I'm currently reading "1776", and loudly encourage all to do likewise. It's wonderful.
But one thing rings true in every reading I find regarding our war for independence, and again, in recent readings I've had over the Vietnam War.....
With WW2 being an exception, all wars we have fought have been *VERY* unpopular, especially when they last a long time. This is often true in many democracies. But there are some interesting comparisons with the two wars I mentioned.
The war for independence, or Revolutionary War, was HUGELY unpopular in different segments of the country. The popularly accepted division of support purported by historians is that a third of the nation were fiercely Loyalist, a third fiercely Rebel or Patriot, and a third largely indifferent to either cause. Being Loyalist wasn't just "being against the War". It meant actively *HELPING* the enemy, England - spying for them, supplying them, and fighting for them. To them, the nation was being overrurn by idiotic ingrates, greedy morons, religious nutjobs, drunks -- they'd have run to Canada had it really existed much back then (historically, most of what they called "Upper Canada" was settled after the war by people who did just that - LEFT the United States).
And that's not to say the support, or lack of it, was evenly distributed. With the exception of New England, and Philadelphia, the major cities had very large Loyalist support, especially New York, and the South. To read this book, you get the notion I ALWAYS get when I read about that era - how in God's name did we ever *win*? We were poorly supplied, vastly outnumbered by a highly trained army - the world's most powerful. Our navy was non-existent, and we were being undermined by OUR OWN PEOPLE.
How did we win?
All of the other reasons aside - catching Cornwallis at Yorktown, guerrilla tactics, steely resolve, crafty commanders and some outstanding bravery - the largest reason I can still find after reading about it for many many years - we outlasted them. The English people just didn't want to fight it any more. It was a war that was *supposed* to be very brief - at the onset, it was bragged that the whole continent could be subdued with a mere 5,000 men. When it dragged on year after year, the world's most powerful nation simply gave up fighting us. We wore them out.
Fast forward to the Vietnam era. Almost every one who knows much about this war knows at least two or three crucial facts. One is, we didn't lose a major battle from beginning to end. It was long, but - we were winning the entire war - not unlike the English. Another is that while the Tet offensive was broadly described as a crushing defeat, it wasn't - at least, not for US - it WAS for the North Vietnamese. We beat the snot out of them. They were never the same after that. They beat us by outlasting us - as we had the most powerful nation on Earth nearly 200 years earlier. WE were beaten, because it became unpopular at home. Yes, we were beaten for a lot of other reasons, but the largest was, we just didn't want to pursue the fight any further. We left, they took over, killed millions, and it's Communist to this day.
The parallels just seem too striking to me - that a nation as powerful as ours can be beaten simply by two things - having the resolve to pursue the conflict longer than your enemy - making them blink first. And by engaging or profiting by a campaign to gin up the horrors of the war. While almost every war has been unpopular, the casualties in this war, while tragic, have been absurdly light, especially in light of the SCOPE of it - in a couple years, we've lost less men than often fell in just HOURS of some of our worst conflicts. It's simply astonishing - I mean, we have whole days without fatalities - who has ever heard of a war where that happens?
I hate war, as almost anyone who's ever been in one (I haven't) also does. And the decision to GO to war should never be taken lightly - it will be paid for in blood. It will not cost us "billions", but human lives. This is why it is horrible. That's why it should be avoided. It's horrific and gruesome.
And that is why it should NEVER be engaged in unless you possess the will to complete it. It's kind of like when you choose to raise children - you don't toss them out once they get big enough to really ruin your life - it's too late then. You're screwed. It becomes a matter of "you should have thought of this before you got involved".
To leave Iraq now, without completing the mission does several things. It profanes and dishonors those who gave their lives already - it means their lives were wasted over a hasty decision. While there are those who ALREADY believe it was hasty to begin with, leaving now makes that situation worse - it can only BE worse already if the mission cannot be won. Try to imagine the brave souls who gave their lives in pursuit of civil rights - only for their leaders to just give up the cause, and shrug it all off. All those who died before died bravely, because they believed their cause would win, eventually. Had the mission been abandoned - their deaths were for naught.
That's the first reason.
The second is, it tells the world - the United States has no will to fight a real war. It's open season on Americans. You might as well cancel your overseas travel plans, because a target has been painted on your azz. Running tail now just means the fight will get *worse*.
And the last is what everyone knows - we can't leave Iraq in chaos, to dissolve into civil war. If we left now, we might as well hand out cyanide pills to everyone, because a LOT of them are going to die. Iraq is a nation which is geographically MOSTLY peaceful - but will plunder into nationwide civil conflict should the thugs we're facing get the upper hand.
I honestly fear we can't do what we want to do. The Iraqi people do not show the kind of resolve that say, the Poles did when facing the Russians, the Nazis and the Communists. They don't seem to want it bad enough. It's a sad day if WE want a free Iraq more than they do themselves. A free democratic Iraq would totally transform all of the Middle East - but after decades of repression, war and dictatorship - I think the fight has been beaten out of them. I don't believe they possess the will. I fear we can't exit this gracefully.
I guarantee you that the minute we find Bin Ladin and get him into custody, you're going to start hearing that the War on Terror is over so let's pull our troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and any pushes to the contrary are going to be met with the fiercest resistance possible. As for Iraq specifically, Bush needs to get off his ass and start winning a war rather than trying to make friends. And as for the troops, I think we need to start getting more leaders in place who don't give a damn about carreers and who are willing to win the war as well.