What Does Winning Look Like?

This has been the question that has been bugging me recently in regards to Iraq. Years ago, President Bush stood in front of a huge banner that said “mission accomplished” Which I guess is true, because that “war” ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over and done with. I believe we’re now either in OIF IV or maybe even V. It’s a strange measurement. Winning is obviously not killing the most people; otherwise this would have been over years ago. Winning is not removing Saddam Hussein from power, because we can check that box off too. Winning is not simply bringing about Iraqi democracy, having democratically elected officials or having them establish a constitution. Vice President Cheney was clear about the fact that these goals were accomplished in a recent article on CNN.

With all this in mind, what does the President think needs to be accomplished in order to chalk this one up in the win column? What possible models do we have to look at in the past 100 years for what victory looks like? Well, I might be missing a war or two in here, but lets take a look…We have Afghanistan, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, World War I. Of these 8 wars, there is only one where I can think that we won the war, stayed in that country, and didn’t have any more trouble…and of course, that would be WWII. Of course, it took 40+ years for the whole country to get back to normal, but surely the President doesn’t think that we will be there for that long? Heck, we still have a huge military base there. Those other 7 wars that I mentioned, we didn’t stick around, or we lost, or we’re still fighting. The cultures are extremely different, and it seems like those countries are in it for the long haul. Something that I hope we are not planning on.

There is no “win” in war anymore. There is no more good side and bad side. However good our countries intentions are does not make up for the fact that we are injuring and killing civilians by the thousand. Just because we do it by accident doesn’t make it alright.

Since there is no real “win” situation, how can you cut and run? How can you lose if anything you do is not winning? The people in Iraq will always be at war with the United States as well as themselves as long as we are fighting. The only way to stop the fighting is for us to stop and pray that we haven’t hurt a young child in a way that will lead him to become the next Osama. Just declare victory and go home.