19 July 2006

Winning in Iraq - What Is Victory In Iraq?

(Part 3 of 5 addressing the misconception that we're losing the war in Iraq)

Allow me to start off this section by saying the following: Victory will not be achieved when we pull Coalition troops from Iraq. Removing troops from Iraq will be a product of victory, not a source of it.

So then what is victory? How will we know when we've achieved it? These questions may seem like pipe dreams, and under the tidal wave of negative news, unfortunately many people write them off as such. However, according to the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq which was published by the National Security Council in November 2005, this is not the case.

On page 1 of this document one can find the following:

Victory in Iraq is Defined in Stages

  • Short term, Iraq is making steady progress in fighting terrorists, meeting political milestones, building democratic institutions, and standing up security forces.

  • Medium term, Iraq is in the lead defeating terrorists and providing its own security, with a fully constitutional government in place, and on its way to achieving its economic potential.

  • Longer term, Iraq is peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism.

Page 3 of the same document goes into further detail of exactly what each stage means. The point is, we have realistic and attainable goals that we are working towards so that we can achieve victory in Iraq. Nowhere in here is the mention of sending troops home.

Let me leave no doubt in anyone's mind about how this impacts me personally. On June 25th of this year, my wife had our first child. I was lucky enough to be home when the little guy made his way into the world. Shortly after getting my wife and son back out of the hospital I returned to Iraq to serve the remaining 5 months I have here. Keeping in mind that at any moment a mortar, rocket or stray bullet could find me and prevent me from ever being able to tell my son that I love him and hear him tell me the same; I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing. I am helping win the war. I am helping achieve victory.

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bandit, I am going to copy your entire post to my blog and emphasize that last paragraph (as well as link to the first two installments - hope that's OK). I want my readers to know exactly what it's like for you and how you feel. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for you and all our men and women in uniform not only fighting for the freedom of people in Iraq and Afghanistan, but for our freedom as well!

16:21  
Blogger andrea/pj's said...

for a guy,u are OK...
HEHEHEHEHEHEHE
u need to add smiley
faces...we need some
yellow in da room;)
take bud:)
tell the all the others
too,many of us care!!!

17:31  
Blogger Mike H. said...

Excellent writeup. This is what the populace needs to hear, which, I guess, is why the M$M won't let it out.

21:06  
Blogger Mike H. said...

It appears that we have a rather flakey net today. Must be a high amount of traffic or a hack.

21:10  
Blogger Mike H. said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

21:11  
Blogger Mike H. said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

21:11  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bandit;

Great series of posts.. I have cross posted the last two and provide references for all thus far. I have posted about the Media and the one sided reporting they are doing in this war several times. We can still lose this War on Terror. We won’t loose it on the Battlefield however. Should we lose, it will be on the editorial pages of our newspapers, and in the speeches given by our elected representatives who place the short term political gains of their party ahead our national security on their priority list.

Be Safe.

Darrell

23:08  
Blogger andrea/pj's said...

anon....
such a loser,mom couldn't
even give IT a name!!!!!!!
bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

02:04  
Blogger andrea/pj's said...

oooooohhhhhhh...
so scarey Anon...
bandit,got an ip?
i have a friend of
a friend,wink....

and your friend anon.
cindy,is a loser....
she gave up that son
when he was 7,and i hear
she is giving up another
one..and has received over
250,000 dollars and has
yet to put a tombstone
on the 1st sons grave.....
she is a joke of a mother!!!
even the libral i work with
thinks so!!!!!!
bwahahahahahahahahahahaha
good luck u terrorist!!!!
as the words of a song
said,"don't let the screen
door hit u on the way out"
i will add,"don't let the
next rocket go up your ass"
smile,smile,smiley:)
kick ass troops...
kick ass israel!!!!!!

04:58  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey "Anonymous", do you really believe the garbage you post or are you trolling? Until you can post something, in your own name, that is based on facts of equal quality as those, that Bandit provides, I'll stick with him. He's there. He does legitimate research. He reports the facts. What have you done? llb

05:30  
Blogger Louise said...

The Annoying Mouse must have been consuming more than just magic mushrooms.

06:24  
Blogger Mike's America said...

I get so tired of these anonymouse commenters. No substance, nothing to contribute, just clear evidence that they have more bile than brains.

As for the point of the post:

We are winning in Iraq and the benchmarks measuring that progress are so clear that not even anonymouse fools can deny it if they have a shred of intellectual integrity.

The Brookings Institute Iraq Index is a neutral arbiter of the progress we are making and even though there are bumps up and down in the various indices, the trends are all good. Even though you wouldn't know it from reading the lamestream media, violence and killing continue to go down. US aid dollars and contracting personnel are flooding the country with help.

We're still working hard to improve basic services like electricity, water, sewage and oil production but trends there are positive there as well.

As for the President's Victory Strategy: It's an incredible document. The level of detail and specificity is amazing. President Bush's speeches last year discussing the plan were also very useful in helping anyone who wishes to avoid the willful ignorance of folks like anonymouse to understand our goals and efforts to achieve them.

Thanks for your posts on this subject B36. Keep up the good work.

The American people are with you, we want you to succeed, we honor your service and sacrifice.

You are there for us.

07:55  
Blogger MarksMomma said...

Hear me now and let there be no mistake:


IDIOCY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.


To my supporters, thank you for defending me, but please don't feed the trolls. They live off of your responses and giving them none is the best tactic. Have no fear, as soon as I see idiocy I'll delete it.

08:34  

Post a Comment

  

<< Home