Tough lessons in Iraq

Let me be blunt: The war in Iraq was despicable three years ago, and it remains despicable today. We justified the war with faulty intelligence and dogmatic propaganda, planned the post-war period with revolting irresponsibility, and severely damaged our credibility and integrity as a moral nation-state with our invasion and occupation. As Iraq boils with civil war and the American public gets increasingly disillusioned, we must ask, "What have we learned?"\nFirst of all, let's ignore weapons of mass destruction. There were none. Rumsfeld says so, I say so, let's move on. Second, Saddam was not actively helping al-Qaida. The 9/11 Commission has well-established this fact. To say otherwise at this point is simply dishonest. \nThese days, the administration line is that we invaded Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein, build a new nation, and make the world a safer place. But in light of the current civil war and terrorist activity, that "Mission Accomplished" banner was probably a little early.\nYes, hindsight is 20/20, but at least it gives us the ability to learn from our mistakes. The military operation was a stunning success, but we bungled the post-war occupation. The sectarian differences in Iraq were played down to sell the war. As a result, we were unprepared for the backlash of Sunni-Shiite clashes and failed to fully assert our authority early. When you topple a country that has only known dictatorial rule, you can't just disband the army, police and government agencies. Now, we're paying for it dearly, trying to hold together a fractious state without a functioning civil society.\nFurthermore, the disintegration of our moral authority has been alarming. The Abu Ghraib torture chamber, however isolated the incident, along with the Defense Department's contemptible refusal to record civilian casualties in the conflict, eroded any high ground we might have held. Yet, the administration has noted that Iraq today is better than it was under Saddam Hussein, and that declining American casualties demonstrate an improving situation. \nBut instead of American troops dying, innocent Iraqis get killed. The same day that President Bush trumpeted three years of American progress, nine Iraqi men were found shot in the head outside an Iraqi police station, bringing the Baghdad body count to 186 in the previous eight days. At its lowest estimate, www.IraqBodyCount.org estimates that 33,710 Iraqi civilians have died since the beginning of the invasion. I'm sure all of their families are happy to hear American casualty counts are down. So what now? Don't listen to the hysterical cries of "Bring'em home!" Bringing our troops back now dooms Iraq to a terrible fate. I am no war apologist by any means, but we must pay our penance for our irresponsible actions. We have devastated a country and its infrastructure, and we have a responsibility to hold the country together. \nHere, the administration's own dogma has undermined its position. How can you sell the necessity of American troops when the war's already won? We've won the war so many times: when Saddam's statue fell, when we unfurled the banner "Mission Accomplished," when the Iraqis held elections and signed their constitution. Now, civil war embroils Iraq, and we need to ensure that we contain the situation, but it's hard to justify after these endless victories. It seemed so easy to win that we expected no sacrifice on our part. \nOur war conduct needs to change drastically if we are to succeed in the end. We need to ensure Iraqis that we will not build a permanent military base. We need to quickly rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq. We need to set up real, concrete goals to be reached, followed by American withdrawal. \nWe all caused this horrific disaster. We owe it to the Iraqis to clean it up, even at the cost of American blood.