Little “V” Victory in Iraq

The troops are coming home from the sand box and less soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen are deploying to replace them. The streets of Baghdad are safer and the economy is starting to grow. President Maliki, a Shiite and leader of the coalition government, has called for reconciliation and forgiveness of those who were members of Saddam’s government, essentially Sunnis.

The surge worked despite what the rabid Democratic members of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees said to General Petraeus when he sat before the committees and recommended a surge in troops to stem the violence in Iraq. But wait, the surge worked.

The Bush administration is gone and President Obama has not followed through with his campaign pledge to bring the troops home in sixteen months. In fact, he’s agreed to a plan to keep the troops in Iraq, up to 50,000 of them, “for several years to come.”

Obama’s change in heart led me to two conclusions. First, Obama figured out after detailed briefings on the factual situation in Iraq that Bush’s strategy was working. GASP. Second, in order for President Obama to keep the troops in Iraq and conduct an orderly turn over of the situation with the Iraqi government he must see victory in the future him. SAY IT ISN’T SO?

Who wants to take a bet that we won’t hear the words ‘victory’ and ‘Iraq’s spoken in the same sentence? Anyone? Come on, just $20. Please? Well, what did I expect? Who would ever bet that a Democrat would say that a Republican was right in the first place? What was I thinking?

I sure hope President Obama has the cojones to use the words victory and Iraq together. If he does, he will honor the men and women that call him Commander in Chief. He will honor the ultimate sacrifice made by great Americans who died defending this Nation and the world from horrible consequences. Those men and women deserve to hear the word victory spoken loud and proud and not mumbled quietly into the Presidential fist.

So here’s where we stand. It’s the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs and President Bush pitched a great game. President Obama steps onto the mound and has to deal with the last batter. Need some advice? Better throw hard and throw strikes, Mr. President. Win the game, fuck the cheerleader. Then and only then, come home.