Guess What? We're Winning

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hnn.us/roundup/entries/22660.html

As we mark the war’s third anniversary, it is worth asking whether such sentiments are justified or whether they represent an emotional overreaction to the sorts of temporary setbacks that occur in every major conflict. The answer is, of course, unknowable until we see how the war turns out. It won’t be clear for years whether Iraq becomes a stable democracy or whether, as critics expect, it becomes mired in despotism or internecine conflict. It is entirely possible that the naysayers will be proven right and the invasion will go down as a fiasco. This might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, however, for the more opposition there is on the home front, the less chance there is for our troops to prevail.
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Even the most successful operations in wars past usually resulted in far greater losses than those suffered in Iraq. Some 5,400 Allied servicemen died in about 18 hours on D-Day—more than twice as many as have perished in three years of combat in Iraq. During World War II the United States lost an average of 300 soldiers a day. In Iraq, we are losing an average of two soldiers a day, a pace that would require another 76 years for U.S. deaths in Iraq to match those in Vietnam.

…But while war spending of $83.3 billion a year ($250 billion over three years) is a vast and growing sum, in an $11.7 trillion economy it represents just 0.7 percent of gross domestic product. Even if we add in the rest of the defense budget, total spending on the military is still just 4.5 percent of GDP. We spent almost 40 percent of GDP to win World War II and more than 7 percent a year over several decades to win the Cold War.

This article was discussed on the Michael Medved show during the first hour. It has some interesting information regarding the state of things in Iraq. Michael, of course, added some other points of interest. The spread of freedom in the Middle East; the rising economic status of the average Iraqi; the rejection of terrorism by more and more of the Muslim community; etc.

Bottom line is we are winning, even though things aren’t as smooth as the detractors would like. Alexander Haig made the point regarding Viet Nam recently…we didn’t lose; we quit. The important thing in Iraq, is that we don’t quit.