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Mission Accomplished?
Matthew Robinson, PhD

On May 1, 2003 President Bush said – while standing on an aircraft carrier in front of a banner that read Mission Accomplished – "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq , the United States and our allies have prevailed."

Yet, more than four years later, American military personnel are still fighting and dying in Iraq . According to Lt. General William E. Odom:  "No U.S. forces have ever been compelled to stay in sustained combat conditions for as long as the Army units have in Iraq. In World War II, soldiers were considered combat-exhausted after about 180 days in the line. They were withdrawn for rest periods. Moreover, for weeks at a time, large sectors of the front were quiet, giving them time for both physical and psychological rehabilitation. During some periods of the Korean War, units had to fight steadily for fairly long periods but not for a year at a time. In Vietnam , tours were one year in length, and combat was intermittent with significant break periods."

In Iraq , Army personnel have been kept on the front lines for a year at a time, with only a two-week break, facing the threat of death every single day. The "surge" in troops initiated by President Bush has led Army tours to be extended to 15 months.

And what are we getting as a result? Three things. First, the number of unidentified bodies found on Baghdad streets was 41% higher in June of this year than in January. Second, the months of April through June were the deadliest three months for US troops since the start of the war in March 2003.

Get that? Two things the surge has created are more dead Iraqis and more dead Americans!

Third, and most telling, the recently released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) shows that al-Qaeda is at its strongest since 9/11 and is readying dramatic attacks against the United States and our interests. The surge in Iraq has not stopped the original al-Qaeda from operating freely in Pakistan (just south and east of Afghanistan , the country where al-Qaeda was based when they attacked us on 9/11).

In fact, the group once known as al-Qaeda is now called "al-Qaeda core" by US officials since the invasion of Iraq created a new group, "al-Qaeda in Iraq."

Understand? The US government now acknowledges that the war on Iraq created a new terrorist group in Iraq , one that was not there prior to our invasion!

To summarize, al-Qaeda is alive and well and completely safe inside Pakistan (where the US will not attack) and our invasion of Iraq created a new terror group (al-Qaeda in Iraq ) that kills our troops every day!

For those of you who still support the war, I have this question for you – How can you still support a war that has allowed "al-Qaeda core" (the group that did attack us on 9/11) to remain alive and gather its strength, while creating a new terrorist group, "al Qaeda in Iraq" that is also planning large attacks against our country?

If you really want to "support the troops," join me in demanding that they be brought home and sent to take on "al-Qaeda core" like we should have done after 9/11!