Former National Security Adviser Hadley: Iraq War
Worthwhile
Thursday, 30 Jan 2014 11:56 PM
By Cathy Burke
Though al-Qaida has regained
control in some parts of Iraq,
the Americans who served there should be proud of their service, says Stephen Hadley, the former assistant to
the president for National Security
Affairs under George W. Bush.
"All is not lost,"
Hadley writes in an op-ed piece published online Thursday night by The Wall
Street Journal.
"Americans who served [in
Iraq] can be proud of their service: toppling a brutal dictator, defeating
al-Qaida in Iraq in 2007-08, and giving the Iraqi people a chance to build a
nation unique in the history of Iraq and the Middle East," he writes.
Now it's time for Washington and
its allies to do their part to "make sure that this opportunity is not
squandered," he added, including congressional approval of the funding and
transfer of missiles, helicopters and other military equipment.
"The American people need to
understand that their own security now rides on this fight," he wrote.
"For we know this about al-Qaida: Ultimately, Americans and our interests,
friends and territory will be their target."
Hadley lamented that "people
have forgotten" the bloody and violent history of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but that U.S. soldiers have every right to
"be proud of their role in ending this criminal regime and freeing the
Iraqi people from a brutal tyrant."
America needs only to look to Syria to see "what happens
when a bloody dictator goes unchecked," he wrote.
"The removal of Saddam opened
up a very different possibility: an Iraq in which Sunni, Shiites,
Kurds, Christians and other minorities would work together to build a
democratic and peaceful future," Hadley wrote.
Conceding mistakes made by both
the Bush and Obama administrations in Iraq,
Hadley said the recent spike in al-Qaida attacks in Iraq
"results from nearly three years of civil war in neighboring Syria, mistakes by the Iraqi government, and an
inadequate response from the U.S.
and its regional allies."
And he wrote the numbers of
"foreign fighters involved" are in the thousands, "more than
were present at the height of the Iraq War."
Yet Hadley said he's optimistic
about Americans' help in building and training an an Iraqi security force, and
that Sunni tribes "are rejoining the fight against al-Qaida."
If the Sunni gain the greater role
in the Iraqi government they're seeking, it could help restore "the
original vision of a tolerant and inclusive Iraq," he wrote.
Hadley also pointed out now that
the Arab Spring euphoria of 2011 has faded, the region needs an example of
communities working together to defeat terrorism, establish "tolerant and
inclusive politics" and produce a growing economy.
"If it can overcome its
current challenges, Iraq
can be that example," Hadley wrote.
Stephen Hadley
Stephen J. Hadley
was the national security adviser for the George
W. Bush administration, the under secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Chuck
Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.
Zalmay Khalilzad
is a director at the Atlantic Council of
the United States (think
tank), and was a U.S.
ambassador for Iraq.
Barry R.
McCaffrey was a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and an advisory board member for the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.
James A. Baker III
is an honorary director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and was a co-chair at the Iraq Study Group.
William
J. Perry is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank), and was a member of
the Iraq Study Group.
James L. Jones
Jr. is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and was the chairman for the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq.
Walter B. Slocombe
is a director at the Atlantic Council of
the United States
(think tank), and was a senior adviser for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
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