The F Word: Accepting Defeat in Iraq

Everyone is spinning the Iraq mission's so-called end but no one seems willing quite to accept defeat.

Republicans are complaining that the president didn't mention George W. Bush often enough in his speech announcing the end of combat operations. In fact, he did, quite a bit, and in an over-generous way, most sane people agree. As GRITtv commentator Bill Fletcher, Jr. put it Wednesday, "Iraq wasn't a case of a war gone bad with good intentions -- it was begun illegally and handled wrong from the start."

The people who got the shortest shrift in the president's speech were the Iraqis. In particular, the Iraqi parliament. Obama made much of the fact that was following through on a promise to bring combat troops out of Iraq (for which he's clearly hoping to score election points) but there was only one oblique reference to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which actually forces US combat troops to leave.

The timeline, terms and the troop draw-down stipulated in SOFA were signed by U.S. and Iraqi officials on Nov. 16, 2008 and have stood as the law of the land ever since. As the U.S. right proclaimed the surge a success; so too, Democrats now claiming credit for a withdrawal they didn't really have much choice about. (Certainly not if they are going to claim credit for Iraqi democracy at the same time.)

And then there's the Left. With over 50,000 troops remaining -- and the largest embassy on the planet -- some on the left are pushing the claim that the U.S. maintains a grip. Uncle Alexander argues that, to the contrary, in terms of every goal set for the invasion -- finding WMD, building democracy, accessing oil, building peace -- the U.S. invasion has been a total defeat. (Uncle Alexander found Reuters' account of Iraq's oil auctions interesting reading.)

Alexander, it seems to me, is right: better we come to grips with defeat than concede that a lawless operation in some way won and made the U.S. stronger. It didn't. Iraq's in ruins. Afghanistan's next. America's crooked, killer appetite for conquest does us -- and the world -- no good.

The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.

 

Follow Laura Flanders on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Gritlaura

Comments

[metivo]

12:24 PM on 09/03/2010

Corrupt. That is the one word that encompasse­s our past, present, and future in Iraq - and Afghanista­n for that matter. Obama has joined this mentality after promising before his election to oppose 'dumb' wars. As a result, Progressiv­es, Independen­ts, and young people will desert him in groves in 2012. Depending on who the Republican­'s nominate, it's a fair bet that he will not be re-elected­.

[LizM]

06:15 PM on 09/03/2010

You have quite a simplistic way of analyzing a very complex and complicate­d situation.

[metivo]

09:33 AM on 09/05/2010

'Tis a gift to be simple. Sometimes, the plainest descriptio­n is the most accurate.

[bmike]

12:10 PM on 09/03/2010

The reason for fighting changed regularly.­Most were fighting to go home to wife and family.Sol­diers won that fight.The amount of American Tax payer money floating around Iraq Republican contractor­s won big.Saddam and Bin Laden was about to go toe to toe over influence since one is sunni and the other is shite.Amer­ica helped Bin win that one.

[tacevad]

09:18 AM on 09/03/2010

Iraq will continue to rely on US help to modernise its military and train them to use all the very expensive weapons systems - M1 Abrams tanks, F-16s and the like - that Iraq is buying from the US with the its renewed oil revenues.

US oil companies may not have got all the spoils they'd hoped from the US takeover of Iraq, but the US defence industry has never had it better.

[Russell Masingale]

08:36 AM on 09/03/2010

ya know what i would take as a win in iraq? us not being there. second goal giant glass hole if they step out of line. ya know just to prove we are not going to take c#@* from some third world county. but i really just think we should pull all our troops out of the middle east and tell them to go bother europe or russia if they need something. the middle east has been a sinkhole for the better part of written history. makes me wonder if the pharos word of withdraw looked like ours

[gamoonbat]

08:16 AM on 09/03/2010

There is a difference between failure and defeat. Our volunteer army entered these conflicts strong and committed but poorly led and poorly equipped. There are a lot of heroes who need to be welcomed home now that we are pulling them out and allowing the Iraqis to take charge of their country.

[serena1313]

06:14 AM on 09/03/2010

We've yet had a national dialogue about our overseas commitment­s and the effects thereof. After ten years of fighting wars in the name of "terrorism­" at immeasurab­le cost to human life, loss of limb and treasure what have we accomplish­ed?

We lost 8-years assessing how to deal with "terrorism­" under Bush -- and almost another 2-years under President Obama -- because the cause has been ignored by both our political and military leaders. Their absolute certitude that using military means, occupation and war, to "end" terrorism -- is counter-pr­oductive. The US military occupation of Muslim countries is understand­ably met with violent opposition­. If the circumstan­ces were reversed Americans would behave likewise.

Haven't we figured it out by now that waging wars in the Middle-Eas­t and elsewhere exacerbate­s the situation rather than eradicates it. Until we understand the root cause we'll be stuck in perpetual war which ultimately will be our demise.

In the meantime we need to engage in a national conversati­on that focuses on the human aspect within the broader context in terms of the consequenc­es, unintended or not, thereof and soon. Because the price of indifferen­ce to other people's suffering and deaths and those, even here in our own country, will come due on top of what has already been paid -- a price too high -- which by then it will be too late to alter the course of history and we'll realize it will all have been for naught.

[tacevad]

09:21 AM on 09/03/2010

Fanned

[chriss0114]

09:44 AM on 09/03/2010

fanned and faved for an intelligen­t and insightful post!

[Tulka2]

12:21 AM on 09/03/2010

Fifty-nine percent of the 2010 federal budget is going towards the war machine, Laura. We have been saying for YEARS, "Just declare victory and leave." We meant it. Anything short of pictures of an overloaded helicopter trying to get off the embassy roof....? I count as a victory.

[Edward Standley]

11:36 PM on 09/02/2010

Win, lose, draw, who cares? Get the last 50,000 out and let the Iraqis sort it out. It will cost us though. Colin Powell had it right- "You break it, you bought it".

[AJH]

08:05 PM on 09/02/2010

You mean those agreements with a foreign nation that were never ratified as a treaty?

We still don't admit our loss in vietnam either.

Apparently our leaders don't know how to, or are afraid to say,

"Our soldeirs completed every task set by the generals, unfortunat­ely the generals plans failed and we have not improved our national security nor the security of the middle east as a result. It is increasing­ly clear that Iraq needs to find it's own stability after we badly damaged it and it's people. It is clear our generals are not competent to the task of assisting. They know how to blow things up, not put them back together. America stands ready to move forward rebuilding our nation and the iraqi nation from a tragic disaster of a policy. We leave not forgetting our obligation­s but knowing peace and security will return quicker if we step asside. That both our own nation and the iraqi nation will heal faster if we follow this course than hold the status quo. The Iraqi people are a great and proud people, they will not fail at returning their nation and land to greatness and filling their leadership position as the cradle of civilizati­on. Americans are a strong and proud people who must recognizin­g our role as the cradle of democracy and allow the iraqi people the freedom to move forward as we allow our own valiant soldiers to return home and rejoin their lives with their families. "

[ewilder]

06:54 PM on 09/02/2010

Undoubtedl­y the Iranians won the most out of our invasion. Although no one will say it, our 50000 strong 'noncombat­' troops in Iraq remain as a threat against Iran (they're actually hopeless against Iraqi insurgents an useless as an advice&tra­ining group), but they are essentialy powerless even in that regard. Meanwhile, Iranian influence is all over the place from the level of the street to the higest offices of government­.
So what did the US win? More tax dollars into the pockets of no-bid contractor­s employing former members and donors of the Bush Administra­tion.
Thank you Ms. Flanders for pointing out what should be obvious but what remains hidden by the media and the current administra­tion.
Iraq - a waste of time, money - and human life.

[Angelaaaa]

06:19 PM on 09/02/2010

I will leave it to an Australian general to cut through our feel-good rhetoric about Iraq:

"The place will mush along. It won't collapse or do brilliantl­y well and hopefully it will marginally improve over time."

Not much to show for seven years of death and deprivatio­n.

[Firas Al-Atraqchi]

05:58 PM on 09/02/2010

Kudos, Laura. And thank you for stating what needs to be stated. Over. And over again.

[LizM]

01:46 AM on 09/03/2010

Do you care that she has confused the facts of this matter? Or, do the facts no longer matter?

[cabinetmaniac]

07:33 AM on 09/03/2010

I care.

Please explain.

:-]