About a month ago, the NYT published an op-ed from seven infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division. The piece, “The War as We Saw It,” was a sweeping condemnation of everything we’ve heard from war supporters. As these seven troops explained, U.S. forces are an unwelcome occupying force, the U.S. mission is built on bogus assumptions, and “recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable” is grossly exaggerated.
Today, on the fifth anniversary of the congressional authorization of military force in Iraq, the WaPo runs a powerful op-ed of its own from 12 former Army captains who served in Iraq — and who believe it’s time to leave.
Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.
As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we’ve seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it’s like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it’s time to get out.
And that would be, according to the 12 former Army captains, now.
These “phony troops” just keep popping up, don’t they? It must be a real challenge for the conservative smear machine to keep up.
The 12 explain that even seemingly-stabilized areas of Iraq are not what they appear — U.S. forces “just push insurgents to another spot on the map and often strengthen the insurgents’ cause by harassing locals to a point of swayed allegiances.” Iraqi security forces are practically hopeless, with debilitating corruption and police who are controlled by militias.
This is Operation Iraqi Freedom and the reality we experienced. This is what we tried to communicate up the chain of command. This is either what did not get passed on to our civilian leadership or what our civilian leaders chose to ignore. While our generals pursue a strategy dependent on peace breaking out, the Iraqis prepare for their war — and our servicemen and women, and their families, continue to suffer.
There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.
America, it has been five years. It’s time to make a choice.
Philip Carter, a former officer himself who had a good post on this, emphasized just how right the 12 are.
[U]nvarnished truth like this has been in short supply over the past five years. These young officers worked hard to unf**k the situation they’re talking about; they poured a lot of sweat and blood into the effort, and were committed to it. My guess is that they probably saw some of their own troops wounded or killed in the process. At the end of the day, they’re stuck wrestling with the same question that I am: “was it worth it?” Given the state of Iraq today, and all the frustrations of the mission, I’m not surprised by their conclusion. Many military professionals I talk with quietly tell me the same thing, while continuing to evince a public persona of confidence and “can do” attitude. These officers have had enough of that dualism.
If only the White House felt the same way.
As for these officers, they are obviously deserving of our gratitude, not only for their service, but for having the courage to speak out now. I shudder to think what conservatives might say about their efforts and patriotism, but we can only hope the right shows some respect and restraint. It would be a nice change of pace.