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Iraq war was not a mistake
8/13/15
Iraq war was not a mistake Exclusive: Amir George assures U.S. military personnel of their sacrifice's impact
I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing how we failed in Iraq.
I was there – nothing could be further from the truth.
My heart grieves for the precious families of the 4,888 brave men and women who gave their lives to liberate and rebuild Iraq.
I am broken for the 35,000 every day facing the terrible consequences of their mostly severe injuries.
Two and a half million served in Iraq, and many continue to face the nightmare of PTSD and other ailments.
What I grieve most for, though, is the terrible, terrible pain of feeling it was all a terrible mistake.
It was not!
To each of our heroes, from one who was there during Saddam’s time and after, you should know that it was a resounding success, and your sacrifice liberated and gave hope to 25 million fathers, mothers, elderly, children and more who were broken by 40 years of a terrorist dictator and had lost hope.
Let me address the main points that are constantly bandied about so you, the precious ones who have suffered so much, can be reminded of what you already know but have begun to doubt, so one-sided is the discussion.
First is the constantly used word “invasion.”
I sat in a press conference where former Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebadi was confronted by an American reporter who began his question by apologizing as an “American” for “invading” Iraq.
In the middle of the conversation, Zebadi suddenly interrupted him.
“Are you an American?” He asked before the packed room.
“How dare you say that! Invaded? Invaded?” he continued, getting angrier by the minute.
“We were liberated from 40 years of terror where a madman and his crazy sons slaughtered on a whim 1 million of our people.”
“Invaded? Shame on you,” he continued.
Our family are Assyrian Christians from the northern Iraqi village of Mahoudi, and I was there during Sadaam’s time and at Liberation.
It was so bad in the days before liberation that there was going to be mass suicide in Baghdad if the Americans did not come. The people just could not on if help didn’t come!
My uncle put it this way: “Saddam has slaughtered a million of our people. We cannot stand it anymore. The U.N. will not help us. Everybody promises but does not come through – our only hope is the Americans.
“Let them bomb – it is the only way to get rid of him! I would happily give my life for my grandson to be free!”
And, yes, the people literally did dance in the streets so precious was their liberation – I was there!
Second is the constant refrain, “There were no weapons of mass destruction,” so it was all based on a false premise.
This simple message is an unconscionable affront to our brave men and women.
Let me quote again from the same response from Hoshyar Zebari, former Iraqi foreign minister, in response to the clueless reporter.
“Weapons of mass destruction? Of course they were there! Would you like me to tell of the ones flown into Iran, those buried in the desert in Iraq, or those trucked into Syria?”
“Sit down” he fumed to the hapless reporter!
I was in central Baghdad when I came across a group of our troops.
I posed the simple question, “Have you found any WMD?”
To this day I cannot forget their pained reply.
“We are not allowed to answer, sir,” they promptly replied with a look that said, “We are desperate to say something.”
After the main group left, one came back and said, “I cant answer any questions but I can ask you a question.”
It was a strange conversation in which he said with a twinkle in his eye, “What would you do if you found something and in fact it belonged to you?”
Trying to figure out what he was saying so cryptically, I suddenly realized that what he seemed be saying was what I had heard from so many others, i.e., that the WMD had of course been found, just as the foreign minister had said, but most of it was in fact ours and our allies from a time when Saddam was at war with Iran and our ally.
“So you mean you found it all, but in fact it was ours?”
He smiled and did a “zip” across his lips. Satisfied, he walked away.
What happened in fact was a decision, either way with consequences.
Announce they were there and have to explain why they were ours, or deny they were there and be accused of going in without reason.
Someone chose the latter.
Finally, the whole concept that it was all a collective failure.
The answer, again, is very simple.
It was days after liberation. People were dancing in the streets and joy was all around.
I was talking with one of my relatives who went on to be part of the government.
With a sad look in his eyes, he said, “We know the Americans. They are good, but they are very impatient. They will help us, but they will grow impatient and will leave us, and we will be worse of than before.”
I am reminded of that nearly every day.
This is the fundamental point.
Read the inspiring story of the Christian Iraqis who pre-dated Muslims and have struggled for survival – Amir George’s “Liberating Iraq: The Untold Story of the Assyrian Christians”
Iraq was liberated, but exactly like in Vietnam, the victory was squandered by an incompetent State Department and other ideologues.
One conversation we heard repeatedly in various forms went like this:
The State Department: “So how can we help you? What kind of a country do you want to have?”
The Iraqis: “Oh, we just want to be like you! We just want to be normal!”
To which our heroic State Department responded in so may words: “Oh, no, you don’t want to be like us! We are racist, colonial and arrogant.”
The puzzled look on the Iraqis is something I will never forget.
Iraq was liberated, loved and given hope by 2.5 million brave and kind Americans who paved the roads, built hospitals, schools and transformed a people destroyed by 40 years of terror, as they did in Japan, Korea, Europe and more.
Iraq was destroyed and hope betrayed by an “army of fools” who took the place of the heroes and were hopelessly anti-American and ideologically could not understand the simple fact that for all her failures and mistakes, America is still the hope of the world.
Can Iraq be saved?
Yes, it can!
While many terrible mistakes were made, 25 million people watched in awe as 2.5 million Americans – nearly one for every 10 people – taught them to hope again. Their lives were transformed!
They fell in love with America’s best and brightest!
It was a resounding success, and simply letting the same brave men and women do their job, unhindered, Iraq can be saved and the terrible price paid in blood and treasure redeemed.
Yes, the sacrifice was not in vain!
You can be proud!
The last time I was in Iraq, I came out of the airport and a man walked over and without a word put four fingers to his lips in a typical Middle Eastern gesture, looked up at the sky and said, “God bless George Bush!”
And why not?
Twenty-five million people had been liberated!
God bless you – all 2.5 million of you!
It was not in vain!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
8/13/15
Iraq war was not a mistake Exclusive: Amir George assures U.S. military personnel of their sacrifice's impact
I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing how we failed in Iraq.
I was there – nothing could be further from the truth.
My heart grieves for the precious families of the 4,888 brave men and women who gave their lives to liberate and rebuild Iraq.
I am broken for the 35,000 every day facing the terrible consequences of their mostly severe injuries.
Two and a half million served in Iraq, and many continue to face the nightmare of PTSD and other ailments.
What I grieve most for, though, is the terrible, terrible pain of feeling it was all a terrible mistake.
It was not!
To each of our heroes, from one who was there during Saddam’s time and after, you should know that it was a resounding success, and your sacrifice liberated and gave hope to 25 million fathers, mothers, elderly, children and more who were broken by 40 years of a terrorist dictator and had lost hope.
Let me address the main points that are constantly bandied about so you, the precious ones who have suffered so much, can be reminded of what you already know but have begun to doubt, so one-sided is the discussion.
First is the constantly used word “invasion.”
I sat in a press conference where former Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebadi was confronted by an American reporter who began his question by apologizing as an “American” for “invading” Iraq.
In the middle of the conversation, Zebadi suddenly interrupted him.
“Are you an American?” He asked before the packed room.
“How dare you say that! Invaded? Invaded?” he continued, getting angrier by the minute.
“We were liberated from 40 years of terror where a madman and his crazy sons slaughtered on a whim 1 million of our people.”
“Invaded? Shame on you,” he continued.
Our family are Assyrian Christians from the northern Iraqi village of Mahoudi, and I was there during Sadaam’s time and at Liberation.
It was so bad in the days before liberation that there was going to be mass suicide in Baghdad if the Americans did not come. The people just could not on if help didn’t come!
My uncle put it this way: “Saddam has slaughtered a million of our people. We cannot stand it anymore. The U.N. will not help us. Everybody promises but does not come through – our only hope is the Americans.
“Let them bomb – it is the only way to get rid of him! I would happily give my life for my grandson to be free!”
And, yes, the people literally did dance in the streets so precious was their liberation – I was there!
Second is the constant refrain, “There were no weapons of mass destruction,” so it was all based on a false premise.
This simple message is an unconscionable affront to our brave men and women.
Let me quote again from the same response from Hoshyar Zebari, former Iraqi foreign minister, in response to the clueless reporter.
“Weapons of mass destruction? Of course they were there! Would you like me to tell of the ones flown into Iran, those buried in the desert in Iraq, or those trucked into Syria?”
“Sit down” he fumed to the hapless reporter!
I was in central Baghdad when I came across a group of our troops.
I posed the simple question, “Have you found any WMD?”
To this day I cannot forget their pained reply.
“We are not allowed to answer, sir,” they promptly replied with a look that said, “We are desperate to say something.”
After the main group left, one came back and said, “I cant answer any questions but I can ask you a question.”
It was a strange conversation in which he said with a twinkle in his eye, “What would you do if you found something and in fact it belonged to you?”
Trying to figure out what he was saying so cryptically, I suddenly realized that what he seemed be saying was what I had heard from so many others, i.e., that the WMD had of course been found, just as the foreign minister had said, but most of it was in fact ours and our allies from a time when Saddam was at war with Iran and our ally.
“So you mean you found it all, but in fact it was ours?”
He smiled and did a “zip” across his lips. Satisfied, he walked away.
What happened in fact was a decision, either way with consequences.
Announce they were there and have to explain why they were ours, or deny they were there and be accused of going in without reason.
Someone chose the latter.
Finally, the whole concept that it was all a collective failure.
The answer, again, is very simple.
It was days after liberation. People were dancing in the streets and joy was all around.
I was talking with one of my relatives who went on to be part of the government.
With a sad look in his eyes, he said, “We know the Americans. They are good, but they are very impatient. They will help us, but they will grow impatient and will leave us, and we will be worse of than before.”
I am reminded of that nearly every day.
This is the fundamental point.
Read the inspiring story of the Christian Iraqis who pre-dated Muslims and have struggled for survival – Amir George’s “Liberating Iraq: The Untold Story of the Assyrian Christians”
Iraq was liberated, but exactly like in Vietnam, the victory was squandered by an incompetent State Department and other ideologues.
One conversation we heard repeatedly in various forms went like this:
The State Department: “So how can we help you? What kind of a country do you want to have?”
The Iraqis: “Oh, we just want to be like you! We just want to be normal!”
To which our heroic State Department responded in so may words: “Oh, no, you don’t want to be like us! We are racist, colonial and arrogant.”
The puzzled look on the Iraqis is something I will never forget.
Iraq was liberated, loved and given hope by 2.5 million brave and kind Americans who paved the roads, built hospitals, schools and transformed a people destroyed by 40 years of terror, as they did in Japan, Korea, Europe and more.
Iraq was destroyed and hope betrayed by an “army of fools” who took the place of the heroes and were hopelessly anti-American and ideologically could not understand the simple fact that for all her failures and mistakes, America is still the hope of the world.
Can Iraq be saved?
Yes, it can!
While many terrible mistakes were made, 25 million people watched in awe as 2.5 million Americans – nearly one for every 10 people – taught them to hope again. Their lives were transformed!
They fell in love with America’s best and brightest!
It was a resounding success, and simply letting the same brave men and women do their job, unhindered, Iraq can be saved and the terrible price paid in blood and treasure redeemed.
Yes, the sacrifice was not in vain!
You can be proud!
The last time I was in Iraq, I came out of the airport and a man walked over and without a word put four fingers to his lips in a typical Middle Eastern gesture, looked up at the sky and said, “God bless George Bush!”
And why not?
Twenty-five million people had been liberated!
God bless you – all 2.5 million of you!
It was not in vain!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
