Besides our troops, one man's vision and courage are responsible. That man was George Walker Bush.
When the chips were down, the MSM was in full control of the public discussion, and with his own base becoming weary, President Bush had the guts to persevere. The Surge heartened the Iraqis enough to end the brutal anarchy. The Sons of Iraq, common Iraqis, stood up. I, like President Bush, knew the Iraqis could....I knew it from the first election when Iraqis of all stripes defied the jihadis by giving them a purple finger.
This will be GWB's legacy, because it is the truth.
Already on this thread, there are posters who consider the war a huge waste of time, money, and men. They are wrong. We rid the world of a madman that tortured his own people, wiped out innocents with chemical weapons, threatened and invaded his neighboring countries...deep in the most economically sensitive area of the world.
We had fought one war with him to run him out of Kuwait, spent ten years chasing his WMD, and enforced a no fly zone to keep thousands of more innocents from dying at his hands. He had plotted to asassinate a former President.
We ended Saddam's reign of terror in the Middle East, all his dreams of WMD, and his threats to our security.
As a bonus, we had a venue to kill all manner of Al-Qaeda operatives on a foreign soil, instead of waiting for them to come here, or ferreting them out of the caves of Afghanistan. They came by the thousands from all over the world, and died in Iraq at the hands of our soldiers and at the hands of Iraqis.
In fact, the brutality of the jihadis was on display for years, giving them a huge PR defeat. Arabs learned by experience that jihadis would target them, rather than the Americans who could fight back. The war in Iraq nearly destroyed Al Qaeda, set back international jihad for decades, and showed that the US could back up its words with deeds.
This war had value beyond measure, and was well worth our soldiers sacrifice.
Now we are leaving a relatively peaceful nation, with a functioning representative democracy chosen by their people, and enough infrastructure to support themselves. They are free from tyranny, and we have given them the chance to remain that way. It is now up to them. I can only pray that Obama's failure to keep some forces stationed in Iraq will not come back to haunt them and us.
Our troops deserve to come home now, and should receive a hearty "Job Well Done!". They earned it with professionalism, courage, tenacity, and sacrifice. GWB deserves credit for standing firm and giving them the opportunity to prevail.
Thank you President Bush!
