NPR covered the departure of the final official combat unit from Iraq, in a surprisingly balanced fashion, considering who inhabits the offices at NPR.
Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the convoy of combat troops from the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, lumbered across the Iraq-Kuwait border before dawn, with a few hundred members staying behind to wrap up administrative and logistical duties. They will fly out of Baghdad later Thursday.
The departure doesn't mark the end of the U.S. military presence, however: About 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq through the end of next year. The troops are officially there in an advisory role, but will carry weapons to defend themselves and will join Iraqi troops on missions if requested.
OS had the honor of spending a day with a young Marine whose unit was amongst the first to arrive in downtown Baghdad, even as Baghdad Bob was briefing the press across the street that the Iraqi army was 'crushing the invader'. His unit's tractor was used to pull down the statue of Saddam, which was a very good moment. I never asked The Question, but he answered it at the end of the day: 'Did we do the right thing by going in? Yes, absolutely.' He also said that even though it was dangerous, he and his unit knew their lives were never needlessly endangered, that they were well-looked after. They had maps detailing every tree and low wall in their path, and they always had a plan in place. His unit made it to downtown with a few minor casualties, and no men lost. An extraordinary accomplishment.
In 2006, OS found himself drinking a G&T on an Oxbridge lawn, when his English academic conversation partner launched in on him about Iraq--how awful, how dare you Americans, how could you, why did you, Bush is a monster, yadda-yadda-yadda. Out of the blue. Very circumspectly, OS, trying to be the polite guest, responded--'It was a close call, but it was an unfortunate necessity.' Didn't go over well, and luckily a kind soul intervened to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Seven years after the fact, OS still reluctantly concludes the same: Saddam had to go, and we were the only ones who could accomplish it. The UK, bless 'em, as well as the newly-freed nations of Eastern Europe, along with Spain and a few others, knew what was at stake, and sacrificed mightily as well.
But, lesson number one is: When you got a murderin' thug on the ropes like we had Saddam in 1991, finish the job. The clean-up would have been messy, but tens of thousands of lives would have been spared. Saddam was never going to repent or relent. He had to be killed, along with his sons and inner circle. No other way to deal with him.
Lesson number 2: It's easier to overrun a place than it is to occupy, administer, and rebuild a place. That's why you don't ever want to be in the empire-building business. Bush and company were so good at the overrunning bit, and pretty clueless about the what to do after they won. If you're gonna go to war, ya' better have a plan for what happens after you win. General MacArthur was a genius, not just because he defeated Japan, but in how he reassembled what remained after August 1945.
Same with Marshall in Europe. If you don't have a plan, don't start shooting.
Lesson number 3: There are always unintended consequences, for good and ill. Al-Quaeda deciding to start a civil war, the Sunnis/Shias/Kurds all going after one another, and the post-Saddam score-settling were awful, and they're not over it yet.
Even as we leave, they're ginning it up again. But we don't make them do that. Planting a car bomb in a marketplace is a willful act, requires a good deal of planning. We didn't create those monsters, they decided to emerge from the woodwork.
And, OS thinks we'll see some good unintended consequences as well, but it may take a little time. The American soldier has a habit of improving the lives of the people he peaceably encounters, and good things will blossom in time.
Lesson number 4: If the Left had not decided to ghoulishly support our defeat at the hands of the monsters, we would have left earlier, with a lot fewer people hurt and killed. Let's remember that every time we vote in the future. Obama and Miz Hillary had a vested interest in failure, and made no attempt to hide it.
Lesson number 5: This one, for the rest of the world. We show up, we do the best job possible, and we leave. Most times, on our own schedule. We don't build empires.
We go home. Where the heart is.
Iraq may yet prove to be a failed country, but not because they weren't given every opportunity to succeed.
HT to all who served.
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