Regrets and Rememberances

I often dwell on the issue of Iraq for several reasons. First, I spent several years in the military, and was part of the initial invasion force that went into Iraq. I can remember it as if it were yesterday driving in the back of a dust filled humvee (no armor), crossing into Iraq. Those first couple of weeks, I was hopeful but confused at the same time. We had been told to expect some sort of chemical attack, from the non-existent weapons I suspect. But I was hopeful that we could still make a significant contribution to the first Arab democracy. Years later, I see we were sadly mistaken, and were mislead by an administration hell bent on toppling a malevolent dictator.
Having said that, I was interested in Peter Baker's article in the Washington Post today. He has interviewed several of the former key administration staffers that have left the White House recently. It appears that bridges were burned, and friendships were torn asunder because some of these staffers "drank the kool-aid" according to Joe Klein of Time magazine. He was talking specifically of Peter Wehner, who was the White House director of strategic initiatives until August. He says that "The fact that [the Iraq war] didn't go so well is something you struggle with." He struggles with it? I am glad he has to at least "struggle" with being apart of such a strategic policy blunder, it will take decades to redeem our status, if it is even salvageable at this point.

But I have much harsher criticism for Mehgan O' Sullivan, who until recently was deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan. She came over from the State Department and was involved early in Iraq with the CPA. She actually makes an appearance in the book by Trainor and Gordon, Cobra II, which deals with pre-Iraq planning. In it, she was actually opposed by the Bush White House because she was a realist, and wanted to actually plan for insurgency situations instead of the Vice President's most famous of assessments. She was later brought into the White House, and appears to have consumed some of the strongest Kool Aid they had to offer. She was seen by many on the ground in Iraq as wielding "the [...] 7,000-mile screwdriver", which is indicative of the way this war has been run. The statement that troubles me the most is her rhetorical "Is it worth it?" If someone still has to ask themselves this, they have many more fundamental questions to asks themselves.

On a more somber note, I would like to bring your attention to the anniversary that should be remember by all persons who enjoy an open media, no matter you political bent. Ms. Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist, was murdered a year ago in a gangland style slaying, that shocked all of Russia. You can read more about the murder and investigation here, here, and here. I wanted to mention her, because it speaks to a much larger issue. The flow of the information,and truth is a vital part of an open society. Without it, we are uninformed and left in the dark about the atrocities that Ms. Anna Politkovskaya reported on in Chechnya. While Russia remains a nominal democracy, we have begun to see a clamp down on the truth telling that can occur in this country, and the recent actions by President Putin don't lend me to believe their country will continue its progression towards an open society, but just a rendition of what happened in the old Soviet Union.