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Praying, protesting for peace

Photos by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu & Kristi Denke • kdenke@mscd.edu

Invading iraq was a mistake we must fix

By David D. Pollan
dpoolan@mscd.edu

The bloodshed and destruction in Iraq has raged on now for five years, and America is no closer to bringing resolve to the region. There is little glimmer of hope and weak light at the end of the tunnel.

Iraq is unstable, and without stability reconstruction and rebuilding is hardly a possibility – much less the establishment of a democracy. Too much focus has been put on quelling the insurgency, making it impossible to complete any other tasks.

Reconstruction in any country after an invasion and occupation is no overnight task, but after five long years the progress in Iraq is wavering between slow recovery and moving backwards.

The only progress made in stabilizing Iraq has come with the recent surge of 30,000 troops in the war’s fifth year. These troops were deployed to suppress the incessant violence that was plaguing the region. The most recent deployment brings the U.S. troop total in Iraq to more than 160,000, the highest number of troops since the invasion.

There is no doubt the surge has been effective. But stability in Iraq hangs on the unsustainable increase in troops, as more Americans grow weary of the war and are calling for troop withdrawals.

The primary reasons for going to war given by the Bush administration— that Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and linked to terrorist organizations—were false. The people of this country, for the most part, backed a war under false pretenses.

The initial invasion marked the first of a long list of blunders that have occurred over the past five years.

The invasion was rushed. There was no plan of action for the period after Baghdad fell. The disbanding of the Iraqi army cast aside any help in fighting the insurgency that native troops could have provided. Not to mention the number of armed men it unemployed, which only fueled tensions and accelerated anger.

President George W. Bush declared “mission accomplished” and Hussein has been captured, tried and executed. And yet American troops are still on the ground in Iraq with no end in sight.

But this is only a small part of why the United States is suffering from war fatigue. What’s more important is that the removal of Hussein and the establishment of a democracy in Iraq has come at too steep a price.

As the war enters its sixth year, the number of American soldiers killed nears 4,000 and the number wounded is almost 30,000. Conservative estimates count 80,000 Iraqi civilian deaths since the invasion, but other totals – upward of 150,00 – can be found. Millions of Iraqis have fled the country to seek refuge in neighboring Arab countries, escaping horrendous living conditions and the terror that looms on Iraqi streets.

The country is in shambles and disarray. Only 19 percent of citizens have access to a good sewage system. Only 32 percent have access to clean drinking water, and 25 percent depend on food rations from the United Nations. In Baghdad, the people have less than eight hours of electricity a day; the country as a whole averages less than 10.

The complete withdrawal of troops now would be devastating to the Iraqi people. They are owed more than that after what the American occupation has caused. It is sad that the American occupation has been so ineffective that the quality of life in Iraq is worse now than under Hussein. At least there was stability in Iraq under Hussein, something the Iraqi people can now only hope for.

The goal to give the Iraqi people a chance at a better life, to be free, has failed. But there is no turning back. America must finish what it started and give the Iraqi people stability, a government and freedom.

Many experts predict that to fully complete the task in Iraq it could take up to an additional five years. Financially, the war in Iraq has surpassed $650 billion, and these same experts predict that the eventual cost of the war will total trillions of dollars and that the death toll will double.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq has come at an unacceptable cost to both Iraqis and Americans, but America must reap what it has sewn.

The idea of imposing democracy on a society may have been preposterous, but it is one America must live with. People have to want a democracy so much they are willing to fight for it, and the Iraqis are not at that point.

In the end this war could take the lives of more than 8,000 American soldiers. It could cost more than $2 trillion, and could be a decade long endeavor. With that in mind, we must ask ourselves: was it worth fighting?