The Right State

President Bush has figured it out. Dick Cheney has figured it out. Donald Rumsfeld has figured it out. And even our troops have figured it out. So why haven’t the majority of the American people figured it out?

For the U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, the war is alternately violent and hopeful, sometimes very hot and sometimes very cold. It is dusty and muddy, calm and chaotic, deafeningly loud and eerily quiet.

The one thing the war is not, however, is finished, dozens of soldiers across the country said in interviews. And leaving Iraq now would have devastating consequences, they said.

With a potentially historic U.S. midterm election on Tuesday and the war in Iraq a major issue at the polls, many soldiers said the United States should not abandon its effort here. Such a move, enlisted soldiers and officers said, would set Iraq on a path to civil war, give new life to the insurgency and create the possibility of a failed state after nearly four years of fighting to implant democracy.

“Take us out of that vacuum — and it’s on the edge now — and boom, it would become a free-for-all,” said Lt. Col. Mark Suich, who commands the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment just south of Baghdad. “It would be a raw contention for power. That would be the bloodiest piece of this war.”

The soldiers declined to discuss the political jousting back home, but they expressed support for the Bush administration’s approach to the war, which they described as sticking with a tumultuous situation to give Iraq a chance to stand on its own.

Leading Democrats have argued for a timeline to bring U.S. troops home, because obvious progress has been elusive, especially in Baghdad, and even some Republican lawmakers have recently called for a change in strategy. But soldiers criticized the idea of a precipitate withdrawal, largely because they believe their hard work would go for naught.

Capt. Jim Modlin, 26, of Oceanport, N.J., said he thought the situation in Iraq had improved between his deployment in 2003 and his return this year as a liaison officer to Iraqi security forces with the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, based here on FOB Sykes outside Tall Afar. Modlin described himself as more liberal than conservative and said he had already cast his absentee ballot in Texas. He said he believed that U.S. elected officials would lead the military in the right direction, regardless of what happens Tuesday.

“Pulling out now would be as bad or worse than going forward with no changes,” Modlin said. “Sectarian violence would be rampant, democracy would cease to exist, and the rule of law would be decimated. It’s not ’stay the course,’ and it’s not ‘cut and run’ or other political catchphrases. There are people’s lives here. There are so many different dynamics that go on here that a simple solution just isn’t possible.”

I know why the Democrats are saying we need to pull out of Iraq, its all about power. There are some Dems who want to leave immediately there are some who want stay and ‘fix’ the problems caused by the Bush administration, and others want…who know, they don’t exactly say. Elizabeth Dole was probably right when she said, “It’s almost like the Democrats are content with losing.” Ask any Democrat and they say they want ‘change,’ whatever that means. But change is not a solution.

Maybe its time we listen to what our troops on the ground have to say. If our own troops say we need to remain in Iraq until the job is done, then maybe that is what we should do. Unless of course our soldiers are too stupid to understand what is really going on.

The Democrats say they are trying to protect the troops, but what if the troops want to stay? For our soldiers serving in Iraq, this debate is much larger than the political contests here at home. This has to do with real people wanting America to do the right thing and continue protecting the people of Iraq until they can stand on their own. Otherwise, over 2800 American troops have died in vain.

I just hope the American people figure out before the midterm election tomorrow what our troops have known for some time, it is too early to be talking about leaving Iraq.

Hat tip: Captain’s Quarters

Tags: Politics, War //