Through a Marine's eyes: Iraq a necessary part of a greater war

April 28, 2006 12:50 am

EDINBURG--Following the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the media, policymakers and pundits all enjoyed a week of opportunities to reassert their opinions--both negative and positive--on the situation inside the country. As expected, the pronouncements and reports ranged from defeatist revisionism to overly optimistic assessments resuscitating commentators' individual beliefs and attempts to validate previous assertions.

What most of these scenarios--from all sides--failed to offer was any credible assessment of the broader implications of the mission outside of Iraq. Endless reports attempted to define success and failure by percentages, statistics, and polls. While it is important to consider such metrics in both human and numerical terms, it is equally important to look at the larger strategic picture to effectively gauge progress.

Since the invasion in 2003 and subsequent elections, a number of consequential developments have taken place out-side Iraq's borders, including:

Afghanistan and Lebanon witnessed unprecedented, historic, free elections.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinians also held their first substantive elections, albeit not under ideal circumstances or with the desired results, but these must still be viewed as enormously positive steps away from autocratic or hereditary rule.

Bahrain and Kuwait for the first time allowed women the right to vote and run for elective office.

Syria has pulled out of Lebanon, restoring much-needed autonomy and sovereignty to the country and its people.

Libyan president Muammar al-Qaddafi, once a sworn enemy of the United States and sponsor of terrorism, conceded to disarm and abandoned his country's WMD programs.

India and the U.S. have made commitments to enact a needed civilian nuclear agreement that provides shared national security benefits for both countries.

This is certainly not to suggest that the road to freedom and democracy in these regions does not have significant challenges ahead. Make no mistake; it will, in countless respects. Public opinion of the United States among Muslims remain exceedingly poor. That being the case, with a worldwide Muslim population that is very young and growing rapidly, it is imperative that our nation articulate a clear vision that highlights the virtues of economic and social liberty, while embracing the sincere cultural and religious beliefs of these regions. Otherwise, much of this huge demographic will remain isolated and vulnerable to fanatical rule, void of the civil liberties or economic infrastructures that provide new opportunities. Sadly, we have learned that poverty, when held in tandem with religious fanaticism, is a proven recipe by which terrorism is too often produced.

And while progress and political change do not occur in a vacuum, hatred often does. Exacerbating this dilemma is a media-saturated world where car bombs and body counts trump broader evidence of democratic reform and burgeoning political stability. In this environment, it is no wonder that American public support and worldwide opinion of the mission in Iraq continue to decline, despite positive developments both inside and outside the country.

These prevailing opinions are not the product of any new political dynamic, but rather a narrow view by which all aspects of the Iraq war are judged and reported. Our nation's first president, George Washington, commented on a similar predicament over 200 years ago. In attempting to quell the press-inflamed rhetoric stemming from frontier settlers' opposition to treaties providing regional sovereignty to American Indian tribes--then considered a foreign affairs issue--he noted, "It is well known that when one side only of the story is heard, and often repeated, the human mind becomes impressed with it, insensibly."

To its credit, the Pentagon recently emphasized the Global War on Terror as the "Long War," reasserting the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a broader strategic initiative. This served as a sobering, but refreshing, shift in defining the realities and demands that will be needed to better secure our own national security interests and those of other nations for years to come. Artful diplomacy also must be redoubled and accompany our military engagements to help bridge the significant divides that remain between our distinctive communities.

In his book "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" Thomas Friedman aptly wrote, "If you don't visit a bad neighborhood, the bad neighborhood will visit you." On Sept. 11, 2001, the bad neighborhood did indeed visit us, and we as a nation faced a new and immediate reality: We were vulnerable.

And we remain vulnerable today, but over four years later, and despite the human and financial costs, the Global War on Terror now remains a noble and necessary endeavor. Like it or not, incorporated within this new global reality, the decision was made to invade Iraq. In the process, we have helped to rid that nation of a tyrant among his people and removed a terrorist menace that threatened the long-term political stability of the region.

WADE ZIRKLE, from Shenandoah County, is founder and executive director of Vets for Freedom and a former Marine who spent two deployments in Iraq. He is heading back there in May to evaluate events on the ground and provide analysis on the mission.