Obama Marks End to Divisive Iraq War

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright December 12, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

                President Barack Obama marked an end to the Iraq War, warning lurking predators that the U.S. would be close by to protect Iraq.  Started March 20, 2003, the Iraq War became former President George W. Bush’s Achilles Heel, usurping his credibility and approval ratings, eventually leaving office Jan. 20, 2009 with 28%.  Shortly after Sept. 11, Bush enjoyed a 90% approval rating, rallying a shocked nation, fearful of more terrorism and skeptical of U.S. dominance in the world.  Bush’s response to Sept.11 started a period of preemptive war leading Oct. 7, 2001 with Operation Enduring Freedom, toppling Afghan’s Taliban regime Nov. 13, 2001 and starting the Iraq War March 20, 2003 to stop Saddam Hussein from attacking the West with his presumed arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.  When no WMD were found shortly after the war began, Bush’s Iraq War divided the nation.

            Republicans lined up behind Bush, repeating oft-cited fears promoted by former Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials of an Al Qaeda Mideast takeover.  When al-Qaeda left Iraq to fight with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Iraq War became more untenable, costing thousands of  U.S. lives and billions in tax dollars without any benefit to U.S. national security.  “Our strong presence in the Middle East endures,” said Obama at a White House press conference.  “And the United States will never waver in the defense of our allies, our partners and our interests,” raising real questions whether Iraq is indeed a U.S. ally.  With Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s close ties to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, most foreign policy experts doubt Iraq’s loyalty to the U.S.  Obama worries that a U.S. pullout will drive Iraq to Iran.

            U.S. foreign policy walks a razor’s edge supporting al-Maliki, while, at the same time, knowing he support Iran’s mullahs and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.  Assad’s crackdown of Syrian dissidents has caused over 4,000 deaths, wining rare condemnation from the U.N. and Arab League.  Al-Maliki doesn’t support U.N. sanctions against Assad, nor does he express any reservations about Iran.  Al-Maliki arraigned safe passage to Iran of his personal bodyguard radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a bitter enemy of the U.S.  It was al-Sadr’s AL-Mahdi militia that massacred U.S. soldiers during the Battle of Fallujah in April 2004, stringing up Blackwater Security personnel like Christmas ornaments on an Iraqi bridge over the Euphrates River.  Al-Maliki’s protection of al-Sadr shows loyalty not to the U.S. but Iran’s mullahs, busy plotting to annex Iraq once the U.S. eventually leaves.

            Obama has been roundly criticized by former Bush officials and his rival in the 2008 presidential election, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  Barack’s critics of pulling the U.S. out of Iraq warn again about an Iranian takeover, no longer worried about al-Qaeda since Osama bin Laden’s May 1 death.  Only 6,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq from the 170,000 once occupying the land once known as the “Fertile Crescent.”  Over 4,500 U.S. troops lost their lives in a confused military mission, shifting between hatred of Saddam Hussein and fears over an al-Qaeda takeover.  Instead of focusing on Bin Laden, Bush chose to detour to Iraq for reasons still unclear.  When WMD was not found in Iraq, Bush blamed Saddam Hussein for supporting Palestinian suicide bombers against Israel.  When you consider the loss of U.S. lives and depletion of precious tax dollars, the costs far outweigh the benefits.

            Whatever Obama does to end the Iraq War, he’ll be criticized especially during an election year.  Iraq War advocates want some vindication for one of the most wasteful wars in U.S. history.  Bush justified the extraordinary costs as the price Americans pay for freedom around the globe.  Obama also buys Bush’s jingo about the U.S. goal of democratizing the Middle East.  Barack called the “enormous investment in blood and treasure” the price of America’s goal of making Iraq a model of democracy in the Middle East.  Obama knows al-Maliki’s close ties to Iran and can’t do anything about it.  As the Iraq War ends, Barack must be most skeptical of growing calls for war with Iran.  All three GOP frontrunners, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry all support war with Iran to stop its presumed nuclear weapons program.

            Looking at the big picture, the U.S. must face the music about its costly and wasteful war in Iraq.  Obama must learn a valuable lesson that the doctrine of preemption has its problems in managing U.S. national security.  Sacrificing over 4,500 troops with countless others suffering permanent disabilities and sending the U.S. economy into the worst recession since the Great Depression hardly justifies preemptive war.  “As president, of the United States, I have to make sure that anybody who is in Iraq trying to help the Iraqi people is protected,” said Obama, committing more U.S. troops to help protect civilians.    Whatever happens after the U.S. troop pullout, Obama can’t offer a blank check to al-Maliki when it comes to U.S. aid.  Nearly nine years into the Iraq War, it’s time for Iraq to do the heavy lifting.  U.S. military personnel and taxpayers should be finally off the hook

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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