Tom Basile
Washington Times, Mar. 17, 2023
“Twenty years on, we owe it to our military, our civilians and ourselves as we face new threats together to take a more honest look at the successes of the War on Terrorism and our mission in Iraq.’
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of our engagement in Iraq. For those who saw the war up close, it is a time of reflection and revisiting moments that shaped not only our Iraq experience but our lives. For the nation, it’s a time to challenge ourselves to look beyond the popular narratives about the mission.
In the days and weeks ahead, this anniversary will be used by some on the left and right to criticize former President George W. Bush. We’ll hear vapid comments about ‘forever wars’ and the ruminations of self-ordained experts and so-called influencers who never set foot in the country about the supposed reckless, aggressive, colonialist nature of U.S. policy.
That thin analysis does a disservice to those who served.
What they will miss in their typical rush to hysterical one-sidedness is the extraordinary and noble work done by hundreds of thousands of brave Americans, military and civilian, who genuinely attempted to forge a better life for the people of Iraq against enormous odds.
It is easy to criticize. Our discourse is full of Monday morning quarterbacks and armchair generals. It’s harder to acknowledge that the real history of anything is far messier and more complex than often fits the dominant narrative. America’s involvement in Iraq is a prime example.
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