Cuz We Said So

First, assuming that you were in favor of the invasion of Iraq at the time of the invasion, do you believe today that the invasion of Iraq was a good idea? Why/why not?

I can think of two ways to answer the question. The first is to answer whether I still believe today that the invasion of Iraq was the right decision, given what we knew at the time. Yes, I do. There had been for years widespread agreement among intelligence agencies, both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and both Republicans and Democrats in congress that Saddam Hussein represented a threat of unknown immediacy and grave potential. I believed before the war that the decision to move against Iraq was the right one, and I still believe that today.

The second way to answer the question, which I presume is more how Orin intended it, is to answer whether going to war was the right decision in retrospect--if we could go back in time with the knowledge we have today, should the same decision be made? Again, I answer yes. Whatever else happens from today forward, we have confirmed that there were no WMDs, something I do not believe we could have been certain of without the invasion. And there are 25 million people living free today that were not free before, and a real hope the Iraqis will be able to thwart the violent elements in their midst so that they stay free and govern themselves in peace. That's an extraordinary accomplishment. And by all accounts we are killing in vast numbers some very bad people who are traveling to Iraq for a chance to take out an American, people who I strongly suspect would be trying to kill Americans elsewhere if they weren't so busy getting shot up by our brave soldiers in Iraq.

Second, what reaction do you have to the not-very-upbeat news coming of Iraq these days, such as the stories I link to above?

That as painful as it is, we must expect such news in war, because in the best of circumstances, all wars are vicious, brutal affairs where people suffer and die horribly, where unanticipated things happen, and where mistakes are made. That this unpleasant truth is made more difficult still in this fight because we face an enemy with no discernable standards for decency, and are saddled with a press corps that amplifies bad news out of proportion while missing or ignoring the good news, and that we're stuck with both. That as wars go, we have been fortunate that this one has cost far fewer lives than most or all others. And that in the end, the War in Iraq is very much part of the Global War on Terror, and that we must stand strong, help the Iraqi people stand strong, and be prepared to fight on until the enemy is dead, or we are.

Third, what specific criteria do you recommend that we should use over the coming months and years to measure whether the Iraq invasion has been a success?

I judge it to been a success already. The invasion is over. We won. We removed a sadistic enemy from power, eliminated the possibility that he was building weapons on mass destruction; and created the possibility that Iraq may one day be a foothold of democracy in the Middle East. And we did it at a cost in lives that is as low as perhaps any conflict in the history of warfare.

What is uncertain is the outcome of the new political process in Iraq, and the ongoing civil war, which is directed as much against the government and the people of Iraq as against Coalition forces. The outcome there has yet to be decided, but I think it needs to be considered as a separate thing from the invasion that allowed it to begin. While we are clearly providing critically needed military suppoirt, the ultimate success of the New Iraq will now have much more to do with what the Iraqi people do with the opportunity they've been given than it does with anything we can do. That's what self-determination is all about. However it turns out, though, it won't change my assessment that going to war was the right choice.