| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| We Asked Gen. Petraeus Whether the Iraq War Was Really Worth It |
| 2018-03-19 |
| [MIL.com] This article by Jeff Schogol originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues. Fifteen years of war have turned Iraqi cities such as Ramadi, Fallujah, and Mosul into ruins. Iraq remains as divided as ever along sectarian lines, despite the deaths of more than 4,500 U.S. troops and untold numbers of Iraqis. U.S. troops remain in Iraq to help advise and assist Iraqi forces as they try to prevent ISIS from launching yet another insurgency. Meanwhile, Iran has flooded the country with thousands of proxy fighters, giving it a large say in what the government of Iraq does post-ISIS. This wasn’t the Iraq that was supposed to emerge when U.S. troops crossed the berm from Kuwait to Iraq in March 2003. Nor is this the Iraq that troops who trounced al Qaeda during the surge bled for. There are few tangible signs of success, and Iraq’s future is still unclear. Seeing all this chaos prompts many Iraq veterans to wonder: Was what they fought for worth the sacrifices they made? We posed that question to the Iraq War’s most influential figure, retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who led U.S. forces in Iraq during the 2007-2008 surge in an attempt to stop a Sunni-Shiite civil war. "I think everybody who was in Iraq, who served there, who knows the sacrifice it entails, who knows the cost in blood and in treasure... has been frustrated to see how the country slid back after we left in late 2011," Petraeus said in an exclusive interview. "But at the end of the day, I think we also have a degree of quiet pride that when our country needed us, we answered the call." The "truly remarkable Americans" who joined the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks knew that their country would send them to war, said Petraeus, who added that it was an incredible privilege for him to lead U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #7 Hindsight is 20:20. After 9/11 we simply had no surety of knowledge he did or did not have WMD. Let me repeat that for morons like M.Murcek: WE DID NOT KNOW FOR SURE AND COULD NOT RISK THE CHANCE THAT SADDAM HAD WMD AND WOULD GIVE THEM TO TERRORISTS The difference between your blind hindsight and the reality of back then, is that we had just been shown that we could and would be attacked. So we as a nation were not willing to trust Saddam to not hit us or give weapons to others who would hit us, and the cost, based on what we knew from before, was considered to be too high to let him sit, compared to the estimated cost of taking out the Baathists. Also we had not planned on being backstabbed by Erdogan and the Turks, which allowed the North to fester. And do not forget, the surge DID pacify Iraq. What screwed it up is that the US walked away right when what was needed was to establish a long-term stabilization force. Thats thanks to the gutless wonders in State Dept, and then that asshole Obama throwing away all the gains we had, in order to hand Iraq over to the Shia and their Iraqi masters. ALL OF YOU need to stop with the revisionist history of "was it worth it". It was - but people like Brennan and Panetta threw it away. Let me repeat it: THEY TRHEW AWAY THE FRUTIS OF VICTORY. Had we established a permanent basing capability there to support the Iraqi military against AQI and later ISIS, things would not be seen as a waste. It would also have been a counterweight against the militias and the corrup[tocrats that State put in there to head the Iraqi govt. It was worth it - but the US State Department and Obama threw it all away, to the cheerleading of the press and the Islamic radicals. There are many of us here who lived thru this and know the truth. And we will not let these crappy revisionist try to rewrite things. |
| Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 2018-03-19 23:23 |
| #6 The entire country will pay forever for Boosh's stupidity. Very good chance we never got obutthole without all the Iraq blowback. Who knows how much lower the national debt might be today. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-03-19 22:49 |
| #5 The real question is where would Iraq be now if the US hadn't pulled out under Obama because things looked so quiet.... There is the question. We had to sit on the Japanese for about a decade, but they integrated into the modern world. Given Saddam and his hell-spawn children, I'm willing to argue the invasion was worth it if all we did was kill them sumbitches and leave the next day. The world is a better place without 'em. The Iraqis deserved a chance to join the modern world. The fact that they fokked it up is on them as much as us. (and before you ask, I admit the odds of overcoming their tribal culture were low) |
| Posted by: SteveS 2018-03-19 22:34 |
| #4 The real question is where would Iraq be now if the US hadn't pulled out under Obama because things looked so quiet.... If one judged the Vietnam war prior to the US Congress betraying the Vietnamese people it looks very much like a hard fought and costly victory. Generals need to factor in Democrat instincts to cut and run when they make war plans. Sure we can win, but if we are there too long the victory will inevitably be pissed away and all sacrifice wasted. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2018-03-19 22:08 |
| #3 Umm, Mr L. R, do you remember Saddams minions shooting missiles at our planes in the "No Fly Zones"? No? Why not? |
| Posted by: Mugsy Glink 2018-03-19 21:07 |
| #2 Certainly not a big fan of General Powell, but does anyone remember his 'pottery house rules' quote regarding Iraq ? "You break it, you buy it." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-19 20:38 |
| #1 'Sorry - Saddam was no threat to US vital interests. There were "no-fly zones" in place over both northern and southern Iraq. "Liberating" Iraq was not worth the life of even one Private E2. The only thing more stupid than going back into Iraq was the insane decision to invade Afghanistan. Both operations were (and remain) total debacles. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2018-03-19 19:55 |