Are we there yet?

Do the talking heads remind you of children on a long trip like Bart Simpson, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Looking for an easy way attack the president, they are once again obsessing on the Iraq exit strategy. Can we leave yet? Can we leave yet?

Here’s a hint, in WWII, Germany surrendered May 7, 1945. We still have over 100,000 US troops serving in Europe. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 but the 3rd Marine Division and the 7th fleet are still in Japan. After fighting the Moro Indians and the Japanese in the Philippines we remained until 19991. The cease-fire in Korea was signed on July 27, 1953. We still have over 37,000 troops in South Korea. Today, we continue our “one year” peace mission in the Balkans which began in 1995.

And what have we left in our wake in these places? Have we colonized them? Have we, as their conquerors and/or protectors, stolen their resources? No, for the most part we have established democracy and paid our own way. At great expense to ourselves, we have provided protection and assistance to the conquered. While we absorbed their military obligations, the money they would have been forced to spend on defense went to building their industry. Now, free of defense obligations for the last 60 years, they are able to compete with us to sell their cars, radios, TVs and airplanes to the world.

The talkers want to turn the whole thing in Iraq over to NATO or the UN. Besides the fact that neither has the…hummm…guts to take on anything meaningful, neither would exist were it not for the US. What would NATO be without US participation? It would be a fourth or fifth rate military alliance incapable of defending Europe from even a neutered Russia let alone projecting military power to the Middle East. The UN without the US acting as its host and its largest contributor would further degenerate into what it largely has become anyway a platform for dictators, thugs, strongmen, satraps, theocrats and communists to bash the US.

The short answer to the military and strategic thinkers obsessing on our Iraq exit strategy is: “At the earliest, when the mission is accomplished but if history is any indicator, we’ll continue a presence as long as our strategic interests dictate.” We need only look at the results of our early withdrawal from places like Vietnam, Lebanon and our first efforts in Afghanistan to predict the outcome in Iraq if we leave early.