A Few Thoughts on The War in Iraq 20 Years Later

It was 20 years ago tonight, U.S. led coalition forces entered Iraq to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. In that they succeeded. That mission was accomplished.

I must confess that in my wishful thinking in the guise of optimism, I thought the Iraqi population would be relieved to be rid of a leader the likes of whom hadn't killed as many of his own people since the days of Stalin in Russia.

While there was short term euphoria in the beginning, this soon gave way to a power vacuum filled with violence much of it directed against American soldiers but far more directed at Iraqi civilians. The bloodshed and chaos reigned for years until a surge of U.S. troops in 2007-2008 eventually quelled most of the insurgency. The war formally ended in December 2011 but then along came ISIS which required the return of some U.S. forces in June 2014 and they would remain for another seven and a half years. 

Although Iraq has consistently held elections, it is a country with far closer ties to its onetime mortal enemy Iran than it is to the United States and has also seen the vast majority of its Christian population flee the country to Jordan and Lebanon. As horrible as Saddam was it is legitimate to ask if Iraq would have been better off if the U.S. had not seen fit to lead an invasion. It might be in the long run but at a very steep price. On the other hand, Afghanistan is back where it started with the Taliban back in charge thanks to defeated, former President Trump legitimizing them over its democratically elected government with President Biden bearing the brunt of withdrawing U.S. troops albeit not entirely without justification. With this mind, the Iraqi government could have easily faced the same fate from the mercurial Trump.

Speaking of Trump, 20 years after, Americans are more likely than ever to be at war with another. A number of Iraq war veterans partook in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 while an estimated 20% of January 6th defendants had a military background. How many Americans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or served in our military in some capacity will answer Trump's call should he be arrested or charged with a crime? 

Mind you, not all Iraq war veterans are at the beck and call of the defeated former President. But many have suffered for their service with PTSD. The War in Iraq claimed the lives of just under 4,500 U.S. soldiers. To put that into perspective, this country lost 100 times as many soldiers during WWII but that fact is of very cold comfort to the Gold Star families who lost their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in Iraq. Those wounds will never heal.

Americans are decidedly less enthusiastic about sending ground troops into war then we were on this night 20 years. Sometimes war is the only choice we have. But more often than not war is not the answer because with it comes questions which have no good answer.