feel those things. We barely feel them as a nation. These are things that are out of our sight, sanitized, barely trotted out on Veterans Day.
There is just something quietly still and quietly dead wrong. Our military deserves more recognition, more of our thanks. More notice, more fanfare, more SOMETHING. Are all those people who served in the Iraq War going to just merge back in to society without missing a beat? Will there be jobs for them? Will the VA be there for them with full support for their injuries, both psychological and physical at a time when our politics are fighting every penny spent and the national debt is on everyone’s tongue?
We, as a nation, need a National Day of Recognition for those who have given so much. We who barely gave at all need a special day to say thank you and to honor those who gave given 8 years, 8 months and 25 days so that we didn’t have to give at all. We need to do it sooner rather than later.
obviously I ask some uncomfortable questions.
I agree Moon. Maybe it goes back to a lack of “shared sacrafice” by all Americans. We at home never really “felt” the wars in Iraq or Afganastan. It only makes logical sense that the end would be as “invisible”.
And now I have to listen to Juan McAmnesty on TV bemoaning the fact that we didn’t leave a 20,000 occupation force behind. We have that kind of money to keep troops in every other nation on Earth, you know. Kudos to Obama for having the guts to put this thing to an end. And shame on Juan McAmnesty and Lindsey Grahamnesty for being 100% bought, paid for, and sold by the industrial military complex.
Bad earth tilt experience….I am going to agree with Pokie. Both of them made me absolutely sick! They want to keep us at war. McCain should know better! Shame on him. Shame on Graham also. He is just your typical political DB.
I agree with Slow. While I do think that a force would have been good, it should have only been as an ALLY like we do with Germany. A military presence in that area is useful.
However, THAT was not in the card. And Obama did not put any effort into keeping us there.
So, in my eyes…he breaks even. Not bad.
BUT, I have yet to hear him say the word “victory” in ANY statement concerning ANY conflict we are in. He seems to want it to just quietly go away.
We need SOMETHING to celebrate this. And it should come from the top.
I applaud the end of the Iraq intervention.
For some of us, we still have sons and daughters in harm’s way in Afghanistan. I look forward to an interim celebration when my son returns and a full celebration when we all are free of foreign conflict.
Maybe we will have a short period sometime in the future without military conflict to have a true celebration.
The possibility seems remote at times, unfortunately.
Iraq was bought and paid for with a huge investment in American blood and treasure. Now we are just handing it back. If you want shared sacrifice, then you ought to be willing to pay the cost to maintain 20,000 troops in country. We could off-set the cost by pulling out of Europe where there really is no reason to monitor the Fulda Gap anymore.
@Cargosquid
Did you listen to the Prez’s speech yesterday?
I think maybe it should come from the people who got to pay lower taxes and not have to send their sons and daughters into war because someone else’s went.
I have a son who probably would have been drafted had the draft been brought back. I think of those things.
@Clinton,
I did not know you had a son in Afghanistan. Thank you for your service. I know not an hour goes by that you don’t think of him, so you are serving also, like my mother also served in WWII.
Kelly, the Iraqis didn’t want us there. I understand your point of view. I thought that myself. There are others who want the war over. I hope you and I are wrong.
@Moon-howler
Thanks, he flies with wounded or anyone needing critical care. Thankfully, it is his job to keep people alive rather than combat.
Always wish he won’t be busy.
@Moon-howler
No. I try not to listen to his speeches. They make me yell at the TV. I tend to read the transcript on the web.
What do you mean by “I think maybe it should come from the people who got to pay lower taxes and not have to send their sons and daughters into war because someone else’s went.”
No one HAD to send their children or was able to KEEP their children from the war. I went to war because I was a volunteer. Just like the rest of them. Including military members whose families’ incomes were middle class and above. HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR VOLUNTEERS? I know you didn’t mean it as an insult. But there are thousands of service members that come from homes that “got to pay lower taxes.”
President Obama is the CINC. He ran on the premise that the Iraq Theater was not worth fighting, that the surge was mistaken, and that Afghanistan is the “real” war. And he surrendered that within six months. He REFUSES to use the word Victory in any relation to this war. He REFUSES to acknowledge that the terrorists are conducting a religious war on us, perfectly shown by Major Nidal’s treasonous attack on his fellow soldiers. That was called “workplace violence.”
So saying that the celebrations should come from some vague rich people that “didn’t have to send their sons and daughters” is just ludicrous. NO ONE HAS TO SEND THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
All we want is for our freaking Commander in Chief to acknowledge that we are in a war, that we were victorious. He wants it to quietly go away.
Young man, your generation missed having to send its young men to war. Unfortunately, mine did not nor did my parents’ generation. I have several friends who just didn’t make it back to Virginia.
How dare you talk to me like that. Screw you. You either address me courteously or get your ass off my blog.
Stop showing off. I have done nothing but give tribute to those who served. Grow to hell up and check the reading comprehension. Take your hatred of the President of the United States out on someone other than me.
I didn’t have to send my son to war. That’s important enough to me and other mothers.
You owe me an apology.
Cargo,
You are clearly in the minority on this subject. Moonhowler insulted no one, you appear unhinged and I am not sure why.
The National Guard was often seen as the reason there was no draft. They were used in ways that I don’t believe were intended as their mandate. National Guard is not the INTERNATIONAL guard. Our troops were sent into the “theatre” with hardly and resting time. Like Moon said, they deserve a well recognized thunderous American applause from this country for bearing the brunt of ill thought out war of choice.
Futhermore, people like you appear resistant to this war coming to a close, almost as though the President has made a mistake by bringing our troops home.
Your diatribes are more like a rant and that is not healthy emotionally.
These wars were unfunded, of that there is no disputing.
Thank you, Elena. I insulted no one. I didn’t mention rich people. I was clear who I meant in the original post…the American people not attached to the military.
What an unbelievable experience. I felt like I had just walked up to one of those homeless vets, thanked him for his service, and had him whip it out and piss on my shoe. Disconnect.
I think you ladies were just visited by a straw man. Get those matches!
And now Herman Cain is on TV saying “when we leave Iraq, there will be a power vacuum that Iran will fill”. Yeah? No kidding!? We knew that one year after we first set foot in Iraq! Where were you, Herman? And here’s the thing. The only way to stop that is to stay there forever, and that’s not what we want! Where do these stupid people come from?!
When did the mandate in the Constitution for “National DEFENSE” become having our military in every God-Forsaken sovereign nation on the planet? Defense, people, defense. These yo-yos claim to be experts on the Constitution and our founding fathers, and go on TV and prove their absolute ignorance in both matters.
I don’t find Obama’s quiet way of ending this war objectionable. It’s less off-putting than Bush’s bravado of “Mission Accomplished” when it obviously wasn’t – if it was defined at all.
And I have to agree with both of Slowpoke’s posts.
@Censored
Do you feel queasy agreeing with Pokie? Steve is who called my attention to that particular feeling.
The Prez gave a pretty good speech at Fort Bragg. I thought it was appropriate. He praised the troops and their families, etc.
I think maybe it should come from the people who got to pay lower taxes and not have to send their sons and daughters into war because someone else’s went.
I apologize. The above is what made me see red. I’ve heard that statement about the rich not having to send their kids while the poor send theirs too many times
I read it as implying that “rich” people got out of having relatives go to war. I know too many “rich” people that were in the war with me.
I’ve had to argue that so many times I apparently have a knee jerk reaction to that implication. I’ve had to argue about that myth so many times, and this time it seemed that Moon was implying out of the blue that “yet again, the rich made out.” And no, it wasn’t because of the National Guard that we didn’t have a draft. The military doesn’t want a draft. We’ve learned that a motivated volunteer force is the way to go. And as long as the National Guard is nationalized, its just another reserve force. Furthermore, it was the use of the talents of Guard members that turned everything around in the hunt for the terrorists in Iraq.
As for “people like you appear resistant to this war coming to a close”, Really? Apparently you haven’t read my posts then about my feelings about Afghanistan. I was the one that said, if Obama is arbitrarily going to decide to leave Afghanistan, regardless of developments, AND announce the time plan, then we should pull out immediately and not waste lives. In Iraq, I don’t have a problem with the troops coming home. Personally, I wish we could have developed a better relation with them and stayed as allies, because we need a troop presence in the area. But I don’t lose sleep over it.
So I apologize. Apparently I have a sensistive spot that I was unaware of. If I read it wrong, I’m sorry.
I accept your apology. Apparently you had not read anything I said in the topic post or any of my comments. My theme was Americans didn’t have to sacrifice unless they were military families. We didn’t have to tighten our belts or do anything out of the ordinary. We also didn’t pay for our wars. Can that be denied?
There was talk for about the first half of the war about reinstating the draft. In the beginning of the war my son was draftable and my best friend’s son is just getting over being draftable now. Mothers think of these things.
The military has never called the shots. The politicians call the shots. It wouldn’t have mattered what the military wanted if Congress got a bee in its bonnet to reinstate the draft. It would have been them vs the American people. I expect Congress would have lost.
Elena and I are two different people. It is I to whom an apology was owed. You didn’t thrown down your caps and scream at her. I also didn’t comment on the guard. You accuse Elena of not reading your posts. You apparently didn’t read mine at all. Even if I had said the troops all wore pink tutus, which I did not, I don’t expect to be verbally abused on my own blog. (and the same applies to Elena)
I don’t think anyone thinks I have offended any vets, volunteers or otherwise. You might want to reread your words about draftees and evaluate how someone who might have been drafted might feel. Those people who were drafted are no more or less than someone who volunteered. Its all a matter of timing.
All Americans got to pay lower taxes during the Iraq War. The point I was making is, we didn’t sacrifice. We didn’t pay higher taxes , have rationing or get pressured into buying war bonds. Our kids weren’t sent to war against their will. You know, those things that my parents’ generation endured during WWII. Is this where I pay tribute to all those first Lieutenands we knew at Quantico who ended up being ‘first over the hill?’ Many of those guys we knew didn’t come home, at least in one piece.
I have a very sensitive spot about having my shoes pissed on.
Folks, we may have closed the chapter on Iraq, but come across the border!
Welcome to Kuwait – home to elements of the 3rd Army and Central Command!
10 Installations – count ’em – 10!
Over 50,000 troops assigned there – and that’s just the Army!
Two large depots with prepositioned vehicles of assorted types – Hummers to Abrams – ready to go in one direction or the other!
And Best of All:
If assigned to main HQ at Camp Doha, right across the road is a big ole American-style Shopping Mall complete with a STARBUCKS!!!! No lack of your fancy hot drink there!!! Read the local edition of the Wall Street Journal as you sip!
And as for America, the people of Kuwait love us to the tune of over $700million in exports from here to there! And that is not counting the jobs on the 10 bases open to Kuwait folks!
Yup, out of one sandbox, and prepositioned for another. Just gotta love Strategic Plans!
The President’s Speech at Fort Bragg: not one word of sorrow over the murder-suicide of a young Army Sergeant three days before he arrived. The young man came home with the rest of the Airborne, walked in, and shot his wife then himself. Alas, no mention of the real tragedy of the War.
@Ray, do you really think that would have been appropriate to mention something so sad at that kind of speech? It could probably wait. I would have been disgusted with him had he talked about that. There are hundreds of stories like that out of each war, I am sorry to say.
I agree with Robert E. Lee:
It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.
@Censored bybvbl
Matches and some lighter fluid works for me!
We need to start thinking of a better way, if there is one, of fighting a guerilla type war. We defeated the British using guerrilla type tactics during the Revolution. If you couple that with our overwhelming concern to not harm a single civilian in the process, then we will always wind up in a long drawn out battle with no defined conclusion. There won’t be any ticker tape parades, as there won’t be any well defined victories either. We need to nationally define and agree on what the outcome of any military operation is going to be before we send troops in harm’s way. Make it a goal that is crystal clear, or stay out of it.
Earth tilt. SA, I agree w3ith you 100%. Savor the words folks. Today is a red letter day.
@Moon: you make a good point…never take the opportunity to make a speech that would include an embarrassment. And yes, there are stacks of stories out of the sandboxes. You mentioned in Veterans Administration in your tough questions – and no, they are not going to be able to fully support because the Veterans Administration (the overhead), the Veterans Benefits Adminstration (the ones who bury you in paperwork and try to “deny to you die”) and the Veterans Health Administration (no money, no cohesive plan) don’t talk to each other. It is not one entity – it is a triad that angers many Veterans.
@SA: Good point – I have buried in my book shelf an after action review of Viet Nam by the War College up in Carlisle Barracks, PA. Says something similar and it was published in 1978. As the old song goes “When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn.”
Why doesn’t Obama include the Vet. Benefits Administration and health administration in the medical reform? Why are they separate?
@Moon-howler
Moon, the Veterans Administration is under the Department of Defense budget. And Military/Veteran Health Care is seperate because of it being Military-related. Different laws, different part of the US Code. Because of the distinct nature of the injuries/disabilities, kept seperate.
For the Vet Admin, its roots actually go back to the Spanish-American War (first set of War Veterans the V.A. took charge of caring for). Teddy Roosevelt as President in 1903 set a lot of it in motion when he was trying to fix the pension issues of the Civil War Veterans. Current disability rating system was established in law back in 1945 and not updated since.
@Ray Beverage
@Moon-howler
I can just imagine the storm of outrage it would have spawned, had the President
mentioned this particular incident at that particular event.
We mourn our dead and wounded, but shouldn’t we also spend a few seconds thinking of the maybe 100,000s dead Iraqis? Razed buildings, ruined fields, women and children being killed. What is it they call it – colleteral victims.
Where were W Bush, Donald (war tends to get a little untidy) Rumsfeld and fellow hawk Dick Cheney? It was their war, wasn’t it?
Great point Punchak. War is hell for everyone.