The end of a war?
by Mark Scheinbaum*
CONROE, TEXAS (Dec 17, 2011)–The Pentagon says the U.S. war in Iraq is officially over except that approximately 4,000 service men and women won't be home for a while.
Another 4,000 or more will never come home.
Even the most patriotic American and most ardent supporter of former Pres. George W. Bush would have to temper his satisfaction with the "end" of the war with lingering and haunting questions on why our national treasure of fine young people was there in the first place.
Lessons unlearned from Gulf War I were unlearned in the planning of Gulf War II, if you could call it planning.
At the weekly breakfast meeting of The Woodlands, Texas Kiwanis Club, a 17-year Navy veteran, serving as a recruiter in the nation's largest recruiting district was in attendance. Men in suits and casual wear but all with gray or thinned hair, saluted the flag and observed the weekly prayer. One noted, "About 35% of the entire force of American servicemen comes from Texas."
My own mind wandered to the other 65 per cent. Then I remembered the close and valued friends and colleagues, many with professional degrees and designations, who told me in years past, point blank, that if a mandatory draft is every reinstated in the United States they would relocate their family to Canada or elsewhere. I tried to remember a doctor or lawyer or member of Congress, or even a stock broker or CPA in my travels of the last decade who had an active duty kid in the military. Outside of my recent sojourn in the Lone Star State I could not remember even one.
Personally my family was blessed by the deployment and service and safe return of two sons in this war. Whether the people of Iraq ever remember them or their commitment to a decent life for their kids and grandkids will be left to historians. We also dealt with the death of a neighbor's child, grown to academic and civic excellence, cut down in his prime. The parents of Marine Lt. Mike Felsberg might not have much to celebrate today, as they remember their only child, doing what he was sent to do, and doing it well.
They say that old men sitting in Washington send young men to fight. Fewer and fewer of these old men have ever served a day in uniform. Those who have, or still do, such as South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham are discounted as possible presidential nominees if they dare to compromise with the other party, or seek serious bipartisan solutions to critical issues and needs.
The week Gulf War II was about to start in its "shock and awe" manner, I was summarily detained by a large, menacing, and plainclothes immigration agent after landing in Paris.
He looked at my passport and asked, "Are you for or against George and his war?"
Taken aback and remembering all the sharp jokes of my late father and his Normandy Invasion buddies about how this guy might be speaking German if not for America, I bit my lip, and paused. Finally, glancing at my wife who was steaming from what she felt was an inappropriate and insulting question I replied: "I might be conflicted at times in what I choose to support politically, but since I am a proud father of a U.S. soldier, and President Bush is our commander in chief, I would say when final decisions are made I support them."
He scowled and waved me into France.
Biographies of both Gens. Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. taught me that unless there is some comprehensive game plan on withdrawals and exit strategy, and a plan for wide domestic support, it is probably better to keep the troops home. A half generation earlier the most decorated soldier of our day, Col David Hackworth the often controversial military writer for Newsweek, warned of Pentagon "perfumed princes" setting policies which isolated themselves from the facts.
The best analyses thus far show that a strong U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror murders in the United States was probably fruitful and justified against targets in Afghanistan. Except for vague and unproven second and third party Saddam Hussein links to the terrorists, attacking Iraq was probably more a public relations statement than justifiable international act. It pains many of us to admit that on this call the French were probably correct and maybe we were over reacting when we started telling the kid at the drive-through window we wanted "Freedom" fries with that burger.
It is tempting to paint criticism of the war with some macro brush of great wisdom. Look elsewhere for that analysis. The lessons I learned and I hope others learn are at the other end of the spectrum–the micro level of families and fortune.
Growing up there was the occasional vet in a wheelchair selling poppies, or visits to a VA hospital with dad or an uncle, and the armless or legless friend or acquaintance who fought in WWII or Korea or Vietnam. Virtually everyone in my circle of friends had a relative who had served or been killed or wounded in one of these wars.
Tens of thousands of service members were wounded in Iraq. Many of them have the kind of brain injuries that over a shortened lifetime will cost families and taxpayers millions of dollars and oceans of tears. Medical science and the best combat medics in the history of warfare preserved these men and women for some semblance of normal life. Sometimes the "normal" means glimpses of happiness through huge mirrors of pain, psychological trauma, homelessness or even eventually an appointment with suicide.
Yet today in my unscientific personal survey less than one in 60 Americans have personal contact with any close family member in uniform.
Like the attorneys, undertakers, investment bankers, and former lobbyists in Congress, they really never had a personal stake in the day-to-day war.
Lessons of deployment, human resources, and human relations need to be learned.
When one of my office tech wizards in the Marine reserves was immediately deployed to Iraq with his missile unit, it was SNAFU City from day one. A few days in Kuwait figuring out where to go and what to do. Next, weeks which evolved into months in the Iraqi desert with no shelter and few amenities. Sleeping in makeshift lean-tos under their Humvees. Showering with bottles of water. Sporadic mail. Little or no "R and R" and days and weeks in areas devoid of "the enemy" were too often the norm. So much for detailed invasion plans.
Stateside, units in Alaska that were supposed to be the last line of defense against North Korea spent two years perfecting all-purpose combat machinery which had been winterized but now needed to be adapted back to a desert. Men and machines shipped back and forth from Fairbanks to El Paso without regard for cost or efficiency. Sometimes equipment was shipped back to Alaska just days before being re-shipped to Iraq.
All of this means that lessons were not taught or learned because it is simply impossible for fewer than 2 million Americans in uniform at the front and in the supply chain, to serve 330 million Americans in the Mall or watching YouTube.
A typical "deployment" of 7 months became a year, or perhaps 17 months. Weddings, births, or Christmas be damned.
Two or three deployments were normal; four or five tours of duty were common. Men and women returning to Iraq and Afghanistan six or more times were no longer unusual. A decorated combat veteran returning home, or sadly a soldier wounded or killed in action after eight or nine tours of duty away from family and friends no longer made the evening news. Welcome to the age of the new Centurions.
America never sought a colony in Iraq. Oil conspiracy buffs aside, the men and women who do the fighting are doing it for their brothers in combat and the safety and honor of their unit and their nation. Once their boots hit the ground they mostly wanted to do the righteous thing because it was right, plain and simple. Political pundits have loftier views of things, but Americans should have nothing but pride for the young people who volunteer to serve. Jaundiced criticism of an economy and fractured families which lure some kids into uniform has nothing to do with the incredible commitment and professionalism with which most serve their nation. Physically and mentally I continue to be impressed with this tiny cadre which carries the nation on its shoulders.
The entire nation, for justifiable reasons, is careful not to say "Mission Accomplished" about Iraq. Corruption, violence, raw sexism and discrimination, and religious civil war might remain or grow in a U.S. vacuum. As far as a "Coalition of the Willing" one should not even pretend that the cobbled coalition this time around which fractured warm alliances diplomatically, was anything like the comprehensive coalition of Desert Storm/Shield.
So back to the "micro" view of the return of troops from Iraq this holiday season. How about doing one little thing for the rest of your life. Disregard your hurting finances or the looks of your spouse, but just do this one thing:
Make sure that in a restaurant, a tavern, or even a fast food line at the airport or food court, a uniformed member of the active duty military, reserves, or National Guard and their family or dinner party, NEVER picks up the tab for their order. If you really have guts do it anonymously then give the server an extra big tip for simply saying "some customer just wanted to thank you for your service."
* Mark Scheinbaum is a former professor at Panama's Louisville University, and a regular contributor to Newsroom.
