IRAQ: Why we can't just leave and why Obama can not be our President

I had the unique opportunity to hear a lecture by Major Art Finch, an army major who has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq many times in the past six years. He came to my Political Science class today, and his comments helped solidify my support for the War on Terrorism; and it also solidified my opposition to Senator Obama's candidacy. **Major Finch has been in on many important operations and has participated in meetings with General Petraeus**

Watching the news, one would think that all that is going on in Iraq is blood and carnage. That we are fighting a hopeless battle, or even that we shouldn't be there. It is obvious why a large majority of Americans think that we should pull the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, which also would explain part of Senator Barack Obama's popularity. It is a well known motto in news that "if it bleeds, it leads". It's interesting to note that we rarely hear about Iraq anymore. Occasionally there is a story about a suicide bombing, or some other event in which life was lost. The reason we don't hear much anymore is because we are winning! We have to be careful when listening to the media. We have to wade through the spin that the media throws at us to find the true story. The following is an example that Major Finch shared. Near the beginning of the war in Iraq there were many stories in the news about all of the hospitals being looted; it showed people throwing gurneys down the streets and ransacked hospital rooms. To the casual observer this would translate to failure. While it is true that some hospitals were looted, the numbers are quite interesting. In Bagdad there are over 200 hospitals. The amount that had these problems was six! The stories that make it to our television sets are those of reporters who go to Iraq and instead of being embedded with troops, turn and run and tell stories of failure and death. The stories of the embedded reporters, who have first hand stories of the successes don't make it past press room. My point? We have to take what the news stations tell us with a grain of salt. Below I will state some of the common questions about the war, followed by some of the answers that I heard at today's discussion with a first hand participant in the war, Major Art Finch.

Is the Surge working? (the surge is the increase of troops in Iraq that began around a year ago.)

In simple terms, yes the surge is working. What is some evidence of this? The lack of news stories about Iraq. As I stated earlier, if we don't hear about anything, it's because good things are happening and not just bad things. This is basically what the military is doing and how its works; They are capturing the bad guys, sitting them down and talking to them, and getting information about where other bad guys are. Sound simple? That's because many of the bad guys don't like what they are doing anyway, and are beginning to realize that they are losing ground. This has caused a great decrease in the leadership of the terrorist organizations in Iraq.
It's also interesting that we are starting to hear about an increase in violence in Afghanistan. There is a direct causal relationship with the War in Iraq and this increase in violence. The extremists are abandoning their posts in Iraq and returning to Afghanistan.

How is the morale of the soldiers?

Good! Major Finch told us that the soldiers are there, they get why they are there, and they are seeing the success of their efforts. They are helping civilians and building schools, and the children are always trying to get close to them and talk to them. It's not all pretty, but they know what they are doing and are encouraged by their recent successes. Major Finch did say that they are a bit ticked off at us Americans. They feel like many American's are being hypocrites. They receive tons of packages and letters of hope and support, but then they see polls that say that 60-80% of American's don't think we should be there. They feel like if we really supported them that we would support them in every aspect.

What effect would pulling out of Iraq immediately have?

When asked this, Major Finch said, "It scares the tar out of me." He said that if we pull out the troops before it is necessary that it will change the entire battlefield, it will give the terrorists a sense of security, and we will fight this same war later on, but it will be more expensive in the cost of American lives and more extensive in the ground we will have to cover.
He also emphasized the fact that so many attacks on American soil are averted every week! He says that he is very surprised that none of these attacks have slipped through, and that it is because of our ability to stop them in Iraq before they can put their plans into action on our soil. The troops don't care anymore why we went to Iraq; it doesn't matter anymore. They are there and they want to finish it now, so their children won't have to fight the same war 20 years from now. Iraq is not a land full of terrorists, it is a land full of families; grandparents playing with their grandchildren, aunts talking with their nephews, parents counseling their children, mothers nurturing their babies. The soldiers want to allow these people to have some semblance of freedom so they can enjoy those gems of life. If we pull out the troops immediately, they will lose all freedom that they have so far been granted.

So how are we going to win? According to Major Finch, it's through information. When people can choose the information that they receive without having to wade through the media's manipulation we will be able to gain ground on the enemy. When we as American's unite and truly support the efforts of our military, we will win.

These are a few of the questions and answers, mixed with my own insights about the War on Iraq. These are the main reasons why I can not support Barack Obama. We need a president who will fight for our freedom. A president who will not surrender to the terrorists and thus strike fear into the hearts of our soldiers. A president who will not get stuck in the media's intricately spun web of deception. The best choice we have to protect America and defeat the terrorists is John McCain. He isn't strong on everything, but he knows very well the consequences of surrendering to the terrorists in Iraq. He knows that surrendering their will endanger us here. That is why I am now supporting John McCain, and will simply not vote for Obama. I will vote for substance over speeches, truth over rhetoric.


*Major Finch also talked about the Blackwater Scandal and Weapons of Mass destruction and Osama Bin Laden. It was very interesting. If anyone wants to know what he said about them, let me know.