You Ended the War in Iraq

Today the war in Iraq is ending. After nearly nine years our long national nightmare in Iraq is almost over. This day may not have come were it not for the years of work by all of the millions of Americans who volunteered, protested, lobbied, organized, donated, wept, prayed and voted for an end to this war. The American people have ended the war in Iraq through our democracy's flawed but still great ability to correct itself.

The movement to stop the war started before the war began. Those were grim times for dissension in America in 2002 only a short time after the horrible tragedy of September 11th. The people who stood up to voice their opposition were doing so out of courage and commitment. Many had their patriotism or character smeared in newspapers, on TV and in the halls of Congress. The adage that "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel," resonates through the Iraq war.

And from those humble beginnings the movement to end the war grew over several years to become a chorus of millions who changed the political landscape and kept fighting until all of our troops came home. The anti-war movement became the anti-war public. By my last count, more than 50 members of Congress and senators lost their jobs in 2006 and 2008 to an anti-war opponent.

Along the way this movement organized hundreds of thousands of people at vigils, protests, marches, sit-ins and more. Tens of thousands of American were politicized -- learning their organizing skills while opposing the war. The movement built its own apparatus for politics, media, messaging and organizing.

This is the same movement that elected a president who opposed the start of the war and promised to end the war. This week President Obama has kept his promise to end the war in Iraq. He did not do it alone -- the movement that mobilized the public was at his side.

I don't praise the president as an act of partisan loyalty. There is plenty more for progressives to demand from this administration. But with the weight of foreign policy elites and establishment opinion pushing the president to stay in Iraq indefinitely, President Obama rejected a permanent occupation. As we saw over the last several weeks, Republican presidential candidates would prefer we stayed in Iraq forever.

There have already been voluminous tomes written about the war in Iraq, the occupation and George W. Bush. America was lied to by the Bush administration and when the lies were exposed they tried to rewrite history with more lies. But in the end the anti-war public rejected Bush and the lies.

That movement to end the war offers us important lessons we must never forget. Here are just a few.

• Always, always work to prevent wars. War is an absolutely horrible thing. More than 4,500 Americans were killed in Iraq. And probably tens if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives. The financial costs of the war will run into the trillions of dollars when all the expenses of deserved care for veterans is accounted for in coming decades. The loss of prestige for the United States and our values cannot be underestimated even as it is under repair.
• Question the media. The American media has still not re-proven itself a worthy trustee of our democracy. The mainstream media's failure in the lead up to the war was as comparable a scandal as the Bush administration's mendacity. The Washington Post probably wrote more editorials in favor of war than any other publication. The Post was dead wrong and yet somehow they're considered thoughtful on foreign policy at cocktail parties in Washington, DC. But at the same time, in the media's failure a whole new generation of muckrakers and journalists has risen from The Huffington Post to Talking Points Memo to advocacy blogs like ThinkProgress, AMERICABlog, DailyKos, FireDogLake and others. That is a good thing.
• Don't listen to those who got it wrong. It is still stunning to see unrepentant supporters of the war considered thoughtful contributors to foreign policy conversations and a reminder of how dangerous American militarism is still. In Washington, DC foreign policy circles we basically invite people who think the world is flat to run NASA. How is it that columnists like Charles Krauthammer still have a newspaper column after he deceived the American people for years? The contempt by establishment elites for the American public has never been more obvious than during the Iraq war. When the public wanted to end the war, these elites wanted to stay. There is still a reckoning that must be accounted for in this area.
• Hold politicians accountable. While the media and elites can be obnoxious, in the end elected politicians make policy. Involvement in politics must be a central strategy of opponents of wars. This includes involvement in both parties and involvement in both primaries and general elections. There is no doubt in my mind that the primary challenge to pro-war Democrat Joe Lieberman in 2006 helped inspire an entire movement to throw war-mongering politicians out of office later that year and again in 2008. Even that short-lived win in the primary helped people believe in their own power and sent a message to voters that it was OK to vote anti-war.
• Remember the power that a movement has. Our greatest strength is that in the end the movement that ended the war was independent, strong and very active. That movement has a deep and broad connection to the American people. By the height of the war's violence in 2007 there was an anti-war organizing group in most American towns and large groups in the cities. While the institutions of the peace movement are under-funded, the independent grassroots is bigger and stronger than any other group in politics.

America is weary of war and this war has been a psychic trauma on the United States that has shaken core beliefs of many. Now that it is over we must work to end other wars and start nation building here at home.

I started my anti-war activism as a volunteer. Eventually with MoveOn.org I helped organize to end the war focusing on accountability for politicians who supported the war. There are so many people that I worked with over the years who I hope will feel some amount of pride in their work to end the war -- it worked. As these things go, that work will soon be forgotten by history but the fact that millions of Americans joined together for change will not be forgotten. In the end, you ended the war in Iraq.

 

Follow Tom Matzzie on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tommatzzie

Comments

[morgan1]

06:36 AM on 12/18/2011

I hate to rain on your parade, but we did not end the wars in Iraq (Nor are we going to end the one in Afghanistan, nor the one coming against Pakistan, or Iran). What ended this adventure was the fact that the U.S. could not get an agreement for total immunity for the military stationed in that country. Iraq wanted an end to murder, night raids, rendition, kidnappings--Crimes committed against their people. These are war crimes, boys and girls. These are human rights violations. That is what ended the war, not our letter writing, phone calls, being arrested as we protested. Our govt. no longer cares what we want, and it doesn't listen. A perfect example is this Keystone XL pipeline. Obama stated he won't sign off on it (Bad for politics and his re-election). The majority don't want it in Canada or here. The GOP is determined to get it done and has hooked it into another funding bill to force him to sign off on its building. He will. That is his out. The point being he doesn't care about the environment, or what we want. We didn't end this war. He didn't get what he wants so the troops are going to Kuwait on "standby" until Maliki caves (After the election). The war isn't over.

[Zephyra]

06:29 PM on 12/16/2011

According to Col. Wilkerson, Colin Powell's aide, the Bush/Cheney regime intended to go into Syria & Iran from Iraq. At least that didn't happen. Without President Obama, this scenario could have happened--despite anti-war sentiment/protests.

[MiddletownHal]

01:42 PM on 12/16/2011

We won, right?

[proudcalib]

02:00 PM on 12/16/2011

Hardly.

[proudcalib]

01:24 PM on 12/16/2011

2002-2003 were a lonely time if you happened to oppose US intervention in Iraq. While I'm pleased that we're finally out of there, it still saddens and bewilders me that the American people, the Congress and the press were so easily cowed and manipulated by the Bush Administration.

[anneeger]

04:48 PM on 12/16/2011

I never got so many suggestions to leave the country as during that time.

[Big Totti]

12:55 PM on 12/16/2011

It is in our best interests to never be involved in the Middle East. These people, with the exception of Israel, the Kurds, and the Armenians, hate us. The less we have to do with them, the better.

Let those that hate us, work out their own problems. Or not. Let us help only our true friends.

[Fit2betied]

12:51 PM on 12/16/2011

Testing!

One, two, three, what are we fighten for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam

[Philip Inuhoff]

12:48 PM on 12/16/2011

Ummm.. Iraq gave us the boot, finally. We haven't left, we are amassing on the Syrian border now and Syrians are capturing "western gangs" terrorizing towns We are fomenting civil war in Syria now, just like 1953 Iran.

[thedude45]

12:46 PM on 12/16/2011

Mr. Matzzie, I believe that you are misguided in your happiness at the end of the war. There are still 16,000 US diplomats and “peacekeeping troops” that are being housed at the Embassy in Baghdad. As much as you might like the Obama administration to leave the country in turmoil when they need some source of stability, they are not going to let a country go down the tubes that we spent so much time, money and American lives on. Although I am not a supporter of the Obama administration, this is one area in which they have done alright with the mess they inherited, and their political skill has even allowed them to dupe you into believing that everyone from America will be out of Iraq by Christmas.

[Fit2betied]

12:28 PM on 12/16/2011

Tom gives too much credit to the anti-war movement for ending the war in Iraq. Our government has long chosen to ignore the wishes of the People especially where war and military action is concerned. I do agree that a vigorous anti-war movement is critical to the future of America and the world, but when government refuses to pay any attention what can be done? This has to be a life long commitment from every human being on the planet. Rejecting war of any kind needs be be a philosophy that is taught and passed on from one generation to the next.

In the case of the USA there are always better options than war. The US government since the end of WWII has consistently made the decision to pursue war even before there was any conflict. It then cranks it's propaganda machine into high gear and the next thing you know our troops are shipping out. War should always be a last resort, but America now considers it an acceptable foreign policy strategy. For America to enjoy a few years, a decade or maybe even several decades of Peace we must never again allow a single neocon to hold public office.

[parlimentMike]

12:01 PM on 12/16/2011

Iraq ended the war in Iraq, they showed us the door. Our government wanted to stay despite our opinions. Let's stop pretending People have a say until we do again.

[Wisdo]

11:36 AM on 12/16/2011

our long national nightmare will never be over as long as there is still a republican party trying its damdest to enslave America and turn it into a feudal state and a democratic party pretending it isnt doing the same.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-our-long-national-nightmare-of-peace-and-pros,464/

[shrugged]

10:26 AM on 12/16/2011

Nice trick, just hand it over to contract mercenaries, advisers, and trainers and you can say the troops are out. More troubling is that you are propagating the myth that the USA is no longer at war in Iraq.

[shrugged]

10:24 AM on 12/16/2011

How about a voice against the war drums for Iran? Stop this one before the USA starts yet another war.

[SonicUltimate]

09:57 AM on 12/16/2011

Point of interest:  The war ended on the agreed upon date set by the previous administration, not because of antiwar sentiment.

[den1953]

09:39 AM on 12/16/2011

To the author of this story please do not take a vacation you will have more work ahead when the Republicans elect a candidate and they should win in 2012 you can write all about Iran and World War Three!