While the Iraq Spin Continues, the Real Enemy Remains on the Lam

We just passed two significant milestones in the Iraq War. First, President Bush observed the fifth anniversary of America's ill-advised invasion by repeating his mantra: "the surge is working." Then the tragic loss of four soldiers raised our nation's death toll in Iraq to 4,000.

For those of us who opposed the War in Iraq from its outset as a distraction from destroying the terrorist organization that attacked us on 9/11, these markers bring no comfort and only remind us of the dangers of a war of choice, not necessity.

Life is precious. The families of those 4,000 brave soldiers who died in combat should always know that their loved ones represent the best our nation has to offer and did everything that was asked of them. The American soldiers who have served in Iraq are heroes. However, their orders should have remained to find and eliminate Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have taken our eye off the ball for the last five years, allowing the terrorists who attacked us to regenerate after American troops routed the Taliban in Afghanistan. As a result, we are no safer today than prior to 9/11, when my older brother, David, was killed in the World Trade Center.

The anger and frustration that I felt that day came flooding back to me recently when Edward Gistrano, chief U.S intelligence analyst for international terrorism, told Congress that Al Qaeda has been "able to exploit the comfort zone in the tribal areas" of Pakistan and Afghanistan and is "bringing people in to train for Western operations."

The Bush administration uses a classic "bait-and-switch" argument to claim we are fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but the criminal network that killed my brother is not in Iraq. Bin Laden and his followers are still taunting the Western world from the caves of Pakistan. The only terrorist organization that has ever killed American civilians on American soil is not in Iraq, no matter how much President Bush and his allies try to make it seem so in order to save their party from lasting political damage.

Americans are weary of this war and the stubborn and oblivious refusal of some leaders in Washington to acknowledge the truth. My opponent, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, rubber-stamps President Bush about the success of the surge. He warned of mushroom clouds from WMDs, but now blames the media for "hyping" WMDs in Iraq -- not Bush, Inhofe or Cheney. This absurdity would be funny if it were also not so tragic.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain recently said that America stands "on the precipice of winning a major victory" in Iraq. And Vice President Cheney, when recently asked by a reporter about polls showing two-thirds of Americans believe the War in Iraq is not worth fighting, simply stated: "So?" These politicians seem to think they are entitled to their own reality.

There can be no mistaking that now, after five years of bloody confrontation, the U.S. mission in Iraq is about policing a brutal civil war -- not about fighting global terrorism. That fight is in Pakistan and Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, who reports to Congress on the status of the war early next month, has said along with others that the War in Iraq can only be ended politically, not militarily. I think we can safely say that American troops have done their job. It is time for America's political leaders to do theirs.

Andrew Rice represents Oklahoma State Senate district 46. He is currently running for U.S. Senate.

Comments

[LivingStardust]

Saudi Arabia, Halliburton, Exxon/Mobil, Bush Co. and the Neocons and their lobbyists are the real enemy to this country and our Constitution. Always have been. Unless you believe the hype.

[Montanamotor]

My worst nightmare? BushCo has Bin Laden in custody for 7 years, already, only to pull him out of their sorcerer's hat - dead or alive - one month prior to the presidential elections in November. McCain's win would be guaranteed! Could somebody wake me up, please...?

[wilburbudd]

And you can STOP making movies that try to get me all gung ho about the war in Iraq. I don't buy it. Never did. Never will. As a part of the enterment industry, I can tell you that for all their bullocks and bragidocio, they are almost as far into the pockets of the government as the military. Phony, lying, mooks, who are out for a buck. NOTHING MORE. Not one iota more.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

Good luck! Inhofe is real scum of the lowest order. I just made a contribution on your web site. http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com/

[irishgawdess]

Senator Rice,

I hope the following information will be useful for your campaign to replace Sen. Inhofe:
1) In 2006, Sen. Inhofe made an astoundingly bigoted "preach" about homosexuality and gay marriage. He linked it to an increase in children being born out of wedlock, which would increase the numbers of children seeking welfare support, which would become a burden on the states. He'd brought a large picture of his family, and made this statement: "I'm really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we've never had a divorce or any kind or homosexual relationship."
2) Sen. Inhofe voted against increased CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020, as well as an increase in the use of renewable fuels in order to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
3) Sen. Inhofe believes that global warming is "full of crap" and a hoax, citing “peer reviewed research.” He thinks that the "sun is responsible for 50% of 20th century warming."
4) Sen. Inhofe voted against the original version of SCHIP in 2007. He did support the underfunded version that finally passed.
5) In 2007, Sen. Inhofe voted against the use of federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines.

Source: SEA (Scientists and Engineers for America,) a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization. (See http://sharp.sefora.org/people/senate/james-inhofe/)

Good luck in November!

[irishgawdess]

Thanks for a concise and heartfelt post. While bin Laden is roaming free, the Taliban are moving back into the southern provinces of Afghanistan. Our media attempts to portray the Taliban as running the poppy trade. However, according to American journalist/author Sarah Chayes who has lived in Afghanistan since just after 9/11, it's Afghani businessmen who are taking advantage of the corrupt environment that has blossomed since the US bombed Afghanistan "back to the stone age." Government appointees must be bribed in order to get anything done. Everyday Afghanis are suffering under this system, barely able to support their families.

We should have never taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan. I believe an escalated hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan (and now Pakistan) is warranted. America needs closure so that the personal and vicarious wounds can begin to heal.

[Sundialsvc4]

I am quite sure that Prince Osama is residing comfortably in his father's house and has been from the beginning. The "real enemy" that killed your brother is also the one that is calmly bankrupting this nation and leading its sociopathic leaders to simply say: "So?" A five-star General who became President gave an explicit warning to us all in January of 1961. This is war for war's own sake, to the tune of $96,000 per second, all of it "borrowed." This is the economic devastation of post World-War-I Germany where it was cheaper to use bank-notes as stove fuel than to try to buy wood with them. History teaches us that nations fall from within, not without. If you succeed in your quest, the wheelbarrows that will start showing up at your office door will be filled with real gold and you will simply be expected to "take them and keep your mouth shut and vote the way we tell you to." Search your heart: do you have the moral strength to resist that? Do not cross the threshold of that chamber unless you are made of much stronger stuff. You are asking to enter the Senate at the dawn of the Great Depression of 2008. You will be presiding over some of the most tumultuous times in this country's history. Your curse will be that in every vote you cast there might be ten thousand graves. Are you prepared?

[Obamamo]

Give'em hell Mr. Rice! Get that Him inhofe the facsist out of office.

Please contribute to Mr. Rice so we clean up the House and the Senate from people who really hate our country.

https://services.myngp.com/ngponlineservices/contribution.aspx?X=Tb%2fj2kIF7fJ3Jn5xwfsjNw%3d%3d

[jmaycock]

Good article. I sympathize with you you and your family over the death of your brother David who lost his life on that tragic day. However, you have continued the ongoing propaganda that is rife in the media in America that says "The American soldiers who have served in Iraq are heroes." I beg to differ and know that I will be lambasted for it. But logically speaking are they? I would argue that they are part of the problem. They are doing an evil administrations bidding by signing up freely and going to fight in a war that everyone now knows was unjustified. The same goes for contractors who have tried to make a buck out of this unjustified war. These soldiers and contractors are putting personal finances over what is right. And fighting, killing and being killed in an unjust war is not right. So let us change the script a little. Soldiers shouldn't be drones that are not allowed to think. They should start taking responsibility for their actions. Don't sign up for a war that is unjust. Don't continue in a war that is unjust. I say the heroes are the ones that leave by themselves. Don't wait for politicians who have already failed you in the past to put your life right. Take the step yourself. The Bush administration cannot function without its pawns. And you my friends are its pawns and part of the problem. Start being part of the solution.

[krocklin]

Indeed. The real heros, as in the Vietnam war, are those who refused to go or renounced that pointless tragic and destructive fiasco.

[krocklin]

But still people like Chris Mathews are still blathering on about what a war hero McCain is. How courageous he was and what "service" he did for the country?
What exactly was accomplished by the Vietnam War? Nothing but destruction. Therefore there were no heroes. Heroes dont participate in such futility and waste.
As long as cable news hosts and others have to appeal to the misguided jingoistic urges of the American public we're in trouble.
Pat Buchanon just wrote a piece published in the Huffington Post decrying black people for not being grateful for their barbaric deportation to these shores.
To McCain we would have achieved "victory" were it not for the efforts of John Kerry and Jane Fonda - no matter that there was no justifiable motive for that war in the first place, as with the current one.
This is the intractability and morally vacuous thinking that the media itself uncritically and repeatedly falls into.

[JimR]

McCain didn't start the Vietnam War. He does qualify as a war hero, as he endured more than 5 years of imprisonment and torture rather than renounce his country and leave his fellow captives behind. The fact that it occurred while fighting a controversial war doesn't detract from the courage of his choice. Hate him as a politician all you want! But he is a war hero.

[irishgawdess]

The MSM has conveniently forgotten the illegality and immorality of the US invasion of Iraq. It was unpatriotic to bring those issues up, and the MSM has continued to spew the white house party line. Funny thing tho, the wh has come 180 degrees from the original "Iraq's got WMDs" justification. That's where democrats need to be ready to start the debate. None of the presidential candidates mention the words "illegal" or "immoral" in the same sentence with the "war on Iraq." We do hear "preemptive strike," although I'm afraid the subtleties are lost on many Americans. Maybe I'm underestimating Americans?

[irishgawdess]

I respectfully disagree, jmaycock.

It's not our "foot soldiers" who are "part of the problem." Yes, the military occupation of Iraq is a problem, but our soldiers are following orders from their misguided "Commander in Chief."

Becoming a conscientious objector would be much more moral and honorable than deserting their posts. Yes, refusing to become involved in a preemptive war would be just, but many of our military forces are members of the National Guard and Reserves. Due to lack of choices, many kids enlisted thinking they were going to get some on-the-job-training to take back to civilian life. Many requested not to go to Iraq, but alas, they were duped by our military recruiters.

I think it's important to make these distinctions.

I do agree with your statement about private contractors, however. Just how much has Blackwater profited so far? I've heard $16 BILLION, I could be wrong. Plus they're moving their base of operations to Dubai. KBR has moved theirs to the Cayman Islands or somewhere near there so they don't have to pay their employees social security taxes, etc.

[jmaycock]

Thanks for your post irishgawdess,

First of all, of course the "foot soldiers" are a "part of the problem". If the soldiers refused to go to Iraq, it would be impossible to wage war there. Notice I said "part of the problem", because clearly the Bush administration and America's policy of intervention in other countries business is the biggest part of the problem.

What do you mean by "becoming a conscientious objector"? As a soldier, you are forbidden to say anything negative about your commander in chief. So what would you have the soldiers do? Members of the National Guard and the Reserves DONT have to go to Iraq. They will not be sent to jail if they point blankly refuse. All I am asking is that these men and woman think for themselves. Research the reasons why they are being sent thousands of miles to kill foreign people. And then when they reach the only logical answer, namely for money (in the form of Oil), they should refuse to go.

I agree that many were duped by military recruiters, but they have a responsibility to check out the facts themselves. We need to get the message out that you are not automatically a HERO just because you signed up to become a soldier. If we can change this, then maybe there would be a little less unnecessary killing in the world.

[research]

The Iraq Invasion and occupation War Crime has always been about

profiteering,

the Rapture,

the Christian Crusades,

empire and

fascist totalitarian control of the USA.

[biwee]

I most certainly hope you win over Inhofe! Inhofe is part of that Sessions, Kyle, Bond, IDIOT McConnell
gang of Shrubbers that just can not seem to understand this stupid and unnecessary war of choice.
Meanwhile, the effort in Afghanistan is going so badly that SecDef Gates has to go begging to Nato members for more troops.

[darlajane]

A young man from Enid, OK was one of the four U.S. Soldiers killed in Iraq Sunday, taking the number to the heartbreaking milestone of 4000. Not only should the troops come home, but they should be given the medical care they so desperately need, be it physical or psychological.

Andrew Rice introduced SB 1458, The Oklahoma Veterans’ Health Insurance Program, for veterans below age of 65 who do not qualify for free Veterans Health Care or cannot afford private insurance. Thank you Sen Rice, I know you will continue this rewarding work as our US Senator.

[Idiocracy]

LOL... You guys are so painfully on target i cant help but laugh...

Good job.. :)

Obama 08

[peterg76]

Impeachment saves lives.

[sugarmoes]

i like that. good bumpersticker.

[grendl]

The question must be asked and answered of anyone who supports the war in Iraq.

When do we know when we've won. And what exactly have we won? What have we been fighting for? At first it was weapons of mass destruction, then it was some sort of link to Al Qaeda, both which turned out to be fallacies, until Al Qaeda started stirring up trouble between the Shia and Sunnis, and targeting our soldiers with the help of zealots and handicapped people with explosives strapped to their bodies and vehicles.

Sorry for the loss of your brother. And I'm sorry for anyone who's lost a life, or limb in this debacle. And that's what it is unless someone can explain what the objective is in iraq. There's no hill to take, no leader to fell, no one to sign a surrender notice. How can we talk about defeat by leaving , when we can't even define a victory by staying.

It's all just buying time, for further pillaging of the Middle East, imho. And thats the reason McCain says Iran was training Al Qaeda, because on some level he wants to justify whats to come. But as your article articulates so well, our enemy is in Pakistan, and currently 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[GnitenGoodLk]

"It's all just buying time, for further pillaging of the Middle East, imho. And thats the reason McCain says Iran was training Al Qaeda, because on some level he wants to justify whats to come."

You nailed it. And what's coming isn't going to come without receiving some significant damage to our own country in the process. "There will be other wars" meant we're going to lose a few cities in the process.

Think I'm exaggerating? Check out a few random boards of military family postings, some have already received the "I was just calling to make sure you're still there" calls from overseas.

Nothing to see here folks. Go back to Britney and Idol......