July 9, 2008
What Does ‘Victory’ in Iraq Mean?
Ron Ault,
President
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Let’s close our eyes and imagine this news story: The Iraq government today announced the end of all hostilities in Iraq, asserting that violence had subsided to “pre-war levels.” Marking the end of the U.S.-led “war of liberation,” the Iraq and U.S. governments signed normal relations treaties and Iraq formally re-opened its embassy in Washington, D.C. The Iraqis also announced that they had re-joined the strategic Saudi/UAE alliance and OPEC. Additionally, Iraq’s Oil Minister announced today that he had signed an agreement for a cooperative partnership with state-run oil companies in China, Brazil, Russia and Iran to fully fund and jointly develop new refineries and oil production facilities in Iraq.
OK, we won! Whoop, whoop hooray- Yeah! After spending more than three trillion dollars of U.S. taxpayer money, some 4,000 U.S. dead and tens of thousands American service men and women wounded and maimed for life, we finally beat Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda …Oops! We didn’t? Nope, they are still alive and well in the mountains of Pakistan/Afghanistan. OK, who did we defeat? What does a victory in Iraq do for us? I hear a deafening silence out there, America…What does victory in Iraq look like and what do we get out of it?
Everybody seems to agree that Operation Desert Storm, was a victory.…We were greeted as liberators and warmly embraced by the Kuwaitis…And, we won what? $4.11 per gallon regular gasoline. Is Kuwait selling us discounted gasoline? What have the grateful, oil rich Arabs we liberated from Saddam Hussein done for us? Have they repaid us for all the costs of fighting that war? No. Well, did give us fuel for our tanks, Humvees and airplanes while we fought for their independence? No, that isn’t true either. Did we deliver democracy for the Kuwaiti people? No. They are still ruled by a King.
Let’s fast forward to the current Iraq war… OK, in Iraq we fought a war to replace one ruler (Saddam Hussein) with another ruler, who we like a lot better. Saddam Hussein was hanged, and his replacement smiles to our face, but deals with Iran through the back door. Meanwhile, our economy has been systematically destroyed. We emptied our treasury, sacrificed our servicemen…and today in some South and Central America countries that same gasoline that costs us $4.11 cent per gallon retails for $ .12 per gallon…yes, twelve CENTS per gallon. Something is wrong with this picture, don’t you think?
What does winning the Iraq War do for America? Exactly the same thing as winning Desert Storm did: Absolutely nothing.
Some of us fought in a long, costly and bitter war in Vietnam. We were told that unless we stopped Communism in Vietnam, it would take over the world and eventually, the U.S.
Today, our former enemy, the communist Peoples Republic of Vietnam is one of our favorite trading partners with millions of dollars of U.S. investments. U.S. manufacturing companies have relocated there and their products are flowing into the U.S. Same story for communist Peoples Republic of China. Communism must no longer be a threat to the U.S. because America’s military is only geared up to fight Bin Laden and his core group of terrorists.
What would you think about annexing Iraq as a U.S. state or a protectorate like the Virgin Islands? Then we would get something out of this war…a vast oil supply controlled totally by us. That would be interesting…but you and I know that isn’t going to happen.
Someday we will declare victory and withdraw our forces- no matter who is President. Since there are no good options, we should cut our losses and get out as quickly and responsibly as possible. We could use the $750 million dollars a day we are spending in Iraq for unemployment payments for our laid off manufacturing workers.
In Solidarity,
Ron Ault
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CiO • 815 16th Street, NW •Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-508-3705 • Fax: 202-508-3706 • email: metaltradesweb@aol.com
