'This Was a Good Thing to Do'

Opinion Journal ^ | 07/28/03 | PAUL A. GIGOT

[Pokey78]

Iraqis' greatest fear is that America will cut and run.

NAJAF, Iraq--Toppling a statue is easier than killing a dictator. Not the man himself, but the idea of his despotism, the legacy of his torture and the fear of his return. This kind of reconstruction takes time.

[PGalt]

Very good, optimistic article. Thanks for posting it.

[Arkinsaw]

Good grief. Tell these people to pick up a gun and be prepared to defend their freedom if they want it. I can guarantee them one thing we will NOT be there forever. We might be there 10 days, we might be there 20 years. But we WON'T be there forever. Sooner or later they will have to defend their own freedom because if they don't, evil men will enslave them WHENEVER we leave. Guaranteed. Only they can defend their own freedom.

[Paleo Conservative]

Which brings up the other large American mistake: The failure to enlist Iraqi allies into the fight from the very start. Pentagon officials had wanted to do this for months, but they were trumped by the CIA, State and former Centcom chief Tommy Franks.

As usual the career state department officials get it wrong. I can't quite figure out what side they are on.

[basil]

Too bad that our "mainstream" media won't run this piece. It's also too bad that so many in the media haven't a clue what they are talking about when it comes to the situation in Iraq. I can believe the words of a journalist who has been there and seen with his own eyes, and heard with his own ears, far more than I can believe anyone else.

[baseballmom]

Thanks Pokey. Good read bump

[okie01]

"Too bad that our "mainstream" media won't run this piece."

Most of the mainstream media journalists in Iraq are housed in one hotel in Baghdad. They rarely go more than four or five blocks away from their bed or the bar.

By an odd coincidence, 99.2% of all anti-American demonstrations take place in front of this same hotel...

[RDangerfield]

Most of the mainstream media journalists in Iraq are housed in one hotel in Baghdad. They rarely go more than four or five blocks away from their bed or the bar. By an odd coincidence, 99.2% of all anti-American demonstrations take place in front of this same hotel...

I think you confused your news stories. We learned last month that it is multi-star military brass and the administration bureaucrats who are in air-conditioned tents in Baghdad and some even have butlers trained in a special school.
--Raoul

[okie01]

"I think you confused your news stories. We learned last month that it is multi-star military brass and the administration bureaucrats who are in air-conditioned tents in Baghdad and some even have butlers trained in a special school."

But, since they never venture far from the Hotel Palestine, how would the media know?

Perhaps a refugee Ba'athist spun them a yarn...

[El Gato]

NAJAF, Iraq--Toppling a statue is easier than killing a dictator. Not the man himself, but the idea of his despotism, the legacy of his torture and the fear of his return. This kind of reconstruction takes time.

I dunno, if he's dead, he's going to have a 'ell of a time returning. Don't ya think?

[El Gato]

Things improved dramatically once the Marines deposed a corrupt mayor who'd been installed by the CIA

The CIA has long favored the installation of corrupt local politicians. Good for the Marines, who haven't.

[El Gato]

"You have to understand it was a Stalinist state," says Iaian Pickard

Which explains liberal Democrats' fondness for it.

[livius]

Thanks for posting this excellent description and analysis. It would be so wonderful if the press wre actually a source of information, rather than the liberal hysteria machine it has become.

[RJCogburn]

Good article.

Gigot is usually a trustworthy writer.

[Coop]

President Bush declared the war over much too soon,

That's a bunch of Bravo Sierra. The President said just the opposite.

[q_an_a]

The RNC should have a series of Iraq videos showing mass graves, torture centers like the White Lion and then pictures of the present Iraq described in this article. The RNC should show what a compassionate military looks like and make Americans proud of what is happening on their behalf.

[Valin]

Tell these people to pick up a gun and be prepared to defend their freedom if they want it.

They are. We are now training 1,000s of Iraqis to be policemen. We are also in the process of reconstituting the Iraqi army. But these thing take time(it's only been what 3 months). The political inferstructure of Iraq has to be rebuilt from the ground up.
In the end it will be up to the Iraqis to say what kind of country they end up with. What we are doing is giving them a shot at freedom.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

You're right, Coop. Pres. Bush clearly stated it was the end of major operations...and it was. Both Franks and Rumsfeld detailed the 8 objectives of this war. The military's been working steadily at completely them all.

Thank you for the post, Pokey.

Most reporting from Iraq suggests that the U.S. "occupation" isn't welcome here. But following Mr. Wolfowitz around the country I found precisely the opposite to be true. The majority aren't worried that we'll stay too long; they're petrified we'll leave too soon.

FYI - thanks to Paul Gigot.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Wolfowitz in Iraq  (More Photo Essays)

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz receives a small bouquet of flowers as a welcoming gift from an Iraqi girl upon his arrival in Salah ad Din in Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Kieran Moore, 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Combat Camera Team  10 More Photos

EVOICES OF FREEDOM [Quotes from the grateful Iraqi people - update]
White House Website -> Iraq -> Liberation Update ^ | July 22, 2003 - weekly (usually) | Various - press

[VOA]

Tell these people to pick up a gun and be prepared to defend their freedom if they want it.

Captain Dale Dye (USMC, Ret.) said last weekend that his sources on the ground
say that Coalition-trained Iraqi militia will be taking on patrol/police duties within
60 days.

The road will rocky and unsteady, but it looks like things are heading the right
direction for now.
The more time that transpires without a CIA/NSA-verified audiotape of Saddam urging
his minions to avenge Uday, Quasy, and grandson Mustafa...the happier I am.
As it means Saddam is dead, so injured he can't speak, is constantly on the run,
or so busy hiding out far from Iraq as to be totally neutralized.