Reflections on the Iraq war

Not long after Sept. 11, 2001, a patriotic young man, whom I am proud to call my cousin, enlisted in the Marine Corps. He felt strongly that it was his duty as an American to come to the defense of his country in a time of crisis — there are few people on this earth whose courage I admire or respect more. And I felt extremely fortunate knowing that on Tuesday, when I took a turn among my fellow College Democrats to read aloud the names of the 3,240 heroes who lost their lives in Iraq, I would not find his name.

My cousin, who is now readjusting to civilian life in the United States, remains unwaveringly patriotic. But one observation he made after returning from Fallujah struck me particularly deeply.

He said, "They don't even want us there."

His comments echoed those of Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), a newly elected Congressman who had served in Iraq both during the first Gulf War and in 2003-04. In an impassioned speech on the House floor, Murphy recalled his gunner asking him one day as they patrolled a particularly dangerous stretch of highway, "Sir, what are we doing here? What is our mission?" And then Captain Murphy had no answer for him.

Outside Frist Campus Center on Tuesday, I offered a young man a black bracelet, explaining that it was to remind us of the American soldiers whose lives have been lost in Iraq and of a war that has entered its fifth year with no conclusion in sight. Asking me to tie the bracelet around his wrist, the man told me that he was in the military himself and expected to be sent over to Iraq in the near future. He paused briefly at our table, listening as the names of those killed were read aloud, then shook his head sadly. Before walking away, he turned to me and said, "Man, I've been to too many funerals already."

Sometimes, we Democrats are accused of playing "partisan politics" with the war. Regrettably, it seems to me, the Republicans have made a partisan issue of this war by accusing Democrats of undermining the morale of the troops by opposing the war's escalation — while they have failed to acknowledge the impact on troop morale of four years of faulty decision-making and mismanagement of the war.

Maybe I'm just being a partisan hack, but you know what seems to undermine morale? What about being in the middle of a civil war without a larger mission than "buy time until the Iraqis work things out"? What about knowing that if you get your legs blown off by a roadside bomb, you have Walter Reed to look forward to? What about our government's failure to provide them with adequate body and Humvee armor? Or — going back to the war's inception — our failure to create a world coalition, plan adequately for a post-Saddam Iraq or even have adequate reason to be there in the first place? So when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) taunted Democrats the other day for trying to set a "surrender date" in Iraq, well, those words sort of ring hollow. When those who will take no responsibility for their failures complain that Congress shouldn't "micromanage the war," it is hard not to see that as anything other than a partisan attempt to shift blame and further avoid responsibility. And I firmly believe they should not get away with it.

Critics have often blamed congressional Democrats for having voted to authorize the use of military force. In 2003, there was a reasonable case to be made for granting this authority to strengthen our diplomatic efforts to make the arms inspection process work. Who in 2003 expected distortions of military intelligence and dramatic failures of judgment by the president of the United States? Who expected the administration and its cheerleaders in the House and Senate to disregard the solemn purpose with which America must always go to war?

As we enter the fifth year of a war that touches the daily lives of so few members of our campus community, the College Democrats felt it was our small duty to remember those who have given their lives in this war. But we also have a political duty, and that is perhaps the even more important one. Americans know that this war has been marked by innumerable mistakes and has made our nation more vulnerable in the world. Those political leaders who have failed our soldiers time and again are undeserving of the privilege of representing them and us. Rob Weiss is the vice president of the College Democrats. He may be reached at rmweiss@princeton.edu.