As 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops launch a major offensive in Fallujah 19 months after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it is time for Americans to re-evaluate what our soldiers are dying for and who they are fighting against.
The invasion, lumped into the “war on
terror” by those scraping the barrel for an explanation for disintegrating U.S.-world relations, has become a monster. On Monday, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told reporters he expected insurgents to put up a tough fight.
“Listen, these folks are determined,” he said. “These are killers. They chop people’s heads off. They’re getting money from around the world. They’re getting recruits.”
It is entertaining to watch the rose-tinted glasses come off right before a major offensive. Where was this rhetoric during the election? And is any of this news to anyone? Did Rumsfeld honestly think one of the oldest human cultures in the world would embrace gun-wielding, America-propaganda-spreading troops with open arms?
The U.S. military estimates that at least
20 percent of the insurgents in Fallujah are foreigners, many following Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to the
Associated Press. As if the “who” of the Iraq situation didn’t seem ambiguous enough, the “why” is becoming progressively more unclear.
According to the Department of Defense, at least 1,133 members of the U.S. military have died (as of Monday) in Iraq, 995 of those deaths occurring after May 2003, when President Bush declared an end to “major combat operations.” At least 871 died as a result of hostile action. Furthermore, 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the invasion, according to a study released last week by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
What has this mind-boggling human suffering and sacrifice gotten us? Not much. On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, faced with what The New York Times called “an expanding outbreak of insurgent violence across the country,” declared a 60-day state of emergency. It is hard to fathom how the Iraqi forces will be able to protect themselves without coalition help anytime soon. And a free, fair and widespread election in January is looking like a pipe dream.
America must no longer use Iraq as a testing ground for its policies. The “insurgency” exists well beyond Fallujah, impacting hundreds of thousands of civilians. The United States must send more troops to Iraq to help contain the violence and, most importantly, to help rebuild. After more than a year of combat, the Bush Administration must strengthen its international allies to help foster peace and quell a fast-approaching global uprising.

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]