So now they want us back
Jun 17, 2014, 8:17 AM | Updated: 8:27 am
(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
We’re hearing that a small number of American special forces might be sent to Baghdad to guide drone strikes against ISIS – the Islamic militants who appear determined to take over. And CBS News Military Consultant Jeff McCausland predicts ISIS will try to entrap us.
“ISIS forces are in civilian clothes, operating in pickup trucks, and when you’re coming in at a rapid rate from high altitude, any collateral damage to civilians would simply encourage those folks to support ISIS.”
Why would we do this again – especially since by all accounts a lot of people in those cities ISIS now controls greeted them as liberators. That attitude may change once the zealots take away all the cigarettes and booze and wrap the women in black, but it only shows how much people must have hated the Iraqi government.
And here’s what really stings: hearing some of our own politicians say, “We have to do this – because otherwise, our soldiers died in vain.” Why would anyone say that?
Did we go to Iraq to capture and hold territory? No! We were told it was to give the Iraqis an opportunity to govern themselves. And at great sacrifice, American soldiers cleared out the old government, helped Iraqis elect a new one, gave it some breathing room, and tried to create a professional non-sectarian army. They also saved many innocent lives.
Yes, it’s frustrating that Iraqi politicians blew the opportunity we provided, but that’s on them – not on us.
And anyone who doubts what the U.S. military accomplished need only watch the spectacle of the same politicians who kicked us out, suddenly longing to see those American uniforms again.