Same Iraq, Different Day - Americans Growing Weary

In July of 2004 when I joined my unit (III Corps) at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq I had already missed the capture of Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by one of III Corps' subordinate units-The 4^th Infantry Division. I, like the rest of the world, was already aware that the huge caches of WMD was as non-existent as the Loch Ness Monster. I was sent to Iraq to serve as the HHC III Corps Operation Sergeant after my successor had been sent to another part of the country. My mission was clear.

The same cannot be said for soldiers currently serving at Camp Victory and throughout war torn Iraq. I recently spoke with a fellow solider and asked a question surely poised by many. "So what are you doing?" His answer was telling. He said they were doing the same things we had done the first time we were there. I wondered how that could be possible.

General David Petreaus went before the senate and gave his much anticipated report on the state of affairs in Iraq. The General's "report card" was a mixed bag of minor success and medium failure and major challenges. To sum the report up briefly: The surge of troops produced a reduction of violence in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The surge had not however eliminated Al Qaeda, Sunni and Shia death squads or civilian insurgents. The question that has to be answered now is how long will the American public put up with the Bush Administration's foreign policy insanity. Insanity being defined as doing the same things and expecting different results.

If history is a guide, the answer is not long. The American people have no problem supporting the troops. They doesn't even mind supporting long wars, provided the war is being fought for the very reason it was started. General George Washington faced some colonist resistance. However, ridding "America" of British Rule and establishing a free independent state was the reason for going to war and therefore worthy of the "blood and treasure" and time spent; even when things didn't always look good. Abraham Lincoln too met resistant from some Northerners, but preserving the Union was the reason for war so it was easier for Union citizens to press on. Even a four time elected and popular FDR had his critics, but "unconditional surrender" as a goal made even the worse battles palatable. So what is wrong now?

Americans don't like wars of choice by nature and having two failed experiments, Korea and Vietnam, make it irrational to believe the American citizenry will stomach failure again namely in Iraq. America, unlike Bush and a waning ban of congressional Republicans, will not support this war for the long haul. The soldiers will. They will stay, deploy and redeploy so long as they are ordered to. That is what soldiers and the military does.

However, I hope five years from now when soldiers entering basic training this year are making their way to the middle east they will be equipped not only with the best equipment in the world, but also with a clear mission that doesn't entail tasks and operations that are the same as those being carried out today. Of course, if they enter with a clear mission at all I guess that will be progress.