20 years since the invasion of Iraq

The March edition of VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) magazine had a strange lede: "VFW celebrates 20th anniversary of Iraq War." Strange, because I didn't think it was something to celebrate. [Source]

Inside, the tone is more circumspect, and shows the lede is a misnomer. The first article *"recalls"* (p16) the timeline of the invasion, which was successful in that it accomplished its short term objective -- toppling the Saddam Hussein regime.

The second one, though, tells the stories of veterans who fought in the counter-insurgency that followed. Thomas Susdorf, who had been a specialist (E-4) in the 3rd Field Artillery, recalled, "My most vivid memory is and always will be when 1st Lt. Colgan was killed by an IED.” (p20) [I presume 1LT Colgan was his platoon leader.]

Jason Peterson, who'd been a first lieutenant (O-2) in the 16th Engineer Battalion, remembered the time his vehicle was hit by an IED.

"The front of our truck was torn apart, but luckily the crew area remained intact. The front of the vehicle was lifted vertically and nearly tipped backwards before coming back down. My gunner suffered a fractured neck, and the driver and myself suffered [traumatic brain injury] from the detonation ... That’s a memory that will be with me my entire life.” (p22)

I recognize that there was much to celebrate in the heady days of 2003, when we thought we could transform the Arab world by breaking the yoke on the Iraqi people and spreading democracy.

But just like you can't break a vase without acknowledging that you have to then pick up the pieces, we failed *a lot* in the counter-insurgency that followed.

Yes, 20 years has gone by, but -- taken as a whole -- I don't think the Iraq War is something to celebrate.