Give 'Em What They Want

In light of the recent events that have been precipitated by the recent release of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report chaired by former Secretary of State James Banker, I am changing my policy proposal for the current war in Iraq. As Andrew McCarthy in today’s National Review Online put it, the country is in 9/10 mode. To review, the ISG report outlined 79 steps that the administration should take in order to address the growing instability in Iraq which in essence add up to ways in which the administration should manage its defeat. Some of the more notable recommendations amongst a set of shockingly naïve and defeatist blather, include: involving Syria and Iran in talks to end the violence in Iraq, threatening the withdrawal of US forces to influence the policy making of the current Iraqi government, and to shift the strategy of the military towards less direct engagement with the insurgency and more dedicated focus in training the Iraqi army and police. In shockingly simplistic reasoning, the ISG honestly feels that bringing two countries who have sworn to destroy the US and US-interests worldwide. To refresh your memory, Iran and Syria have waged an explicit and concentrated terror campaign against the United States since 1979. Our forces are in routine engagement on the Syrian border, sometimes directly with Syrian troops….the Iranian President has professed is interest in wiping Israel off the map and killing Americans whenever possible. In terms of threatening withdrawal and focusing our efforts on almost exclusively advising the Iraqi forces, the ISG ignores the elephant in the room: the insurgency continues to attack our forces and wreak havoc on the Iraqi populace….how can changing strategy and leaving the insurgents to continue their ways be effective in the least? Not surprisingly, the Left and the MSM have quickly embraced the report as an official validation of their Iraq Strategy and have used it to beat the Bush Administration over the head.

This is yet another indicator that the majority of the United States refuses to believe that we are at war and desperately wants to see our Commander in Chief fail. Regardless of the long term ramifications of losing a war, most people hold such an irrational hatred of the current administration that they would rather us lose in Iraq than emerge victorious as a country. Bush-hating has become a deadly addiction in this country, an addiction that has eaten away at our core patriotic values, alienated our military, and has lead us to forget the 3,000 innocent souls whose lives were robbed from them five years ago. Addiction is a disease whose release must be driven by the individual who seeks a cure to his affliction. Family, friends, and loved ones can attempt anything to persuade the addict to change, but until has reached the point of no return, or ‘rock bottom’, there is no chance of persevering. Having personally experienced this, the searing pain of addiction is that which is caused by watching the addict self-destruct and continue to lose himself in the shadow of denial…it is a sense of helplessness and pain that can never be rivaled. To let the addict continue to hurt himself until he realizes he needs help is the only to influence recovery, but once a realization has been made, the positive changes will come.

Unfortunately this analogy is not lost on the domestic front in regard to the Iraq War and the Bush Administration. The virulent Left and the mainstream media have pushed their toxic hatred of George W. Bush on the American people to the point that it has resulted in a massive epidemic that has jeopardized our very survival as a nation. It is hatred for Bush that drives the profound disgust for the war in Iraq. It is hatred for Bush that impugns any reasonable effort to defend our country from terror domestically and abroad. It is the Machiavellian pursuit of regime change that has blinded our country from the dangers that lurk in Iraq and in the shadows of our backyards. So like a distressed parent left with no choice but to watch a dear loved one self-destruct, I propose the following: Give the people what they think they want, withdraw from Iraq immediately. I am serious, unconditionally withdraw American Forces from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately….all American personnel. Just leave, no residual aid, no military advisors, no subsidies....nothing. Pack up the troops, dismantle the bases, shutter the embassies, ship our equipment home, pocket our money and depart the region entirely....Gone.

With the immediate withdrawal the nation should be prepared for several things. First, the Left and the MSM will embark on a massive “self-congratulatory” campaign and cite the withdrawal as a major victory (note: major victory for their party). Second, Iraq will rapidly spiral into factional conflict resulting in tens of thousands of civilian deaths, atrocities, and reciprocal genocide (note: Iraq will become the “Darfur” of the Hollywood elite), Third, Iran will advance to quickly replace the void left by the United States and further destabilize the region driving energy prices to unimaginable heights (note: creating massive wealth for the Mullahs to aid in nuclear efforts). Fourth, there will be a massive backlash from not only the US Military but from the thousands of brave men and women who at this point will have essentially given their lives in vain. This abandonment by the very Government whom they had vowed to protect will inevitably result in bitterness, distrust, and loss of morale that will pale the plight of the Vietnam Vets in comparison. Fifth, high from the resounding victory that will be trumpeted throughout the Islamic World, the campaign of terror will continue with unrivaled vigor. Networks of extremists both homegrown and foreign will infiltrate American and European cities in search of new targets and sensational losses of life. With each attack and subsequent media coverage, the terrorists will only grow bolder and move to satiate their bloodlust. Finally, the United States will remain a superpower from an economic perspective but our prestige on the international stage will be irreparably damaged. No longer will we be the dominant superpower, but rather a weak, yet fat giant. Unfortunately these are the inevitable consequences of withdrawal and many will result in damages that cannot be reversed. We have reached the point of no return, as the pushers of discontent have achieved their goal of near unanimous addiction and we have to allow it to run its course. Bush should immediately withdraw all US Force from the Iraqi and Afghan theaters…I don’t think there is much of a choice. Will the American public every truly grasp what is at stake in the war on terror? I do not know. I do know that we cannot let another American serviceperson die in service of a hopelessly addicted country who doesn’t believe in the cause….we owe our troops that much.

Perhaps one of these events will force the American public to hit the proverbial rock bottom and rise above their addiction, but then again, addiction can also prove to be lethal.