Why the War Must be Won

Expect this fall’s election to be flooded with political rhetoric and populist calls for a deliciously swift exit from Iraq. Digest the hypocrisy and move on. It’s the past. It’s done.

In an election that’s largely to the advantage of the Democrats, the American people will see through fragile liberal intentions and move on. The concern of the people now should not be why we entered Iraq, but why we must stay. Listen to me now: swallow your infectious desire to enlist in the zeitgeist and embrace the need to protect your nation from an evolving threat.

The Democratic approach to this threat is a rapid withdrawal of troops. They believe the growing number of fatalities and financial burden outweigh the need to end the hostility and political turmoil in the Middle East. While reconciliation for the tragic loss of life can never be achieved, those brave Americans will not die in vain. We will not compromise their efforts. We will finish the job.

Those who speak out against the Iraqi occupation lean on the unjust reasons for war as rationale for a withdrawal of troops. I repeat: It’s the past. It’s done. The drastic consequences of such actions would ensure the maturation of terrorism in Iraq. What Democrats view as a cessation to the loss of life and bleeding financial burden is a biased perspective from across the Atlantic.

In the case of a Democratic presidency, troops will be withdrawn within a short period of time. The morale of the world’s greatest military will plummet. What is to become of a military that retreats in the face of boorish Middle Eastern tactics? For one, al-Qaeda will undoubtedly claim victory in Iraq and sound their trumpets across the continent. While that may be a petty price to pay for the reassurances of a withdrawal, consider the breadth of that call. It will not go unanswered. Extremists across the globe will thirstily join the ranks of the organization that sank the US. al-Qaeda will thrive.

Feeding off the hype of a withdrawal, al-Qaeda decides to again attack the US. Suppose that attack rivals 9-11. What do we do? What CAN we do? We just shipped world’s reigning military superpower back across the Atlantic under the pretense of defeat. Not only would the mobilization of such an army be financially exhausting, but who would be willing to do it? Would a Democratic president embrace a hypocritical attack message or cower behind “peace negotiations”?

Now suppose we withdraw and there is no such attack. Does the president expect insurgency to decline? No, the Democratic president would most likely take a laissez-faire approach to the violence and let the region go to hell. Expect a dramatic increase in violence and a full scale civil war to erupt. While such a situation may not directly affect us, consider the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Violence would seize the vicinity and oil would cease to flow out of the area. Timid politicians abashed by the great “R” word would step out of the closet to announce the global depression that is to come.

But there is a way. Ironically, the answer is a gradual withdrawal of troops. The surge was a first step in sustaining minimal levels of violence. Now General Petraeus needs to gradually withdraw troops and with each withdrawal assess the situation. If, after the assessment, violence remains at a minimal level, withdrawals may continue. Once the minimum level of troops is reached to maintain levels of violence, begin deploying Iraqi forces to respond to insurgency.

While our presence is needed, many Iraqis are hostile to it. We must allow Iraq to maintain its sovereignty by forcing them to use their security forces against al-Qaeda. The problem is that we do not yet know how well an Iraqi force would respond to such threats. Should the violence reach a point beyond containment, many Iraqis will feel pressured to take sides – Sunni, Shia, etc. – and civil war will break out. We are there for support, but our presence is not indefinite.

Should a rapid withdrawal of troops occur, expect anarchy to downpour on Iraq. Nobody wants war. Sometimes it’s necessary.

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse . . .” - John Stuart Mill