Soldiers Speak

In this morning's New York Times online, several sergeants, staff sergeants, and an army specialist have co-published their views on the situation in Iraq, titled, "The War as We Saw It". In this editorial the writers describe their skepticism at the press coverage "portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable," and they warn that "[t]he ability of, say, American observers to safely walk down the streets of formerly violent towns is not a resounding indicator of security." These words are important to keep in mind as just such American observers as Michael O'Hanlon, Kenneth Pollack, and William Kristol have returned from recent trips to Iraq describing the safety with which they have walked down such formerly violent streets. When General Petraeus and the Bush administration give us the much-heralded September report on the success of the surge, will the sunny side of the American occupation again be served up for our consumption? We deserve the truth, a thorough explanation of the complexities of the war in Iraq, the hard work of either staying or leaving, neither of which is a good option. (Nor do we seem to have anything close to Solomonic leadership that can split this baby.)

These soldiers' op-ed is a rebuttal to the happy talk of the O'Hanlon and Pollack op-ed of two weeks ago, "A War We Just Might Win". As these men of the 82nd Airborne Division explain, the military successes of our superior forces are offset by tremendous failures elsewhere, particularly in improving "basic social and economic conditions."

The United States has "failed on every promise," but no one takes responsibility or blame in the Bush administration. The pattern is to repeat platitudes until they are either accepted as wisdom or forgotten on the way to the mall.

UPDATE, 12 September 2007: Two of the men who wrote the editorial "The War as We Saw It," criticizing the war in Iraq, are now dead, killed in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Yance Gray was killed September 10th in an accident in Baghdad. Sergeant Omar Mora was killed in the same vehicle rollover accident.