Operation Iraqi Freedom

Well, I'm a bit late to the party commenting on the referrendum on the Iraqi constituion, and as I look around, it looks like it was rather short party.

This morning Drudge's big headline is "16,137 MURDERS, 94,635 RAPES A YEAR IN USA". Even as of 8:00 am (Pacific), Instapundit has but one short link to an article calling the vote a magnanimous victory for the Iraqi people and for American policy.

In short, this underwhelming sense of calm after years of fighting demonstrates the nature of our battle against terrorism. Four years later, I think it is important that we look back on the words of President Bush as he addressed an emergency joint session of Congress while the World Trade Center's fires were still smouldering:

This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.

Back in 1986, President Reagan made a prescient comment specifically to Qadaffi that is fitting here: Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein majorly miscalculated when they "...counted on America to be passive. (They) counted wrong." Bush's speech shows that our leadership generally understood the stakes and the direction that the United States needed to take in order to begin and finish the process of defeating a desultory group of fascists, fundamentalists, nihilists and oppressors predominantly located in the Middle East. Their desire for power and a hunger for blood would find a common enemy in the United States--their regimes and ideology would be constantly threatened by it's mere existence.

Indeed this war would NOT be like Desert Storm. Our victories, while beginning with major military strikes that made for easy viewing on CNN, would only be a means to an end. The next step, cleaning up, while concurrently locking up or killing bad guys, would be far more intangible to a media, depending on its source on a continuum of political motivation, but as a group, entirely ignorant of positive conclusions that don't come in the form of a "money-shot." Call it "Pathological Myopia," if you will.

Hyperbole would flood the battlefield, as our soldiers toiled away in the 120-degree heat, dodging IEDs, rebuilding schools and infrastructure, forming deep and extensive intellegence networks, training from scratch a homegrown internal security force capable of fighting a determined and ruthless enemy, supporting democratic instiutions and trying to get the message out at home that the situation, while not exactly "ready for primetime," was headed in the right direction, and would be put in position to eventually be solidly won.

How did what happen in Iraq this weekend ultimately strengthen our position in the War Against Terror? In all the parsing and picking of Bush's words in that speech, the most important ones were often overlooked, "We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest."

Afghanistan was clearly necessary, but not conclusive. Al-Qaeda was given it's first, major body blow, when the U.S., in combination with a opposing group of warlords of noble and dubious character, but all seeking a common enemy in the al-Qaeda backed Taliban, invaded, occupied and removed them from power. Although it was a tremendous victory, the Middle East was still untouched and unaffected by this development.

As we began our fight, the Saudis still tried to have it both ways. They too were threatened by al-Qaeda from within, however they dealt with al-Qaeda in a Middle Eastern tradition that spans centuries--they bribed them. Although al-Qaeda saw the House of Saud as an enemy, they were content to leave them be as their coffers were stuffed as they fought the Great Satan. The House of Saud, in the mind of al-Qaeda, would be dealt with later. Frustrating the Administration, the State Department and the Pentagon, Saudi Arabia would remain an enigma that would confront the President's ideal, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

Above Saudi Arabia, a ruthless dictator who brutally repressed a country of 25 million people, had the desire to show the Arab world that he was just the man to slit the throat of the Great Satan. Whether his desire to do so were ideologically driven by a deep seated belief in the Will of Allah or not was irrelevant. The key was, he was standing up the strongest country in the world, and he became a symbol of Arab and Islamic defiance.

After months of diplomatic wrangling, in three short weeks, the United States defeated the standing Iraqi Army (the largest in the region). As Wretchard said, this lightening strike once again proved "what many military analysts knew from Desert Storm; that it was impossible for any conventional army to stand up against US forces." But, as Wretchard continues, what the United States had yet to prove was if was capable of defeating the, "hope that the terrorist model of warfare, forged in Algeria and refined against Israel in Lebanon, would bring America to a halt: that rogue regimes acting discreetly could operate within that strategic shadow."

What occurred next is best explained through a crude, but very effective illustatration: The United States sat down on the hot seat, strapped itself in, and refused to budge as her ass scorched under the red hot fire created by the Left, the International Media, and the terrorists themselves. Regardless of intention, the hot seat was there, and the only thing that could have defeated the United States, was her own self-destruction. Would the seat get too hot?

As the political battlefield within the United States expanded, the military continued its process that Bush outlined. Slowly, al-Qaeda, Baathist reminants and Shia militants were confronted. Militia backed revolts were ruthlessly and efficiently put down. The military then learned how to deal with direct attacks by car bombs, IEDs and mortars. They became so successful with their counter-measures, that the insurgents, knowing that engaging the U.S. military was a death sentence, turned to attacking the civilian population to try and demonstrate to the Iraqi people, and the world, that United States was flacid and incapable of providing any security. The opposite effect occurred. Iraqis stewed, but were still fearful of death, as Saddam Hussein's reign of terror trained Iraqis to believe that the best way to survive was to keep their mouths shut, and let the blood-thirsty savages have their way.

The U.S. continued on in spite of these images that were used to demonstrate their supposed "failure." Fallujah was recaptured and gutted as a terrorist haven. Remaining terrorist elements fled to Najaf and Mosul, and after a hard and determined fight, a combination of Iraqi and U.S. forces regained control of these cities as well. Everyday terrorists were killed and captured. As the security situation improved, Iraqis became convinced that the Americans would not leave them exposed, and a flood of intelligence about terrorists operations were reported. Syria and Iran, however continued to funnel terrorists and weapons into the country. While they were still on the run, the threat was far from defeated. However, al-Qaeda overplayed it's hand in Saudi Arabia, and the House of Saud began to crack down and arrest and kill them within the Kingdom. Pardon the pun, but Al-Qaeda's safe havens were caving in not just in Afghanistan and Iraq, but elsewhere.

As al-Qaeda was losing ground in the world, he Americans still had not secured Iraq. To do so, they began to go after the "ratlines" coming in along the Euphrates from Syria in Western Iraq. The goal was to recapture various towns along these ratlines with quick and simultaneous stikes. As the terrorists were knocked off balance, newly trained Iraqi security forces were brought in to hold these towns. This time, Iraqi security forces didn't run, they held and fought back with their American allies still providing lightening and simultaneous strikes on terrorist positions. One car bomb factory-one terrorist safe-house at a time were destroyed. These strikes were so quick and decisive, it was impossible for the Western media to provide the "money-shot" image they were looking for.

The Sunni areas then began to break down. The supposedly unified insurgents began to fight against themselves; American soldiers reported many instances of "Red-on-Red" fighting. Iraqi Sunni leaders understood their tenuous situation and began to make strides to end their violent opposition in order to join the political process already underway in most of the country. This development demonstrated that Al-Qaeda while losing the hearts and minds of most of the country, and was now losing the hearts and minds of the Sunnis that allowed them their safe haven to begin with.

American military commanders, while yet to declare any kind of ultimate victory, knew that al-Qaeda was being absolutely mauled on the battlefield, and Iraqis were exponentially cooperating with the American backed democratic efforts in the country. The light at the end of the tunnel was there, however they needed something tangible to show the world that they were winning. It couldn't come in the form of a sound bite, or a made for CNN moment of battlefield victory like the toppling of Saddam's statue, it would have to be a massive demonstration of cooperation and ownership on the part of the Iraqi people themselves.

The Iraqi constitution was written under great tension, just like many other countries in their infancy of self-rule (including this one). Ethnic and ideological groups threatened and some did boycott, while compromises were debated and ultimately made--peacefully. Even supporters of the war became part of this tension as the centrality of Islam's role in governing was something that made many nervous given the historical example of Iran's use of Islam to choke it's supposed democracy. Cries of theocracy became prevalent, and many wondered if the blood paid by a few thousand American's was worth it.

Well, this weekend, an election on the referrendum occurred. Eleven million Iraqis, or 70% of registered voters, turned out to determine how they would rule their country. There were only thirteen reported attacks, and pictures like this one were occuring all over the country:

Al-Qaeda bit venomously, but was unable to kill. They, along with their fascist supporters, have been ultimately and overwhelmingly rejected. The Iraqis now look like they are going to ratify a Federal, Democratic, but Islamic based constitution. This does not need to scare democrats in the West. The constitution provides that Islam will have a prominent role in law making, but no law shall be passed that will contradict democracy. Islam will have to find its way into a democratic society. We'll see if it will work, but that's the point. Islam needs to demonstrate to the world that it can live in the world, or it will ultimately be destroyed.

So, Monday morning, three days after the election, Americans and the world are back to bickering about domestic issues and the news is relatively quiet about what is happening in Iraq. Military operations will continue, however, al-Qaeda has officially lost the hearts and minds campaign. Detractors and war skeptics were dubious over the thought that America would win the hearts and minds of Iraq. Well, maybe they were right, but that was never the point. We didn't need to win their hearts and minds towards us, we need them to start believing in themselves and, ultimately, this is what Operation Iraqi Freedom was all about. The greatest battle in this War on Terror has tipped in our favor, thanks to the tireless courage, creative thinking and strong will of our military and political leadership, and the determined perserverance of the Iraqi people. A victory over an insurgent force, which the world had yet seen, has being achieved. This is not the time to get cocky, but it is a time that we can all reflect and say that things are heading in an imperfect, but positive direction, not just for Iraq, but against terrorism as a whole.

It is now time to start thinking about the next phase: Syria.

Posted by 10 fingers 6 strings at October 17, 2005 08:19 AM | TrackBack