For the past few years I have written over and over again about the good news from Iraq. My friend, Arthur Chrenkoff, even had a regular column featuring that news that few in the mainstream media would report. I thought it was important to note the successes of our troops. To listen to people like Harry Reid declare we had already lost in Iraq was a slap in the face of every one of our men and women who had achieved so much in the region and it infuriated me.
As the news from Iraq improved over the past two years I continued to relay it to readers here. The liberal readers regularly told me I was crazy. If I posted information about a positive development in Iraq they would ridicule me and point to the latest bombing in Iraq -- as if the only way there could be progress in Iraq was if there were zero casualties. (They evidently were not aware that people died in WWII and other wars as well.) Those people who were so invested in the defeat of the United States in Iraq in order to score political points against George Bush that they regularly ignored, denigrated and downplayed the incredible work of our armed forces there are the lowest on earth, in my opinion. Not only were they despicable, but they were dead wrong and so far I have yet to find one even today who will admit it.
This is a topic I could go on about for hours, but instead I will refer readers to Michael Gerson's column today in which he points to the topic in the context of the decency of George Bush.
Election Day 2008 must have been filled with rueful paradoxes for the sitting president. Iraq -- the issue that dominated George W. Bush's presidency for five and a half bitter, controversial years -- is on the verge of a miraculous peace. And yet this accomplishment did little to revive Bush's political standing -- or to prevent his party from relegating him to a silent role.I will be mining some of the comment threads of my posts from the past couple of years for examples of those who were sure all was lost in Iraq. I am curious about whether or not any of those who made such comments will admit that there is great progress in Iraq now, beyond anything they would have ever believed.The achievement is historic. In 2006, Iraq had descended into a sectarian killing spree that only seemed likely to stop when the supply of victims was exhausted. Showing Truman-like stubbornness, Bush pushed to escalate a war that most Americans -- and some at the Pentagon -- had already mentally abandoned.
The result? A Sunni tribal revolt against their al-Qaeda oppressors, an effective campaign against Shiite militias in Baghdad and Basra, and the flight of jihadists from Iraq to less deadly battlefields. In a more stable atmosphere, Iraq's politicians have made dramatic political progress. Iraqi military and police forces have grown in size and effectiveness and now fully control 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces. And in the month before Election Day, American combat deaths matched the lowest of the entire war.
For years, critics of the Iraq War asked the mocking question: "What would victory look like?" If progress continues, it might look something like what we've seen.
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Comments (13)
"I will be mining some of t... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Knightbrigade | November 7, 2008 5:38 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
"I will be mining some of the comment threads of my posts from the past couple of years for examples of those who were sure all was lost in Iraq."
Don't waste your time Lorie, those type of people wouldn't admit that ice existed even as they went down with the titanic.
The best we can hope to get from the high pitched crying about Iraq people will be, greatly appreciated silence.
1. Posted by Knightbrigade | November 7, 2008 5:38 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 05:38
2. Posted by The Intellectual Redneck | November 7, 2008 6:10 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
10% off the Dow in two days. Look for a 6000 or lower Dow by year end. The markets are angry at an Obama election.
-card check
-higher capitol gains taxes
-higher income taxes
-renegotiation of NAFTA
-possible trade war with china
-no drilling for new oil
-more government regulation
-business forced to buy insurance for employees
-Obama to destroy coal industry
Why won't the stock markets crash? We could even see a 5000 Dow early next year.
http://bloggingredneck.blogspot.com/
2. Posted by The Intellectual Redneck | November 7, 2008 6:10 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 06:10
3. Posted by dr lava | November 7, 2008 7:35 AM | Score: -5 (9 votes cast)
You people that supported this war seem to think that it started in 2006. You ignore the lies that brought it, the absolute ineptitude from those in Washington that directed it, the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, the 3 million refugees, the 4192 dead servicemen, the tens of thousands of permanently disabled vets, the infrastructure of Iraq destroyed, the empowerment of the Shia and Iran and the INCREDIBLE cost in dollars projected to be 3 TRILLION.
FOR WHAT? FOR WHAT?
There is something very telling in the fact that the same people that would vote for George Bush twice, think Sarah Palin qualified to be vice-president would think Iraq has been a success.
3. Posted by dr lava | November 7, 2008 7:35 AM |
Score: -5 (9 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 07:35
4. Posted by rob | November 7, 2008 7:43 AM | Score: -2 (8 votes cast)
i am personally glad that general petraeus brought some sanity and order to the situation. he is the hero here. those who opposed the war and the running of the war were hardly "wrong on iraq" certainly no more than its supporters were "right on iraq". the situation now is the equivalent of falling down the stairs and landing on your feet. the incompetence, squandering of the good will and lives of our armed forces and treasure was staggering, and it is shocking to me that good Americans can still cheer the effort, even if they're pleased with the likely outcome.
4. Posted by rob | November 7, 2008 7:43 AM |
Score: -2 (8 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 07:43
5. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 7:46 AM | Score: 2 (6 votes cast)
I'll be the first liberal who was ambivalent on the war to step into this thread and say that I'm overjoyed that it appears Sen. Reid was probably incorrect. The job the Iraqis and Coalition have done since 2006 has been nothing short of astonishing.
However, since that miracle peace is spreading, doesn't that mean it's about time for Iraq to take over? How long can we expect those young Iraqis - the angry nationalists that resisted our occupation in the first place - to accept the presence of a non-Islamic western power on their soil? Did PM al-Maliki want to discuss timetables because it was good domestic politics for him to do so?
5. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 7:46 AM |
Score: 2 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 07:46
6. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 7:48 AM | Score: -3 (7 votes cast)
However, Iraq fixing itself now is in no way an endorsement for this sort of military adventure in the future.
6. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 7:48 AM |
Score: -3 (7 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 07:48
7. Posted by retired miilitary | November 7, 2008 8:17 AM | Score: 4 (6 votes cast)
Dr Lava
If your idea of success in Iraq is giving up and going home than you are right we failed.
7. Posted by retired miilitary | November 7, 2008 8:17 AM |
Score: 4 (6 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 08:17
8. Posted by Burt | November 7, 2008 8:25 AM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
I am not too worried about George Bush's legacy. His presidency, sandwiched between the administrations of Clinton and Obama, will be recalled as the true golden age of the USA.
Makes me kinda wonder if he and Laura voted for Obama.
8. Posted by Burt | November 7, 2008 8:25 AM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 08:25
9. Posted by WildWillie | November 7, 2008 8:29 AM | Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
For Lava and the other lefties that seem to not have a handle on the three branches of government. GW received a resolution for this war from Congress, both sides of the aisle. Even with a majority of lefty dems in congress for two years, the war is still going on and the economy tanked. What do you lefties think of your leadership?
I have always been a firm believer in the tradition of not criticizing a president during a war, but the lefties, again, have cast that aside for political gain. It is like when they campaign, they always say "I support the troops BUT...". Always a but in there, which means, I really don't support the troops. ww
9. Posted by WildWillie | November 7, 2008 8:29 AM |
Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 08:29
10. Posted by Lorie Byrd | November 7, 2008 9:28 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
However, since that miracle peace is spreading, doesn't that mean it's
about time for Iraq to take over? How long can we expect those young Iraqis
- the angry nationalists that resisted our occupation in the first place -
to accept the presence of a non-Islamic western power on their soil? Did PM
al-Maliki want to discuss timetables because it was good domestic politics
for him to do so?
Could there be any better evidence of how biased the media coverage on Iraq has been? There has been quite a bit of news, including some just prior to election day, about turning the country over to the Iraqis. It is happening. Quicker than Barack Obama ever dreamed it would. And just in time for him to try to take credit for it, I suspect.
10. Posted by Lorie Byrd | November 7, 2008 9:28 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 09:28
11. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 9:46 AM | Score: -2 (4 votes cast)
Well that is excellent news, whoever gets or takes the credit. However don't credit the media for my ignorance; credit my lack of time for broad media consumption.
11. Posted by Parthenon | November 7, 2008 9:46 AM |
Score: -2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 09:46
12. Posted by dooz | November 7, 2008 10:10 AM | Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
Well, #1 is already proven by #3!
One huge problem I see in the blog-o-sphere is that much of the documentation of history is not captured someplace on paper. All Obama has to do, should he choose to say, "This is the way it is, and this is the way it has always been" [cf. _1984_], is to have the servers erased.
Lorie, and others, please do find, compile, and print, and hide away in a secret, secure place, the key documents which will show future historians what America was like before.
(I know I'm going to keep copies of what I've predicted about Obama. Those comments are sure to be among the first erased.)
As for the George W. Bush Administration: History will tell if we had eight years of a champ or 8 years of a chump. (I know there will be at least a half-dozen comments here declaring he has been a chump, because these people are really sure they know everything but can't or won't read so they won't notice or care about my main point--that only history will tell.)
12. Posted by dooz | November 7, 2008 10:10 AM |
Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 10:10
13. Posted by jp2 | November 7, 2008 3:09 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
It's always quality writing when a Town Hall writer's only source...is a Town Hall writer.
Keep up the crazy! Working real well for the Democrats.
13. Posted by jp2 | November 7, 2008 3:09 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on November 7, 2008 15:09