Invading Iraq
Mike Walker, Col USMC (retired)
All,
While watching a clip of Senator Marco Rubio being questioned about the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, I could not help but think of Dustin Hoffman in the Marathon Man.
“Is It Safe?” hissed Lawrence Olivier.
“Yes” moans Hoffman followed by painful drilling of teeth sans Novocain.
“Is It Safe?” Lawrence Olivier demanded again.
“No” moans Hoffman followed by painful drilling of teeth sans Novocain.
As a Marine who spent two tours in Iraq, I could empathize with Rubio. What is the answer to the question?
Beyond the ideologues that declared the War in Iraq a success or failure before Day 1, the answer is not so simple and for this veteran, it remains elusive.
Why? Because time has been of no help.
If you had asked me when I was in Iraq in June 2003, my answer would have been an unqualified “Yes,” going into Iraq was the right call. Having been thrust into the horrors of the Saddam Regime, the idea of ridding the world of such an evil was an unmistakable good (see below if you are interested in my thoughts on that).
If you had asked me in June 2005, after reflecting on the price in blood and treasure – the deaths and injuries suffered by my fellow Marines, some of the greatest men and women I had and will ever know – while an insurgency that did not exist in June 2003 had spread across 13 of Iraq’s 18 provinces, the answer had to be “No.”
If you had asked me in June 2011, my answer was back to “Yes,” it was the right call. Violence was down by 90% and al Qaeda-in-Iraq was on the ropes, a beaten foe. The schools were open and a building boom unlike any since the mid-1970s was in full swing. Iraq was the 6th fastest growing economy in the world, its GPD had quadrupled and unemployment had fallen from over 50% in 2004 to 11%.
The future looked so bright and then in Syria came the rise of the Islamic State.
What do I say now? The answer seems an obvious “No” as in 2005 but what about the “Yes” in 2003 and the “Yes” 2011? Nothing seems obvious anymore and what the future will hold is anyone's guess.
So here I sit, hands bracing the chair arms awaiting the question: Is IT Safe? Was IT a mistake?
And like Hoffman, I do not have the answer.
Semper Fi,
Mike
