Leaving Iraq

As a young military officer, I learned my lessons trying to maintain military readiness in Germany while all the spare parts were being siphoned off to Vietnam. The idea that Saddam Hussein could maintain a ready force of any size, in the face of 10 years of UN sanctions and no-fly conditions being the normal, was ridiculous.

And of course even in the best military supply conditions, maintaining heavy war machinery in the desert, with its fingers of extra fine dirt continuously poking in the stew, is a task worthy of only the most hardened maintenance sergeants.

So ten years ago, the Bush Administration, which we now known to have had too many court jesters, pimps, and liars, ginned up the case for war. It was clear, the fix was in. It was a hoax. Looking back, admitting one is wrong 2, 4, 10 years later is problematic for most, but knowing a mistake is being made in advance and then having to watch it unfold day after grueling day is truly painful.

For a better understanding of the whole process, watch the excellent Rachael Maddow documentary in the recent Polyconundrum post " How America Was Snookered Into War.... Again!"

There is a life lesson here. "Don't throw good money after bad" or "rat holes are bottomless. Don't throw money down them."


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So here we are:

Some people say man's made out mud,
Well, a good man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood, and skin and bones,
And mind that's weak and the back that's strong.

You load 16 tons, And what do you get?
Another day older, And deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, Cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store - Merle Travis

As We Near the 10th Anniversary of the Iraq War

THE ATLANTIC - This month marks ten years since the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq. In my view this was the biggest strategic error by the United States since at least the end of World War II and perhaps over a much longer period. Vietnam was costlier and more damaging, but also more understandable. As many people have chronicled, the decision to fight in Vietnam was a years-long accretion of step-by-step choices, each of which could be rationalized at the time. Invading Iraq was an unforced, unnecessary decision to risk everything on a "war of choice" whose costs we are still paying.

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POLYCONUNDRUM - Now here's a hoot from the one and only John Bolton. Yes, that one is still around. As usual, John Bolton stirs debate and disdain from the masses. Funny, as every thing changes, it seems the same. Or, the more tunes you hear the more likely you are to hear the same one, particularly from the musically challenged like Bolton. It seems that many in "The Junior Bush Disaster" are quiet on the anniversary except for Bolton, but he always did strike me as a slow leaner. Very slow.

Overthrowing Saddam Hussein was the right move for the US and its allies

THE GUARDIAN (by John Bolton) - Overthrowing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 achieved important American strategic objectives. Our broad international coalition accomplished its military mission with low casualties and great speed, sending an unmistakable signal of power and determination throughout the Middle East and around the world. Despite all the criticism of what happened after Saddam's defeat, these facts are indisputable.

Nonetheless, relentless hostility by the war's opponents now threaten to overwhelm, in the public mind, the clear merits of eliminating Iraq's Ba'athist dictatorship. Leaving the critics unanswered, combined with the utterly erroneous policy conclusions they have derived, will only lead to more serious problems down the road. Let us consider a few of the prevailing myths...

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Guardian readers: Iraq war was not justified

Ambassador John Bolton's commentary Tuesday stirred up a lively debate about Iraq's past, present and future.

Guardian readers responded with vigor to Ambassador John Bolton's column yesterday, which defended the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Nearly everyone who took the time to comment disagreed with the war, its motives and many of Bolton's claims.

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POLYCONUNDRUM - Here is a post from the mostly Republican leaning Baker Institute, as in James Baker III, the previous Secretary of State under George Bush, Sr. who served during Iraq War I. It seems Poppy Bush might have been right in his rumored original paternal expectations that Jeb might have made a better president than Sr.'s lame namesake.

Learning the Lessons of the Iraq War

Baker Institute Blog - We are now approaching the tenth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq, which occurred on March 19, 2003. There has been, to date, little press coverage of the occasion. This is hardly surprising. The recently concluded presidential campaign consumed the U.S. media for the better part of six months. And talks in Washington over the “fiscal cliff” — a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that many claim will plunge our economy back into recession — has taken center stage. Abroad, other events — the intensifying civil war in Syria, the outbreak of violence in Gaza, the ongoing efforts by the United States and its allies to halt Iran’s nuclear program, the uproar (at least here and in Israel) over Palestinian recognition at the United Nations — have dominated the news. Not least, the last U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011. U.S. service women and men continue to fight and die in the Muslim world; but they are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

The late Gore Vidal used to call our country “The United States of Amnesia,” because of our tendency to forget the past when it is too unpleasant or inconvenient. But we should not let the anniversary of the Iraq War pass without serious soul-searching. The reasons are three-fold.

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POLYCONUNDRUM - The Aftermath of the Iraq War is immense both in lives lost and damaged and the vast monetary costs. When Joseph Stiglitz, the nobel laurette economist, announced his estimate of a total cost to the American people of three trillion dollars, he was nearly laughed out of town by the very same neocons who predicted the war would be paid for out of revenues from Iraq's vast oil reserves or at the very most cost a couple billion. Now it is looking like three trillion could be low. Ha! What's a few thousand billion difference amongst friends? But sadly the real cost may be here.

Half of Iraq and Afghanistan Vets in VA System Treated for Mental Illness

In 2004, about 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in the VA health system were being treated for mental health problems. That number has now risen to over 50%, with a whopping 331 514 recent war veterans having received mental health treatment. Of this number, 192,114 soldiers required treatment for PTSD.

These numbers come from a report released by the soldier’s advocacy organization, Veterans for Common Sense. VA Spokesperson Laurie Tranter said the large upswing in mental health treatment numbers likely reflects better screening techniques and improved overall access to mental health services. She reported that the VA had increased its mental health staffing by more than 40% since 2002 to meet this increased demand, and now employed over 20 000 mental health workers.

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