A Treasure Squandered

"For those who know the facts, Iraq was a just war. Now we are on the verge of getting nothing out of it..."

Sometimes I grow tired of beating this drum, but I feel I must do it one more time. For those who know the real history of the Iraqi War, know that it was a just war for us to fight. Forget the WMD. Yes, they were there, but it is not the reason we invaded Iraq in 2003. The Iraqi War was really a continuation of the Gulf War of 1991. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, the United Nations authorized a coalition to go in and remove Saddam Hussein from the territory which did not belong to him. Once that happened, hostilities ended by the signing of a truce listing certain conditions for Saddam to follow.

In the following years, there were numerous breaches of the peace accord. Legally, the United Nations could have abrogated the cease fire immediately and resume hostilities. They could have removed Hussein from power. However, the UN being what the UN is, and with Clinton as our president, we turned a blind eye to what was happening in Iraq. When Bush (43) became president, and after the terrorist attacks rocked our country, we knew we had to go in and fix a big problem in the Middle East.

So whether you agree or disagree with the United States taking action, the fact is we did. It cost billions of dollars and cost 4,000 American lives. We sunk blood and treasure into taking a very bad man out of power and establishing a democratic government in that troubled country.

When Obama became president, he could not run to the exit fast enough. He referred to the Iraqi War as "unjust" and the Afghanistan War as "the good war". He wanted out so badly, he did not want to sign a Status of Forces Agreement with the Iraqi government. Signing this type of agreement is common after the United States is involved in a conflict. We did it in Korea, Japan and Germany. It allows the United States to keep some troops in country to help with infrastructure, training, and stability.

The news so far in this new year is not good - not good at all. The black flag of the Al Qaeda is flying over Fallujah And Ramadi in the Sunni heartland of the western Anbar Province. As we know from our history, this area of Iraq was the home of many pitched battles our brave men and women were involved in. Now it appears it is being ceded to the enemy. All the blood and treasure spent to free the people in that area from tyranny is now in jeopardy.

I am afraid that history will judge us poorly on how we handled the Iraq issue from cradle to grave. As for me, I put the blame squarely on the UN. If they had done what their charter directs them to do, we would not be in the mess right now. It is sad, very sad to see it end this way.