David's Daily Diversions

Finishing the War in Iraq

Finishing the War in Iraq – Reason #521

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: now that we’ve started Gulf War II, we have to fight to win.

Apparently the latest count of civilian deaths by the Iraqi regime stands at around 370. As my friend Fr Pat Reardon observed, “Even if this figure is not exaggerated, it is still the safest war in history in which to be a civilian.” I would never suggest that any civilian deaths are good. I would never suggest that any deaths are good, except for those who die in Christ. But given that there are no such things as “what ifs,” we have to live in the world as it is. If the Coalition does not achieve its objectives, there will be a lot more than 370 civilian deaths. There will be a lot more than 3700 civilian deaths, and they will be on the orders of Saddam Hussein.

This is not idle conjecture. We have history to prove it. When George H.W. Bush prosecuted Gulf War I, his administration encouraged uprising among the Shiites and other disaffected groups. These groups rebelled, knowing that surely the Americans and their junior partners were going to back them up and Saddam would be gone. Rather than backing them up, HW backed out. As a result thousands were murdered.

When people say W is just taking after his father by fighting with Saddam, I hope they are right. I hope he is trying to wash off some of the blood that is on HW’s hands and avenging the blood on Saddam’s head and the heads of those who have served him at the same time.

As the mini-revolt erupted in Basra, Tony Blair public encouraged the uprising, saying “We won’t let you down this time.” Tony hasn’t kept any promise on domestic policy yet. I pray that he keeps this commitment. If this foreign policy ends up like his transport, health, agricultural, immigration, or crime policies, the Iraqis are screwed.

Now that the Coalition has put its hand to the plough, there is no time for looking back. It seems trite, but as the US calls in reinforcements and ponders the unexpected resistance to the invasion, the words of Jesus in Luke 14 keep resonating in my head, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?"