"Turning the Page"- The End of the Iraq War

While America’s war in Afghanistan rages on, our more bloody campaign of two fewer years in Iraq comes to a quiet close.  The same war that held the country’s fascination at times, inspired countless books, films, documentaries, and even TV shows, caused the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, tens of thousands of Iraqi and other foreign insurgents, and tens (maybe even hundreds) of thousands of Iraqi civilians concluded last week with the last of American combat troops receiving their orders to leave.  And although fifty thousand troops will remain and others are still technically in the process of leaving, the war that is America’s third longest behind only Vietnam and Afghanistan is officially over, and according to President Obama, “it is time to turn the page”. 

In the seven years since President George W. Bush declared war on Iraq, America has debated internally and internationally of the merits of this invasion from its first day till this very moment.  From the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction, the claims of Al Qaeda ties to Saddam Hussein, the heinous images of Abu Gharib, and the picketing by parents and other activists at The White House, Pentagon and George Bush’s ranch to the cheering of Saddam’s ousting, the first elections of a new, fledgling democracy, the significant reduction of violence, and the joyous returns of America’s brave servicemen and women, Iraq has been the match of America’s rancorous fire for longer than any other topic in recent history.  But now it has ended. 

In the fall of 2003, at the start of the war, I was less than a year out of college and starting my career as a teacher.  My brother had started his basic training the summer before and was now at Officer Candidate School and one of my best friends from college was on the verge of leaving for basic at Fort Benning, Georgia.  The full weight of this war and its unknown toll collapsed on me very forcefully and unexpectedly.  One moment I was caught up in the excitement and start of my new life and the next I was forced to contemplate the horror and potential loss of loved one’s lives.  As time wore on and my brother and close friend proudly served multiple tours in Iraq, I learned second hand the grotesque realities of war, the power and expertise of our military, the brutal sadness of soldiers losing their comrades and friends, and the joy of their safe returns home.  In seven years, I have come as close to this war as anyone can without ever stepping foot in Iraq but now my connection to this place is severed and life has moved on. 

I still don’t know what to make of this war.  I don’t know if our efforts were futile, tragic, or historic.  I don’t know if Iraq will create an identity of its own and become a new center of brilliant, meaningful democracy some day or lose itself in the violence within and be overpowered by the totalitarianism on its borders.  Regardless of the eventual outcome, neither I nor anyone else can unequivocally declare victory or failure in a country shrouded in such uncertainty, but fortunately for us, we no longer have to worry since the war is finished and we now have more pressing worries at hand. 

As Iraq begins to write a new chapter in its tumultuous history, America ‘turns the page’ as well to a vague and bleak future.  Yet even as these two countries’ stories diverge, it is imperative of each to remember the tales and experiences of sacrifice, death, friendship, devastation, redemption, despair, and hope that we shared for seven years.  And even though we are told it is time to move on, I personally vow to always keep this story close by, regardless of its supposed conclusion, and promise to continue to follow Iraq’s present and future ordeals and hope America never forgets that country’s connection to our own.  



Comments

[James Dugan]

"Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell" Emily Dickinson

Great piece -- done in so a humanistic manner with a balance between the huge toll of sacrifice we have endured and the emptiness of not really knowing if our efforts amounted to much.

What I understand:
Sadam Hussein is dead. A tyrant to his own countryman and a enemy to the United States.
The country is still ethnicly and religiously divided.
American soldiers were lost.
Violence still can erupt at anytime and does killing civilians and any sympathizers to the new democratic government.
Poverty Iraq's Gross National Product 16 Billion
Iraq's Per Capita Income @$3000
Iran is still a nuclear threat
Iraq's people have a life expectancy of @58 years old.

http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2009/08/life-in-iraq-before-and-after-invasion.html

I hope you check the site out above and see some of the positives and negatives since the US moved in 2003.

I can only hope and pray for Iraq, but for the rest of my life, the country will be defined by the last seven years.

[Martin Roche]

Well written, Edmonds. Whatever the stupidity and vanity of the men who planned the occupation, it seems to me time and time again that the only thing that redeemed our work there were the efforts of men and women in combat. They were the ones who got to know the Iraqis for better and for worse and it was they who responsible for carrying out the efforts of nation-building. I'm glad I'm too young to remember the shameful welcome that Vietnam vets returning home received, but I hope that we as a nation are able to provide the continuing psychological and physical support that the veterans of the Iraq war deserve. And while I do not hold out a great deal of hope for the future of functioning representative government in Iraq, I hope that the Americans who served there will remember those whom they met there who recognized that our armed forces were, after a fashion, mostly there to maintain peace.

[James Dugan]

Though I understand the sympathy for American soldiers, it is very hard to reconcile the difference between the soldier and the war. Again and again we call our government something different than ourselves, yet the people of America are directly responsible for the government, and with 50% or less voting in most elections, the actions of the voters are even more important.

War is a machine that at least Americans tacitly agree with; the citizens, the soldiers, the representatives must be held accountable. We are all to blame,the good or bad, but to relinguish the immediate participants of the action, especially when they are civilly responsible in a way we all are, makes them victims. Especially in this action, which took seven years, two administrations, 3 representative races, and at least one senate race.

I am sickened many times at how the media crucifies the war and yet holds our soldiers as examples of good Americans. This is not logical and why papers and television continue to earn the distrust of the American public. Let us stop believing some shadow government is controling the lives of a democratic government. This type of reporting just perpetuates that Americans are not in charge of their future and can do very little to alter its path.