The Surge

Ok, so I'm tired of hearing about this on the news. McCain says the troop surge in Iraq worked. Obama says that the surge failed. I'm prone to agree with the latter (of course), but here's why.

The troop surge worked insofar as the objective of the surge was to interrupt and deter the attacks and combative actions of the Iraqi insurgency. With violence at it's lowest point in Iraq since the beginning of the American occupation, McCain is technically correct in saying that the surge has "worked." Hooray. Less people are dying.

Except for the fact that the real and true front in the war on terror is in Afghanistan, where nine US soldiers were killed and fifteen were injured just last week. Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror. Hussein's regime had no ties to Al Queda, nor did Hussein fund or support Bin Laden, or have any part in 9/11. We are in Iraq because the President and his pals chose (long before 9/11) to take us there, not because we're justified in being there because of any terrorist attacks on the United States. The insurgency in Iraq existd because we chose to occupy Iraq. We created the insurgency.

How would you react if another country invaded the United States and began murdering innocent civilians?

On the other hand, the Taliban and Afghanistan supported and sheltered Osama Bin Laden and Al Queda before 9/11 and has since. They have direct ties to the terrorism which we're now fighting to end. We are justified in our presence in Afghanistan. The troop surge in Iraq took troops and resources from the Afghani front in the war on terror and displaced them in Iraq.

This is why Obama voted against the troop surge. McCain claims that the troop surge in Iraq will help us "win" the war on terror, but how can you win a war when you're taking troops and supplies away from the front upon which the war is being fought?

The troop surge in Iraq is, I believe, an attempt to stabilize the country enough to have it stand independently on it's own once the US pulls out. That's a noble thing, right? It makes sense to support that kind of thing.

Let's learn from history though, shall we? Let's look at Vietnam. McCain fought in that war, by the way. He talks about it a lot. He's proud to tell you he's a veteran and that he was a prisoner of war who faced some terrible conditions at the hands of people who hated America. That sounds convincing. He really must have learned a thing or two about war, right?

The United States was in Vietnam for roughly fourteen years. At first, we sent military advisors to Vietnam in order to help contain the spread of Communism from North Vietnam into South Vietnam. When this failed, we began sending full combat units to the country in 1965. For the next eight years, we were continuously engaged in warfare with the North Vietnamese army. As it turned out, both sides realized that the war was ultimately a stalemate. We met, drew up some peace accords, and cut and run. Most US combat troops left South Vietnam in 1973. This leaving process was called "Vietnamization" and enacted into order to transfer more autonomy to the South Vietnamese government in running their own political and military affairs.

Two years after the US left Vietnam, the South collapsed to the North and the two were unified under one Communist government. It's important to realize that the failure of South Vietnam was directly related to American activities in the country during the war. Our presence there and the money we provided established a government in South Vietnam which was dependent on financial aide and the presence of a large number of US military troops to keep the peace. When those things left, the country collapsed.

This was called "Peace with Honor." Once it was realized that the war couldn't be won, the US started looking for exit strategies which wouldn't appear to be an absolute and complete failure. We poured in more troops and resources in order to build up the South enough that it wouldn't collapse immediately after we left. The South stood on it's own for two years after we withdrew most of our troops. We kept our "honor."

So, Mr. McCain. Keep arguing that the troop surge worked. You're technically correct. It has. But will it continue to work? Will it accomplish that which needs to be done in order to build a strong and stable Iraq?

I don't think so. The violence has ended because their are more troops on the ground. That doesn't mean that it won't start again once those troops are withdrawn.

Bottom Line: Don't paint Obama as unpatriotic or as a weakling simply because he won't admit that the surge has worked. It's far less patriotic to continue to vote to support an immoral and illegal war than it is to vote against it. It takes far more strength to stand against the red, white, and blue propaganda machine than it does to wave your military record in our faces and rely on the politics of fear and divisiveness.


MMK