Why We Fight

Lehigh University hosted a teleconference with soldiers in Iraq last Friday to commemorate 9/11. The student organizer stated, "The more I learn about the war, the more I think it's important to hear about it from direct sources. The most important place to hear it from is directly from the soldiers."

Well-spoken! Forty years ago, I was one of those soldiers and I would have loved to tell the folks back home that contrary to what General Westmoreland and Secretary McNamara were telling them that "light at the end of the tunnel" was an oncoming train and the "corner" we were turning just led to another corner. The people didn't particularly care who was in power in Saigon or Hanoi for that matter. They wanted to be left alone. If they had to pick a side though, they'd go with the guys from the north who spoke their language and shared their customs.

Of course, the long. sad story of military failure is that we fight the current war using the strategy of the previous one. Colin Powell's post Viet Nam theory of establishing militarily-achievable objectives, applying overwhelming force, declaring victory, and getting the hell out has not been applied to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Two comments by the soldiers disturbed me:

"This all started because of 9/11. We're not here because of oil or the other reasons that people hear. It's because we're Americans and we don't back down from anything. And we also want to make Iraq better."

I love the "don't back down" thing, but you are in Iraq because of Saddam's invisible "weapons of mass destruction" or so I remember from 2003. Later, it was because Saddam was a bad guy who paid off the families of suicide bombers. Of course, so did Iran and all those Saudi "charities". Maybe we should invade them, too.

"We love our commander-in-chief, but he apologizes too much for what we have to do over here."

Civilian casualties ("collateral damage") is sadly a part of war. Not to go all Viet Nam era lingo, but when the object is to "win the hearts and minds of the people", an apology after wiping out people trying to get free fuel from a disabled truck isn't a bad idea.

Being a soldier in a combat zone requires that you believe in what you're fighting for. It's best when that rationale is fact-based.