The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Letter to the Editor: Iraq and Afghanistan

The Marriage of Iraq and Afghanistan

The War in Iraq is a victory for the United States.

While it was not reminiscent of the victories in the world wars, it is a victory nonetheless.

General David Petraeus said in an interview with the BBC, “This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant a flag and go home to a victory parade … it’s not” a “war with a simple slogan.”

Here is what victory means in Iraq. It means an Iraqi government that is able to protect its borders and it means an Iraqi government that is able to protect its people, then moves forward on its path to democracy.    

With Obama ordering more than 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, it seems like he is using a strategy similar to the controversial “surge” in Iraq, which was highly successful.

The 4,000 troops bolster the dispatch of an additional 17,000 forces.

The President also plans on sending hundreds of additional civilians to balance the military surge.      

Obama needs to address the victory in Iraq and tell Americans, as John McCain did when he spoke at The Heritage Foundation on March 26, “We can have victory in Afghanistan just as we did in Iraq,” but “it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

That is the nature of a troop surge, a short increase in casualties and then a sharp decline in them.  Obama needs to be honest with the American people about this, but it is vital that he declares victory in Iraq to boost morale in Afghanistan.    

The president also seems to be embracing the controversial and polarizing nation-building views of the Bush Administration.

Iraq was victorious and evidence of that will come to greater fruition in years ahead when our country realizes that Bush kept us safe and the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein.

A victory in Afghanistan will undeniably improve the safety of America and of the world. 

 Obama reiterated this point on March 27 explaining that this is not simply an American problem
That it is, instead, an international security challenge.

He reminded us that the terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al-Qaida and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul, and that if there is a major attack on an Asian, European or African city, it, too, is likely to have ties to al-Qaida’s leadership in Pakistan.

Sincerely,
Sam Theodosopoulos
 

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Letter to the Editor: Iraq and Afghanistan