Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Strategic assessment

Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Strategic Assessment

This I’ll admit was a very interesting book that looked at what could have really caused the Iraq war and whether we really had to go to war. The book talks about the flaws with the reasons that Bush proposed for going to war with Iraq and why we haven’t had a fuller victory yet. The book basically goes into details about the four observations that arise from examining certain aspects of the war and afterwards. In the next few pages I’ll be summarizing the book then stating my analysis and opinions about ideas presented in the book.

Veteran defense analyst and AEI resident fellow Thomas Donnelly wants to know the answers to the questions behind Operation: Iraqi Freedom. He states that “More than a year after President George W. Bush declared ‘mission accomplished’ in the invasion of Iraq, a fuller victory is yet to be won. This is in part, because a fuller understanding of the war itself remains elusive.” This elusiveness is the biggest mystery of the war and because of it four key observations have emerged. Also these observations emerge after an examination of the conventional invasion of Iraq, the resulting counterinsurgency campaign and their broader significance for the global war on terrorism.

It’s pretty much impossible to know America’s decision about Saddam Hussein, if you don’t understand American policy in the Middle East-- from supporting him in power after the Islamist revolution in Iran, leaving him in power after the Gulf War, to removing him from power after the September 11 attacks, and, most crucially, replacing him in power with an experiment in Arab democracy. Militant Islam has been at war with the U.S. for twenty five years, it wasn’t until after Al Qaeda hit America’s heart, that the U.S. decided to wake up and take action. Therefore one of the main reasons for the war on Iraq was to strike terrorism and all involved at the roots. Bush’s initial strategy of invading and a change of regime essentially became a complete removal of regime. According to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld getting rid of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen was comparatively easy taking into account that now they have to install a democratic and pluralistic form of Government after the people ...

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...p; I agree with the author’s statement that the Pentagon did not fight a decisive war. It was done very rapidly, but I don’t think that they took into account how long we’d stay in Iraq after the war. We’ve had more casualties in time after the war than we had in the war. The Pentagon didn’t seem to realize just how hard it would be to restore order in Iraq after the war. The war itself was well planned out, but the hunt for Saddam Hussein and the restoration process was quite sloppy. The fact that we’re still in Iraq today and everyday soldiers are dying, just goes to show that we’re not going anywhere for a while.

The author also stated that we would soon be out of Iraq if we kept going along the lines we’re going, I completely disagree with this statement, because Iraq is in a state of disorder. I think the actions we are taking right now will escalate into a bigger war which will not just include Iraq. After all Nostradamus who “predicted” the 2 World Wars also predicted a third World War that would take place in the Middle East. I don’t believe in that stuff, but I do believe that this will escalate into something bigger.