Iraq: What is it Now?

I'd rather lose the election than lose the war," says one of our illustrious Presidential candidates. I can't help but to ask, what war are we fighting in Iraq now? Our military, which is the finest fighting force on the face of this planet, has accomplished every mission our government has asked them to:

1. To find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons so the goal had to be changed...

2. Depose Saddam Hussein and free the Iraqi people from a tyrannical dictator. Thanks to our military, Saddam is now pushing daisies and the only place he'll hold office is in hell. The people of Iraq elected their own President in the nation's first free elections.

3. Establish a free standing democracy with a military and defense force capable of enforcing and sustaining a rule of law. Iraq has an elected President, a legislative body and a military force that is now demanding a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal.

Why then, are we disputing when they will be able to come home? It's been argued that if we pull out, we are essentially conceding defeat to terrorist organizations that are salivating at the opportunity to overtake Iraq. If this is the case, the failure is not our military's, but our political leaders who failed to gain insight or knowledge on what is obviously a much larger and complex problem, extending beyond Iraq. Further, these terrorist organizations are in no way limited to the borders of Iraq. Iraq wasn't even a sponsor of terrorism, simply because Hussein had a stranglehold on all of the country's affairs and was unwilling to share power...Iran is a different story.

The miscalculations of our politicians have led to thousands of dead and wounded troops, no clear objective and how it will be achieved, and much worse, no clear exit strategy. These monumental blunders are not to be blamed on our military, they simply follow the orders of their civilian superiors, many of whom never served.

The bottom line is, we need to hold our elected representatives accountable for and to our military. The men and women of the Armed Forces risk their lives daily so we can have the opportunities we have. The least we can do as beneficiaries of their sacrifices, is demand that policy makers make competent, well-informed decisions so we can minimize casualties while maximizing results. Our troops have done a tremendous job, despite the misinformed decisions of our elected officials (some appointed), lets show our support for them by demanding better from our government.

ROOT FOR THE BOOT.