A hundred hours versus a hundred years

By Tim Gibbons. Published by High Plains View on August 22, 2008.

“At this moment, our brave servicemen and women stand watch in that distant desert and on distant seas, side by side with the forces of more than 20 other nations. They are some of the finest men and women of the United States of America. And they're doing one terrific job. These valiant Americans were ready at a moment's notice to leave their spouses and their children, to serve on the front line halfway around the world. They remind us who keeps America strong: they do. In the trying circumstances of the Gulf, the morale of our service men and women is excellent. In the face of danger, they're brave, they're well trained and dedicated.
A soldier, Private First Class Wade Merritt of Knoxville, Tennessee, now stationed in Saudi Arabia, wrote his parents of his worries, his love of family, and his hope for peace. But Wade also wrote, 'I am proud of my country and its firm stance against inhumane aggression. I am proud of my army and its men. I am proud to serve my country.' Well, let me just say, Wade, America is proud of you and is grateful to every soldier, sailor, marine and airman serving the cause of peace in the Persian Gulf.” - President George H.W. Bush before a joint session of Congress, September 11, 1990
The Persian Gulf War began on August 2, 1990 with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Two hundred eleven days later, including 38 days of preparatory bombing and a 100 hour ground campaign, Kuwait was freed by a coalition of 34 nations, led by the United States.
The war was one of the most successful engagements fought by the United States and far from suffering the 30,000 to 40,000 causalities that had been estimated by the Pentagon, the United States and her allies suffered only 380 casualties, 293 of which were American (146 killed in combat, 148 killed in out-of-combat accidents).
It was truly one of our finest hours and while many criticized that Saddam Hussein was not captured, the reasoning for this was summed up in 1992 by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney,
“I would guess if we had gone in there, I would still have forces in Baghdad today. We'd be running the country. We would not have been able to get everybody out and bring everybody home.
And the final point that I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don't think you could have done all of that without significant additional U.S. casualties, and while everybody was tremendously impressed with the low cost of the (1991) conflict, for the 146 Americans who were killed in action and for their families, it wasn't a cheap war. And the question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is Saddam (Hussein) worth? And the answer is, not that damned many. So, I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the President made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.”
Now, 17 years later, we find ourselves in the exact situation that President George Bush, Senior, and his staff were trying to avoid: a long, bloody holding action known as the Operation Enduring Freedom.
Since its start in March 19, 2003, the United States has suffered 4,143 confirmed deaths as of August 19, 2008. To date the United States government and her citizens have spent approximately $845 billion and climbing with the total cost to the U.S. economy estimated at $3 trillion.
Compare this to the $61.1 billion that America spent in the first Persian Gulf War and that was with a build up of 540,000 troops, nearly twice the number of troops that invaded Iraq the second time.
Consider also, that despite the reports by President George W. Bush and his administration, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) have never been found, neither was there a strong connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
In January, 2005, the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) reported that they had, “not found evidence that Saddam possessed WMD stocks in 2003.” David Kay, the head of ISG resigned his position in January 23, 2004, stating he didn't believe WMD would be found in Iraq, “I don't think they existed,” Kay commented. “What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last Gulf War and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the nineties.”
The Center for Public Integrity reported that, between 2001 and 2003, the Bush Administration made a total of 935 false statements concerning the intelligence about WMD, terrorist links to Al Qaeda and the threat Iraq posed to America. Even for an American President that is a lot of mistakes.
One also must consider that at the end of the first Persian Gulf War, Iraq, which had been one of the most progressive and well-armed Arab nations, was decimated, suffering not only the loss of an estimated 22,000 soldiers (U.S. Air Force report), but the loss of 11 major power stations and 119 substations with six more major stations damaged. At the end of the war, electricity production was at four percent of its pre-war levels. Bombs destroyed the utility of all major dams, most major pumping stations and many sewage treatment plants, turning Iraq from one of the most advanced Arab countries into one of the most backward. Telecommunications equipment, port facilities, oil refineries and distribution, railroads and bridges also were destroyed.
This situation had improved very little in Iraq by the second conflict, due to the trade sanctions imposed upon them by the United Nations and the continued patrolling and bombing by American planes in the no-fly zones that were established between the wars.
Based on the ISG and intelligence from the CIA and other intelligence agencies in other nations, Iraq had an interest in developing their WMD program but did not have the resources, nor the ability to develop it, thanks in a large part to the sanctions and monitoring of United Nation inspectors.
The question then remains, why the war on terrorism in Iraq? They were still shattered from the first Gulf War and the constant flyovers and bombings that proceeded between the wars. They had no WMD's as their program was a fatality of the first war and the sanctions that followed. Al Qaeda had only a slight influence, far less than they wielded in Afghanistan or Pakistan according to military and CIA reports. Even Saudi Arabia, our ally, had more connections to Bin Laden than Iraq. So why whip a dead dog?
The only other reason given for the war was the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq. As of October 15, 2005, the Iraqi Constitution was ratified. Elections were held in December of the same year and the Iraq National Assembly took office on May 20, 2006.
On April 9, 2008, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told President Bush that Iraqi security forces were capable of fulfilling their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation allows. Two days later, Bush responded that he was not ready to order further troop withdrawals from Iraq and his administration has pursued extending the UN authorization for the continued presence of the American- led coalition in Iraq. Currently, the UN authorization requires that all coalition forces be removed by the end of 2008.
It could be argued that the job is done, the battle won. So why aren't our troops coming home? Senator John McCain seemed to have the answer at a town hall meeting at Derry, New Hampshire in January of this year...
Question posed: “President Bush has talked about our troops staying in Iraq for 50 years...”
McCain (interrupting): “Maybe a hundred. Make it one hundred. We’ve been in Japan for sixty years. We’ve been in South Korea for fifty years or so. That’d be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it’s fine with me. I would hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.”
Tell little Johnny not to wait up, it doesn't look like daddy's coming home this year.