Perhaps the biggest misconception in America today is that the War on Terror and the War in Iraq (whether you believe they are one and the same or not is not my point) are failing. As I peruse the blogging universe, listen to radio, watch television, and talk to my friends, everyone seems to have a prevailing feeling that the war has failed. Miserably. And that, furthermore, there is nothing that can be done to bring it around. I have even, to certain extents, agreed with that statement. There are some things certainly not right in the country of Iraq. It is not right that there are new suicide attacks every week. It is not right that there are elements in the country, indeed, even in the government, that adhere to radical Islamic rule and law. And it is not right that the borders are so porous that any yahoo from Iran or other surrounding country can come in and blow themselves up to make a point.
However, much of the doom-and-gloom attitude about Iraq is, quite frankly, misguided. Most people either do not know, do not understand, or have simply forgotten, how much progress has been made in not only Iraq, but also the global war on terror. The best of minds seem to be ignoring the good going on in Iraq. Daily, better and better things happen, but are ignored. Take these various things for example:
The country has held MULTIPLE democratic, free elections.
There is now a government in place that has been installed in a peaceful manner when compared to the governments of most of the other countries in the world.
The Iraqi people are finally able to say what they think about the government, indeed, are free to vote against it, without being killed.
Fewer people have been either held captive or died in the last three years than would have under Saddam.
Those who terrorize now must do so under fear of reprisal… whereas before they WERE the reprisal.
And so on and so forth.
Most American people don’t realize that. I often see otherwise rational and smart thinking people say that they are not happy with what has happened in Iraq. Somehow, they find a way to blame the “successes” of those who fight with a death wish on this administration. Many people who like Bush otherwise state that they aren’t a fan of him because he has bungled this war. Why? Why do otherwise level-minded people so often criticize a war that has, by all precedent, been vastly successful.
They’ve been fed a lie. And when you hear a lie enough times, it starts to break you down. You start to believe the lie. You are pushed into blind pessimism, or optimism in other cases, because you hear it so often. The lie that Iraq is a failure has been repeated so often and so loudly by the mainstream media that it has permeated the culture, to the point where even die-hard conservatives, hawks, and the rest of the people who want our nation kept safe, have started believing it.
Put simply: the mission in Iraq has not been a failure at all. Quite the opposite. It has been a profound and drastic success.
Consider with me for a moment not only the huge impact that the war has made on the lives of Iraqis, but the amazing success that it has been in terms of its relation to America. Every prominent free world leader agreed for years and years that Saddam was a threat to security. He is gone. Yet, suddenly, because it is politically unpopular, no one seems to remember that everyone thought he should be gone once upon a time. So, presumably, what everyone agreed was a threat is no longer a threat to anyone but other ghosts. One thing trumpeted by the anti-keeping-us-safe crowd is that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Well, I’ve linked to stories here before that demonstrate that this is not true. While, admittedly, there were not weapons to the extent that we thought we’d find them, they were still there. And, though these reports are obviously not hyped very much, there were reports of a lot of movement to and from the suspected sites before the war in Iraq. Moving weapons, anybody?
Let’s also consider the casualty count. Just over three thousand. In three years. In EVERY other war the U.S. has fought in, such a casualty count would be a battle, and in most of the major ones, a skirmish. But most definitely NOT an entire war. Also, the percentage of American troops being killed in proportion to not only the total number of troops, but the total number of citizens, is minute compared to any other war. Quite honestly, when viewed through the harsh, yet honest scope of history, this casualty count is nothing. Not to take away from the deaths of those who have given their lives courageously, but these are small numbers indeed. Yet every casualty is treated as though an entire company has been utterly wiped out, and we never hear the comparative stats about how many terrorists died in the fight that killed the soldier.
The ultimate measure of success is this: is America safer, and are others safer. Easily, America is safer. Anybody who claims it is not likely is either misguided, or has a political agenda. The terrorists recently captured illustrate that we are indeed more vigilant, more efficient, and more prepared than ever before. While it is not so easy to answer the question of other peoples being safer, I believe the answer is yes.
The American people have been fed a lie. This lie is preached daily by the news anchors at the major news outlets and hammered home by politicians who have been out of power for a long time. Unfortunately, the American people are partially responsible for having eaten this lie and digested it. There are alternatives, but apparently enough people are not taking advantage of them. So, we, unawares, sit being spoonfed by the people who really only love America because it lets them say whatever they want to say, regardless of how self-serving, hypocritical, and wrong it is.
Iraq has been a success. That’s the truth. Why that truth would bother people, unless they have their own selves to promote over their country, I have no idea.
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