SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

The drumbeats are getting louder critical of the presence of United States Armed Forces in Iraq. Opinion polling shows the Iraq War is becoming increasingly unpopular. This in turn emboldens those opposed to the war and invites further criticism. Several disingenuous politicians are now opposing the war not because of their philosophical or policy opposition but as a tactic to discredit the President and for political gain. Others of course oppose all wars even if weakens our Country. And others oppose the war because they simply do not understand why it is in our best long term interest.

The President is making several speeches this week to rally support for the Untied States’ efforts in Iraq. President Bush’s efforts are much needed and overdue.

What follows is meant to be instructive but at the same time is critical of not our policy but of our political efforts to explain why the world and we are better off getting rid of Saddam Hussein and creating a new more open government in Iraq. For the record, as a neo conservative, I support our military efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq to bring freedom and stability to the Middle East. I think it is in the United States’ strategic interest both as matters of our national security interest and our economic interest.

The enemies of freedom and democracy in the Middle East want to both kill us – literally our persons and our economy. We must fight back!

Certainly our military and even a few of our politicians learned a few lessons from the Viet Nam Era (we don’t even have the courage to officially name it a war or even a conflict like Korea that we do not refer to as a war either.) Communicating with the public and building public support is job one. In the age of instantaneous worldwide communications where the war is fought on television maintaining public support is critical. Without public support back home we cannot win in the field.

From Viet Nam our political leadership learned they had to adequately explain in a compelling way why we were going to war and what we expect to accomplish. I don’t think an exit timetable nor an exit strategy is necessarily required. However the public must be convinced of the necessity of putting our sons and daughters in harms way, why the financial expense is necessary, and what we expect to accomplish.

Our Generals learned that they needed improved communications skills. Rather than being abrupt and dictatorial they had to understand how to communicate with the media.

We learned from the Viet Nam Era that to build support at home we needed Allies supporting our efforts both diplomatically and in the field.

The political handling of the Gulf War is a textbook example of how to make sure the political will to support a war is maintained at home.

President George H W Bush, made both a compelling economic case we needed to maintain a stable worldwide oil supply and a foreign policy argument that we need to support our allies (in this case Saudi Arabia). The President enlisted the support of scores of other countries to support our war effort. The United States exercised many diplomatic options before beginning combat. What we wanted to accomplished was defined - the removal of the threat to the Kuwaiti oilfields. Once the objective was achieved the military advance halted.

It is interesting to note, that because the objective was achieved so easily there was post war criticism by the arm chair generals that we should have advanced to Baghdad and taken down the Hussein stronghold on the Iraqi people. We did not invade Iraq precisely because of the lessons learned from the Viet Nam experience and that the political will was lacking at the time with the American people and our allies.

When combat in the Gulf War ensued, out Commanders and the Pentagon held daily briefings of the war’s status. Remember the spectacular work done by Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell, and DOD spokesperson Pete Williams?

Operation Iraqi Freedom is playing out differently. The public shared the Administration’s goals in freeing the Iraqi people. The public cheered the toppling of Hussein’s dictatorship. We Americans love a good offense but now that we are playing defense to help establish a democratic government the going has gotten much tougher. Our President, political, and military leaders have failed in continuing to secure the political will by preparing us for the hard work of securing the peace.

The goals are worthy but there are not the easy solutions a non understanding public demands. The President must continue to explain why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan and continue working with our allies to maintain our efforts in the Middle East. Despite commendable goals once the public decides that this effort is not worthy of support the mission is destined for failure. That is not in America’s best long term interest.

President Bush has great vision and understanding of the problem. He is right to pursue this mission. As our leader he needs to help Americans understand why.