FIFTY LESSONS LEARNED

 

With the fall of Baghdad, and soon the rest of Iraq, it’s worth focusing on some of the things we’ve learned from Gulf War II.

George W. Bush understands the existence of, and the difference between, good and evil – and the free world should be forever grateful that he acted on his convictions.

Everything our government claimed about the Hussein regime – its duplicity, danger, cruelty, etc. – has been proven.

Colin Powell, for all his multilateral predelictions, remains, after all, a soldier who obeys the orders of his Commander-in-Chief.

The shortsighted faintheartedness and unprincipled pragmatism of the Gang of 1991 – George H. W. Bush, James Baker, Brent Scowcroft and (yes) Colin Powell – who allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power for another twelve years, forced us into Gulf War II.

Putting aside his infatuation with the UN and EU, Tony Blair will be seen as an historical figure equal to Winston Churchill because of his recognition of Saddam Hussein’s threat to the world, and because of the Prime Minister’s intransigent position – at the risk of his political future – that the dictator must be removed.

There is a cultural, political, philosophical – indeed, even a spiritual – affinity common to the native English-speaking world, evidenced by Britain’s and Australia’s major contribution to the Iraq campaign, and our forces in Iraq are proud to fight next to the Brits and Aussies.

It was among its finest hours when the British Conservative Party stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Labor’s Blair in his determination to remove Hussein from power.

Equally, it was among their most disgraceful hours when some Labor Party members attempted to blunt Blair’s efforts to liberate Iraq.

President Bush’s lobbying of nonentity, vacillating nations at the UN, in an effort to help his British ally, was demeaning, unnecessary and, ultimately, fruitless.

The UN inspection process, like the UN itself, was literally a farce – and a costly one.

Kofi Annan, who apparently sees himself as President of the World, is the quintessentially appropriate Secretary General of the United Nations.

Our troops found more evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in a week than UN bureaucrat Inspector Clouseau and his merry band of Keystone Kops found in years.

The democrat congressional leadership has shown itself incapable of putting national interest above cheap partisan politics, and much of their membership has demonstrated abject cowardice in not repudiating those who purport to speak for them.

Former presidents Carter and Clinton continued to disgrace themselves by their carping at President Bush and his leadership and their pandering to America’s foes.

Representative Charles Rangel – consistently billed as a Korean War hero (though he has never made public his DD-214 Record of Discharge or Separation) – has come out of the closet as a virulent hater of President Bush, a myopic opponent of the war to free oppressed Iraqis, and an insult to all the heroic black servicemen and women who have put their lives on the line in defense of freedom.

Opponents of the war to depose Saddam Hussein were, whether they like the conclusion or not, necessarily supporting him and his regime – since the purpose of this war was to remove him from power.

It is a misnomer to label many of those who have opposed the war as "protesters" or "antiwar," although they have protested and are, indeed, antiwar. Fundamentally, they are anti-American.

The naysayers – civilian and military – have not only been wrong; many have been dishonest, their dishonesty driven by agendas at variance with our national interest.

The arrogance, ingratitude and deceitful profiteering of the French government has finally been exposed.

The conniving of the vicious, opportunistic Vladimir Putin is yet additional proof, as Vladimir Bukovsky and others have argued for years, that KGB-run Russia is no friend of the United States or of our foundation principles.

China, like other less powerful countries, is a mischievous whore, sleeping with anyone who dangles a fat wallet.

Many retired military figures know what they are talking about. Sadly, many do not.

Fox Cable News has achieved preeminence as a source of information untainted by the liberal bias that infects too many other news organizations.

Only a free, capitalist economy can conceive, produce, and effectively use high-end technological weapons.

Reservists are as well trained, highly motivated and courageous as our regular forces.

Die-hard terrorists must be found and killed.

To paraphrase what Joe Louis said of the German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling, a dictator’s fighters can run, but they can’t hide.

There are few nobler causes than the liberation of oppressed peoples.

Our enemies seriously miscalculated when they thought America was not prepared to take casualties.

For reasons that are obvious, Iraq has not been Vietnam – except in the bravery and sacrifice of our fighting forces.

The sight of American armor rolling through Iraq has been a powerful image of righteousness on the march.

Secretary Rumsfeld’s warning to Syria and Iran was most welcome and may already have begun to bear fruit.

This war should be the last example we’ll ever need of Saudi cowardice, Turkish pragmatism, Syrian treachery and Iranian duplicity.

The journalists covering the war, embedded and not, are brave men and women who, at great personal risk, have done an indispensable job of informing the public through indisputable facts and unforgettable photographs – and in so doing have made a significant contribution to winning the war.

Free people have nothing to fear from a free press. Given the facts and the time to digest them, most Americans most of the time will reach the correct conclusion.

The indomitable Jessica Lynch emerged as the poster woman for females in the military, even in hazardous positions.

Our military’s commitment of nearly one thousand people to the rescue of one soldier, PFC Lynch, proves how much we value the lives of our people.

So does the medical treatment we are providing enemy soldiers.

No troops anywhere in the world are more caring and compassionate than Americans.

Tearing down of Saddam Hussein statues and defacing his posters throughout Iraq proves the efficacy of symbolic acts.

The people of Kuwait have a long memory.

So should President Bush, now that he knows friends from foes.

America found a new hero in the articulate, unflappable and brilliant Secretary of War, Donald Rumsfeld.

The intelligence and dedication of those in the Pentagon who conceived the battle plan will never receive the full measure of acclaim they richly deserve.

If the seeds planted by the liberation of Iraq take hold, eventually the character of the Middle East could change, and with it the threat to western civilization from radical Islam.

The outcome of Gulf War II proves that good can – and will – triumph over evil if the righteous stand against it.

Unfortunately, the crucial role of Special Operations Forces in the war will never be fully known. While the war will have deservedly produced many heroes, these people will remain largely unsung.

American generosity is once again demonstrated by the scope of humanitarian aid we’re pouring into Iraq.

Our hospitality to the many Iraqis who came to our shores "yearning to breathe free" will be repaid by some who choose to return to their native land, where they will work to instill principles of American democracy.

Gulf War II has become a litmus test that exposes red, white and blue – or yellow.

To paraphrase Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic, "We have loosed the fateful lightning of our terrible swift sword. Our truth is marching on." God bless America!