Iraq War

As a former soldier, I can tell you I am appalled by the lack of vision the current administration had before declaring what I consider to be an illegal and immoral "pre-emptive" war.

Iraq was thrown together by the British at the end of World War I. It is divided into three main communities/provinces, the Kurdish Mosul in the north, the Sunni Arabs centrally located, and the Shiites in the south. The Sunni's (25% of the populous) were placed in power in 1921 when Arab Prince Feisal of Hejaz was installed as Iraq's king. To maintain power over the other groups, Sunni rulers used various degrees of force. By removing the last Sunni ruler (Saddam Hussein) we, in effect, opened the doors for civil war.

Here we have three communities with different values, different allies and now we have presented them with one common enemy, us.

Where to go from here.

The first thing we need to do is RIGHT THE WRONG. De-Authorize the war. Admit that the intelligence was not only flawed, but falsified and hold those accountable who lied and put our soldiers in harms way.

GET OUR SOLDIERS OUT. The only thing accomplished by sending more troops to Iraq is giving the enemy more targets to shoot at. Our continued presence only fuels the insurgency, allowing each faction to blame the U.S. for anything that they feel will motivate their followers into action. By removing the troops, we remove the excuses and we effectively force the Iraq population to focus on their internal struggle for Democracy - in whatever form that needs to be. Will this stop all the violence in Iraq? no. These factions have been at odds since the 7th Century. It will not stop until the Iraqi people stop it. However, this leads me to the next point....

PURSUE DIPLOMATIC MEASURES. Once our soldiers are removed from the situation, diplomatic measures will be the driving force of peace in the region. We should engage the Iraqi government, the leaders of each faction and the international community to find a solution that will accommodate every facet of this society. Allowing freedoms of religion, property and individual rights is key in this region. Promoting security by using Muslim and UN Peacekeeping forces in areas that require such action. We must lead, but we must not define. Only the Iraqi people know how to define their country.

HONOR THEIR COMMITMENT. We must make sure that we take care of those who return from war, not just with bruised and broken bodies, but also with bruised and broken souls. We must provide physical and mental health care for all our soldiers and their families. There is no excuse for the conditions found in some of our VA hospitals. It is a disgrace to our nation and we should do whatever it takes to make it right.

NEVER FORGET. We must never forget the sacrifices our soldiers make each and every day they serve. We must never place them in harms way without justification and when they finish doing the job we ask them to do, we must allow them to rest and provide whatever care they need, in whatever form it is that they need.