The Iraq war has ended.
Today, the last American soldiers crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait in a remarkably sad and untriumphant end to the nine-year war.
My thoughts are mixed. I salute the American soldiers who fought bravely, even as I condemn the war and the many atrocities it brought. I mourn the tens of thousands dead on both sides. I wish the Iraqis the best of luck in rebuilding their country.
War is never over when it’s over. The effects are felt for generations, long past when the last shot is fired. Americans remain in Iraq, including military personnel to aid with arms sales and training Iraqi forces and 16,000 people involved in the diplomatic efforts (including roughly 7,000 contractors who specialize in security). The mental and physical health consequences of war will affect veterans for a lifetime.
In particular, the mental health of veterans is a serious concern. For the past two years more troops have been lost to suicide than combat; we don’t even know how many veterans have killed themselves, as only statistics about those enrolled in the VA health care system are collected. As in the regular population, the majority of troops killing themselves are men: an indictment of the incredibly poor mental health care we have for men.
The Iraq war also showed the moral bankruptcy of only allowing men to be combat troops. In a war without a front line, female soldiers faced the same risks that their male compatriots did. The toxic sexist combination of chivalry, the idea of the disposable male, and a belief in the incompetence of women needs to end.
Nevertheless, I am happy to see the war in Iraq officially ended. Maybe someday the USA will be not at war with anyone.
Also, regarding LBJ’s quote: “War is always the same. It is young men dying in the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that you do not even know well enough to hate. Therefore, to know war is to know that there is still madness in the world.” This. A thousand times this. I would make a terrible soldier because I know that the people shooting at me (unless they’re Hard Folk for whom survivalism and shooting people is gratifying and who take pride in doing “whatever it takes” for whatever “noble reason” happens to appeal… Read more »
@Gaius
Actually, I don’t think I could kill anyone unless they were actively threatening my life at that very moment – and I believe I would do my best to only incapacitate them rather than end their life.
I’m a pacifist.
@EasilyEnthused:
SOMEONE likes Metal Gear Solid.
Don’t worry, I do, too. To be honest, I’m not comfortable with my entertainment unless it has at least one thought-provoking rant.
“War is ugly, but it’s fueled the modern world. Personally I wish there was a peaceful way to inspire the kind of innovation that occurs in the face of warfare and all the attendant horrors, but I’m rather enjoying all the innovations, so I’d be lying if I said I fully regretted our history of nearly continuous war.” I often hear this theory. I’m pretty sure that if wars didn’t happen we would actually see more innovations, not less – who knows how many potential Einsteins died in Stalingrad or Verdun? But even presuming you’re right, would you be prepared… Read more »
Sorry, this got cut off: I wish Lyndon B. Johnson was going to be right about that – but I suspect that the War in Iraq may be the last we see where young men go off to die. And I don’t know if I should celebrate or be terrified for humanity. “War has changed. It’s no longer about nations, ideologies, or ethnicity. It’s an endless series of proxy battles fought by mercenaries and machines. War – and its consumption of life – has become a well-oiled machine. War has changed. ID-tagged soldiers carry ID-tagged weapons, use ID-tagged gear. Nanomachines… Read more »
The “War on Terror” was aptly named – but it wasn’t a “War Against Terror” no, it was “on” in the same way an engine runs “on” gasoline. America was a country terrified of an unknown enemy – taking swings at dark, shapeless masses as it retreated into an even darker cave of racism and distrust. But fear doesn’t last forever – and the greatest weapon against it is knowledge. The more we learned, the more we realized the war in Iraq was a sham – and support waned. We’d been duped and now hundreds of thousands lie dead. “War… Read more »
“War is ugly, but it’s fueled the modern world. Personally I wish there was a peaceful way to inspire the kind of innovation that occurs in the face of warfare and all the attendant horrors, but I’m rather enjoying all the innovations, so I’d be lying if I said I fully regretted our history of nearly continuous war.” Thank you for being so honest (and I don’t want to punish you for it). I think most Americans feel the same way, regardless of whether or not they admit it. We may condemn what our government does, but in truth that… Read more »
More fuel for my misanthropic worldview, and general distaste for my government, *sarcastic cheer*. At least this war is “over” and most of the people are getting pulled out. Though this being a modern ‘unconventional’ war, the casualties are just going to keep piling up. Just because we said it’s over doesn’t mean the guerrilla warfare won’t keep trying to kill the american ‘intruders’. War is ugly, but it’s fueled the modern world. Personally I wish there was a peaceful way to inspire the kind of innovation that occurs in the face of warfare and all the attendant horrors, but… Read more »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny
Yikes! I just realized that, according to Wikipedia, there have been only 15 calendar years in U.S. history in which we were not at war with anyone, or interfering in other peoples’ wars. That’s disgustingly low.
@ Doug S: My cluelessness is more in terms of I don’t know how to play any of the major games. I have the hand-eye coordination of a sloth.
I thought I remembered something about playing as Taliban in Modern Warfare, but apparantly it’s the multiplayer in Call of Duty (another one of those series…)
http://www.gamertell.com/technologytell/article/medal-of-honors-playable-taliban-causing-military-uproar/
Anyway, this headline was the first I heard of the war ending. There was a brief moment of euphoria, but then I remembered that there’s nothing particularly fabulous about the situation.
I’m still happy that the war is over, for now.
“Nearly all the single-player campaigns in modern warfare shooters take place from the perspective of WESTERN powers: US troops, mostly, but also British troops and occasionally European troops and even Russian troops (when they’re on “our” side). You are expected to sympathize with these soldiers as they fight through Miscellaneous Middle-Eastern Locations.” @Gaius You raise an interesting point when it comes to modern FPS’s. Growing up we’re told story’s of heroism that start with the heroes struggling against an enemy of vastly superior numbers and technological advancement, (Starwars, The Lord of the Rings etc) it makes us sympathise with their… Read more »
Thank you Ozy. My sister is a mental health professional who works with the VA in the US and primarily treats Gulf/Afganistan/Iraq war vets and the longterm effects of being involved in those operations can be devasting. Many of the men and women who suffered physical and mental trauma will never recover. The sad part–that my sister finds very difficult to deal with to talk to others about–is that for every soldier she treats, she also sees (and often treats or recommends for counselling or other care) the ripple effects on that individual’s personal circle: spouses, partners, kids, parents, family,… Read more »
I think you just contradicted yourself there. The Phoenix Wright series tends to be one of those “hidden gems” that’s not very well known except by the clued in. 🙂
Lets not gloss it over; over 109,000 Iraqi civilians died as a direct result of the military invasion of Iraq over the course of the war, we know this from the wikileak’d Iraq War Logs, though even they admit that a closer reading might add anywhere up to 15,000 more to that body count. Thanks to wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War) there are also other breakdowns of how the war has affected the people of Iraq and the numerous other methods of measuring body count in Iraqi civilians killed. So while we skate over the “tens of thousands of casualties on both sides”… Read more »
Female soldiers not only faced the same combat risks as their male counterparts in Iraq, but pervasive
sexual harassment
and violence
from their fellow GIs. Another byproduct of that toxic sexist combination you mentioned (and of course, there are male victims of this poisonous culture as well).
I would actually prefer if we didn’t celebrate anybody’s gullible, angry violence.
Bravery is not that much of a virtue when it mostly manifests as killing people.
I am so clueless when it comes to video games. I like Phoenix Wright.
On a tangential but related note: modern warfare first-person shooters piss me off (yes, that means you, Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3), but not for the reasons you might think. These are games that can effectively divided into two different categories: multiplayer and single-player. Multiplayer I don’t have much of a problem with: it’s apolitical mayhem on the order of Unreal Tournament, but with weapons of modern war. It’s single-player where I have my problem. Nearly all the single-player campaigns in modern warfare shooters take place from the perspective of WESTERN powers: US troops, mostly, but also British troops… Read more »
So, that was my war… I feel rather odd that it’s finally over.
Well who can argue with that?
Hugh, I guess so, but I don’t feel responsible for their wars, I feel responsible for what *my* country does, in my name, with my money, using the bodies of my relatives and friends.
Its personal.
Daisy, I’m aware of the USA’s involvement in proxy wars, but “having fingers in the business of other countries” is not the same as “being at war”. Even if it involves a proxy war.
Proxy wars are indeed wars, but I would argue that the countries involved with them by proxy can’t be considered to be at war. If we use your definition, you’re correct, but the statement becomes much weaker since the USA’s continually-at-war-since-1890-something status is shared by at least a dozen countries off the top of my head.
Hugh, there is NO TIME since the Spanish-American war (over a century) that the USA has not had its fingers in the business of other countries, either by directly making war or subsidizing various sides in regional civil wars and uprisings (i.e. Mexico, Angola) to heavily influence the outcome(s). It usually starts as “funding the insurgents” and might mushroom from there (Vietnam), or it might totally backfire (Cuba). I consider proxy wars to be wars, since people are still dead. Damn, Makomk, that is some depressing shit. I notice they put “Native American wars” in another category too. The CIA… Read more »
Mako, I’m defining war as actual combat operations, not “We hate those guys a whole bunch”.