On Our Iraqi Departure: Essay for December 17, 2011
It began almost 9 years ago the American experience in Iraq. Our country was still in great pain and shock from the attacks of 911. Our focus became that of finding Weapons of Mass Destruction. Did Saddam Hussein, remember him, have WMD’s? The President said he did, so did Colin Powell, our Secretary of State. Washington, having averted an attack by airplane, was under attack by mail. Anthrax nearly shut down Washington. Try sending a letter to Congress even today and you will be surprised how long it takes to get through security.
To say that our lives have inexorably changed since 911 and our war in Iraq is a gross understatement. In fact, our lives may never return to the same level of blissful ignorance we enjoyed before that fateful day. That is a pity. Our innocence is gone as a country. We have been bloodied and there is blood on our hands, as well. Retribution is an ugly thing. Loss of innocence is an ugly thing, too.
We do not commemorate the end of the War in Iraq so much as we celebrate the return of the last of the American troops this month. Who knows if peace will ever come to Iraq? I certainly hope that it does and that the sacrifice of so many Americans meant what it was intended to mean. Time will tell but if the Arab Spring showed us anything it was that an infant democracy will yield to Muslim autocracy.
Let’s consider some of the obvious costs of the war: four thousand five hundred dead Americans; 35,000 wounded Americans; 800 billion opportunities to invest an American dollar somewhere else; one and a half million American youth whose lives were directly altered by combat. That’s right: 1 ½ million Americans passed through the war zone over 9 years. Their lives can never be the same. Many have returned home with mental scars and torment that will last a lifetime through no fault of their own. They simply did what their country asked them to do.
And for those who have not passed though the war zone itself, they too have paid a price. They have lost their innocence, their childhood, to images of war. My children are children of America at war with terrorists, with Afghanistan, with Iraq and with radical Islam. They are a generation who do not remember when the headlines and the airwaves were not dominated by war. They are a generation who has never known the simple joys of unfettered access. They have never known the liberty of walking a city street un-surveilled. Airport security has become a gauntlet whose unintended consequence is to instill a consistent level of unease with any peaceful experience.
Is there victory in Iraq for America and the dwindled coalition of the willing? Mission Accomplished? Maybe it is but no one is claiming it as vociferously as did President Bush aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. What I do know is that one and a half million Americans answered the call of their nation. They did their duty with honor. And to our credit as a nation we have responded to their sacrifice with appropriate respect and admiration.
We still remain in Afghanistan today with an equally uncertain end game. There is no discernable path to victory in the land of Hamid Karzai. And history teaches us that any victory in Afghanistan is a temporary state. We have put another half million troops through Afghanistan in our ten years there. And another 1857 American deaths, 549 of them in this year alone.
If our troops are fighting for our freedom and safety this begs the obvious question, “Is America any freer or any safer now than it was ten years ago?” I think wistfully about the good old days before the advent of modern international terrorism. One could argue about whether those days ever existed at all but I would suggest that we concluded the pre-modern age of international terrorism with the end of the Cold War and the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction. There were perhaps a few brief years of respite before Operation Desert Storm sparked the modern age of bombings aimed at the United States. Recall that the World Trade Center was first bombed in 1993.
Life certainly seemed simpler when you could delude yourself into thinking that nuclear attack was survivable as long as you could hide under your desk. As I’ve grown older, I guess I’ve lost my innocence, too.
Press on.
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On a New Dawn: Essay for December 10, 2011
I met some interesting people in Washington this week. Some were Democrats and some Republicans. Different in philosophy, to be sure, but each cut from the same cloth. They were all veterans, older and younger, who share one common goal: to continue in service to a nation they love. Their common goal was to put into office people of good character who view obstacles a little bit differently than the average politician. After all, these are not average people. They are warriors all. Many have served in combat and know the terrible price that lack of teamwork or focus can exact from the uncommitted. In short, they are leaders all who are itching to lead again.
Before they can get a chance to lead they must pass through the unforgiving crucible of the electoral process. That is where the Veterans National Security Foundation and Veterans Campaign come in. They are non-profit organizations who have just one goal: to increase the number of veterans in Congress. Period. They are non-partisan. I found a collection of veterans and seasoned political operatives who provide coaching and campaign training to aspiring candidates or campaign enablers without regard for party affiliation. Their allegiance was to a higher common denominator: The United States of America. It always has been.
Before there is breakthrough in Congress with these fine potential candidates, there is much blocking and tackling. There is the development of the message; the selection of key campaign positions such as treasurer, finance chairman, and campaign manager. Of course, there is “dialing for dollars.” These are the phone calls to donors who provide the essential element that begins the incessant drive to collect enough money to provide the grease to lubricate the gears of the early campaign. This is the stark reality of a modern campaign. It costs a lot to get the message out. A single postcard mailing in a Congressional District can cost a quarter of a million dollars or more. You do the math. A million dollar campaign for Congress is merely “jacks or better.”
But why promote the veteran as candidate at all? Surveys show that there is nobody who you trust more. Veterans rank at the top of all trustworthy professions with an approval rating of over 80%. Compare that with Congress today at less than 10%. Disturbingly, the percentage of Congressmen with veteran credentials has diminished from 75% in 1969 to merely 22% in 2010. Interestingly, Congressional approval had diminished along a similar slope. Could there be a connection?
There is at least one common link between a Congressman and a veteran. Each has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is how each approaches duty to country over the course of a career that makes all the difference.
That civil discourse is lacking in Washington is obvious to the most casual observer. The question is how we turn the page and begin to engage in the real dialogue that actually can move the ball in Washington. Many of the veterans I was with this week have been tested in combat. They engaged the enemy with the resources they had on hand. Often, it was short of what they really needed. Engagements are too often a “come as you are” affair.
Maybe that is the way it is on Capitol Hill today. Could it be that too many people are seeking the “perfect storm” of political alignment before engaging in the real business of getting down to the business of altering the course of this ship of state? We haven’t got time for that. Too many people are content to ride the mystery ship right into November and beyond.
What we need in Congress are more people of integrity. We need people who put service above self. What better recruiting ground for such legislative heroes than our nation’s military? They know how to get tough jobs done under extremely difficult circumstances. They know how to achieve unit cohesion amid the fog of war. They instinctively know how to take care of the least among them for each of them is part of their special band of brothers.
When November comes around again in 2012, I will be looking to cast a ballot for someone whom I trust with my life; someone of proven integrity; someone who, through word and deed, demonstrates that they are leaders in good times and in bad. Don’t forget, in 2012, hire a vet.
Press on.
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the american century 