American soldiers won the war in Iraq long ago.  This is what soldiers do; they win wars and our American soldiers are the best.

Our troops are now being asked to do police work as well as Peace Corps work to give the Iraqi government time to behave responsibly, as well as to rebuild infrastructure.   They have done these non-military jobs extremely well.   But should we keep our soldiers in Iraq for a decade or more as the Administration has suggested?  My answer is no and my reasoning is below.

Outcomes 

We entered Iraq with the stated outcome of finding and destroying weapons of mass destruction.  When we found none, the outcome either changed, or became more evident, depending on your perspective.    We were faced with insurgents but responded by fighting a traditional war for several years before re-learning what we had already learned in Vietnam about fighting insurgents.   

Water under the bridge.  General Petraeus appears to have us on the correct path militarily but politically, Iraq has failed to meet 13 of its 18 benchmarks. 

In 2008, our desired outcomes should be:

1.  That the central government of Iraq wins the trust and support of the Iraqi people, majority and minority factions.

2.  That the central government of Iraq builds an effective military and security force, dedicated to the central government rather than to factions within Iraq. 

Costs 

The cost of the war is 4,000 brave men and women as of the fifth anniversary of the war:  fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers.  Forty-six from South Carolina.   The cost of the war is 30,000 wounded, 20% of whom have serious brain injuries, 20% of whom are amputees. 

In addition to the extreme human cost, the Iraq war has cost the United States 50-60 times more than the Administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy in general, and our economy in particular, according to Nobel Prize-winning  economist Joseph Stiglitz.    

The direct cost of the war is budgeted to be $800 billion through 2008.  That’s $12 billion per month and $390,000 per soldier per year.  The cost includes $10 billion of taxpayers’ money which Congressional hearings defined as wasted or mismanaged including 190,000 lost guns, $1 billion in missing tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. 

Finally, “the total cost of the Iraqi war to date paid by taxpayers in DISTRICT ONE is $697.3 million” as of March 25, 2008.  The cost to us in the First District is money we could have used to provide:

• 54 New Elementary Schools OR­  
• 9,290 Port Container Inspectors OR­  
• 373,761 People with Health Care OR­  
• 506,001 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR­  
• 18,669 Public Safety Officers OR­  
• 13,301 Music and Arts Teachers OR­  
• 89,305 Scholarships for University Students OR­  
• 6,819 Affordable Housing Units OR­  
• 404,884 Children with Health Care OR­  
• 104,652 Head Start Places for Children OR­  
• 13,474 Elementary School Teachers

… and that is just in our District.    National Priorities Project   

Based on the above, my answer to the question of whether America should resource and sustain this war is “no.”  Acting alone in a politically volatile world was a mistake from the beginning and is a mistake now.   We risk our economy, depleting our military and setting a precedent that we will act as the world’s military and the world's police force.  A precedent that is not, and will not, be doable. 

What Now?

We must begin by developing an entire Middle East plan.   We now have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; but, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Syria and more are volatile and vital.   

Our plan must include how to restore alliances damaged by our unilateral actions.   The entire free world should support a stable Middle East.   The new President and Congress will need to rebuild our relationship with the U.N. and NATO with the goal of dramatically increasing their responsibilities in the Middle East.  They should provide equipment and Peace Keeping Troops in sufficient numbers to take over a large part of the police duties of our current forces.   That will require strengthening relationships, as well as strengthening NATO and the political will of its members.   This is a necessity because America cannot, and should not, police the world.

I would support withdrawal over an 18 month period from Iraq while U.N., NATO partners, India and friendly Arab countries prepare to work together to assume responsibility for the stability of Iraq and the Middle East.

I also support a build-up of our military forces, particularly Delta Forces, eliminating mercenaries and re-establishing diplomacy as the first step in conflicts.   The world is a politically unstable place with numerous volatile hotspots on 3+ continents.   We will need to be prepared with diplomacy and force where necessary, and we will need to have partners.